Blog Archives

February 17, 2023

2/17/2023

BY THE NUMBERS…the unemployment rate in the Ponca City Labor Market was 2.8% at the beginning of this year. That’s the latest official report since it takes time for the guvment to gather and report data. The unemployment rate for Kay County is 3.2%. Whichever you choose, this is effectively well below full employment. You know this. What you may not know is that the vacancy rate in Ponca City’s rental housing market is even lower. Homes for sale are also low. Available industrial buildings are also virtually zero. There is that big one by the airport, of course. If you are thinking that a company could be recruited that would bring hundreds of jobs to that location, however, you must ask yourself whether a company thinks it can 1) find a local workforce or; 2) will transfer their existing workforce.

For the first one, with virtually no unemployed available, the only place a company can find workers is to steal them from existing Ponca City companies. For point number two it’s important to understand that a company transferring a large swath of their workforce is rare. We do have one example in Ponca City of a company that does this but that is the exception, not the rule. But let’s pretend for funsies that we did find that rare unicorn company that does transfer their own workforce. Where would they live? This is economic development in 2023 post-pandemic America. It has shifted from a simple goal of “we need jobs” to one of diversifying a local economy, growing your own workforce, figuring out how to tackle housing, workforce attraction, child care and so much more.

Read on and you’ll see some of the ways that PCDA has been working in recent years (the above is not new) to stabilize, sustain and grow the local economy. It’s not headline grabbing, but the goal is a strong economy, not headlines.

CONTRACT MANUFACTURING....is a large part of the manufacturing industry located here in Ponca City. With the Design 2 Part Trade Show (otherwise known as the Trade Show Brigade) fast approaching, staff thought sharing an overview of Ponca City contract manufacturers participating would be a good idea. Let's start with Centerline.

Centerline is a family owned and operated company. The Engster family began Centerline in the Pioneer Technology Business Incubator, then built their current facility on Ash after graduating from the Incubator program. Centerline's participation in many PCDA award winning programs is championed by President Stephen Engster and Operations Manager, Jeff Williams. These programs include Lighten the Load, which won a Bellman Award, and most recently, the Trade Show Brigade and the Shared Equipment Program. Centerline specializes in spindle manufacturing and repair in diverse industries ranging from dental lab to automotive and aircraft industries. In addition, they are growing their machining services with a focus on lathe work.

WORK SMARTER.....not harder. That is the motto for our local manufacturers and PCDA supports this with the Plan and Shared Equipment Room at Pioneer Technology Business and Industry Services Center. The Plan room is where local contractors and subs can check out building plans for the State of Oklahoma: new build and renovation construction projects. Contractors/suppliers can also make copies of the plans as needed for a small fee with the large scale printer.

The Shared Equipment Program can be seen below with The Keyence Measuring tool. This shared piece of equipment allows at least five of our local manufacturers to measure new and existing products to perform quality assurance on a micrometer scale. The time saved from not having to ship these products outside Ponca City and wait for the results has saved companies both costs and downtime. PCDA is proud to partner with Pioneer Tech on these projects to support local manufacturing and contractors.

DUKE..... is the fourth speculation building constructed by PCDA in the Airport Industrial Park. While construction of Duke has experienced a few weather related delays, the project is moving along nicely. All of the red iron component should be installed by Friday, 16 February. Staff expects to see insulation and wall sheeting going up sometime during the week of February 19.

THE HISPANIC ASSOCIATION.... of North Central Oklahoma is forming in Ponca City. This group of Latinos and Hispanics came together to put on the Hispanic Festival in September of 2022 and they need your support to keep the momentum going. Whether you are a business or individual seeking to participate or lend your support, you want to be at the kick-off meeting Monday, February 20th at 7 pm in the Summit Conference Room right here at City Central! Some of the future activities include a Father's Day celebration, the next Hispanic Festival, Christmas Parade and Mercado! Tell your friends, neighbors and family. This is your time to get involved.

Tuesday, February 28 - Pioneer Technology Center

BUILD YOUR WORK TEAM.... by acknowledging diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. This unconscious bias training will give your management team an added layer of success when training employees and volunteers. These strategies will make recruits to your organization feel supported and sustained in their efforts.

You still have time to sign up for this workshop with presenter Linda Jenkins. Register now at Pioneer Tech by clicking this link.

