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• President‘s Update

• Important Dates

• New Members

• Commerce/Workforce News

• Project Updates & Events

• Economic Development Briefs

• Oklahoma Treasurer’s Monthly Report

• Calendar

February 2019

President’s Update

Our new Governor has been inaugurated and the 2019 Oklahoma Legislature has been

convened. What an exciting and important time this is for our Great State! Roundtable

Chairman Bill Anoatubby, Roundtable Chairman-Elect Brenda Rolls and I met with Governor

Stitt and I have met with Lt. Governor Pinnell. We reviewed the Roundtable’s mission and our

processes. These meetings went exceptionally well and set the tone for future successful

collaboration.

Additionally, I had an excellent meeting with our Secretary of Commerce & Workforce De-

velopment Designate Sean Kouplen and Commerce Executive Director Brent Kisling. (See

special message by Secretary Designate Kouplen below).

Executive Briefing - The Roundtable is excited to present an Executive Briefing for our members and their

guests on February 20, 4:00 pm, at the Oklahoma History Center. Governor Stitt and Lt. Governor Pinnell will

be there to welcome Roundtable members. Keynote speaker is Joseph Brusuelas, Chief Economist for RSM

US LLP in New York. Brusuelas has over 20 years of experience in finance and economics and specializes in

analyzing the U.S. monetary policy, labor markets, fiscal policy, economic indicators and the condition of the

U.S. consumer. He will share from a national perspective what is happening with the

economy today and its impact on Oklahoma. Read more about the Executive Briefing later in this

newsletter.

New Roundtable Board Member - Please welcome to the Roundtable Board of Directors Phil

Albert, President of Pelco Structural in Claremore. Phil has been a long-time member of the

Roundtable and we are pleased he has agreed to serve. He fills the unexpired 2-year term of Stuart

Solomon which concludes in 2020. Phil is an advocate of growth and currently serves as the

Chairman of the Claremore Industrial and Economic Development Authority.

Phil Albert

Ann Ackerman

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Important Dates

Accomplishments - Our work with our state’s leaders and economic development partners to enhance

business retention, expansion and recruitment efforts continues. In the coming months, we will also help our

companies and communities market products/services at major trade shows and forums; host several prospects;

and we are targeting national site consultants and corporate prospects at events in Dallas, Atlanta, California,

Washington D.C. and Europe.

This year the Roundtable awarded 18 grants to economic development partners totaling $304,500. These

include targeted projects to promote workforce development, STEM, new business commercialization,

regional development and national/global marketing. Among the projects are First Robotics, Creative

Oklahoma’s MIT Venture Mentorship Program, Unmanned Aerial Systems Tech Forum, Weather Cluster

Development, Select USA Trade Show, Thunder LaunchPad and more.

Annual Meeting - Please mark your calendar for our annual membership meeting to be held June 12, 4:30-

6:00 pm, at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. Immediately following the meeting will be a networking

reception from 6:00-7:00 pm.

Thank you for your membership and support!

Ann Ackerman, Ph.D.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Keynote speaker is Joseph Brusuelas, Chief Economist for RSM US LLP in New York.

Brusuelas has over 20 years of experience in finance and economics and specializes in

analyzing the U.S. monetary policy, labor markets, fiscal policy, economic indicators and

the condition of the U.S. consumer. Prior to RSM, Joe held top positions at Bloomberg,

LP Moody's Analytics, Merk Investments L.L.C. and IDEAglobal. He regularly appears

on Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio and is frequently quoted by the financial

press on the U.S. and global economies.

Roundtable Membership Meeting

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa

4:30-6:00 p.m. Membership Meeting

6:00-7:00 p.m. Networking Reception

Roundtable Executive Briefing

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma City

4:00-5:00 p.m. Executive Briefing

5:00-6:00 p.m. Networking Reception

EVENT UPDATE: Governor Kevin Stitt, Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, Secretary of Commerce & Workforce

Development Designate Sean Kouplen and Department of Commerce Executive Director Brent Kisling will be

in attendance to converse and interact with members.

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The Roundtable welcomes the following new members:

• Carl Edwards, Oklahoma City

• GE Renewables, Washington D.C. - J. C. Sandberg

• Marathon Oil, Oklahoma City - Katie Altshuler

• Regent Bank, Tulsa - Sean Kouplen

• Verizon, Austin - Darlene Brugnoli

Commerce/Workforce News

New Members

Kouplen and Kisling Lead Commerce Team

Governor Kevin Stitt has named Sean Kouplen as Secretary of Commerce and Workforce

Development and Brent Kisling as Executive Director of the Department of Commerce.

