The Ponca City Business Council held their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 5. Kelly Cross called the meeting to order.

The Chamber are currently collecting door prizes for their Support Staff Reception on Wednesday, May 11 from 10 am to 2 pm at the Chamber Office.

Business of the Month presentation was at Om Yoga and Wellness Center located at 319 1/2 E. Grand Ave. following the meeting.

Next month’s cash mob will be at Hughes Lumber on Thursday, May 5 at 11:30 am, located at 705 E. Prospect Avenue.

Chamber President Rich Cantillon then provided his Chamber report.

The Chamber held a ribbon cutting for Vibe Salon on Tuesday, April 5 at 322 E. Grand Avenue. A ribbon cutting is scheduled for Spray’s Jewelry and Gifts on April 12 at 2 pm, and another ribbon cutting will be on April 14 for Galaxie Business Equipment at 2 pm.

The Leadership Ponca City class held a session on April 6 on Kay County government, this was initially scheduled back in January, but was pushed back due to COVID-19. They will have their city government session on April 13, they will then have their third session on April 27 at Camp Horizon.

Cantillon will be doing a board orientation for Hospice on Friday, April 8 at 9 am.

The Chamber is hosting an Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executive’s Board training at the Chamber Office this month.

The next Kindness Campaign meeting will be on April 19 at 4pm at the Rusty Barrell.

Wednesday, April 20 will be Ponca City Day at the state capitol. The Chamber will display Ponca City’s attractions on the fourth floor rotunda at the capitol.

The Chamber Celebration will be on April 21 with RCB Bank hosting the reception at the Marland Mansion. You must have a ticket to enter the reception. Following the reception, the awards ceremony will be at the Ponca City Concert Hall at 6:30 pm, the awards ceremony is free to enter.

The next Ponca Politics Forum will be on Friday, April 22 with Senator Bill Coleman, and Representatives Ken Luttrell and John Pfeiffer.

Business After Hours will be on April 28 and hosted by Stolhand-Wells Group in the Summit Room at City Central.

Kelsey Wagner with Ponca City Monthly and MyMedia-Matters provided an update.

Work is being done on the outside of their building to repair some water damage, and they hope to have their ribbon cutting sometime before the end of summer.

Ponca City Monthly is also looking for any submission or story ideas. Those can be sent to editor@poncacitymonthly.com.

Chris Sieman from Air Evac Lifeteam provided an update.

They have just finished up with their trade shows in March. They have also partnered with Major League Fishing for a pro bass fishing event out at Grand Lake O’the Cherokees two weeks ago. This is something they are attempting to do on a national scale.

Air Evac Lifeteam is up to 19 aircraft in the state. There will also be a new program director in Ponca City started on April 25.

A new service that Air Evac is offering is the “International Fly You Home” memberships.

Jamie Philips of Marland’s Place provided an update.

Marland’s Place will have a spring fundraiser on Friday, April 8 called Cocktails for a Cause. The event will be held out at Osage Casino with dueling pianos for entertainment. Tickets for the event have been entirely sold out.

Ponca City Rotary turned 100 years old on Friday, April 1 and Ponca City Mayor Homer Nicholson declared it “Rotary Club Day” in Ponca City.

Betty Rutz of Lake View Boat and RV Storage provided an update.

Fishing is picking up at Lake View and the paddlefish are getting bigger. Several people are coming from out of state to fish.

Building is going on for storage units, right now the 45 foot units due to the increasing size of RVs.

Kat Long with City Central gave her report. There are new tenants at City Central including Bowers that will be moving into the Gravity Room. At the end of the summer, City Central is expected to be at 82% occupancy.

There are link offices open on the first floor for anyone looking for office space.

The Business Pitch-Off was held in March in which Nena’s Tacos went up against Central Cafe. Nena’s Tacos was declared the winner, but they split the winnings with Central Cafe. Central Cafe opened on Monday, April 4.

Business on the Balcony will be on Tuesday, April 12 from 7 am to 8:30 am.

Girl Power Camp sign-up are going on right now for girls ages 12 to 13 for this summer.

The small business and non-profit grants are open in April until April 30. Your business will have had to have been in business in January of 2020.

Ben Evans with Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) provided his update.

A farm rescue is coming up on May 14 at Frontier Schools for grain mounds and all the safety you will need to know.

1 Million Cups was held on Wednesday, April 6 with NERA as the speaker.

There are still a lot of moving parts toward opening the westward expansion, although it is hoped that PTC will still be able to have graduation there. Supply chain issues are causing difficulties. The location will be able to hold more people than PTC’s seminar center when it is completed.

Brooke Jones with Redlands Office Solutions provided an update.

Redlands Office Solutions is Native American owned, and the Buy Indian Act was passed on March 14 which means all Indian Health Services (IHC) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agencies have to buy Indian first.

Kerri Bowman provided an update with Parks and Recreation Board.

Main Street was awarded a grant by T-Mobile and will be bringing an ice skating rink to Veteran’s Plaza. T-Mobile will present a check to Main Street at noon on Friday, April 8 at Veteran’s Plaza.

Peachtree Landing will be holding their Cowboy Ball on May 6. Tickets are on sale now.

Mayor Homer Nicholson provided a city update.

Three new carwashes will potentially be coming to Ponca City in the future. There are also new housing projects proposed for around Ponca City.

The new police station is still under construction with a projected completion set for sometime in the fall.

The broadband project is growing very well. West of 14th Street has been completed, and now they are working east of 14th.

There are six new all white garbage trucks that are currently in service around town. New police cars are on back order, but Ponca City has received a new bucket truck.

The Third Street sidewalk is currently being reworked.

The Ponca City Aviation Foundation Flyin Breakfast was on Saturday, April 2 for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiffany Hermann with the Chamber of Commerce provided an update.

Leadership Ponca City will a fundraiser dinner to raise money for an “in-kind” gift. This money will help an adult wishing to go back to school, and doesn’t have the money to go to PTC or the University Center. That will be on Saturday, April 9 at Osage Casino.

April is a big tourism time for the Ponca City Chamber. Zach Trantham will be attending Comic Con in Kansas City, and Hermann will be working the Wichita Women’s Show that same weekend.

Kelly Cross with Rick Scott Construction provided an update.

Despite supply delays for materials, work is being done to take care of ongoing projects. They are working on growing their Tulsa market and offices.

The Kay County Amphitheater will have its opening on Saturday, April 30 at 7 pm.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 3.