WORK YOUR PITCH.....at the Spring 2023 Business Plan Pitch Off. Is your business ready to grow here in Ponca City? Maybe you need more manufacturing space or your business is ready to be the next big thing. PCDA want's you in Ponca City. First: write and refine your business plan. Second: send business plan to klong@goponca.com on or before March 22 at 5 pm. Third: Call Kat and start working your pitch for judges on April 3rd. Fourth: Win $5000 for your business.

All the information on the PItch-off can be found h ere. Call Katherine at 580.761.3028 or email if you have more quesitons. Business must be located in or plan to relocate to Ponca City to receive incentives.

FOX ALERT!..... coming to a street or location near you: fox statues. You may have seen them around town or even at their holding location at City Central when you and the family were checking out the Seed Reef. These larger than life statues are sponsored by individuals and businesses all over Ponca City to delight locals and visitors both. PC Arts is the driving organization behind this foxy project and City Central is glad to be these foxes holding location before their final installations.

E.W. Marland brought the sports of polo and fox hunting to Ponca City (don't get upset; it was the thing to do in the 1920s) and the descendants of the "fox that got away" can be seen all over our lovely community. Stay tuned for an updated "fox hunt" and keep on the lookout as new foxes are added to the PC scenery each week.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, Feb 20 // Hispanic Association Meeting // City Central

Join your Hispanic and Latino community to plan

the next year of events. 7:00 pm in The Summit

Wed, Feb 22 // Canva 2.0 // Pioneer Tech Seminar Room

Join Terri Busch for this next level course on Canva.

9-10 am. Click here to register.

Tues, Feb 28 // Diversity, Equity & Inclusion // Pioneer Tech

5 Strategies for Disrupting Your Unconscious Bias

10 am to Noon - See flyer below

Rental Property - Available Listings

Visit our website

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February 10, 2023

2/14/2023

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SEE YOU AGAIN SOON.....was the theme this week at PCDA. The phones were ringing with businesses seeking land, buildings and possibly looking at Duke as an answer to their prayers. Staff and Trustees met yesterday for the monthly PCDA Board Meeting and wished one of our own the best as this Trustee retires from the City Commission and the PCDA Board.

A Special Thank You to PCDA Trustee Lanita Chapman. For the last six years, Trustee Chapman has been a Ponca City Commissioner appointed as the City Commission liaison to Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA) Board of Trustees. During her six years as a City Commissioner, Trustee Chapman has championed the City's Broadband to Home project, assisted with 16 completed economic agreements which represented $25 million in new investment and 972 jobs for the Ponca City community.

PCDA staff and fellow trustees wish her well in her next endeavors and applaud Trustee Chapman for all her hard work and support for Ponca City's economic vitality.

FOR VALENTINES DAY....Laurence got a building frame. Actually, all the office considers Duke a labor of love. The Duke building in the Airport Industrial Park has its framework up. The iron has moved along at a good clip this week and staff is excited to see the building getting its bones in the air. Much like flowers and chocolate, the next phase is outer skin and parking lot concrete. We know a building is a little much for most people, so just a gentle reminder to remember your valentine next Tuesday.

You still have time to sign up for this timely workshop with presenter Link Jenkins. Register now at Pioneer Tech by clicking this link.

BUSINESS & INDUSTRY SERVICES.....at Pioneer Tech has incubator space for your small business. Maybe. Do you have a business plan ready? Know who your customer is? Need some assistance fleshing out financial projections and how many employees you will need? Business & Industry Services located at the southeast corner of Pioneer Tech can assist with all of these items; Plus your business may be an excellent fit as an incubator client. Get your business out of the house and into a manufacturing incubator with business assistance at your fingertips. Find out more about the business incubator services and how to apply to be an incubator client here.

Find all the services and resources at Pioneer Tech Business Services here.

THIS IS THE LAST WEEK!..... to see the Seed Reef interactive, immersive art installation at City Central. Bring your kids, bring you family but definitely take a few minutes at lunchtime or after work to see this amazing art installation. Local artists contributed to the installation. Learn more about reef die off and rejuvenation, watch a video on how the artists began this project and take some pictures or buy some art on display outside the John McNeese Gallery. City Central, 400 E. Central. Tues-Friday 10 to 6 and Saturday, noon to 4 pm. This is the last week! Don't miss it.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday, Feb 20 // Hispanic Association Meeting // City Central

Join your Hispanic and Latino community to plan

the next year of events. 7:00 pm in The Summit

Wed, Feb 22 // Canva 2.0 // Pioneer Tech Seminar Room

Join Terri Busch for this next level course on Canva.

