The Workforce & Education Summit held at Pioneer Technology Center yesterday was a hit. Keynote speaker Mark Perna opened the day with a dynamic presentation on Focus, Plan and Action when addressing workforce and education alignment and current workforce gaps. Perna gave a "call to action" for the employers, educators and support organizations in the room. This lead into a panel discussion of local employers (picture above) talking about pressure points. Moderator for the panel was Adam Leaming, Ponca City Public School Superintendent; (standing) and from left to right seated: Mark Perna; Chris Mendoza, Integris Hospital; Robbie Powell, Cookshack; Erik Peitz, CME and Jeff Williams, Centerline. Topics on the panel included what types of programs each of the businesses had to recruit and keep employees, training and future plans to fill their employee pipelines.
Next up was an interactive lunchtime with table discussions followed by Joe Cox and John Woods presenting information on registered apprenticeships. This included how to get started, the funding that is available (yes, there is money for your company's apprenticeship program) and how their office will sit down with your company to fill out the paperwork. Then Gen Z took the stage. Laurence Beliel, PCDA was the moderator for these twenty somethings who are living and/or working in our community. They had a lot to say about being in the workforce, what motivates them to work and why they do what they do. From left to right below: Dylan Magic, CPM Bliss; Jenna Wells, WTA Architects; Maddie Newcomb, Marland's Place and Josh Brown K&C Manufacturing. These Z'ers gave the room some lighthearted moments, from calling the 40 hour work week "A scam" to emphasizing that there has to be life/work balance for employees. Not just Gen Z, but everyone. Whether you were a participant, a panelist or a partner, PCDA, Pioneer Technology Center, NOC and The Ponca City Chamber thank you for being part of this conversation. Because this is just the start. Fill out those surveys and get ready for more conversations on the future of workforce and education in Ponca City. If you have questions or would like access to the information shared during the Summit, please contact Liz Leaming at lleaming@goponca or call the office at 580.765.7070.
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![]() Gamemasters Guild, a 2019 PCDA Business Plan Pitch-off participant, had an idea for a mobile gaming unit. Because they like to share their passion for tabletop and board games, this homegrown small business wanted to take their business on the road to smaller communities lacking a hobby store. Enter The Backing Small Businesses Grant. This grant will enable GMG to take our business on the road and engage more gamers, board and electronic, young and old alike. "Look for us at your next community event!" stated Matt Prater, one of the owners of Gamemasters Guild. "Though we are excited to receive this national grant, our local economic development office, PCDA, has always been a small business cheerleader," continued Prater. "Without the Business Plan Pitch-off Competition, and the City of Ponca City Grant in 2022, our hobby business would not have survived one year, let alone COVID." Gamemaster's Guild received a $10,000 Backing Small Businesses Grant presented by American Express, in partnership with Main Street America. They were one of only 500 recipients of this program. The program's 2024 grant recipients represent U.S. small businesses across all 50 states, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico. Later this year, grantees will have the opportunity to apply for an additional $30,000 enhancement grant that will be awarded to 25 small businesses. Since launching in 2021, Backing Small Businesses has provided over $9 million in grants to 1,180 small business owners nationwide. American Express and Main Street America initially created the grant program to help economically vulnerable small business owners recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and grow their businesses. This program is part of American Express’ “Backing Small” initiative to provide financial support and resources to small business owners experiencing economic hardships. Other Backing Small grant programs include Backing Historic Small Restaurants and Backing International Small Restaurants. Backing Small is an extension of American Express’ longstanding commitment to support small independent businesses globally, including through its Shop Small movement and Small Business Saturday campaign, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. Meet the most recent Backing Small Businesses Enhancement Grant Recipients: https://mainstreet.org/the-latest/news/500-small-business-owners-receive-10-000-grants-through-backing-small-businesses-program To learn more about the Backing Small Businesses grant program and learn about the grantees, click here. ![]() PCDA is committed to combat the housing crisis limiting rural communities' growth. Recent data from a comprehensive housing study conducted this spring revealed startling statistics: only 121 houses have been constructed in Ponca City over the past decade, underscoring a critical shortage of affordable housing options in the area. "For years, Ponca City has faced the challenges posed by a limited housing supply," remarked Lori Henderson, Executive Director of PCDA. "The demand for affordable, quality housing has consistently outpaced supply, stalling our community's growth potential and impacting our ability to attract and retain a diverse workforce." PCDA is pleased to announce the allocation of one million dollars towards housing initiatives over the next three years to assist with