Our History

 

THE CHAMBER’S MOST NOTABLE SUCCESSES

2025 Accomplishments 

Economic Development  

• Beale Infrastructure said it wants to build a $3 billion data center in Tulsa County, adding an estimated 150 full-time jobs with average salary of $100,000. 

• A company from the United Arab Emirates announced plans to build a $4 billion aluminum production facility at the Tulsa Port of Inola. Emirates Global Aluminum’s commitment, which is scheduled to produce 1,000 full-time jobs, will represent the first new primary aluminum production plant in the United States in 45 years. 

• Brazil-based CBC Global Ammunition has proposed a $300 million facility at Pryor’s MidAmerica Industrial Park, a project expected to create 350 jobs. The 550-acre CBC campus will occupy land that used to house Oklahoma Ordnance Works, a munitions complex used to support the country’s military during World War II.  

• SIXT USA, whose more than century-old roots are in Germany, opened a shared services center in downtown Tulsa. The new hub will complement SIXT’s North American headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by broadening the company’s capabilities across essential business functions. 

• Agile Space Industries, an in-space propulsion company based in Colorado, plans to invest $36 million into a hot-fire, rocket engine testing center for external customers in Tulsa. Scheduled to be located on 20 acres adjacent to Tulsa International Airport, it will support NASA, commercial space companies and the U.S. Department of Defense with testing for in-space propulsion technology. 

• Google, whose Pryor facility is the second-largest data center in the world, announced that it is expanding its footprint in Oklahoma, investing an additional $9 billion into the state during the next two years.  Google said part of the funds would be earmarked for an expansion of the company’s Pryor campus, and two new data centers are planned for Muskogee County. 

• Lufthansa Technik Component Services (LTCS) broke ground on a new 25,000-square-foot building, which will bring its total expanse in Tulsa to more than 140,000 square feet. 

• Kelvion, a global heat exchanger company, opened its largest facility in the world, adding 400 jobs to a site north of Tulsa International Airport. 

• McElroy Manufacturing continued in 2025 with its manufacturing transformation initiative that will extend through 2027 and represent a $25 million investment. 

• EADS Cooling Solutions is adding 75 jobs at an annual wage of $56,000, and Roxtec, which makes cable and pipe sealing systems, is making plans for a $50 million to $60 million expansion that would create 150 new jobs. 

• Brien Thorstenberg, vice president of economic development for the Tulsa Regional Chamber, was part of a 74-member delegation that attended the 2025 Paris International Air Show in June. 

• The Chambers hosted more than a dozen meetings of the Aerospace, Manufacturers’ and Technology councils. 

• Rue Ramsey, vice president of Workforce and Talent Strategies, was part of an Oklahoma delegation that took a week-long trip to Germany to study the country’s dual training that combines education and employment, offering debt-free entry into the workforce. Oklahoma representatives from the business, education and government sectors visited companies involved in the aerospace, energy and automotive industries, including Airbus, Volkswagen and Lufthansa Technik, which has a presence in Tulsa. 

• About 420 people attended the Chamber’s State of Workforce and Talent event, which convened reps from area education institutions and career tech and workforce training partners to hear about current and future trends, innovation and opportunities in the talent and education ecosystem. 

• The workforce and talent strategies team celebrated its fifth year of NEXTGEN-Tulsa’s Next Generation of Talent initiative, a shadowing program that pairs Black high school students with local companies to provide three weeks of career exploration and experiential learning.  

• Ramsey and her team paired with Tulsa Public Schools to realize two priorities championed by 2025 Chamber Chair Bill Knight: the College Essentials and Career Exploration initiatives. 

• As part of the Chamber's College Essentials Initiative, a total of 67 students from all nine TPS institutions received backpacks, sheets, towels and other basics designed to prepare them for their first year of campus life. Each package was personalized from a wish list that included the student's college choice and intended field of study. 

• Modeled after the Angel Tree, the Initiative allowed employers to provide TPS up to $150 in gifts. By the program's end, 33 employers provided items to the students, making the initiative a 100% match. 

• The Career Exploration initiative paired 10 local employers with 200 high school students from Tulsa Public Schools to offer them real-world career discovery. Businesses opened their doors and allowed students to tour their facilities and learn about various career opportunities they could find right here at home. 

• The Chamber’s Education Leadership Summit hosted leaders from the region’s public-school districts and higher education institutions to discuss the opportunities and challenges in preparing students in the modern workforce and the new world of AI. 

