Business Briefs (Week of Oct. 28)
Monday, October 31, 2022
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Looking for business briefs? This week's roundup (for the week of Oct. 28) from The Journal Record.
Inhofe reflects on long career at OKC Chamber event
U.S. Sen. James Mountain Inhofe, R-Okla., appeared for what is expected to be his last DC Spotlight event with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber on Thursday. Inhofe is serving his last few months as the senior U.S. senator from Oklahoma, a position he has held for 28 years. His successor, who will take office in January 2023, will be decided by voters on Nov. 8. Inhofe has served as an elected official for 55 years.
OU spotlights aerospace-defense focus at inaugural symposium
For decades, the University of Oklahoma has been known as a center for weather research, but on Oct. 20, the university made its case as an emerging leader in aerospace and defense research. At its first National Aerospace & Defense Symposium, OU outlined a comprehensive commitment to collaboration with military and private aviation and defense contractors on joint research projects to help strengthen national security.
Cherokee Artist Recovery Act recalls Depression-era initiative
The Cherokee Nation is investing $3 million in its artists. Harkening back to the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project, which provided government funding to support artists during the Great Depression, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. announced he had signed the Cherokee Nation’s Artist Recovery Act. The $3 million will be used to purchase Cherokee art and provide teaching opportunities for Cherokee artists through 2024. The law helps artists “regain a foothold in the economy,” Hoskin said, with funding to support marketing and travel costs.
Importance of mentorship stressed at WOY Forum
The Journal Record’s 24th annual Woman of the Year Forum brought nearly 130 women together on Oct. 20 to exchange ideas, network and hear from an all-women panel on the topic of mentorship. The forum is held annually as part of the Woman of the Year event and award, which is now in its 42nd year. The forum, held at Oklahoma City Community College, included Dr. Kasey Brown, LASIK and cataract surgeon, ClearSight LASIK and 43 Vision; Heather Scott, vice president of corporate and administrative initiatives, Continental Resources Inc.; Mautra Staley Jones, president, Oklahoma City Community College; Alba Weaver, senior manager of economic development and community affairs for OGE Energy Corp; and Samette King, vice president of customer service, Oklahoma Natural Gas. Kitt Letcher, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau serving Central Oklahoma, served as moderator for the panel discussion.
Program working to assist overlooked Latino businesses
Oklahoma investors have been overlooking a sector with massive potential for growing the economy: Oklahoma City’s Latino entrepreneurs. And StitchCrew wants to seize the opportunity with an accelerator program for Latino-owned businesses here. StitchCrew, an organization working to build a more equitable economy through entrepreneurship, is launching an accelerator program in spring 2023 to help Latino-owned businesses in Oklahoma City develop a path for growth. The program will provide participants with a $15,000 grant, business coaching and access to working space at Thunder Launchpad, sponsored by the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. The program is made possible through a partnership with the Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City and federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
Report: Job market appears to be shrinking
The employment landscape is changing as job openings decline and companies begin freezing positions and laying off workers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent report shows there were 10.1 million job openings in August, 1.1 million fewer than in July. In many sectors it continues to be a workers’ job market with companies unable to hire fast enough to keep key positions filled, Oklahoma business consultant Stacy Eads said. Tech companies, however, are preparing for and already reducing their workforce, she said.
Cycle 66 to attract hundreds of cyclists to Edmond
It’s rolling into only its second year, but Cycle 66 already is shaping up to be a big annual attraction for businesses, as well as charitable causes in the community. Last year, inaugural Cycle 66 activities drew about 550 bike fans to the city. This year, as anticipation builds for several events planned Nov. 6, organizers have said that Edmond might expect 700 or more racers as well as more casual cycling enthusiasts from across the country. It’ll all go down officially beginning at 8 a.m.
Griffin Media donates News 9 property to Langston University
Langston University has received the largest corporate donation in the university’s history, the News 9 building located at 7401 N. Kelley Ave. in Oklahoma City. The gift from Griffin Media was a highlight of conversation during the recent 17th Annual President’s Student Scholarship Gala. According to a release, Langston officially will acquire the building in January. Griffin Media President and CEO David Griffin said the company had planned to bring new, advanced technology and sets to its newscast, but installing new equipment in the current building would have tied the station to the Kelley Avenue location for the next 15 years. Instead, he said Griffin Media set a goal, to “plant its flag” in downtown Oklahoma City instead.
Cherokees open meat processing plant in Tahlequah
Cherokee Nation officials opened the doors on the tribe’s new meat processing facility. The 1839 Cherokee Meat Co. – named in honor of the year of the Cherokee Nation’s constitution – is a 12,000-square-foot meat processing facility in Tahlequah, intended to provide both food security and economic development for the tribe. Officials with the tribe announced plans for the new meat processing plant in 2020, when the pandemic interfered with meat production nationwide. The facility was estimated to cost $1 million and would process beef, pork and bison, employing up to seven people.
Court backs developer in Deer Creek water fight
A federal appeals court on Oct. 21 ruled in favor of a developer that claimed Deer Creek Water Corp. made unreasonable demands as a requirement for supplying water to a proposed housing development. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s ruling in favor of Oklahoma City-based Garrett and Company, which claimed that Deer Creek’s conditions were “unreasonable, excessive, and confiscatory,” rendering the company incapable of providing water for the development. The ruling would free the company to work with the city of Oklahoma City to supply water for a housing development near NW 206th and May Avenue rather than having to work with Deer Creek, the rural water company in whose territory the development would be constructed.
Blue Zones data indicate health care savings
Multiple factors contribute to a healthy bottom line, and one of those is a healthy workforce. Data from the Pottawatomie County Blue Zones Project indicate participating businesses saved $13.5 million in health care costs and lost productivity from 2017 to 2021, said Kathy Laster, president and CEO of the Avedis Foundation in Shawnee. The Blue Zones Project is a community-led well-being improvement initiative designed to make healthy choices easier through permanent changes to a city's environment, policy and social networks. The Avedis Foundation introduced the five-year project in 2017 to Pottawatomie County, which became the first certified Blue Zones Community in Oklahoma in 2020. Not wanting to backslide on the improvements made, the foundation and community leaders have evolved the initiative into Pottawatomie go, "Pogo" for short.
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