Ponca City's housing needs. Since November 2023, a dedicated committee composed of PCDA trustees, community members, city commissioners, and PCDA staff has convened monthly to devise strategies to address the housing shortage. After extensive deliberations and collaboration, the amendments of Housing and Retail have been added to the PCDA trust indenture. "In April of this year, following votes by both the PCDA board of trustees and the city commission, we finalized amendments to the trust indenture to include incentives aimed at stimulating housing development," Henderson explained. "These incentives are designed to complement the City of Ponca City's existing Housing Incentive Program (HIP), ensuring that developers receive additional support to undertake crucial housing projects." The decision to align with the City's HIP program reflects PCDA's commitment to leveraging resources effectively to foster housing development. Henderson expressed optimism about the partnership's potential impact on the local housing market. Chris Henderson, from the City Development Services Department, has played a pivotal role in facilitating these initiatives, ensuring that projects are streamlined and supported from inception to completion. This one million dollar investment towards housing initiatives over the next three years, demonstrates a substantial financial commitment to addressing Ponca City's housing needs. "We are excited about the prospects ahead and remain dedicated to advancing solutions that will enhance housing accessibility in Ponca City," concluded Henderson. Find out more about the Ponca City HIP 2.0 program and the complete Ponca City Housing Study here.
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. Trustee Lanita Chapman Ponca City Development Authority 2017 to 2023 Workforce Assistance for the Employer and Future Employee
Find out more and ask all your questions at the September 8th Lunch & Learn at Pioneer Technology Center. Call 580.765.4400 to Register. These services are funded through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. To be eligible for our programs, participants must meet certain eligibility guidelines that constitute a barrier to finding gainful employment. All of these services are free to employers and job seekers alike. FISHING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT…The connection between fishing and economic development here is really metaphorical. PCDA has seen a number of leads recently that want big, big things. Is it real or are some companies simply throwing a line into the water to see what’s there and/or what a community is willing to do to attract them? Companies often will contact economic development organizations like PCDA and say that they want, for example, 500 acres for a plant that will create 2,500 jobs and will pay big time bucks. Obviously, your friendly neighborhood PCDA is going to jump all over that if we have anything close to what they want. It is the “what they want” that is sometimes telling.
Cont. from newsletter……We’re not talking about incentives, here…that conversation will happen down the road if it goes that far. What they generally start with are the basics. They may start by asking if there are large numbers of unemployed AND a big parcel of land AND a rail spur to that parcel of land AND a power grid that can supply a tremendous amount of electricity AND more water than a community has access to AND, AND AND. The moral of our story is two fold. The first is that companies look for specific things first. They don’t look for a community first and then see if that community has specific things. Do you have, they may ask, 2,500 people looking for work that have the specific skill sets the company is seeking? Does your community have 500 acres that you own to just give to my company? Do you have access to an ongoing supply of water that would double what Ponca City currently uses? Are you willing to have your environment degraded so that we can create 50 new jobs? You get the idea. The second moral is that even if you have those things AND are willing to give up (or tolerate) those things, the economic environment may cause the company to reconsider and not do the project at all. At the end of the day, most leads are really companies thinking about what they might want to do, not commitments (yet) to do it. Nena Tacos is the Ponca City Pitch-Off Champion
Ponca City, OK - Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA) hosted the Sixth Annual Business Plan Pitch-off Friday, March 11th. Going pitch to pitch were Nena Tacos and Central Café with their business plan submissions the previous week. Nena Tacos and Central Café pitched to three judges for a chance at cash and local incentives in support of their business growth. “We are excited to host this type of small business competition which supports start-ups and existing small businesses looking to grow a new product or service,” stated Kat Long, Small Business and Information Coordinator for PCDA. “The Pitch-off has been an effective way to pull start-ups out of the planning stages into the “doing” stage. We could not do this type of program without the direction of the PCDA Board of Trustees and support of our partner Pioneer Technology Center Business Services; especially Ben Evans, Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator.” Nena Tacos received high score and praise from the judges for a good food truck concept and the family work ethic which will assist them going forward. The Nena in “Nena Tacos” is Mom Nena, and along with her son Abran Farias and his wife Kaitlin, are equal owners and will operate the truck in various locations in and around Ponca City. “This has always been Nena’s dream: to