Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA) held their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, April 13 in the Summit Room at City Central.

At the top of the meeting, the Oath of Office was administered to PCDA Trustee Select, Mark Southard.

Following the Oath of Office, the Board voted to approve the consent calendar which included the minutes of the March 9 regular meeting, the March 2023 financial report, and the March 2023 payment of claims.

PCDA Executive Director David Myers then shared with the Board information on preparation for a feasibility study for a regional water detention on the west side of Ponca City Airport.

As far back as 2016, there were discussions about the potential need for detention basins on the west side of the airport. PCDA received a quote on a feasibility study with Meshak and Associates for ways in which to free up land in the area for industrial growth.

The Board then voted on approving the expense of $23,800 with Meshak and Associates to prepare a feasibility study for a regional water detention on the west side of Ponca City Airport.

The Board then reviewed the Oklahoma Innovation Expansion Program (OIEP). OIEP is a program initiated by the State of Oklahoma to help companies in the state focus to fill supply chain gaps, expand into new areas, deal with emerging industries, and also repurposes statutorily approved quality jobs money.

Last year, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce received 163 submissions for project funding. Of those submissions, only 125 received awards ranging from $25,000 to $150,000. These funds help companies expand into new areas and utilize new technologies. They are also based upon job growth, as such, if a city is creating more jobs, then they will receive more money.

Ponca City had four companies received funding from the program. This is in comparison to other areas such as Stillwater, Ponca City’s closest competition, which had three companies receive the funding. Muskogee and Enid only had two, Ardmore one, and Bartlesville zero.

Myers elaborated the Ponca City is very successful in this area when compared to its peers, with only Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Broken Arrow doing better than Ponca City. From a per capita standpoint per resident, Ponca City is way above the rest of the pack with Broken Arrow being the closest to Ponca City because they had three of their grants all maxed out.

Construction updates were then provided by PCDA members.

Laurence Beliel shared that the Duke Building is about 65% complete with work to be done on the outer shell and in the interior with installation of metal studs, electrical, gas lines, and the fire suppression system. At present, completion is estimated to be sometime in the end of July.

Lori Henderson provided an update on Project Clean Breeze. This is the installation of new controls for heat and air in the City Central building. Completion is estimated by the end of June.

The next item was the report on the preliminary 2023-2024 work plan and development of the 2023--2024 PCDA budget.

Henderson shared that staff were already looking at next year’s budget and shared several of the highlights.

City Central marketing is looking to kick-off a direct mail campaign to try and fill the Summit Room.

Office spaces are dwindling at City Central with the building currently at 84% occupancy.

Land purchase is also something that is planned to be placed on the budget.

Beliel has also identified several trade shows that would be beneficial to Ponca City industries including the SouthTec Machine Show, the Robotics, Automation, Artificial Intelligence or “RAAIN” show, and the Wichita Machine Show.

A small business boot camp was another plan which would be for entrepreneurs that don’t know how to put a business plan together.

PCDA also wishes to continue work on their internship program which currently has 69 high schoolers interning with Ponca City businesses, and 100 signed up for the next semester.

PCDA also plans to apply for the Community Heart and Soul grant. which will provide a resident drive process to create a shared future plan for the community through a series of town halls.

Cost remains mostly the same, but there are anticipated to be utility and insurance increases.

The City Central building also needs to replace elevators, but need to get out of their current contract in 2024 and then go to bid for new elevators.

Myers then provided a staff report.

March was busier when compared to the same time during the height of the pandemic.

PCDA has eight leads and eight projects for the month of March. Leads are when PCDA gets word of a company looking for a new location, while projects are those that interested in Ponca City.

Small Business Pitch-Off was held last week with the winner of the event being Paws on the Pavement.

The first Business on the Balcony was held on Tuesday, April 11. This is a networking opportunity held on the second floor of the City Central building located at 400 E. Central, Suite 200. The breakfast will be held on the second Tuesday of every month from April to October starting at 7 am.

Laurence Beliel also shared that several business went to the Design-2-Part Show in Arlington, Texas on March 1 and March 2. He shared that several people and contractors came to the show to specifically look for Ponca City industries.

Myers shared that Garrett Bowers helped to set up a meeting with the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission and provided them with a tour of the airport and Ponca City’s potential role in the aviation industry.

Myers also shared that Volkswagen had picked Ontario, Canada over Oklahoma for an electric vehicle battery factory. He brought this up to address the reasons why companies choose one location over another. Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat has assembled a task force with the specific goal of looking why Oklahoma didn’t win that particular project.

It was noted that Oklahoma’s image on the national level is a possible reason for why Ontario was chosen for the project over the state.

Liz Leaming then discussed workforce areas.

PCDA is hosting a career fair at Ponca City High School as part of their internship program. This will bring in companies to talk to seniors graduating in May, and possibly recruit interns.

The Board then voted to convene into executive session.