The Ponca City Chamber Board of Directors held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 28 at 11 am.

Chamber Chair Rick Hancock called the meeting to order.

Hancock then provided his Chamber Chair report.

The next Party at the Palace planning meeting will be at Fraizer’s on Wednesday, April 19 at 4 pm. The meetings are currently focused on gathering sponsors, the last of these sponsor focused meetings will be on April 19 before the focus pivots toward auction items.

Zach Trantham then shared a Chamber staff report.

A ribbon cutting was held for IF Welding at the Chamber Office on Thursday, March 30 at 11 am.

A Cash Mob will be held on Thursday, April 6 at Frazier’s Osage Restaurant at 11:30 am.

The Chamber Office will be closed on Friday, April 7 for Good Friday.

A lunch and learn on public speaking with Mayor Homer Nicholson will be held on Tuesday, April 11 from 11:30 am to 1 pm at the Pioneer Technology Center Conference Center. The lunch and learn is $10, call the Chamber to reserve a spot. Lunch is included.

The Chamber is collecting door prizes for their Support Staff Reception that will be held on Thursday, April 13 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Chamber Office.

A ribbon cutting will be held on Friday, April 14 at 4 pm for the Ponca City Senior Center at 319 W. Grand Avenue.

Business After Hours for April will be hosted by Titan Title and Closing at the Ponca City Country Club on Thursday, April 27 from 5 pm to 7 pm.

The last of the legislative forums this session will be held on Friday, April 28 from noon to 1 pm at City Hall.

Shelley Arrott, Tiffanny Hermann and Kelly Cross will be attending the Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma Chamber Conference in Branson, Missouri on May 1 to May 3.

A ribbon cutting will be held on Thursday, May 4 at 9 am for Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma in their new location at 2808 N. 14th.

The 36th Ponca City Leadership Class will have their graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 4 at 6 pm at the Ponca City Country Club. Cost is $40 and you can RSVP with the Chamber.

A ribbon cutting will be held for US Cellular on Friday, May 5 at 10 am at 2412 N. 14th.

Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) will be holding an event called “The Hero Effect” with motivational speaker Kevin Brown on Wednesday, May 24 from 11 am to 1 pm in the Pioneer Technology Center Conference Center. Tickets are $20 and the price includes lunch.

Trantham then provided a tourism update.

The Chamber put together a fox-hunt theme basket for Leadership Oklahoma during their visit to Ponca City in the first weekend in March.

The Chamber put together a “Made in Ponca City” basket for the Ponca City Police Department’s award banquet as a door prize. They have also put together a basket for Marland’s Place’s new CEO.

The Chamber has put together several baskets for the Southwest Bonanza Fly-In held on Saturday, March 18 at the Ponca City Airport.

This month the Chamber received visitors from California, Iowa and all over Oklahoma.

The “What’s Happening Ponca City” video for March is doing well and will have a new host, Jenna Wynes, starting in April.

The Chamber has submitted their full page ad for the May/June issue of Oklahoma Today highlight the rodeo, Herb Festival, and other events. This ad will also be in the May issue of the Ponca City Monthly.

The Chamber also placed an ad with the Oklahoma Fishing Trail.

Leadership Oklahoma Arts will be in Ponca City on April 27 and Trantham will be on a panel discussing tourism in Ponca City.

The last two trade shows of the year for the Chamber will be in April for the Rogers, Arkansas Home and Garden Show, and the Wichita Working Women’s Show.

Board members then shared various updates.

Austin Wilkins provided a Ponca Young Employees (PYE) update.

PYE partnered with Ponca City Country Club for a brunch networking event on Saturday, March 18.

At their previous board meeting, PYE panned out many of their second quarter events moving into quarter three.

PYE is also planning for a Tap into the Arts event.

Kayla Blaes provided an update for Leadership Ponca City.

Earlier this month, Leadership had their trip to Oklahoma City to the Capitol, the State Chamber and the first Americans Museum. Their next session will be on city government.

Lori Henderson provided an update for Ponca City Development Authority.

The unemployment rate in Ponca City is currently at 3.5%, slightly above the 3.4% this time last year.

At the March PCDA meeting, they hosted Jordan Jackson- Gross who is the new internship coordinator with Ponca City Public Schools (PCPS). She had about 60 students interning in the community.

PCDA approved a match to a grant that helps with the first time home buyer assistance program.

PCDA signed a new lease with Cookshack for their expansion and also talked about 12 company projects in their closed session. One of those projects is for a new company.

PCDA hosted a luncheon with Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) on finance authority.

The next Small Business Pitch-Off will be Monday, April 3.

There are a number of infrastructure projects going on currently including water detention.

PCDA is installing digital, instead of pneumatic, HVAC in the City Central building through a grant.

PCDA has a new trustee appointed.

Henderson also shared that Ponca City Main Street is reaching out to sponsors for Ice on the Plaza.

Mayor Homer Nicholson provided an update for the City of Ponca City.

City staff is working on the budget. The current budget is $125 million, and estimates project the new budget somewhere between $130 to $135 million. There will be some increases to utility rates in some areas due to increases in price for supplies for water treatment chemicals, amongst other areas.

The Ponca City Citywide Garage Sale will be held on Saturday, April 22.

The annual Ponca City Spring Clean-Up will be held from April 22 to April 29.

The rodeo bleachers have been installed.

The Commissioners approved $250,000 to help the downtown central business district.

The city is getting ready to do mill and overlay in several places around town, one of those being Mockingbird, east of Pecan.

1st Street from Highland to 1st is expected to be milled and overlaid sometime this year.

Congressman Lucas has given the city $2 million to rework and restore the transportation depot. The hope is that this will be a step toward bringing passenger rail back to Ponca City.

Tidal Wave Car Auto Spa will be built where Ground Round was on Prospect.

The Public Safety Center is expected to open in summer.

The Pioneer Apartments north of the Pioneer Woman is coming along.

Sunset Villas at 5th and Bradley will be composed of about 90 units, with the first 70 in a gated community.

Broadband is coming along and is expected to be completed this summer.

Freedom Homes on Turner will be for residents 55 and older.

The city has ordered a new ambulance with delivery anticipated for 2024.

Kay County District Attorney Brian Hermanson provided an update.

DA Hermanson thanked Ponca City for voting against SQ 820, a bill that would have made recreational marijuana legal in the state of Oklahoma.

There is an election on April 4 for the District 3 Commission for Kay County.

Work on the courthouse is progressing with stone being placed on the outside of the building and metal work in the building. There is a completion date for Aug. 15.

The DA’s office has been meeting rural and city fire departments to discuss the details of the sales tax to support rural fire departments.

Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) Superintendent Traci Thorpe provided an update.

PTC has students working on industry certifications, work-based learning activities, and student competitions.

PTC is redesigning the pathway for practical nursing to allow high school seniors to start the program.

PTC is also redesigning a flexible training lab for industry partners to test drive technologies and to have a pop-up class for training.

The format for the Business and Industry Breakfast has changed with a focus on industry sectors. The next will be on construction and trades.

PTC will celebrate their 50th anniversary this year and is working on celebrations for that occasion.

Kevin Schmitt with Philips 66 thanked those that came out to the Business After Hours on March 23 at the Conoco Philips Museum.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 25 at 11 am.