Oklahoma City adds jobs, retail to economy continued from page 1
Oklahoma City’s retail sector, which plays a critical role in funding the city’s core services, has also experienced growth in 2018. According to its most recent sales tax report, the City of Oklahoma City has enjoyed 15 consecutive months of increased sales tax revenue compared to the same months the previous year. In July, sales tax collections were up 21.5 percent compared to the same month in 2017. Sales tax collections fund the City’s core services, public safety, infrastructure improvements and quality-of-life projects. Adding to that success is the addition of several new names to the Oklahoma City retail scene, including: • Flix Brewhouse, a first-run movie theater that also incorporates a fully functioning microbrewery, locating at a new development at Broadway Extension and Britton Road • Life Time Fitness at Quail Springs Mall, an athletic resort with gym equipment, studio classes, a pool, spa services and more • Hopdoddy Burger Bar, a burger-and-brews concept restaurant coming to Chisholm Creek • Costco, a membership warehouse club, plans to build a 150,000-square-foot store at Western Avenue and the John Kilpatrick Turnpike.
Sales tax collections fund the City of Oklahoma City’s core services, public safety, infrastructure improvements and quality-of-life projects.
Most recently, Oklahoma City was named as the first Oklahoma location for The Container Store, a retailer that sells storage and organization products. The store will be located on N Pennsylvania Avenue near Penn Square Mall and will employ more than 50 people. The store is set to open in September.
Get to know OKCPS’s new superintendent continued from page 3
sources while at the same time spending our money wisely and in a manner that brings a premium return on our investment. What are your primary goals for your first year? For the next five years? Four personal objectives that I have as an educator have always been to attend to relationships, to keep my focus on student success, to communicate effectively, and to insist on collaboration. It is also important to me to hold myself accountable and to develop a culture of accountability; not as a punitive measure but as a set of agreements with follow through. Specifically, in OKCPS, we need
a focus on the academic expectations that exist in all schools, we need the equitable distribution of resources across the district, we need to review and revise the organizational structure so that we are service oriented, and we need to have a conversation about results, academic and otherwise. On the personnel side, we need to recruit, train and retain effective teachers. I am certain that OKCPS has our fair share of quality teachers but we need one in every classroom. We need to recruit, train and retain outstanding leaders to head our schools. Again, we have outstanding ones, but we need outstanding ones in every position, in every school.
6 CITYSCAPE AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS MOVING OKC FORWARD
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