Tulsa gears up for the future

By Ben Goldstein

Tulsa’s Future, the multiphase, regional economic development plan for the Tulsa, Oklahoma region, was designed to infuse the area with investment dollars, create jobs in targeted industries and develop a skilled workforce to attract new businesses.

“In the early 2000s, there wasn’t a lot of money allotted to economic development, and the chamber and our partners wanted to change that,” said Brien Thorstenberg, senior vice president of economic development at the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “We developed the first iteration of Tulsa’s Future, with an original goal of adding more than 10,000 jobs with an average wage above $45,000.”

The plan thus far consists of three five-year phases...

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Opportunity Austin: How a relatively quiet effort supercharges a regional economy

By Daniel Salazar

One of the region's most influential economic development programs is well into its second decade, though it isn't a household name. Despite the roaring economy — or perhaps because of it — its leaders say there are no plans to slow down.

Opportunity Austin is a five-county economic development initiative by the Austin Chamber of Commerce known well to local business insiders, but doesn't have much of a public profile. The behind-the-scenes effort entails hundreds of investors contributing millions of dollars every five years. Their money and attention is focused broadly to just about every nook and cranny of the city. Sure, there is old-fashioned corporate retention and job-creation strategies, but school children, poor residents and even roads, buses and trains get attention because all affect the region's economic success.

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St. Petersburg chamber of commerce charts ‘Grow Smarter’ economic development strategy

By Richard Danielson

ST. PETERSBURG — What started more than five years ago as an exploratory conversation among a handful of business leaders blossomed Friday into a full-blown community discussion of how to nurture business while working to make sure St. Peterburg’s urban renaissance doesn’t leave anyone behind.

"Grow Smarter" is the mantra adopted by the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, and organizers said it’s built on a commitment to bring many people and groups into the conversation.

"This is kind of the beginning of the next phase," chamber board chairman and Regions Bank market president Jim Donatelli told 220 entrepreneurs, civic leaders, government officials, educators and others during a half-day summit at Pinellas Technical College.

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The inclusion solution: Sioux Falls grapples with diversity as workforce woes mount

Jeremy J Fugleberg

Jason Ball stepped up to the microphone before the downtown Rotary Club last month and delivered a strong message calling for Sioux Falls to come into its own.

“We have to begin to get okay with becoming a major metro area," said the president and CEO of the Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce,

The metro area now includes more than 250,000 people, he reminded the crowd.

"We’ve got to grow into the community we need to be," he said. "And I think that’s going to begin here, with us not only just valuing the diversity that exists in this community but finding ways to celebrate it."

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