An Economic Forum was held in a packed Freddie’s Steaks and Bar-B-Q Restaurant Conference Room at noon on Wednesday, September 6.
Lunch came first, a tasty buffet selection of Freddie’s finest.
Attendees included City Council members, Leon Warner from the County Commissioners, Joan Riley, City Manager, Rep. Mark Lawson and Senator James, Leewright, School Superintendent Rob Armstrong, business owners, and other interested parties.
City Manager Riley introduced the guest speaker, Rickey Hayes from Retail Attractions, LLC, an economic development consulting firm. Having worked with Hayes in Enid, prior to her arrival in Sapulpa, Riley stated that Hayes “set (Enid) up with decision makers,” who made “dedicated change in Enid.” He helped build Owasso to what it is today- the “Retail Capital of Oklahoma.”
She went on to say that Sapulpa is a “beautiful community, but we have to have sales tax dollars.” She repeated the slogan “ Rooftops help bring retail,” and said that 400 new homes were in the process of being built in Sapulpa as of today.
Riley said that Hayes and his company could “Lead us forward into growing Sapulpa.”
Rickey Hayes, a former police officer turned economic development guru, began by reminding the audience that “part of the struggle is only seeing half the situation.” When you live in a town, raise kids there, work in town, hearing negative things about Sapulpa can be upsetting, but when cities are compared side-by side, the “national guys” point out the bad things.
Sapulpa’s most telling problem is that there is no green, flat land on which to build. He remarked that the most promising plan involved Town West, which was to be bought out whole and bull-dozed flat, and start over—but it was 3-4 acres shy of the needed acreage.
Hayes said that Sapulpa is in the top 20 markets in Oklahoma, with disposable income, and beautiful parts of town. There are some areas that “don’t show so well.” He stated that SeneGence (locating its plant and offices in the area) was a “legacy.”
He charged that Tulsa Hills was located exactly where it could “steal money” from Jenks, Sapulpa, and surrounding areas. He referred to this as “Strategic Retail.” He said that Glenpool was “stealing money from Sapulpa every day.”
He said, “You can’t grow a city without building a tax base.”
Hayes stated that his compnay is in 38 states, 415 cities and so far, are “batting 1000.” The main secret to success in towns who succeed is “Consensus!”
His definition is “Doing whatever it takes to keep pulling in the right direction.” This may mean arguing in private, but presenting a united front.
He covered several examples of success in Sand Springs, Owasso, Enid, and Broken Arrow. He remarked that there are “millions and millions and millions of dollars driving by on that highway right now,” and “the national guys” look for “corridors” to build anchor stores like Academy, TJ Maxx, and Target, and attendant restaurants, like Colton’s and Santa Fe.
He remarked that Broken Arrow’s downtown, revitalized with public money (and 2025 money) was “breath-taking!”Hayes’ slide show included one diagram of the process of change. “It’s traumatic, inevitable, needed,” he said.
In the future, Hayes commented box stores will become show rooms for retail, with people “shopping” there and going home to order online. He said the new liquor laws in OK have the “grocery chains hovering over.”
Questions included: How do you get local people to shop down town? Diane Gloden, owner of L’il Bit of Country, said she had been downtown for 30 years and she said “half the people here haven’t been in there.”
Hayes’ program seemed not to address downtown growth, but “corridors” and “national guys.”
Another audience member remarked that her family had moved a lot and didn’t make decisions based on closeness to retail, but to the quality of the schools.
Riley said, “Give us a chance to do better.”
David Widdoes, City Attorney, reminded the audience about the vote on Tuesday, “To move this city forward.”