The governor, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, Department of Commerce Executive Director Brent Kisling and I have all been business owners, and we are extremely passionate about economic growth.
My job is to make Oklahoma a top 10 state economy. Oklahoma has many advantages, including excellent quality of life, low cost of doing business, low tax burden, centralized geographic location, an abundance of natural resources and honest, hard-working people.
We will utilize these strengths to aggressively attract new business into our state and work to expand existing businesses throughout all of Oklahoma — rural and metro alike.
The Oklahoma Department of Commerce is made up of 91 dedicated professionals, and I have seen firsthand their passion to make Oklahoma the best in the country. These individuals work in the areas of domestic and international business recruitment, business retention and expansion, foreign direct investment, workforce development, research and analytics, marketing, community development and grant management.
Our commitment is to operate the department like a business, provide excellent customer service and hold ourselves accountable to key performance indicators that will be made public on our website. Our vision for a top 10 Oklahoma economy includes:
Market our workforce development programs. Companies can only move to Oklahoma if they believe they can secure a quality workforce. Oklahoma has an amazing educational and training system. We want to streamline our efforts and brand ourselves to make sure we are known as the nation’s best in workforce development.
Continue to diversify Oklahoma’s economy. We will aggressively target regional headquarters prospects in the key industries of aerospace, agriculture and biotech, energy, healthcare, transportation and technology. We will also expand opportunities for companies already located here.
Partner with Oklahoma’s existing businesses. Every business owner, economic development professional and local leader in Oklahoma will know about our state’s excellent business growth programs. We will also work to streamline processes to create a one-stop shop for new businesses to get started.
Increase collaboration for economic development. The Department of Commerce does not create jobs. Businesses and communities create jobs, and we support them. We will embrace a culture of partnership and collaboration with economic development professionals and local leaders throughout our state.
Embrace a culture of innovation. Oklahoma must grow jobs from within by increasing our number of startup and growth companies. We must focus on commercialization of new technology and support existing efforts to help Oklahoma businesses get started and grow. We will also facilitate capital investment by exploring ways to bring private equity and entrepreneurs together.
We need Oklahomans to start thinking bigger. Let’s all maintain a top 10 attitude and mindset and talk positively about our amazing state.
If your company has operations outside of Oklahoma, consider moving those here, and we will work to make the move beneficial for you. If you have ideas for growing Oklahoma’s economy or companies we should recruit, email me at economicgrowth@oklahomaturnaround.com. I will read every email that is sent.