Doug Loudenback
09-20-2008, 01:08 AM
See Editors' Location Picks 2008 - Business Facilities (http://www.businessfacilities.com/bf_08_09_cover.php)
Editors' Location Picks 2008
These gems didn't just catch our eye with a quick flash. Their consistent economic development sparkle earned them front-and-center display in our annual showcase.
By Donna Clapp
Each year, the Business Facilities editorial team is exposed to a tsunami of marketing brochures, press releases and data from locations throughout the country that are vying for their place in the economic development spotlight. We attend the major conferences that are magnets for development specialists, and try to visit as many states as we can squeeze into a jam-packed schedule.
With about 250 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to choose from, there always are tough decisions to make about coverage. Inevitably, there are some gems that catch our eye along the way but do not make it into our showcase.
That's why, beginning last year, we created an annual cover story that we call Editors' Location Picks, which gives us an opportunity to revisit some special places that drew our attention during the previous months and give them the attention we feel they have earned.
* * *
Oklahoma City, OK
One of the things that impresses us about locations is an innovative approach to attracting new industries and corporations. What could be more innovative than taking the steps necessary to create a whole new industry in your city? That's exactly what Oklahoma City did a little over a decade ago; now the city is reaping the benefits in a big way with an industry-hospitality-that is now one of its fastest growing sectors in job creation.
"In the 1990s our economic development team was doing what everyone else in the country was doing and that was going after large projects by trying to use only tax incentives to get companies to come here," explains Roy Williams, CEO and president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. "We were not successful, and at that point the leadership here made a strategic decision to concentrate instead on making this a better place to live. We called it the Metropolitan Area Program (MAP), and we asked the voters for a temporary one-cent sales tax that would last for five years. This paid for $350 million worth of improvements we made to the metro area.
"We built a canal, put dams in the river, built a Triple-A baseball stadium and the Ford Center, a sports center built to NHL and NBA standards-even though we did not have those teams at that time. We built a trolley system, a convention center and a new library for downtown as well. We renovated the performing arts center and our fairgrounds," Williams says. "It was an investment in the city that paid off wildly. We've had $3.4 billion in corporate investment pour into the city as a result. Our fairgrounds host 14 major national and international horse shows and bring in $250 million annually. And because the Ford Center was built to NBA standards, we are now getting an NBA team here. We also now have a $150 million American Indian Cultural Center that's part of the Smithsonian being built here."
All of that work launched Oklahoma City as a tourism destination for the first time in its history. But that's not why Forbes just voted it the "most recession-proof metro in the country." That ranking is due to an industry that's been part of Oklahoma City's economy for decades-the oil drilling industry. The metro area has several large corporations that specialize in drilling for oil and natural gas. Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy were both launched in and headquartered in Oklahoma City. Chesapeake employs 3,000; Devon has a workforce of 1,500. Most importantly, both companies have continued to grow with Chesapeake, adding about 30 to 50 employees a month, according to Williams.
The OKC Chamber is committed to continuing to diversify the metro's industry base as well by targeting some high-growth sectors such as bioscience, information technology, and aviation/aerospace.
"Our biggest strength is our workforce. We have 17 universities in the metropolitan area. That's an average of 120,000 college students and 20,000 college graduates every year, holding degrees in every field from energy to IT to the arts," says Williams. "We also have Tinker Air Force Base, which has 26,000 military personnel. Many of them retire in their 30s and 40s with 20 years of technology experience under their belt. So that's a huge talent pool ready to be tapped right here. In fact, Dell looked at 126 cities and they'll tell you that they picked us because of our talented, concentrated labor pool."
The list of the 7 cities gaining favor in the article were, in this order:
Salt Lake City
Midland TX
Syracuse NY
Greater Philadelphia
Oklahoma City
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Wichita
Editors' Location Picks 2008
These gems didn't just catch our eye with a quick flash. Their consistent economic development sparkle earned them front-and-center display in our annual showcase.
By Donna Clapp
Each year, the Business Facilities editorial team is exposed to a tsunami of marketing brochures, press releases and data from locations throughout the country that are vying for their place in the economic development spotlight. We attend the major conferences that are magnets for development specialists, and try to visit as many states as we can squeeze into a jam-packed schedule.
With about 250 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to choose from, there always are tough decisions to make about coverage. Inevitably, there are some gems that catch our eye along the way but do not make it into our showcase.
That's why, beginning last year, we created an annual cover story that we call Editors' Location Picks, which gives us an opportunity to revisit some special places that drew our attention during the previous months and give them the attention we feel they have earned.
* * *
Oklahoma City, OK
One of the things that impresses us about locations is an innovative approach to attracting new industries and corporations. What could be more innovative than taking the steps necessary to create a whole new industry in your city? That's exactly what Oklahoma City did a little over a decade ago; now the city is reaping the benefits in a big way with an industry-hospitality-that is now one of its fastest growing sectors in job creation.
"In the 1990s our economic development team was doing what everyone else in the country was doing and that was going after large projects by trying to use only tax incentives to get companies to come here," explains Roy Williams, CEO and president of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. "We were not successful, and at that point the leadership here made a strategic decision to concentrate instead on making this a better place to live. We called it the Metropolitan Area Program (MAP), and we asked the voters for a temporary one-cent sales tax that would last for five years. This paid for $350 million worth of improvements we made to the metro area.
"We built a canal, put dams in the river, built a Triple-A baseball stadium and the Ford Center, a sports center built to NHL and NBA standards-even though we did not have those teams at that time. We built a trolley system, a convention center and a new library for downtown as well. We renovated the performing arts center and our fairgrounds," Williams says. "It was an investment in the city that paid off wildly. We've had $3.4 billion in corporate investment pour into the city as a result. Our fairgrounds host 14 major national and international horse shows and bring in $250 million annually. And because the Ford Center was built to NBA standards, we are now getting an NBA team here. We also now have a $150 million American Indian Cultural Center that's part of the Smithsonian being built here."
All of that work launched Oklahoma City as a tourism destination for the first time in its history. But that's not why Forbes just voted it the "most recession-proof metro in the country." That ranking is due to an industry that's been part of Oklahoma City's economy for decades-the oil drilling industry. The metro area has several large corporations that specialize in drilling for oil and natural gas. Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy were both launched in and headquartered in Oklahoma City. Chesapeake employs 3,000; Devon has a workforce of 1,500. Most importantly, both companies have continued to grow with Chesapeake, adding about 30 to 50 employees a month, according to Williams.
The OKC Chamber is committed to continuing to diversify the metro's industry base as well by targeting some high-growth sectors such as bioscience, information technology, and aviation/aerospace.
"Our biggest strength is our workforce. We have 17 universities in the metropolitan area. That's an average of 120,000 college students and 20,000 college graduates every year, holding degrees in every field from energy to IT to the arts," says Williams. "We also have Tinker Air Force Base, which has 26,000 military personnel. Many of them retire in their 30s and 40s with 20 years of technology experience under their belt. So that's a huge talent pool ready to be tapped right here. In fact, Dell looked at 126 cities and they'll tell you that they picked us because of our talented, concentrated labor pool."
The list of the 7 cities gaining favor in the article were, in this order:
Salt Lake City
Midland TX
Syracuse NY
Greater Philadelphia
Oklahoma City
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Wichita