Enid and Garfield County Development Alliance held a coming-out party for its new economic development efforts with an open house in its new offices at James W. Strate Business Development Center on the grounds of Autry Technology Center.
About 80 people were on hand Friday to welcome Alliance director Brent Kisling to his new position and to hear some ideas for Enid’s economic development future. Also on hand for the open house was Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Natalie Shirley.
The theme for the afternoon focused on the city of Enid and Garfield County becoming more proactive in the area of economic development, with a primary mission of growing quality jobs through expansion and retention of existing business and industry and recruitment of new business and industry in Enid and Garfield County,
Kisling was hired as a full-time economic development director after an additional $250,000 was pumped into the Development Alliance by the city of Enid. The Alliance is partially funded by the city in addition to member businesses and Garfield County Industrial Authority. The job of economic development previously has been tasked to Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce.
Kisling was one of six candidates interviewed during a national search. He already has Enid ties and most recently was the U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development director for the state of Oklahoma.
“Enid is turning a corner, focusing more on growth than we’ve ever done before,” Kisling told the crowd. He pointed out the many partnerships already being developed with the city, county, Greater Enid Chamber of Commerce and retail sector. Enid also is becoming more active on the state level through the hiring of former Rep. Curt Roggow as a consultant on state issues.
Mayor John Criner told the group the city is proud of the steps it has taken to improve economic development efforts.
“We’ve taken some steps just in the last 60 days that we think is going to turn Enid around and put us back on a growth pattern, and that’s our desire,” he said. “It’s an exciting time to be in Enid.”
Shirley, who was appointed commerce secretary by Gov. Brad Henry, praised Enid’s efforts in hiring Kisling and in other steps it has taken to improve job growth, including the building of the James W. Strate business incubator building.
She noted she spends a lot of time traveling the state and talking to people in communities to find out what they are doing to improve their eco-nomies. She had high marks for Enid.
Before the open house, she took a tour of Enid with Kisling and local officials, and said she was impressed with the amenities of Enid, including David Allen Me-morial Ballpark, Leonardo’s Discovery Warehouse and Adventure Quest and the grain elevators and manufacturing base.
“There are so many opportunities,” she said. “As I was driving around Enid, I saw things I had never seen before.”
She also talked a bit about the job of her office, and, in particular, her staff’s task in managing stimulus money coming from the federal government. She said her office will work with communities to get them money for projects and to help them make sure they are accountable for any funding they get.
She also announced the Commerce Department will provide up to five $1 million grants each year to communities like Enid for economic development projects.
In his closing remarks, Kisling dared the community to dream big.
“I don’t think we dream big enough in our city,” he said. As an example, he dared the group to dream big enough to think about what it would take to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Enid. He pointed out such a venture wouldn’t be just a city endeavor, it would be an entire state endeavor. He talked about the opportunities for such a venture, including the land available to build Olympic venues, and the funding possibilities that could raise the money for the venues.
He pointed out cities and countries with less population than the state of Oklahoma had held Olympics in the past.
“We missed the deadline to apply for the 2016 Summer Olympics,” he said jokingly. But his point was to tell the group to not be afraid to go after big projects.
“Let’s break the mold and dream big and do some things here in Enid,” he said.