Massive new car factory for Pryor

[ComeOnBenjals]

Fundamentally, what needs to change to increase Tulsa's competitiveness? The lack of higher ed learning institutions certainly doesn't help. TU is great and all, but it's so small. Employers look for large pools of talent, something that Tulsa does not naturally have. Maybe that changes slightly with Tulsa Remote?

[SXSW]

Fundamentally, what needs to change to increase Tulsa's competitiveness? The lack of higher ed learning institutions certainly doesn't help. TU is great and all, but it's so small. Employers look for large pools of talent, something that Tulsa does not naturally have. Maybe that changes slightly with Tulsa Remote?

I can't speak for our competitiveness at the state level but locally these are things that are generating positive momentum:
- Enhanced quality of life through new community green spaces like the Gathering Place and expanded/enhanced trails along the river and at Turkey Mountain/Keystone Ancient Forest
- Continued revitalization of downtown with more residential, restaurant, nightlife and cultural amenities and expanding existing districts like Brookside and Cherry Street - potential for emerging districts in the Pearl, Kendall-Whittier and Riverview
- Revitalization of key corridors like 11th/Rt 66 into mixed-use destinations
- Building up TU focusing on the growth of its student body, increasing levels of research and interaction with the surrounding community
- Building up OU and OSU - specifically OU's Polytechnic Institute initiative and OSU's growing health center complex downtown
- Fostering the growth of a start up and tech ecosystem downtown - GKFF has been instrumental in laying the seeds for this

Keep working on the items above and the city can stay competitive until the state government is more competent (if ever). 

[DowntownDan]

We can start by avoiding embarrassments like a school board that can't pass basic funding votes because three members think political stunts are more important than public education, and seem to be determined to destroy public education entirely.

[shavethewhales]

Fundamentally, what needs to change to increase Tulsa's competitiveness? The lack of higher ed learning institutions certainly doesn't help. TU is great and all, but it's so small. Employers look for large pools of talent, something that Tulsa does not naturally have. Maybe that changes slightly with Tulsa Remote?

Improving higher education is priority #1 followed closely by K-12 education. Then keeping graduates here through quality of life improvements.

I don't see many major improvements on the horizon towards education though. As other people keep mentioning, the Tulsa schoolboard fiasco and attacks from the governor and others are just adding fuel to the bonfire. OK just had a teacher strike a few years ago and things have only gotten worse as more and more teachers leave the state or the profession entirely. Outside of a few districts in the larger metros, our schools are some of the worst in the nation and keep getting worse.

People pretty much only come to OK at this point because it's (relatively) cheap.

I dunno, I think we are fighting a losing battle here. Maybe OK should regress so that other places can gain. Clearly many of the people that live in this state despise progress and "outsiders". I have pretty much run out of ways to defend why a company should come to Tulsa as opposed to any of the other cities within 4 hours that we consistently lose to. At this point I am ready to leave once I finish my MBA at OSU.

[Jake]

It's already been mentioned, but higher education has to be better in order to attract/retain talent.

Tulsa has done a lot to generate momentum for itself. So has OKC. The largest metros are fighting to push themselves forward but are fighting against a state government that is doing everything in its power to make it hard for them to succeed.

An even average governor/legislature would allow Tulsa to thrive.

[Rattle Trap]

The decision almost certainly came down to incentives. Kansas offered significantly more ($1.2 billion) compared to our $700 million. The TIF would've helped close that gap, but it was facing legal challenges.

If the state matched Kansas at $1.2 billion, half of you on this thread would be complaining that we're sacrificing too much for one company lol.

Better luck next time.

[Jake]

Why do we throw money at crypto mining operations and a car manufacturer that may not exist in two years but we're woefully unprepared to lure an actual, established company like Panasonic? This isn't a good look, regardless.

[SXSW]

The decision almost certainly came down to incentives. Kansas offered significantly more ($1.2 billion) compared to our $700 million. The TIF would've helped close that gap, but it was facing legal challenges.

If the state matched Kansas at $1.2 billion, half of you on this thread would be complaining that we're sacrificing too much for one company lol.

Better luck next time.

