July 15, 2022

7/15/2022

KEEPING IT LOCAL...... and by "IT" staff means everything. Can you buy locally? Yes, you can. We realize sometimes it costs a bit more to buy local, but you are supporting local families and businesses with your purchases. And using less gas, which right now, is a good thing! Buying groceries in town is easy: how about buying clothes, shoes, glasses, braces, etc.... We hate to harp; However, if COVID has taught our small community anything it is a community must support our local businesses so we can keep them running. Places like the Farmer's Market only happen for a few months, but your relationship with these local growers can last a lifetime. Explore local shops, check out local restaurants and of course, check in with friends and family. You never know when someone you know has decided to start a business; until you ask.

Downtown Ponca City is hopping with new businesses opening. Keep reading to see local building projects, local trustees being appointed and local young artists. Crazy Days are just around the corner, so go crazy! Take a walk on the downtown side of Ponca City. See you there.

WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH…Kirk Brown became one of PCDA’s favorite people, after you of course, when he was sworn in to the PCDA Board of Trustees this past Monday. PCDA Board Members are called “Trustees” because they oversee the use of the dedicated economic development sales tax and they volunteer their time to do so. They also don’t take the “trust” in “Trustee” lightly, and take an oath to do that, hence the ceremony at City Hall on Monday. Kirk replaces outgoing PCDA Chair Lee Evans who came to the end of his term-limited term at the end of June. Kirk is the President of K&C Manufacturing, located in the Airport Industrial Park. Since PCDA’s primary focus is on manufacturing, it helps to have manufacturers represented. They know what works, what the challenges are, where the opportunities are and so forth. The new PCDA Chair, Nancy Laffey, will take over in that role next Thursday when the Trustees get together sans Lee and plus Kirk for the first time. If you are keeping score, it is true that the PCDA meeting was moved from yesterday (July 14^th) to next Thursday (7:30 a.m. in the Gravity Room of City Central, 400 East Central in Ponca City). It is also true that the oath of office is typically administered at the beginning of PCDA meetings not as a stand-alone event. Mayor Nicholson, however, has a lot on his plate on July 21^st so the brief ceremony, and the tears and applause that followed, were moved up so that he could swear in the person the City Commission appointed (see how that works?). As Ferris Bueller once observed, “life moves pretty fast…” so you, or in this case PCDA, adjusts to schedules and circumstances.

INDUSTRIAL PARK GROWTH......The Airport Industrial Park is getting ready to grow. Equipment is being delivered to the job site for the new Duke spec building. This project along with an expansion project on the Cookshack building (background) should see dirt work commencing in the next few weeks. Stay tuned for all the updates on Duke as we get ready to market this new building. Check out the virtual building here.

SHOPPING LOCAL......is something staff, The Chamber, The City and our local businesses say over and over. And here is why: Shopping local allows small business to survive and thrive. Take Central Cafe, the small cafe which opened this April in City Central. Central Cafe has coffee, salads and sandwiches but also fresh pressed juices, smoothies and vegan options. This is a niche cafe. And it is thriving. Why? Because local people are shopping (and eating) locally. YAY! The Chamber Ribbon Cutting was this week to officially welcome owner Kal to the family. Stop in sometime and get some grub. Good for you food that tastes good! Open M-W-F, 7 to 3pm. Follow Central Cafe on Facebook and Instagram.

BUYING LOCAL.....can be as easy as hanging out with local farmers and buying local eggs, meat and chicken. Local cafes are buying eggs from local suppliers, dare we say Farmers, who have found a marketplace during COVID as local suppliers of real food. No chicken at the grocery store? Check out RLC Farms or Sheets Farm. Local Pork? Same people plus Half Pound Farm. Don't like to prep your own food? Check out Grand Cafe, J Cobbs or Central Cafe for locally sourced meat and produce. And staff are sure there are more. Just ask your favorite restaurant some questions. Buying local has never been easier or more rewarding.

LOCAL ARTISTS.......City Central hosted Art Camp this week for ages small to large. This picture is from the immersion room designed and painted by the Art Camp Director and instructors. And we all loved it! Make sure to check out all the campers out of this work art today from 9 to noon in the John McNeese Gallery located on the First floor of City Central.

Local art is booming in our community. Go on a "Fox Hunt" for the painted and 3D foxes located all over downtown. Check out art in the alley and stay tuned for more art tours all over Ponca City.