December 2018 Newsletter
Hello!

Enid, Oklahoma has set a goal to have $1 billion in total retail sales by 2025.
In 2010, we had $650 million.
Last year, we had $815 million.
This year, we are on track to exceed $850 million.
We are on our way!

As part of this effort to grow, over the last few months, several of us have been traveling to successful communities around the US to see what they are doing right and bringing those ideas home. There is one thing we saw in every community we visited that we need to emulate in Enid and throughout Oklahoma.

We need a Culture of Innovation.

Our challenge is to figure out how to create it. And how to define it. And how to recognize it when we have achieved it. Shifting a culture starts with the youngest among us. We need to encourage original thought and show them a world without limits. When our citizens propose these new thoughts and try to turn them into an enterprise, we need to have a pipeline of assistance prepared to help them turn their idea into a profitable business. And then, once they have succeeded, we need to publicly celebrate those achievements and amplify them throughout the region to inspire the next generation to be like them one day.

Economic development is shifting. In the past, it was all about chasing employers that would hire people 50 and 100 at a time. We would create programs to entice some of the biggest employers in the country to come look at our industrial parks and green spaces. Even though that is still an integral part of growing a community, the successful communities of tomorrow are figuring out how to entice 50-100 entrepreneurs to create a product or process that people will buy. They work in co-working spaces. They wear jeans to work every day. They need to be adventurous. They need to be risk takers. And they need to be Innovative.

I was in a meeting recently with Erika Lucas, the Co-Founder of the Thunder Launch Pad, Oklahoma’s only Business Accelerator. She encouraged everyone in the meeting to switch their nomenclature from referring to people as “entrepreneurs” and instead refer to them as “innovators.” That’s really what they do every day. They find something they are passionate about and find a way to monetize it using “innovation” as their true north.

We need a Culture of Innovation in our community…and Enid is working every day to make it happen.

Brent Kisling
Executive Director
UPCOMING EVENTS

ERDA Quarterly Luncheon
January 10, 2019 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Oakwood Country Club
1601 N. Oakwood Rd., Enid, OK
Registration and Guest Speaker information coming soon!






Enid Young Professionals
Network @ Nite
Buffalo Wild Wings - Enid, OK
January 17, 2019 - 5:30-7:00 p.m.




Northwest Oklahoma Alliance
Networking Luncheon
Woodward Conference Center
January 31, 2019 - 11:30-1:00 PM
Registration and Guest Speaker information coming soon!


ERDA FOCUSES ON ENID BEING A BILLION DOLLAR CITY BY 2025
Enid Regional Development Alliance was focused on making Enid a “billion dollar community” during the organization’s October quarterly luncheon at Oakwood Country Club. ERDA Executive Director Brent Kisling spent the bulk of the meeting discussing ERDA’s “Billion by 2025” campaign — an initiative to increase the city’s annual retail sales to $1 billion by 2025. Read more...

THE STRATE CENTER FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CREATES CO-WORKING SPACE
Brian Gaddy, Director of the Strate Center for Business Development, announced the creation of readily available co-working space. The space, to be rented in various ways such as daily and monthly rates, works well for home-based professionals, independent contractors, salesman or people who frequently travel for work. Contact the Strate Center at (580) 242-2750 for more information about this productive work zone and collaborative community called co-working space. 
'VANCE PROUD': COMMANDER HIGHLIGHTS INCREASED PILOT OUTPUT AND BASE UPGRADES
Col. Corey Simmons, commander of the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base, paused Monday to provide updates on the base’s efforts to increase pilot production, and on some recent and planned infrastructure projects.
Simmons assumed command at Vance on July 16, relieving Col. Darrell Judy, who has since retired from the Air Force. Read more...

ADM MODERNIZATION COMPLETED
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) joined with members of the community on October 8, 2018 to celebrate the opening of its modernized flour mill in Enid, Oklahoma. “For many decades, the Enid flour mill has served as a focal point for the region’s wheat harvest,” said Kevin Like, vice president, ADM Milling. “We’re building upon that legacy with upgrades to the facility that will provide even better service to our customers.” “Increasing food processing is one of our long-standing agricultural goals for the state of Oklahoma,” said Governor Mary Fallin, who attended the ceremony. Read more...
EMERSON ELEMENTARY'S INNOVATIVE LEARNING STUDIO INTEGRATES TECHNOLOGY INTO TEACHING
Emerson Middle School is moving closer to the cutting edge in education, thanks to a $40,000 grant school faculty spent nearly two years chasing. The Oklahoma Educational Technology Trust grant was earned in April, and since then Emerson staff has been hard at work selecting the right tech to enrich, and intrigue, students. Read more...

THE NEW PUTNAM 6 BOOKSTORE AIMS TO ENRICH ENID COMMUNITY
Chloe Fuksa returned to Enid with a mission. She left for Colorado for college, then spent three years at the state Capitol as assistant to Enid Reps. Chad Caldwell and John Enns, “with the gray hairs to prove it.” She’s back now, and running a business. Her bookstore, Putnam Six, was well-packed Monday for its grand opening.
She remembers the exact day she got the idea, Dec. 24, 2017. Less than a year later she made it happen. Read more...
EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER GROUNDBREAKING
Ground was broken Thursday on a new early childhood center at the Northwestern Oklahoma State University-Enid campus. The $2.1 million project is a collaborative effort between Enid Public Schools and Northwestern, which promises to benefit both, NWOSU-Enid Dean Wayne McMillin said. “I’m excited about this. This is going to be a really great partnership from this day forward,” he said. “I imagine even bigger things to come in the future.” Read more...