Gathering Place Has All Eyes on Tulsa
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VOLUME / ISSUE 94 5 2018 OCTOBER / SEPTEMBER GATHERING PLACE HAS ALL EYES ON TULSA FOLLOW US The Chamber Report (ISSN 1532-5733) is published bimonthly by the Tulsa Regional Chamber, Williams Center Tower I, One West Third Street, Suite 100, Tulsa, OK 74103, (918) 585-1201. Members receive a subscription for $12 paid from annual dues. Nonmembers can subscribe for $24 per year. Periodical postage is paid at Tulsa, Oklahoma. Publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertising. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Chamber Report, Williams Center Tower I, One West Third Street, Suite 100, Tulsa, OK 74103. LEADERSHIP TEAM PRESIDENT & CEO IN THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS Mike Neal, CCE, CCD, HLM EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & COO PG 4 : A PARK LIKE NO OTHER Justin McLaughlin, CEcD, CCE GATHERING PLACE HAS ALL EYES ON TULSA Mosaic Networking Event Small Business Social November 2, 2018 November 15, 2018 EDUCATION & WORKFORCE Black Wall Street Gallery FlyingTee Brett Campbell, Ph.D. Senior Vice President PG 19 : PINNACLE OF New Member LEAP State of the Economy Maggie Hoey EXCELLENCE LOCAL November 2, 2018 December 6, 2018 Executive Director, TYPros BUSINESSES HONORED AT OU-Tulsa Renaissance Tulsa Hotel & Kuma Roberts, IOM FIFTH ANNUAL TULSA SMALL Convention Center Executive Director, Talent Attraction, BUSINESS SUMMIT AND State of the City Retention & Mosaic AWARDS feat. Mayor G.T. Bynum Annual Meeting REGIONAL TOURISM November 8, 2018 January 17, 2019 Ray Hoyt Cox Business Center Cox Business Center Senior Vice President, VisitTulsa, Tulsa Sports Commission & Tulsa FMAC Vanesa Masucci Vice President, VisitTulsa Heath Aucoin PG 23 : D&I 101 Vice President of Operations, VisitTulsa & CEO COMMITMENT Tulsa Sports Commission Jessica Lowe-Betts, IOM PG 11 : BUILDING A TALENT Vice President of Marketing & Branding, PIPELINE ON THE COVER: Gathering Place isn’t only VisitTulsa & Tulsa Sports Commission CHAMBER IMPLEMENTS NATIONAL INITIATIVE wildly popular with Tulsans – it’s attracted Vince Trinidad, CSEE, IOM TO ADDRESS REGIONAL attention for its world-class features and Executive Director, Tulsa Sports Commission WORKFORCE CHALLENGES inclusivity. Read excerpts from national news MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS coverage about Gathering Place’s grand Jim Morgan Senior Vice President opening to see what non-Tulsans think about PG 23 : FEATURED ARTIST Chris Wylie Tulsa’s new riverfront park. ERIC HIMAN Vice President PG 14 : REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Brien Thorstenberg, CEcD BUSINESS ADVOCACY Senior Vice President 2019 ONEVOICE AGENDA TAKES SHAPE Bill Murphy, EDFP, CEcD Vice President Kathy Duck Executive Director, Tulsa Small Business PG 24 : SMALL BUSINESS To advertise in The Chamber Report, email Connection CONNECTION SPOTLIGHT [email protected] TINA PARKHILL, PARKHILL’S or call 918.560.0250. GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SOUTH LIQUORS & WINE Elizabeth Osburn PG 16 : SEIZING MOMENTUM CHAMBER LAUNCHES Senior Vice President THIRD TOURISM INVESTMENT CAMPAIGN Zack Stoycoff Vice President FINANCE Nancy Carter, CPA THE CHAMBER REPORT IS PUBLISHED SIX TIMES A YEAR BY THE TULSA REGIONAL CHAMBER PG 25 : NEW MEMBERS Vice President EDITORS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT Jim Morgan Taylor Costley Allison Walden, CFRE, IOM Senior Vice President, Communications Senior Account Executive Senior Vice President Chris Wylie Jarrel Wade Vice President, Communications Senior Account Executive Steffanie Bonner Vice President, Resource Development PUBLICATION AND DESIGN Piper Wolfe Senior Account Executive Courtney Dresher Bryan Campbell Director of Creative Services Vice President, Member Engagement and Investor Relations Michelle Stokes Senior Graphic Designer Karen Humphrey, IOM Executive Director, Resource Campaign 2 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018 TULSACHAMBER.COM | THE CHAMBER REPORT 3 Sixty-six acres of parkland in the heart of the city. Thirty-four miles of pathways and trails for walking and biking. Three-story German-engineered play towers. Two land bridges over Tulsa’s Riverside Drive. One new riverfront park like no other. Not only has Gathering Place captivated Tulsans, it’s also attracted the attention of national news organizations. During the park’s construction, outlets like the Christian Science Monitor and the Washington Post wrote about the George Kaiser Family Foundation’s efforts to, as Mr. Kaiser told the latter paper, build “a central gathering spot where we're no longer as divided as most cities by geography, by race or by class.” That coverage intensified in the weeks before and after the park’s Sept. 8th opening as newspapers and blogs elevated Tulsa on an international stage. The following are excerpts from several of the recent stories published about Gathering Place by national outlets. “Ambitious parks aim to transform Oklahoma’s cities” Published July 17 Mayor Bynum said years of “honest conversation helped change the dynamics