Collaboration was the underlying theme reinforced by each speaker at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s State of the Region held last month at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The new event was inspired by the opportunities lying within the region and gathered leaders from around it to discuss where we are and what’s next. Christy Gillenwater, president and CEO of the Chamber, educated the more than 500 attendees on the health and growth of the Greater OKC metro and the 10-county partnership area. The Greater Oklahoma City (GOKC) Regional Partnership was born more than 20 years ago as a way of bringing all the communities together to improve economic development opportunities. Gillenwater discussed the region’s demographics, including its population, which grew by 180,000 between 2010 to 2020. The age breakdown showed Greater OKC has a higher proportion of people between the ages of 10 and 39 compared to the nation. Gillenwater also discussed the future workforce, the 300,000 K-12 students located in the Greater OKC region. “You should all be very proud of this region that you have tended to tirelessly,” Gillenwater emphasized. “Some of you for decades, others of you newer to the scene, but together we are all rowing in the same direction — driving this region, driving the diversity of our regional economy — and making an impact.” The focus then turned to the region’s workforce and infrastructure opportunities. Leroy Alsup, interim administrator for the Town of Jones with a career in city planning, stressed the need for collaboration on readying large-scale, shovel-ready land for industrial use to maintain our region’s competitiveness. High-capacity transit was also a significant topic of conversation among panelists, particularly as the region continues to grow. Bus Rapid Transit is coming soon to northwest Oklahoma City with additional routes in the works. A partnership with the Regional Transit Authority will connect Edmond, Oklahoma City and Norman COLLABORATION AND PROGRESS HIGHLIGHTED AT CHAMBER’S STATE OF THE REGION
using the BNSF railroad system with a commuter rail. Expanding transportation services takes long-term planning. Jason Ferbrache, assistant city manager of OKC and administrator of the city’s transportation and parking department, shared that conversations are taking place with BNSF on what is needed to implement passenger rail service alongside the commercial rail. A plan could potentially be developed within the next two years that outlines the work to be done, and he was hopeful that results could be seen over the next 10 years. Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt moderated a panel discussion among mayors of the region’s largest communities. The mayors acknowledged the uniqueness of how close, and sometimes overlapping, our region’s cities are and the collaboration that is required, especially in addressing issues like homelessness, crime and economic development. Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila summed up the goal of each mayor in addressing the human needs in their community when he said they are “trying to find a civilized and humane way to take of that but help business along.” The mayors also discussed the challenges of Oklahoma municipalities relying exclusively on sales tax to fund their operations. While the mayors agreed they would like to see their cities be less reliant on sales tax and less competitive with each other, it is a state issue and progress has been slow. Finally, with Edmond, Oklahoma City and Norman collaborating with the Regional Transit Authority, the mayors expressed excitement about the possibility of reducing traffic and shortening the daily commute. Mayors from the cities of Edmond, Midwest City, Norman and Yukon discuss some of the issues and challenges they are facing with Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, right, during a panel discussion as part of the Chamber’s inaugural State of the Region event last month.
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