Although mum on specific firms, the executive director of an economic development alliance predicted industrial prospects will locate or expand in Eastern Oklahoma County during the next 12 to 18 months.

“We’re recruiting now, make no mistake about it. We have several projects in one stage or another that will bring job growth to this area,” Tim Hight, chief of the Eastern Oklahoma County Partnership, said. “We are in the process of facilitating the creation of wealth and new investment in this region.”

The alliance is comprised of four cities: Choctaw, Harrah, Jones and Luther. The partnership idea was born after officials in the four cities came to a consensus that none of the municipalities could survive, based on their individual economic development efforts. Now, the business recruitment effort is regionally based.

Tim Hight

Hight, who assumed the executive director’s role in February, said the partnership is targeting new and existing industrial prospects in manufacturing, office operations, health care and agribusiness.

“We think businesses are going to be pleasantly surprised with what we have to offer,” he said. “We realize 70 percent of job growth comes from businesses that are already here.

That’s why we’ve been visiting with local business executives.”

ABUNDANT RESOURCES

Eastern Oklahoma County offers several benefits to companies, including a low cost of operations, highly skilled work force, a central location and an “abundance of partners and resources,” he said.

Specifically, Hight cited as resources the EOC Technology Center’s new Business Development Center, Boeing’s supply chain network, Tinker Air Force Base, local developers, banks, construction firms and utility companies.

“All of these partners have a vested interest in growth for this area,” Terry Underwood, superintendent of the EOC Technology Center, said.

Prior to Hight’s arrival, Underwood orchestrated the creation of the alliance and worked with the member cities on the formal organizational structure.

The partnership’s focus so far has been on primary employers in the industrial sector “who have an interest in being good corporate citizens and have a track record of success,” Hight said. The alliance also wants to develop an “entrepreneurial climate” in Eastern Oklahoma County, he said.

A key component of the entrepreneurial growth will be the technology center’s new $20 million Business Development Center, which can house a business incubator program designed to help new businesses form and succeed. The technology center’s incubator has been nationally certified through the U.S. Department of Commerce and is now ready for tenants, Hight said.

The business recruitment efforts are done, in part, to keep jobs and sales tax revenue in the region.

“We export a large number of jobs here, and that needs to change,” Hight said. “We have a lot of people who drive to Oklahoma City and other parts of the metro to work. When you’re exporting jobs during the day, you’re losing sales tax.”

In order to attract the firms and keep jobs in Eastern Oklahoma County, the partnership will need to address the infrastructure needs of the region.

“It’s a slow process, but improved roads are a must,” Underwood said. “It is a little bit more cumbersome process than you want it to be.”

NECESSARY EXIT

Specifically, Underwood and Hight said an eastbound gate at Interstate 44 and Hogback Road is a necessity. A westbound gate into Oklahoma City and Edmond is under construction and is funded with state and federal funds. Oklahoma Department of Transportation officials said a westbound gate would be built when funds become available.

In addition, Hight said four-lane access north from Interstate 40 to Interstate 44 is needed “somewhere in this region,” citing Harrah Road and Choctaw Road as options.

“Those are priorities one and two, but not in any particular order,” he said.

Partnership representatives are having “active discussions” with Oklahoma County and Oklahoma City officials about those transportation needs.

The alliance’s strategic plan should be in place no later than July 1, Hight said. The plan, if approved by the alliance members, will expand the partnership to the private sector by the spring of 2012.

“We expect a large number of public and private stakeholders by that time,” Hight said.

tfarley@eastword.net