BDC Board approves updated Economic Development Strategy

By Jessica Miller E-E City Editor
Friday, July 23, 2010 11:43 AM CDT

An updated Economic Development Strategy was approved during a meeting of the Bartlesville Development Corporation Board of Directors on Thursday morning.

The strategy was developed by Garner Economics, a consulting firm retained by the BDC to update the current multi-year economic development strategy last completed in April 2006.

Jay Garner, of Garner Economics, said there are three ingredients to economic development success.

He said the BDC has to have the resources to do what is needed.

“You have that. You won’t have that if you don’t pass the sales tax. But you have the sales tax,” Garner said, referring to the 1/4-cent economic development tax.

He said the BDC also has to have a credible and quality staff and has to have something to market and sell.

“You have all of those things,” Garner said. “The challenge that you have then is to sustain that.”

Recommendations in the strategy include the Chamber of Commerce taking the lead on retail promotion. Garner said the BDC should not handle retail promotion and should keep its mission and focus on being the driver of primary jobs.

Garner said it is recommended that the BDC consider hiring an additional staff person to serve as a project manager, directing the BDC’s external marketing and sales efforts. He explained that two people will not be able to handle the work as the BDC becomes more proactive and aggressive in economic development.

He said the BDC will have to do a multi-faceted print and electronic media campaign and improve its website.

Another recommendation involves working with the congressional delegation to have U.S. Highway 75 from Tulsa to Bartlesville designated as an Interstate spur by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Garner explained that the limited highway access — with there not being an interstate running through Bartlesville — keeps Bartlesville from showing up in searches performed by consultants and companies for potential opportunities near interstate highways.

Some recommendations involve improving Bartlesville.

Those recommendations include the development of a flexible office building in Sunset Industrial Park. Garner explained that about 70 to 80 percent of all inquiries are on an existing building. He said it needs to be flexible so it can be made to fit the desired needs of the buyer.

He said when he was in Bartlesville earlier this year, the wireless Internet did not work downtown and he learned it had not been working for some time.

Garner noted signage that states Bartlesville is a wireless city.

“Either fix the wireless or remove the sign. But that’s extremely important to do if you’re trying to promote yourself as a technology-oriented community but don’t do false advertising,” Garner said.

He said Bartlesville has been a success story.

“The challenge that you have is that you need to sustain that position and not become complacent,” Garner said.

He noted steps are being taking to sustain that position now through the updated economic development strategy.

Recommendations came through analyzation by Garner Economics of Bartlesville’s competitiveness. Key local demographic and economic indicators were compared to state and national trends and the trends of a number of select cities.

Some of the findings show that the current average wage per job is 12 percent lower than the national average but Bartlesville has largely avoided the multi-year job losses of the current recession. Since 2006, Bartlesville has had the lowest unemployment rate among other geographies.

Bartlesville had the highest relative average employment growth rate in 2007 and 2009 and placed second after Tulsa in 2008 but early 2010 trends show Bartlesville below the state, Houston and Tulsa.

Of the workers in Washington County, 64 percent of them also live in Washington County and of the workers in Bartlesville, 52 percent of them live in Bartlesville.

Tulsa County is the top source for commuters into Bartlesville and is also the top location for workers commuting out of Washington County.