ANNUAL 2020 REPORT TREASURY MANAGEMENT ADVISORS Our team of trusted advisors are your business consultants, serving your local needs. Allow our Treasury Management experts to provide you with the financial tools you need to focus on your business and help you navigate challenges and develop strategies, including: • Cash Flow Management • Account Reconciliation • Payroll & HR Solutions • International Trade Finance • Fraud Detection & Deterrent & Global Payments • Payment & Collection Services • Disaster Recovery To find out how we can help your business plan for today and the future, contactus today! LETTER FROM THE CHAIR Throughout the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s 131-year history, when difficult challenges arise, the Chamber has stepped forward to tackle issues while looking for new opportunities to build for the future. When COVID-19 hit the OKC area in March, the impacts to our business community were immediate, and for many devastating. The Chamber began immediately doing everything possible to provide information, identify potential support and look for any possible opportunity to help businesses losing revenue due to this monumental shift. At the same time, we never took our eye off the ball, keeping a strong focus on the future of Oklahoma City. Preparing for the new convention center and post-pandemic push for tourism growth, supporting local business expansion and recruiting new companies to the region, advocating for business at our state capitol, and helping to bring businesses together for virtual networking and information. This report highlights our efforts this year, but is certainly not an exhaustive list of the work we have accomplished together. Our membership can be proud of what we have done together and confident that we can continue to imagine a bright future. When you look at the major setbacks in the history of Oklahoma City—economic trouble, natural disasters or a terrorist act—we have always ended up as a stronger and more tight-knit community afterward. I remain optimistic. People here are very creative and innovative, and Oklahomans have always been able to face adversity and grow stronger as a result. I look forward to what is next. Sincerely, PERCY KIRK, CHAMBER CHAIR SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND REGION MANAGER FOR COX COMMUNICATIONS CENTRAL REGION TABLE OF CONTENTS 2020 - Response and a Road to Recovery ...................................................... 2 Economic Development...................................................................................... 4 Advocacy ............................................................................................................ 6 123 Park Ave. Education ............................................................................................................. 7 Oklahoma City, OK 73102 Community Initiatives .......................................................................................... 8 405.297.8900 Criminal Justice Reform .....................................................................................10 Talent and Entrepreneurship Development ..................................................... 12 Fax: 405.297.8916 Visitor Economy ................................................................................................ 14 okcchamber.com Membership Engagement ................................................................................ 16 twitter.com/okcchamber Marketing Oklahoma City ............................................................................... 18 facebook.com/okcchamber 2020 Executive Committee ............................................................................20 2020 Board of Directors ................................................................................. 21 Leadership Investors ........................................................................................22 Web Resources .................................................................................................29 GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY CHAMBER 2020 ANNUAL REPORT 1 2020 - RESPONSE AND A ROAD TO RECOVERY The arrival of the pandemic in Oklahoma City with Chamber members, assessing their needs and brought with it a radical shift in many of the helping connect them with resources, recording more Chamber’s activities, as the need to lift new programs than 10,000 individual instances of outreach. to support our local businesses became paramount. And in the summer, the death of George Floyd and Information was the first lifeline dropped, as other national events spotlighted the institutional an online resource page was populated with racism in our communities. The Chamber created information about the virus, CDC recommendations, a partnership with the Urban League of Greater shutdown regulations and more. That work continued Oklahoma City to help the business community with tele-town hall meetings and online forums to engage in the important conversations about race present information and answer questions to settle and bias and to directly address these issues. immediate needs. As it became clear that a return to normal was not The next step was to support efforts to get emergency likely until sometime in 2021, the Chamber looked cash to businesses to maintain their viability and for more creative ways to reach members, and to keep employees. Assistance and information about engage potential visitors and businesses. Strong federal programs was immediately followed by content on virtual platforms, unique direct mail assistance in standing up local programs that would programs, expanded digital marketing activities, and supplement or fill gaps they left behind. intentional and focused one-on-one outreach are just a few of the tools implemented in 2020, to be sure Throughout this process, many of the Chamber that we could pave the way to success on the road staff team spent their days speaking one-on-one ahead. MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS OF 2020 ◊ Oklahoma City re-entered the world of aircraft ◊ The Chamber’s partnership with the Alliance for production with Skydweller Aero, Inc. announcing Economic Development of Oklahoma City and City Oklahoma City as its headquarters. The developer of Oklahoma City provided the framework of a first- of ultra-persistent drones for commercial and of-its-kind aid program that resulted in the allocation military applications plans to increase operations of $32.5 million to qualifying Oklahoma City small to 120 aerospace engineering and field technician business owners. Launched on March 31, the Small jobs by 2024. Business Continuity Program (SBCP), helped small business owners better maintain jobs/payroll, ◊ Job and expansion announcements included: add technology, purchase personal protective Costco Member Service Center; Aerokool Aviation; equipment (PPE) and renovate physical space for North Star Scientific Corporation; Malarkey social distancing. Roofing Products; BancFirst; Caliber Completion Services, LLC; FueldUp; Tailwind; Dolese Bros. Co.; ◊ The downward trend of jail population in Amazon; and more. Oklahoma County continues. At the end of October 2020, after tracking the average daily population 2 2020 ANNUAL REPORT GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY CHAMBER IMPACT OF COVID Just as the pandemic impacted every business, the Chamber’s operations were also dramatically changed. Here are the primary changes made in Chamber operations in 2020: ◊ Chamber staff worked remotely in March, April and May, with a majority of staff returning in June. Plans were also made for remote work following the December holidays to ensure staff safety ◊ The Chamber’s offices were closed to outside visitors ◊ Business development activities for both economic development and visitor recruitment were moved online, from trade show and conference attendance, to online meetings and even online happy hours with clients ◊ All event activity and networking was shifted online, making maximum effort to keep members engaged and informed ◊ Print publications were shifted online to reach remote workers for one year, the Criminal Justice Advisory Council ◊ The Chamber led an effort to improve legislation reported a one-year average of 1,624. That low passed last year creating a new software and level for jail population had not been seen in two cybersecurity program to provide a tax credit up decades and down from a recent high of nearly to $2,200 annually for qualifying employees who 2,600 in 2015. have received a bachelor’s degree (or higher) from an accredited institution, or $1,800 annually for ◊ The Oklahoma City Public Schools Compact qualifying employees who have been awarded a began implementing a robust mental and emotional certificate from a technology center. This program health plan for the district called EmbraceOKC. The is designed to address an extensive shortage of program provides training to teachers, and support qualified software and cyber engineers at high staff to help identify behavioral health issues so growth companies across the region, and is vital to they can intervene and connect students and their our future growth. families with support services. GREATER OKLAHOMA CITY CHAMBER 2020 ANNUAL REPORT 3 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber helps existing BOOSTING ECONOMY WITH BACK OFFICE/ businesses grow, recruits new companies and develops SHARED SERVICE OPERATIONS an active entrepreneurial environment, resulting in Greater Oklahoma City has proven that its world- quality job creation and a diverse economy. class business climate, reliable workforce and diverse real estate options give