May Chamber Board meeting

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May Chamber Board meeting

Thu, 05/25/2023 - 17:59
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The Ponca City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Committee held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 23 at 11 am.

Rick Hancock called the meeting to order and then provided his Chamber Chair report.

Hancock shared another success principle with the group, that being the trait of enthusiasm.

Party at the Palace will be on Friday, Aug. 18 at the Marland Mansion. Unlike other chambers, the Ponca City Chamber only holds one fundraiser every other year with off years focusing on Chamber membership.

The Party at the Palace planning committee will meet at El Patio on Wednesday, June 21 at 4 pm.

Incoming Chamber CEO Shelley Arrott will begin work at the Chamber starting on June 5.

Interim Chamber CEO, Tiffany Hermann, then provided her Chamber update.

Nominations are being accepted for the 37th Ponca City Leadership Class. Thus far, there are 21 nominations with eight nominations that carried over from the previous year.

Business After Hours will be hosted at the Ponca City Country Club by First National Bank of Oklahoma from 5 pm to 7 pm on Thursday, May 25.

Ponca Politics will meet at the Chamber Office on Friday, May 26 at 11 am. There will be a short meeting before the group travel to tour the new Public Safety Center.

Next month’s Cash Mob event will be on Thursday, June 1 at Old West Liquor at 11:30 am.

A ribbon cutting will be held on Wednesday, June 7 at the Chamber Officer at 11 am for Superior Seamless Guttering.

Another ribbon cutting will be held on Friday, June 16 at 2 pm for Sizzle Sauce Media at The Link at City Central at 400 E. Central Avenue.

Next, Zach Trantham provided a tourism report.

The Chamber has worked on “Made in Ponca City” baskets for several events happening around town.

Over 200 bags have been made for the Herb Festival and the Hospice Golf Tournament.

Ponca City lanyards were given out at the Special Olympics.

The office has received visitors from Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Washington and Canada this past month.

Friday, June 2 is Cruisin Grand, and is also the first day of Down by Downtown (DXDT).

The Ponca City Farmer’s Market starts on Saturday, June 3 and will continue on till Oct. 7.

The car show and motorcycle show at Lake Ponca will be on June 3.

The Herb Festival will also be on June 3.

The rodeo will begin the following week starting on Thursday, June 8, with the rodeo parade on Saturday, June 10.

Dearing House’s Fish Fry for the Small Fry will be on Friday, June 16.

Attucks will be hosting their Juneteenth celebrations from June 16 to June 19.

The Chamber has a full page ad in the Ponca City Monthly for the rodeo, this ad is also in the May/June issue of Oklahoma Today.

The Chamber is working on updates for the website.

The last trade show of the year was the Wichita Women’s Show, the Chamber spoke to over 1000 people about coming to Ponca City.

Trantham and Shelley Arrott will be attending the RedBud State Tourism Awards on Tuesday, June 13.

Committee members then provided various updates.

Austin Wilkins provided an update for Ponca Young Employees (PYE).

The PYE Annual Cornhole Tournament was held on Saturday, May 13 at Ody’s and raised over $650 for the PYE scholarship program. Another fundraiser raffle will be held next month with a bar crawl on June 24.

Liz Leaming provided an update for Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA).

Work on the Duke speculative building is anticipated to be completed in late summer. There is already interest from potential tenants.

Girl Power STEM Camp is set for June 24 to June 28 for middle school aged girls.

Budget discussions have wrapped up and the final budget will be approved at the June trustees meeting.

City Central is currently at 84-86% occupancy within the building.

Work continues on the HVAC system at City Central. Upgrades were being made from the old pneumatic system to a new digital one. This project is estimated to be completed by the end of July.

TrailerButler is a new company that has recently relocated from Las Vegas to Ponca City. PCDA staff is working with them currently.

Mayor Homer Nicholson then provided a City of Ponca City update.

The City Commissioners approved the 2023-2024 budget on Monday, May 22 during their regular session. The approximate budget being $132 million, a 6% increase over last year’s budget.

The prices for water treatment chemicals has gone up 50% to 60%, and the city is fighting increases in several areas.

The Pioneer Place Apartments remodel is progressing.

The former Rue 21 space is being converted into a new business called Five Below.

An HTeaO is a new business that is coming to the old A&W/Long John Silver’s location on Prospect.

Several mill and overlay projects are occurring across the city, particularly at Princeton Ave., and Mockingbird east of 14th.

The city has $2 million to restore the train depot and transform it into a transportation hub.

Tidal Wave Auto Spa will be in the location where Ground Round formerly was.

The Ponca City Senior Center remodel is complete and has been reopened since April.

The Public Safety Center is anticipated to be completed during the summer.

Work continues at the Sunset Villas at 5th and Bradley with 90 new housing units.

The broadband project has been completed in Ponca City.

The City has two new ambulances on order, a new pumper truck, and a packer for the landfill.

The Conoco hanger at the airport has been leased to California-based company NextGen Aviation Services. They will establish an MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) operation at the airport.

Century Products has purchased the former Smith Building to expand their operations.

The Air Race Classic will be June 20 to 23 and will feature 44 teams of all female pilots racing across the United States and making a stop in Ponca City.

Kay County District Attorney, Brian Hermanson, provided an update.

DA Hermanson shared that the jury term ends in two weeks.

Kay County, along with other counties, is experiencing a big drug problem, especially as it pertains to fentanyl.

The Kay County Courthouse renovation is making good progress and is now looking at an Oct. 31 completion date. They are hoping to host an open house for the entire campus after the first of the year.

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

The last day of school was on Tuesday, May 23.

PTC has several year-end wrap up events taking place.

Summer Camp kicks off in June with Summer Academies.

PTC is holding a new teen truck driver class in June.

The PTC cafeteria will be open year-round.

CareerTech is waiting on the current legislative session to wrap up so it will have clarity on next year’s budget.

Maci Graves, Ponca City Main Street (PCMS) Executive Director, provided an update.

PCMS recently won five awards at this year’s Oklahoma Main Street Awards Banquet.

PCMS is gearing up for Crazy Day’s in July.

Kelsey Wagner with MyMediaMatters shared that First Fridays will begin on Friday, June 2 downtown.

Kaity Beaty shared that Enrique’s will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary with specials all week.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 27 at 11 am.