9-10 am. Click here to register.

Tues, Feb 28 // Diversity, Equity & Inclusion // Pioneer Tech

5 Strategies for Disrupting Your Unconscious Bias

10 am to Noon - See flyer below

Rental Property - Available Listings

Visit our website

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February 3, 2023

2/3/2023

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INDUSTRY OF THE YEAR…Last week’s Ponca City Area Chamber of Commerce Celebration included four major award categories. You no doubt read all about this in last Saturday’s Ponca City News but allow us, please, to dote on the Industry of the Year. This award is typically awarded to a manufacturing company that achieved great things during the year. “And the award (went) to”…..Evans and Associates. It’s not that they did anything particularly dramatic in the past year….and that was the point. They did what they always have done. Their employees leaned into community initiatives including schools, workforce, civic groups, charitable groups, etc. etc. They also lent strong support in many ways to other community activities including a lot of behind the scenes stuff that generally does not get much glory but is oh so important.

Lest we not forget, they also employ a lot of people at strong wages. The company had a lot to do with people having money in their pockets to spend at Ponca City restaurants, stores and so forth. Sure, they do this every year and that is exactly why they were honored. The high level of success and consistency of support can easily be taken for granted, as we humbly admit is done for other Ponca City companies as well. Last week, however, on that night and at that place the community stepped back and said to Evans and Associates, “You’re special, and you are appreciated.” And so they are.

Pictured below is Linda Brown, Lee Evans and David Myers.

THE ALUMNI…Another award presented during the Chamber Celebration was the Citizen of the Year award. This year’s recipient was Natalie Fraser, a selection immediately and heartily endorsed by the thousands, okay hundreds of people at the Celebration. The past Citizens of the Year were in attendance mingling with us commoners to welcome and congratulate their newest inductee. One thing became clear. Okay, two things. The first is that you have to be very special and work very hard to get that award. The second is that it really really helps, at least over the past ten years, to have served on the PCDA Board of Trustees. Natalie Fraser was a member, as was Jodi Cline, Lee Evans, Kelly Johnson and Larry Murphy before that. Coincidence? We think not. Pictured with Natalie is Health Cannon, the 2021 Citizen of the Year.

IRON UP....at the Duke building in the Airport Industrial Park. We have talked concrete and building supplies, but iron in the air means this project is halfway to completion. Laurence took a lot of pictures, but this one says it all. Check out the virtual rendering of Duke online. Marketing for companies to move into the building is underway in our target industries of contract manufacturing, business services, energy, food manufacturing and agriculture.

Transportation Survey – what is missing in our community with regards to transportation? Make your opinion known by taking this survey from Oklahoma Active Transportation. This group wants to hear from people in all types of communities about wants and needs for transportation, including infrastructure and all types of mobility including walking. Click here to read more about OKATP.org and take the online survey.

1MC.... happened this week at Pioneer Technology Center. Chad Winslow, Owner of Oklahoma Labels and A+ Printing was the business presenter. If you didn't make it, never fear: technology is here. Chad's presentation can be seen here and feel free to browse all the other businesses who have told their stories at 1MC. If you would like to share your story, reach out to Brook Lindsay at (580)718-4316 or brookl@pioneertech.edu.

See you next month. First Wednesday. 8:30 am.

We got the coffee. Bring a friend.

Business & Industry Services.....at Pioneer Tech has programs available for ongoing manager and supervisor training; Customer service training, crucial conversations and team building just to name a few. Corbin Dewitt specializes in onsite or classroom setting leadership training for individuals and businesses seeking to train-up key employees. Free and for-pay programs for local companies. Call 580.718.4222 or email corbind@pioneertech.edu to find out more about programs and training available.

Find all the services and resources at Pioneer Tech Business Services here.

OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE..... at City Central. The Link and Link II have plug and play office space available for your specific needs. Need a desk for a day? Gotcha covered with wifi included. Need an office for a week to meet clients or have business meetings? Why yes, The Link is ready to assist. If you need further information, give Aubrey or Lori a call at 580.765.7070 or check out more info at CityCentralPC. The public art and comfy waiting chairs are just bonus features for the daily, weekly or monthly rates.