Upon confirmation, Sean Kouplen will serve on the Governor’s Cabinet in an unpaid

capacity, casting vision for the Commerce Department and playing a strategic leadership

role in recruiting business growth and in the development of Oklahoma’s workforce.

Kouplen will also continue his role as Chairman and CEO of Regent

Bank in Tulsa. Under Kouplen’s leadership, the bank has grown in size

from $72 million to almost $600 million in 2018.

As Executive Director, Brent Kisling will oversee the operations of the Department of

Commerce and will report to the secretary of commerce. Kisling is the former Executive

Director of Enid Regional Development Alliance where he worked since March 2009.

Previously, he served 8 years as the State Director for the USDA Rural Development in

Oklahoma, an appointed position under the George W. Bush Administration and has been a

small business owner.

Message from Secretary of Commerce & Workforce Development Designate Sean Kouplen

Dear Oklahoma Business Roundtable Members,

On behalf of Governor Kevin Stitt, Lieutenant Governor Matt Pinnell and Department of Commerce Executive

Director Brent Kisling, I wanted to take a moment to tell you how excited we are to work with the Oklahoma

Business Roundtable. We are extremely grateful for your past support and look forward to taking our partner-

ship to a new level in the future.

All four of us have been business owners and, like you, we are extremely passionate about economic growth.

Brent and I are tasked with making Oklahoma a top 10 state economy and we will not rest until we have

achieved this goal. As you know, 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.

Sean Kouplen

Brent Kisling

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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. Our commitment to you is

that we will 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. We

will be innovative and aggressive in our efforts to grow Oklahoma’s economy.

Our vision for a top 10 Oklahoma economy includes:

Streamline and market our workforce development program to become known as the best in the

country. 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 by aggressively targeting regional headquarter prospects in

the key industries of Aerospace, Agriculture & Biotech, Energy, Healthcare, Transportation, and

Technology. We will utilize our industry and state advantages to target key out-of-state prospects

including regional headquarters companies and expansion opportunities for companies already

located here.

Partner with Oklahoma’s existing businesses to help them grow. 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 with economic development professionals and government leaders throughout our

state. 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 professions and local leaders throughout our state.

Embrace a culture of innovation by uniting the entrepreneurship efforts from all across the state

under one consistent brand and mission. 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 know the brightest business minds in the state belong to the Oklahoma Business Roundtable and we

are asking for your help. If you have ideas for growing Oklahoma’s economy or companies we should

recruit, please email us directly at economicgrowth@oklahomaturnaround.com or call my cell phone at

918.740.4440.

Thank you again for your generous support of the state of Oklahoma and please let us know if we can

serve you in any way.

Sean Kouplen

Sean Kouplen is Oklahoma’s 10th Secretary of Commerce and Workforce Development and also serves as

the Chairman & CEO of Regent Bank.

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Project Updates & Events

Recent Groundbreaking Events

Heartland Payments, Oklahoma City Whirlpool, Tulsa

Name Location Jobs/Investment

Spirit Aerosystems Tulsa 250/$80 million

Salem Tube Durant 140/$40 million

SynQ3 Oklahoma City 300

OMNI Oklahoma City $241 million

Stryve Biltong Madill 75/$10 million

Selected New Statewide Location/Expansion Announcements

Oklahoma Team Targets Dallas-based National Site Location Consultants

Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell and Commerce Executive Director Brent Kisling joined the Oklahoma Governor’s Marketing Team in hosting over 50 key national site selection, real estate and finance executives at a business reception in Dallas on January 17.

The Oklahoma Team outlined the many advantages of an Oklahoma location for both expansion and new location. Dallas is one of a few U.S cities that is home to a large percentage of global and national site selection firms, many of which include Oklaho-ma in their search efforts.

Joining the Roundtable as host partners were AEP/PSO, OG&E, OU Price College, Choctaw Nation, Great Plains Technology Center and development representatives from Ardmore, Bartlesville, Bixby, Broken Arrow, Claremore, Duncan, Enid, Oklahoma City, Lawton, Muskogee, Norman, Ponca City and Tulsa. Lt. Governor Pinnell

addressing site consultants

In December, the Roundtable partnered with The State Chamber and the Oklahoma Economic Development Council (OEDC) to host an economic development day as part of the three-day seminar for new Oklahoma legislators.

The goal was to increase the new legislators understanding of complex issues related to business development and site location. There were 31 new legislators in attendance.

Keynote speaker was Josh Bays of the Site Selection Group, a global corporate site loca-tion firm headquartered in Dallas. Bays conducts research and location searches for na-tional and international corporations seeking new or expanded facilities in the U.S.

