October sixth was "Thank a Manufacturer Day" (otherwise known as Manufacturing Day). Here in Ponca City, PCDA staff assists industry and especially our manufacturers, to start, run and grow. It's kind of our thing. This week, it has really been our thing. From another successful Trade Show Brigade at the ICBS Government Contracting Show in OKC all the way back to welcoming new planes to the NextGen hangar at the Ponca City airport, staff loves a good manufacturing story.

And our partners at the Chamber of Commerce keep us in the loop with retail and service growth (ribbon cuttings are serious business) and Pioneer Technology Center keeps the training programs for current and next workforce needs available year round. Staff gave you all the info about the PoHi internship program last week.

Manufacturing businesses are the backbone of the Ponca City community and staff wants everyone to know we have noticed. Ponca City is ranked fourth in the state for percentage of workforce to population actively employed in some type of manufacturing. And there is a lot of manufacturing in our state; illustrated by the fact that Oklahoma ranks #11 in the nation as a best state for manufacturing according to the Site Selection Group. You know, those people that talk to companies when they are seeking a new location or expansion. Sometimes, they know things.

So thank your friends who work at Dorada Foods, Cookshack or Head Country (food and ag manufacturing) or maybe your welder friend at Mertz or MJ&H. You might know someone employed at Century Products or K&C Manufacturing (contract manufacturing); Maybe your kid goes to school with someone whose parents work at QuarterTurn or Phillips66. And that's just the tip of the manufacturing iceberg here in Ponca City. Check out all the manufacturers here on goponca.com.

Recruiting workforce to a community is difficult. They don't know what we know: Ponca City is an excellent community to live, work and grow: grow your family, your business, your hobbies. There is a untapped workforce already in existence in the community: the stay at home moms; The soon to be graduated high school students; The back from college twenty-somethings. The key is making sure this workforce knows what is available job and career wise in the community. How does that happen? Let's begin this conversation with internship programs to anchor students to the community. Kids are watching adults all the time. They learn from experiencing things. Starting with Junior and Senior internship opportunities at the High School. This program won two awards this year from the International Economic Development Council for contributions in talent development and retention and partnerships in education.

Kendra Stolhand graduated last year from PoHi. Going into her senior year, she knew she wanted to go to college; just was not sure what direction to take. Enter My Media Matters internship. Kendra was able to shadow this multi-media company four hours a week, for two semesters. She is now a Freshman at OU, majoring in advertising. in her own words to her Women in Gaylord Leadership Team, "I had an amazing internship opportunity in high school where the workforce was all women. Not only did I feel empowered and supported, I learned the importance of giving everyone a seat at the table."

And then there is Parker Hoogeveen, Ponca City High School Senior, who is interning this year with the US Army Corps of Engineers at Kaw Lake. In the picture below, he (orange jacket) is helping complete routine yearly maintenance on the bridge deck above Kaw Lake Dam. 

PCDA is proud to be the catalyst for these types of success stories and a good community partner with our education system as staff continues to develop workforce alignment with existing employers and small business opportunities.

Chuck Norris Doesn't Sleep

…HE WAITS…or so the joke goes. That could be said for the way companies usually consider new facilities and/or new locations. They are not like candidates who parade around the country seeking headlines, sound bites, photo ops or clicks. Oh no, companies play their cards much closer to the vest and they only play them when they are ready. We tell you this because the latest, greatest PCDA spec building, “Duke” is just a couple of weeks away from being ready. PCDA has been asked if companies are lining up for Duke, but that’s not how companies operate.

PCDA has let over 120 companies know, so far, about the new building. Mind you, this includes companies that we know are looking for something (there is a thing called “business intelligence”…just don’t tell anyone) as well as those that we think would be a good fit for Duke and Ponca City. But, like Chuck Norris, they wait. Please also don’t misunderstand the waiting thing either. We are not suggesting that there are companies watching Duke ready to pounce when the building is done. Companies rarely work like that. Keep in mind that a building like Duke is going to be good for a mid-sized company, not a huge mega corporation that has excess staff people who have nothing better to do than focus on long term planning. It might also surprise some to know that companies are not in business to employ people or help communities. They make a product or provide a service, and 125% of their time is focused on that.

Moving to a new building is something businesses are not thinking about, unless it becomes super dupper necessary. Most businesses avoid moving because it’s big time disruptive. When the decision is made to move and they absolutely need to find a new building, they are only going to look for a building that is ready; not one that will be. It would be unusual for there to be a line for a spec building. In fact, the nationwide average is about four years from the completion of a spec building until a tenant moves in. We don’t think Duke will take that long to get adopted. The fun starts when it’s completed and that should be by the end of this month.

Congratulations to PCDA

Not to brag, but we will: Your Ponca City economic development office is free to brag about the six awards PCDA and our community took home last month at the Annual International Economic Development Council Conference held in Dallas, Texas. The infographic below tells the story (four golds and two silvers are Ponca City's) and staff has other pictures if you would like to see the slideshow. Programs winning gold awards were the Business Retention & Expansion program The Shared Equipment Program which is designed to assist local manufacturing and industry with large scale equipment which can be shared by many companies. The Shared Equipment Program won two awards: Business Retention & Expansion and Innovative Programs & Initiatives. The Wildcat Internship Program won gold awards in Talent Development and Retention & Partnerships in Education.

All of these awards have a partnership component: Wildcat Internships with Ponca City Public Schools and The Shared Equipment Program with Pioneer Technology Center, but these last of our six awards are definitely partnership based: The Hispanic Heritage Festival won silver for Economic Equity & Inclusion as did The Ice on the Plaza for Neighborhood Development. Hats off to the Hispanic Oklahoma Latino Association (HOLA) for all their work on the Festival and a standing ovation to Ponca City Main Street and their Board for Ice on the Plaza. Teamwork makes the Dream work.

Incidentally, Ponca City was the only community winning six awards in total. We know that 'cause we counted. That is out of 580 entry nominations. PCDA Staff thanks all our partners, stakeholders and the Ponca City community for their unwavering support.