By Mark Funke
Greetings to you during this hot Oklahoma summer. Our latest state budget data is positive, and the Oklahoma economy has improved since the pandemic began. Our members still voice concern on key issues that face not only Oklahoma, but the nation – including skilled workforce needs, distribution/ supply chain shortages and inflation. Nevertheless, we are in a very competitive economic development environment among states, and we must continue to focus on business start-up, expansion and new location efforts in support of our communities.
As we prepare to begin our new fiscal year on July 1, let me provide you with a brief update on our activity.
Annual Meeting
We had a very productive annual member’s meeting in Tulsa at Southern Hills on June 9th. We heard good comments from the Governor, Lt. Governor and the Department of Commerce on all the activities they are dealing with and working on. The Roundtable is involved in and financially supporting many of the economic development activities at the State level. We also heard from i2e on the Love’s Cup competition which the Roundtable sponsors and provides scholarship dollars to young entrepreneurs.
We announced over 30 new members to the Roundtable this year. We are honored to have this diverse group of companies that have joined to support our economic development activities. Check out our membership, by company name on our website.
Our keynote speaker for the program was Christina Gungoll Lepore, the Director of the Governor’s office in Washington DC. This office was started one year ago and has already accomplished a great deal for our state. Christina outlined various projects she has been involved with and offered her support and the DC office’s resources to help Oklahoma businesses navigate regulatory or other federal issues. She encouraged those in attendance to call her office on any matter where she could be helpful navigating the federal bureaucracy. The DC office contact information is:
Washington, D.C. | Office of Oklahoma Governor J. Kevin Stitt Christina Gungoll Lepore, Director Cell: (405) 766-1633 Email: christina.lepore@gov.ok.gov Geoff Smith, Deputy Director Cell: (405) 889-6457 Email: geoff.smith@gov.ok.gov Address: 444 N. Capitol St. NW | Suite 414 | Washington, D.C. 20001
You can use this link to see the entire annual membership meeting.
Leadership
During the meeting we announced our new Roundtable officers:
John Patrick Lopez, Lopez-Dorado Foods, Chairman
Dave Stewart, MidAmerica Industrial Park, Vice-Chairman/Chair Elect
Jeff Davis, Acorn Growth Companies, Secretary/Treasurer
Mita Bates, Immediate Past Chairman
We also announced three new board members:
Ken Miller, OGE
Chris VanDenhende, Mint Turbines
Steve Hahn, AT&T
Communication
We are in the process of updating our Roundtable website including a “MEMBERS ONLY“ section. This will provide additional value to your membership by providing more information about our members and creating opportunities for collaboration.
About half of our 170+ members have filled out the members only profile information. If you have not already done so, please fill out the profile document below and return to Tami Constable (tconstable@okbusinessroundtable.org) or click on the link in the document, so we can get your company’s information included on our new website.
The new website will provide more details about the many business development projects we help undertake with our partners, the latest in economic development trends and how we rank nationally.
Annual Membership Dues
Our annual membership billing is in process. Our fiscal year begins July 1, 2022, and ends June 30, 2023. We hope you will continue to support and invest in the Roundtable and economic development in Oklahoma. You will receive an electronic billing in the coming week. Please process or contact us if you need any follow-up information.
We look forward to seeing you on Oct 20, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. at the Oklahoma History Center, in Oklahoma City for our next Membership Meeting and Networking Reception.
Membership Meeting - 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Networking Reception - 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Until then, please call on us if we can be of any help, watch for our new website and check our website regularly for new information about our activities. Thank you for supporting the Oklahoma Business Roundtable.
Mark W. Funke, President & CEO Oklahoma Business Roundtable 655 Research Parkway, Suite 420 Oklahoma City, OK 73104 Cell: 405-326-8692 Office: 405-235-3787
