In his final Leadership Notes before he officially retires as Chamber president and CEO, Roy Williams expresses his thanks to everyone in Oklahoma City who has helped transform OKC to the vibrant, innovative city it is today.
Throughout the last two years, the Oklahoma City metro has consistently bucked the norm when it comes to economic strength and viability when compared to other large cities. While community leaders in those cities lamented over higher-than-normal unemployment rates and lower tax revenue collections, leaders here breathed a sigh of relief as unemployment remained low and sales tax collections rebounded, even setting record highs.
The pandemic affected nearly every industry sector worldwide. While some are obviously still struggling, one that is on the rebound locally is our visitor economy. And the benefits our economy is deriving from this activity are due to the investments we’ve made over the years that are attracting people and economic activity in this increasingly important sector.
Appearing on these types of lists is no accident. The City of Oklahoma City has proven to be responsive to residents, and not combative toward the business community. In fact, we are partners on many levels, and that shows in this latest example of our collective success.
Though the circumstances that have led us to this moment in our history as a community are somewhat complex, my message this month is pretty simple. If you are a resident of Oklahoma County, I ask you to vote “yes” on June 28 to build a new county jail.
Last month, five of the largest CareerTech centers in the Greater Oklahoma City metro announced the formation of Onward OKC, a new compact designed to allow for better, more streamlined access to training for both businesses and employees alike.
Over the past few years, we’ve had the privilege and great responsibility to lead our community’s response to the major challenges of our criminal justice system here in Oklahoma County.
By now, you may have heard or read that I will be winding down my role with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. It has been a fun and exhilarating ride for me over these nearly two decades serving the business community in this critical position and leading this highly respected and actively engaged organization.