about unofficial segregation and created greater understanding.” Latinos, who now make up 15 percent of the population, were also brought into the city-wide conversation about the future. That dialogue led to new questions: “What draws people together? How can we pull people out of their bubbles?” The city’s leadership heard from the people: an ambitious park was the answer. Space for a unity park appeared along the Arkansas River in one of Tulsa’s wealthiest neighborhoods. The large estates of private homes were purchased and merged to form the basis for a new landscape. Apartment complexes on the site were bought, then demolished. Dozens of donors and philanthropists came together to make it happen. The resulting park – the Gathering Place – will be the “largest gift park in any city in US history,” said Mayor Bynum. By “gift park,” Bynum means it was entirely financed with private donations. Half of the [$465 million] GATHERING PLACE HAS ALL EYES ON TULSA goes to capital investment, while the other half is for an endowment for long-term operations and maintenance. The park will be free to all. 4 SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2018 TULSACHAMBER.COM | THE CHAMBER REPORT 5 The New York Times NBA.com “Transforming Tulsa, starting with a park” “A vision of unity comes to life” Published digitally August 10, in print August 11 Published September 9 Seven years later, the Olmsted-style transformation of 66 acres in the central city is Armed with a microphone and a superstar personality, 11-year- now Gathering Place, a much-anticipated $465 million park that opens Sept. 8 as one old Ariana Reagor launched a countdown before the overflowing of the largest and most ambitious public parks ever created with private funds…If it crowd that was fervent with anticipation and excitement on Saturday succeeds, as its founders and community leaders hope, it can bring families together morning. and help mend a city with a legacy of segregation, where many neighborhoods Associated Press grapple with poverty, health disparities and the isolating effects of urban renewal. A collective roar of "3-2-1" boomed into the overcast skies. Not for long, the gates swung open and thousands of people poured into “Hundreds gather for opening of ambitious “Tulsa has a long history of social inequality,” [landscape architect] Mr. Van the new park signaling a new era. $465M Tulsa park” Valkenburgh observed. “There’s hardly a better way to bring people together than Published digitally September 9 in a democratic space like a park.” Gathering Place was officially opened. Hundreds of people have gathered for the opening of a $465 million At Gathering Place, play and landscape get equal billing. The wide range of park George Kaiser, member of the Thunder ownership group, was on park – one of the largest in the country – along the Arkansas River in programs, which arose from a close engagement with the public, are the heart and hand to experience his vision become a reality. He leveraged his Tulsa. soul of the project. passion for people to deliver not just an iconic riverfront park, but a symbolic example for others to follow in giving back to the The public park, known as the Gathering Place, will initially be about Even as the finishing touches are readied, it is a richly imagined landscape inspired community. 66 acres in size but will grow to cover 100 acres. It features bike and in part by local limestone cliffs, in which a child can encounter a 22-foot-tall Great walking trails, athletic courts and lawns for concerts. Blue Heron with a slide between her wings — one of more than 160 inventive play A $350 million jumpstart from the George Kaiser Family Foundation structures secreted among its groves, glades, vales and prairie-flowered hillocks. rallied into a $465 million transformation. Gathering Place was built with private money from the foundation of billionaire philanthropist George Kaiser, who joined Gov. Mary Fallin … More than 80 donors went all in to make the largest private gift to a and throngs of people Saturday to mark the park's opening. city in U.S. history for this one-of-a-kind world-class urban institution. For Mr. Kaiser, a lifelong Tulsan, the park – projected at 100 acres, with a children’s The day began with a parade and continued with live music and museum – is furthering his goal of drawing entrepreneurs and young professionals children playing on an array of playground and other equipment. who could make his city the next Austin. Although, he points out, Austin does not have the Woody Guthrie Center or the Bob Dylan Archive (both Foundation City leaders say the park will be a space for recreation and culture initiatives). but also an ambitious model for inclusivity. Curbed.com (Vox Media) “Stunning $465M park set to transform Tulsa’s riverfront” Published August 30 Residents of large coastal cities may be surprised to learn that the newest—and potentially one of the greatest—parks in America is in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Set to open on September 8, the $465 million Gathering Place is the largest public park ever built with private funds, created to revitalize a city.