Josh Bays

Economic Development ‘Boot Camp” held for New Oklahoma Legislators

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He provided these observations to the Oklahoma group:

• 90% of our projects are in the 100-300 job range, $30 million in investment.

• Oklahoma needs to focus on workforce and real estate. These are the two biggest issues facing communi-

ties. It is important that you have a facility or site that is ready to go.

• Rail is becoming a bigger player in distribution - over trucks.

• A strong workforce ecosystem is critical, plus support from the state and utility team.

• Incentives, a key need for many companies, is some up-front cash incentive to help offset the dollars they

now must spend on infrastructure.

• Oklahoma is still competitive but has gaps with available sites and there are concerns over education.

• Oklahoma is weak on private sector development in sites/spec buildings.

• Don’t overlook foreign direct investment – about half of my projects are currently from Western Europe.

• Texas is becoming more expensive – exploit that. Target companies who are looking at Texas.

• Incentives should never be the main driver of a company location. Usually it is the last differential in a site

search – so you must be prepared to compete.

National Site Location Consultant Visits State

South Carolina–based site location consultant Hal Johnson of NAI Furman visited

Oklahoma in December. Johnson visited several communities and conducted presen-

tations with Oklahoma’s professional economic developers and several community

leaders.

The fact-finding visit was hosted by the Greater Oklahoma City Partnership, Tulsa

Regional Partnership and Governor’s Economic Development Team.

Johnson stressed the importance of “community readiness” for today’s fast-paced

site selection process. “You must have product identified and ready. You must have

competitive real estate options or you will not win a project.”

He encouraged the Oklahoma economic developers to be more engaged with the development community and

“show them the return they get for working with you.” He said, “Oklahoma remains competitive on electric

costs and overall cost of doing business. However, community attitude is critical and you must invest in your-

selves. Other communities will beat you if you do not have a good quality of life and education program.” He

added, “Oklahoma offers a good location versus Texas. The overall costs are higher in Texas and companies

can be a big fish in small pond here.”

Lisa Powell of the Enid Regional Development Alliance/Governor’s

Economic Development Team welcomes consultant Hal Johnson

to Oklahoma.

Economic Development Briefs

• The World Economic Forum has estimated that 65 percent of children will end up in careers that don’t even exist yet. Soft skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration will become increasingly important.

• Tinker AFB has been selected by the Air Force to be the maintenance and sustainment center for the B-21 Raider, the next generation long-range strike bomber.

• The George Kaiser Foundation has announced the launch of Tulsa Remote, which offers $10,000 grants and benefits to eligible applicants who move to and work remotely from Tulsa for a year. The program is part of an effort to attract new workers with full-time remote employment.

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Oklahoma Treasurer’s Monthly Report

Click here to read Oklahoma State Treasurer

Randy McDaniel’s latest Economic Report.

• BusinessStudent.com recently named Tulsa (No.1) and Oklahoma City (No. 3) among the 25 Most Af-fordable Cities to live and work.

• The City of Durant has been named a top ten finalist in Season 4 of the hit show Small Business Revolu-tion by the Deluxe Corporation. Deluxe is a proponent of revitalizing small businesses in main street rural America. The prize for Season 4 is $500,000, which will be used for downtown improvements and renovations of selected downtown businesses.

• Oklahoma City has received one of America’s Most Livable Community Awards by Partners of Livable Communities.

• The Gathering Place in Tulsa has been selected as the winner of the USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice 2018 Best New Attraction award.

• Tri-County Technology Center in Bartlesville has been named one of five 2018 recipients of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. This presidential-level honor recognizes exemplary management practices among American companies and organizations.

February 7, 2019 Oklahoma Manufacturers Alliance Networking Meeting

Enid

February 20, 2019 Oklahoma Business Roundtable Executive Briefing

Oklahoma History Center, Chesapeake Room, Oklahoma City, 4:00 p.m.

March 7, 2019 Oklahoma Manufacturers Alliance Networking Meeting

Oklahoma City

March 28, 2019 Oklahoma Manufacturers Alliance Networking Meeting

Muskogee

May 4-8, 2019 International Asset Management Association (Site Selection)

Santa Barbara, California

May 8, 2019 Oklahoma Manufacturers Alliance Networking Meeting

Tulsa

.June 10-12, 2019 Select USA Trade Show

Washington, D.C.

June 12, 2019 Oklahoma Business Roundtable Annual Membership Meeting

Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, 4:30 p.m

June 17-23, 2019 Paris Air Show (Business Expansion Recruiting)

Paris, France

Calendar