I wonder if the TIF was a big factor.  Panasonic already had over a billion dollars in incentives from Kansas and a significant chunk of Oklahoma's incentive was dependent on a November ballot vote.  This from the Kansas City Business Journal:

This spring, Oklahoma approved a cumulative $848 million in local and state incentives. But a $300 million portion — a 12-year tax increment financing district inside Pryor's MidAmerica Industrial Park — was subject to a referendum petition, seeking to put the district's formation to a ballot vote in November. The petition recently was challenged in court, and a hearing date was not set as of early July.

[Tulsan]

Take it with a grain of salt - because nobody knows - but I heard rumors that Panasonic may split the factory and do both sites to ensure they can fill all positions.

https://nondoc.com/2022/07/13/report-panasonic-selects-kansas-battery-plant/

Multiple people with knowledge of those negotiations told NonDoc this afternoon that the company has chosen the Kansas site for its newest manufacturing facility. However, those same people said Panasonic has been considering whether to build a second battery plant, which could ultimately be located in Pryor to take advantage of a nearly $700 million rebate incentive created by the Oklahoma Legislature earlier this year.

"Oklahoma is not totally out of it," said an individual closely connected to the state's recruitment efforts on the condition of anonymity. "The electric vehicle market is only growing."

[Red Arrow]

Being the Buckle of the Bible Belt is probably a contributing (not favorable) factor. I would not move to OK now from someplace else but my parents accepted a job transfer here from PA in 1971.  I have friends here and contacts for my activities so I put up with the right wing religious wackos because I don't have another place I want to go to. 

[tulsabug]

Being the Buckle of the Bible Belt is probably a contributing (not favorable) factor.

This. I wouldn't want to be in business with a state government that is as beholden to the religious right-wingers as Oklahoma is. Plus they've already got abortion banned so what happens when they go after contraception? It would be impossible for a company to hire anyone to move to a state as backwards as that.

[SXSW]

This. I wouldn't want to be in business with a state government that is as beholden to the religious right-wingers as Oklahoma is. Plus they've already got abortion banned so what happens when they go after contraception? It would be impossible for a company to hire anyone to move to a state as backwards as that.

It doesn't seem to affect Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and other Southern states which are equally right-wing.  Bottom line Oklahoma needs to up its economic development and incentives game.  Continue to build up infrastructure which for many years was woefully behind and still lags surrounding states.  Built-in advantages include a quality manufacturing workforce, reliable and low cost power and water (through GRDA), central location and low cost of living.  In NE Oklahoma there is also the advantage of living in a scenic area near hills, lakes and rivers.

[DowntownDan]

It doesn't seem to affect Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and other Southern states which are equally right-wing.  Bottom line Oklahoma needs to up its economic development and incentives game.  Continue to build up infrastructure which for many years was woefully behind and still lags surrounding states.  Built-in advantages include a quality manufacturing workforce, reliable and low cost power and water (through GRDA), central location and low cost of living.  In NE Oklahoma there is also the advantage of living in a scenic area near hills, lakes and rivers.

Texas has had too much momentum for too long for it to affect them too much, but the rest of the south outside the big popular pockets (Atlanta, Nashville...) are facing the same realities.

[DowntownDan]

Being the Buckle of the Bible Belt is probably a contributing (not favorable) factor. I would not move to OK now from someplace else but my parents accepted a job transfer here from PA in 1971.  I have friends here and contacts for my activities so I put up with the right wing religious wackos because I don't have another place I want to go to. 

I moved back here in 2008 seeing some momentum and things were trending upwards for some time which is why I'm still here, but if they succeed in literally destroying public education, I can't continue to raise my family here, and the headlines that are already out there about the most recent school board stunt is going to set us back bigtime. Schools are a big part of what draws relocations and we've officially established that we hate public schools. We complain that they aren't very good and complain about any and all solutions to the problems (i.e., money). The future is pretty dire from where I'm sitting.

[Tulsa Zephyr]

Why do we throw money at crypto mining operations and a car manufacturer that may not exist in two years but we're woefully unprepared to lure an actual, established company like Panasonic? This isn't a good look, regardless.

Just read that Panasonic has landed in Kansas.  Maybe now Stitt can come up with incentives to get Bell's rebuilt?