Lawmakers look for solutions after multiple businesses turn down move to Oklahoma
The Oklahoma State Chamber wants to focus more on recruiting new companies to the state
The Oklahoma State Chamber wants to focus more on recruiting new companies to the state
The Oklahoma State Chamber wants to focus more on recruiting new companies to the state
A group of lawmakers held a hearing on Wednesday to look for solutions after multiple major employers turned down the state's attempts to lure them here.
The Oklahoma State Chamber wants to focus more on recruiting new companies to the state. To do this, they want to put a corporation into place focused on just that.
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The chamber spoke to lawmakers on Wednesday morning, pitching the idea of a "hybrid economic development model." Essentially, the entity would be state-funded and made up of non-state officials that have a sole purpose of finding new businesses to move to Oklahoma.
The entity would be separate from the state Commerce Department.
“So we’ve been looking at states that do it really well," said Chad Warmington with the state chamber.
Virginia and Ohio were two states that stood out to the chamber. Warmington said Ohio has been the best model, which includes a totally independent corporation that is supported by state dollars.
"Think in Oklahoma, we want a little more say from our government and what’s going on there," said Warmington.
Warmington acknowledged that lawmakers and their constituents may want more oversight, which is similar to Virginia's model of a state-funded organization with its own staff that is overseen by a board of business leaders and elected officials.
“The board that’s helping direct that is made up of a good mix of private and public officials," said Warmington.
The pitch seemed to be well received by several lawmakers in attendance.
“I’m a fan of private-public partnerships. I think the private sector is much more flexible. We can pivot a lot more quickly than government does, but we have to have that oversight that way we are guarding taxpayer dollars," said state Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond.
As of now, this remains only an idea, as the committee of lawmakers is far from any final decision. Anything they decide to do will likely come in the form of legislation during next session.
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