cook authentic Mexican food from her family to yours in an accessible way” said Abran during the Pitch-off. “We thank Jeff MacKinnon at Equity Bank for working with us over the last two years; Ben Evans at Pioneer Technology Center who showed us the value of writing a Business Plan and this Pitch-off, which I believed was scarier than anything we have accomplished so far.” Nena Tacos has agreements to set-up at Equity Bank locations, the University Center, Vortex Alley Brewing and other locations. They intend to be at festivals such as The Ponca City Art Festival, Charlie Adams Day, Herb Festival and many more. Like them on Facebook to see their schedule, menu and pricing. During this year of kindness campaign by our Ponca City Chamber, the Farias familia added one more act to their acceptance speech. They announced to the judges and Kal Cloonan, pitching for Central Café, that Nena Tacos will split the cash incentive of $2000 with Central Café and give them the free office space for a year. Needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the house. Thank you local judges Jodi Cline, Edward Jones; Shane Blaes, RCB Bank and Kerri Bowman, Community National Bank for sharing your time and talent with this PCDA program. The next Business Plan Pitch-off is scheduled for Friday, June 10th with business plans to be submitted by close of business Wednesday, June 1st. Businesses must be based in Ponca City whether store front, online, manufacturing or back office. For more information and to participate in the next Pitch-off, contact Kat Long at 580.761.3028 or email [email protected] for more information. Congratulations to Nena Tacos LLC and Central Cafe. For more information on PCDA, community development programs and business incentives, visit www.goponca.com *************************** Pictured Lt to Rt: David Myers, PCDA Executive Director; Kal Cloonan, Central Cafe; Kaitlin, Natalie, Abron and Nena Farias, Nena Tacos LLC; Kat Long, PCDA and Ben Evans, Pioneer Technology Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator. The Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA) and five local industrial companies travelled to Arlington, Texas recently to visit with hundreds of companies seeking industrial products many of which are made in Ponca City. Called the “Trade Show Brigade,” the trip was the tenth such mission sponsored by PCDA since the program began eight years ago.
PCDA and the companies participated in the two day “Design2Part” trade show, an event held each year for manufacturing companies in the region. The show brings together hundreds of companies primarily from the North Texas region to attend educational seminars and to meet with potential supply chain partners. PCDA sponsors a trade booth for each company to set up and meet with potential customers during the show. Laurence Beliel, PCDA’s Director of Business Retention and Expansion Laurence said the Design2Part show offers a “target rich” opportunity for Ponca City companies to get in front of potential customers. “This show is made for companies that do contract manufacturing. Very few manufacturing companies make all of the parts that they need so they come to a trade show like this looking for someone who can make a product they need. It’s really a great business to business chance to introduce our companies to new potential customers.” This is the tenth trade show that PCDA has sponsored for local industry. PCDA pays for the booth space, the companies themselves pay for their travel and their time. Beliel said that the Design2Part show in particular has been extremely successful for Ponca City companies. “It’s not at all unusual for our local companies to get orders during the trade show and several sign confidentiality agreements to talk about potential manufacturing opportunities that they can’t even tell me about. Joining the “brigade” this year were Centerline, K&C Manufacturing, Moonlight Machine, Precision Metal Fab and Source Fabrication. “These companies are bright and really good at coming up with a solution to a need a company has. Even though they sometimes compete with each other, they left that at the door and worked really well together,” Beliel said. “They were great ambassadors for Ponca City.” As the success of the program has grown, so too has participation. “There were five companies that went this year, that’s a new high for us,” said PCDA Executive Director David Myers. “A couple of years ago we had been looking at other trade shows for other local industry sectors but COVID set things back. We expect that to resume as things get back to normal.” The PCDA program, according to Myers, is unique in the economic development world. “I’m not aware of any other area that is doing this right now.” He added that the program provides another way to grow an economy beyond a single focus on trying to recruit new companies. “When you don’t have a workforce or available industrial buildings you need to look at new ways to grow and diversify. This is harder for the public to see than a big announcement for a new company, but it is every bit as effective at growing jobs and wages in a way that can be managed in a labor constrained market like ours,” he said. The program was recognized as an outstanding innovation in economic development in 2020 by the International Economic Development Council. Myers says he expects to see other areas try and copy the PCDA approach. “The only surprise for me is that other areas haven’t tried it so far,” he said. “There is a lot of opportunity out there but other areas don’t have our secret weapons. They don’t have the kind of agile, talented, supportive companies that you find in Ponca City. They also don’t have Laurence Beliel.” |