November 12, 2021

11/18/2021

THIS WEEK…PCDA held its regularly scheduled Board of Trustee meeting on Thursday. And though we think this is the highlight of the week, dare we say month, many other things happened this week that bear mentioning. This past weekend was an absolutely amazing Veterans Day Parade with military marching bands, our local military officials (both past and present), local companies, Native American floats and performers, flyovers and the list goes on. The Ponca City Veterans Day Parade is one of the largest parades of its kind and the sidewalks were filled with families watching. Other wonderful things happening this week included meetings with education partners on workforce alignment and a copyright and trademark program.

On Wednesday, Ponca City Leadership had their Industry Day. Keep reading to find out more. Thursday was the actual Veteran's Day. Thank you for your service! In between these events staff met with 16 government entities on possible grants and programs, researched information and met with 102 existing industry partners and reached out to 50 new industries. Regional partners were met with over 50 different times and City Central had 123 Howdies and Welcome to the building. Small Business Saturday is right around the corner on November 27th, so start making those Christmas lists and get ready to shop small; shop local.

Paint by Numbers: Copyright and Trademark was presented this week by Chad Hinrichs, a patent attorney from the Tulsa area. Six people attended in person and several watched the Facebook live. If you would like to watch the video, please click here to view on the PCDA Facebook page.

Several questions were asked and answered. Artists chatted with each other and quite possibly, a few collaboration projects began this week. If you are a product developer, inventor or wanting to start a business, please give Kat a call at 580.761.3028 or email klong@goponca.com. Now is the time to figure out your next business steps.

The demand for employees continues to spike across the country; Wages are increasing - according to the DOL – with productivity decreasing. While an increase in the minimum wage has been a long time coming, this little data set provides some depth to the story. A pay wage increase is not the only thing that employees are wanting.

According to another article in Inc., employees just want to have fun! Not just party type of fun, but a good work environment, people that care about them as human beings, motivation which does include pay. As this pandemic continues to change the way we work, Ponca Works is here to help you navigate. Maybe this week – start by asking your employees what motivates them. This nugget of information will be helpful to know and also show them that you care.

The Ponca City Leadership class spent Wednesday with local industry. This included touring facilities as well as hearing about all the products and manufacturing capabilities of local industries. The day kicked of with an industry panel presented by owners and Facilities Managers giving an overview of their companies and their products. From left to right: Paul Gill, Bliss Industries; Garrett Bowers, Bowers Trucking & Logistics, Asish Adhikary, Continental Carbon and Mike Eckholt, Dorada Foods. That guy standing up is Laurence.

Ponca City Leadership is a great way to introduce yourself or a new employee to our great community. For more information on Industry, Call Laurence. For more information on Ponca City Leadership program, call the Chamber at 580.765.4400.