ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Stillwater Economic Development :
The Three-Legged Stool
The Stillwater Chamber of Commerce operates two different business units . One is the Chamber as most people know : events , memberships , networking opportunities , etc . The other unit is economic development .
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COMMERCE | 2021 P r o fi l e Magazine of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce
The economic development side of the house operates within the walls of 409 S . Main St ., but functions as the economic development arm of the City of Stillwater .
The Chamber has a service contract with the City of Stillwater to be the primary point of contact for all primary job growth , retention and expansion as well as to be the point for restaurant / retail recruitment . There are three staff members whose primary job function is economic development : Justin Minges , Chamber president / CEO ; Trenton Inselman , economic development project manager ; and Joshua Hawkins , business retention and expansion coordinator . Each one on the team has a different job duty and makes up the three legs of the economic development stool for Stillwater .
Entrepreneurship Leg one is entrepreneurship . Entrepreneurship is a key component of a successful economic development operation because a growing community is likely to grow mostly from within . We need creative , risk tolerant citizens to open businesses and hire employees in Stillwater . These entrepreneurs give Stillwater its unique quality of life from our main street entrepreneurs to the hightech startups at Oklahoma State University , Meridian Technology and throughout the Stillwater community .
The entrepreneurship component requires various entities in Stillwater coming together to create an environment ripe for new ideas and businesses . That cooperation of entities comes from OSU , Meridian Technology Center , the Stillwater Chamber and successful entrepreneurs in the community .
Minges is the Chamber lead for our entrepreneurship efforts . For programming specific for entrepreneurs , check out www . startupstillwater . com .
Business Recruitment The second leg of the stool is new business recruitment . This is one of the most known functions of economic development and the one often described as “ newspaper headline ” material .
We focus mainly on primary job recruitment , which means manufacturing plants , research and development entities , corporate headquarters , Class A office projects , etc . The process involved in primary job recruitment is the most confidential and is often the vaguest .
We are sent projects from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce , the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce 10-County Economic Development Partnership and sometimes direct leads from site consultants or companies . These projects are code named prior to being sent and limited information is shared . They ask what assets they are looking for in their search , and communities
Our team is passionate about Stillwater and happy to help any business in Stillwater tackle whatever is in front of them . We look forward to helping Stillwater grow !