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Ponca City Development Authority WEEKLY UPDATE     
July 11, 2014
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?" ...twas the theme at yesterday's PCDA Board of Trustees meeting. Trustees (May the sun shine full upon them) wanted to know what the PCDA staff had done since their bosses last got together in June. Taking a nervous gulp, PCDA staffers noted that there had been 45 contacts with new companies last month. That brought the yearly total to 283. We use "year" here because the PCDA fiscal year ends June 30th and we think that using stuff like that makes us look smart. That 283 is the highest number of new company contacts since 2009-2010 when we threw ourselves at new companies 304 times. Ya'll will remember 2009-2010 and why we were so aggressive that year. In June, PCDA also saw existing companies 65 times bringing the yearly total to 979 meetings. There were other contacts but, more importantly, all of this resulted in a total of 252 "but for" jobs in Ponca City last "year". Actually, since things take time, the 252 jobs were, for the most part, the result of the contacts made in 2012-2013. PCDA is harder than most on what jobs we count, requiring a very bright line (as in documentation) to the jobs we count. A lot of our colleagues in other cities, (May the wind blow harshly in their faces) count all jobs added in their communities regardless of their role in the development of those jobs (so there). Since PCDA was launched in July of 2003, over 3,500 jobs (3,507 to be exact) have been developed. It's easy to count them when you actually have paperwork to back it up.

 UPCOMING......

 

Mon, July 17-19: Young Entrepreneurs/Innovators Conference at Autry Tech Workshop & Competition. See flyer below for info.   

July 19-24 -MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS at the Jack Blevins Motocross Park. www.mxsports.com  

July 24-26: Crazy Day in Ponca City.  Deals and steals with the retail community all around Ponca City.  

Thurs, Aug. 7th: Certified Healthy Community Lunch & Learn - City Commission Chamber at 11:30.  Lunch is provided.  Call 765-4400 to reserve a seat.  

THIS WEEK....well we swore our two newest trustees, Natalie Fraser and Joe DeNoya in (see picture on the left. Guess which is which and you'll get a free one year subscription to the PCDA Weekly Update!). Other than that, the PCDA staff was down two people, or put another way we're operating at 60% capacity due to vacations. These days off have been earned, however, so we can't begrudge the time off. Nevertheless, there were nine new companies contacted this week along with five site consultants. The new company outreach focus was mostly on the former Sykes building and the objective was to get companies that might have an interest in that building to look this way. That does not mean these companies are necessarily looking for a new facility but one must start somewhere. The main challenge with the Sykes building, according to businesses with whom we have talked, is the same thing that caused Sykes to close it....lack of a workforce. To ensure that other Ponca City businesses do not suffer the same fate, Blue Wave was at a job fair in Broken Arrow (see below) yesterday and spent time with about a half a dozen Ponca City businesses this week. PCDA also started the ball rolling on one infrastructure project and one large non-infrastructure project. There was also work done on a potential "sorta" infrastructure project and a couple of marketing projects started and completed.

 

HEALTHY COMMUNITY....Lunch & Learn is just around the corner and your business is invited to attend. Why? you ask. Many reasons come to mind but here is one that involves money, funding. Grants even.  There are several types of funding available to businesses, non-profits, community groups and tribes revolving around the health of a particular segment of the population (think children, neighborhoods, industrial parks or business participation targeting health studies). This Lunch & Learn involves participation in the Certified Healthy Oklahoma program which certifies schools, businesses and communities as "healthy" within a specific set of criteria.  Join our Ponca City Healthy Community Coalition (did we mention Ponca City is a certified healthy community?) on Thursday, August 7th at 11:30 a.m. in the City Commission Chamber at City Hall.  RSVPs would be appreciated as a free lunch will be served.  Just call the Chamber of Commerce at 765.4400 to reserve a seat at the table and become an active member of this healthy community.    

SEEK AND FIND......which is a little different woman_soldier_flag.jpgthan hide and seek. What are we seeking? Workforce of course.  If you are in the know (which means you read last week's July 4th Special Edition), you know it is not easy to connect those seeking employment with companies searching for employees with specific skills, training and education. In fact, this "seek and find" has become a large part of what we in economic development call Business Retention & Expansion or BR&E.  Look, an acronym to add to your collection.   Retaining our local companies and assisting expansions is our number one priority and right now that means workforce.  This week Ponca Blue Wave was recruiting in Tulsa at a military veterans job fair.  These types of job fairs happen all over the U.S. and cater specifically to recently retired or released military.  These men and women are focused and have many job skills including logistics, project management, IT, mechanical and Human Resources.  Any of these ringing a bell for your company?  Call Sarah or e-mail [email protected] to find out how to get on the list for this type of workforce recruitment.  We Want You... well, you get the idea.    


             NEW JOB POSTINGS!!
 

New jobs have been posted on www.poncabluewave.com.  Did you get the e-mail blast this week?  If yes, look over the new job listings. If not, and you are job hunting for yourself (or possibly someone else) what are you waiting for?  Go to PoncaBlueWave.com right now and send your information (e-mail, phone and resume). Well? What are you waiting for? Right now people.  Employers are looking for employees; they are looking for you.This site changes daily, so be sure to check back regularly! And even if you do not see the job you're looking for listed now, submit your resume and we will work to find you the perfect opportunity.  Promise; cross our hearts.


Blue Wave was out recruiting for Ponca City at a military job fair in Tulsa this week.  Is YOUR company interested in recruiting military veterans? 
Call Sarah to get your company on the list.
Ponca City Development Authority
Office Phone: 580-765-7070
Fax: 580-765-0969
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