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Ponca City Development Authority WEEKLY UPDATE     
October 17, 2014

SO THIS WEEK...PCDA spent a lot of time on several projects that we will thoroughly brief you on and name names. Okay that was funny. Let's try that again. We spent time on that company, (wink wink) meeting with people and talking about stuff...clear enough? We also hung out with a company that's new to town working on yet more stuff. Clear yet? We were in Kansas with another of our companies looking for a workforce at a plant that closed in a community there, (see below, ya'll). One of our staffers was sent to a re-education program this week to insure that they were enlightened and saw things the one, true way. We also bumped seven new companies about a building in the industrial park, (it's Sykes but that's just between us) hoping to get their attention and convince them that if they come here, we can find the workforce. We swarmed over five site consultants doing the same thing. We pinged four other local companies about, you know...stuff, and spent way too much time fixing a computer problem. Not to worry, this problem was not contagious but we didn't alert the national media, not that they would ever whip up a panic over anything.

 UPCOMING......

 

Sat. Oct. 18:  60th Birthday party for Continental Carbon in Ponca City; 1-5 p.m. Lake Ponca   

 

Fri, Oct 24: Marland Childrens Home Fall Festival  www.marland childrenshome.com  

 

Wed, Oct 29: WBT Unmanned Aerial Systems conference in Stillwater. Registration 

 

Thursday, Oct 30: Zombie Walk on Grand at 5:00 at 1st & Grand. PC Zombies 

Thursday, October 30:  Goblins on Grand, 5:30 to 7:30 pm.  Bring the family. 

BACK IN THE DAY...it wasn't too long ago that Continental Carbon was dealing with a lot of challenges. The company has wor  ked hard to overcome those and, today, is an important employer of about 100 people in Ponca City. Tomorrow,  however, the company celebrates it's 60th year in Ponca City and they are inviting the public to join them for the party! It kicks off from 1:00 to 5:00 tomorrow at Lake Ponca. It will have numerous fun activities for the whole family and good food, in the form of Head Country BBQ and extremely wet water provided by Quality Water. PCDA does not often use this space to announce things like this but we also don't often see a company open up their company picnic to the public. So if you're a public and your schedule allows, come on out and wish ConCarb a happy birthday, enjoy the products of the other two fine Ponca City companies, and celebrate 60 years of payroll and a very important economic engine of our community.

HEALTHCARE QUESTIONS ANSWERED... that made you look, didn't it? Do you have questions about healthcare?  Doesn't everyone, companies included?  Well, this is your lucky day.  The Oklahoma Healthcare Gurus will be in the house on Thursday, November 13th for a Lunch & Learn cosponsored by the PC Chamber, PC Main Street, PCDA and PC Healthy Coalition. That is a whole lot of PC and we like it when it supports our Ponca City industry and their employees.  Now if you just looked at your calendar and you can't possibly make that day, the program will be Livestreamed (in real time) and you can text, e-mail or call in any questions you need answered.  Welcome to technology that will actually make your life easier! Stay tuned over the next few weeks for more information about this Lunch & Learn, Livestreaming and where to send those texts, e-mails or phoning. As the name implies, this will be a lunchtime program 11:30 to 1:00 pm at Pioneer Technology Center in the Seminar Room, Thursday November 13th.  Box lunch will be provided.  Mark your calendars and write down those healthcare questions as they come up over the next month. See you live or on Livestream!

A POLITICIAN, A PCDA BOARD MEMBER AND AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPER GO INTO A BAR...bartender asks "what'll you have?" The politician says "Votes." The board member says "Results." The economic developer says ""An appropriate location quotient based upon thriving clusters and demographically accurate projections of appropriate skill levels in demand occupations." Okay, so you had to be there. "There" in this case was the Oklahoma Economic Development Summit held in OKC last week. All three of these groups were there. So, too, were site consultants and city people. While the ED types, (careful) were busy laughing at that very funny joke, (our jokes may not be your jokes) the conference really boiled down to A) Take care of your existing businesses; B) Try and find a workforce somewhere; and C) Market the heck out of your community because there is a lot of noise out there. Ponca City was mentioned by speakers quite favorably several times including once by ex-pat Tim Burg as he sat on a panel talking about workforce. On the question of business attraction the focus should be, at least so said the experts, on what a community has that is unique and special. The specifics will help PCDA calibrate our economic development programs moving forward. The additional contacts with state officials is a necessary and ongoing need since many companies make the state their first stop when looking at Oklahoma. Staying on the map of state officials in bright colors is important.
Ponca City won the Bellmon Responsible Economic Growth Sustainability Award last week.  Smith Bits and PCDA Representatives were there
to accept the award for the Lighten the Load Project.
 Read the the whole story at GoPonca.com
             
         TRAVELING AGAIN....
 

 

PoncaWorks was in two places at once this week and whew, are we tired. While Sarah was in Chicago getting educated on all things economic development, and probably schooling a few on workforce recruitment, other staff members headed up to Coffeyville, Kansas.  Actually, a whole contingent of Ponca City employers headed to the Amazon Distribution Center in Coffeyville.  Amazon has announced the closure of the Coffeyville facility in 2015. PoncaWorks was on hand to show off Ponca City as a wonderful place to live, a great place to work (jobs are available) and a fun place to play.  Live, Work, Play, get it? Many Amazonians were interested and we are planning our next visit to Coffeyville for workforce recruiting. If you know someone working at Amazon, invite them over for a Ponca City visit. After all, Ponca Citians are our best salespeople. 
 

To hear about job opportunities in Ponca City, get on our PoncaWorks email blast list, or refer a friend looking for work, contact Sarah at 580-765-7070 or slinn@goponca.com.

 

Ponca has jobs!  We just need the right people to fill them.
Ponca City Development Authority
Office Phone: 580-765-7070
Fax: 580-765-0969
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