• The workforce team also held a pair of Workforce and Talent Council meetings and three HR Forums, hearing about best practices from HR professionals, educational institutions, nonprofits and tribes. 

• Spearheaded by Ramsey, Tulsa’s Future launched a new initiative designed to retain and attract talent in high demand occupational clusters. Starting with engineers of all disciplines and industrial machinery mechanics occupational clusters, it convened and connecting those who build the early career talent pipeline for to our employers who need this talent. The Chamber plans to expand with several more high-demand occupational clusters in 2026.  

• The Economic Development team made more than half a dozen marketing trips to cities, including Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta. 

• In September, Chamber consultant Development Counsellors International (DCI) helped coordinate the Chamber’s Bringing Tulsa to NYC event, which convened more than 100 attendees, including four national site consultants and eight national reporters, for an evening showcasing Tulsa’s cultural and economic momentum. 

• Attendees toured NYU’s Gallatin Gallery and How Many Roads: Bob Dylan and His Changing Times, 1961–1964, a pop-up exhibition featuring rare artifacts from the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa. The event spotlighted Tulsa’s growing national visibility, its deepening ties with NYU and the city’s dynamic blend of creativity, culture, and opportunity. 

• In November, Tulsa’s Future, Visit Tulsa and Experience Tulsa also leveraged The Outsiders’ nationwide tour stop in Dallas, convening eight site consultants at an event at which Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell spoke. 

 

Regional Tourism 

• For the 39th year, Tulsa hosted the Chili Bowl Nationals, the premier midget racing event in the world. The event brought 20,000 attendees to Tulsa’s Expo Square and generated an estimated total economic impact of more than $22.5 million.  

• Tulsa was named one of the top 15 cities in the United States for filmmakers, moving up four spots from the previous year’s list in MovieMaker Magazine.   

• Tulsa was home to several major film and television productions, including Sterlin Harjo’s The Lowdown, starring Ethan Hawke, which filmed its entire first season in Tulsa and the surrounding region. It tells the story of self-proclaimed Tulsa “truthstorian” Lee Raybon, as he searches for truth in the city.  

• The NCAA and Tulsa Sports Commission announced NCAA Tournament basketball will return to Tulsa in 2028, when the BOK Center will host first and second-round games. This will be the ninth time NCAA Tournament basketball has been played in Tulsa, the fourth at the BOK Center and the first since 2019.  

• The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) of America, Southern Hills Country Club, and the Tulsa Sports Commission announced the PGA Championship will return to Tulsa and Southern Hills in 2032. This will be the sixth time the PGA Championship has been held at Southern Hills, the most of any course in the country. It will also be Tulsa’s ninth major championship.  

• The World of Wrestling 2025 Tulsa Nationals brought 6,000 visitors and amateur wrestling fans to Arvest Convention Center for four days in January, generating an estimated total economic impact of nearly $3.36 million.  

• Hundreds of the top cornhole players in the world gathered in Tulsa for the American Cornhole Organization World Championships of Cornhole 20.   

• The Big 12 Wrestling Championships took place in Tulsa at the BOK Center for the ninth consecutive year. More than 21,300 fans visited the BOK Center over the two days of the tournament, the most in conference history. Oklahoma State University won the conference title.  

• Tulsa continued to shine as the top equine destination in the country. The National Reining Breeders Classic returned and brought 4,000 visitors to Expo Square and an estimated total economic impact of more than $8.4 million.   

• For the fourth consecutive year, Tulsa hosted the Oklahoma state FFA Convention & Expo. The convention for sixth-largest state level chapter of the National FFA Organization brought more than 11,000 attendees and their families from all over the state, generating an estimated $8.1 million in total economic impact over two days in May.  

• The Breeder’s Invitational returned to Tulsa and Expo Square for two weeks in May, bringing more than 4,000 attendees and more than $15.2 million in estimated total economic impact.  

• The Pinto Horse Association of America’s World Championship Show was also back in Tulsa, where the best competitors in various disciplines from all over the world gathered at Expo Square, bringing 4,500 attendees and a whopping $17.5 million in estimated total economic impact.  

• USA Boxing hosted the 2025 National Open in Tulsa at Arvest Convention Center, bringing more than 800 boxers from all over the country for Olympic-style boxing. The event brought 5,000 attendees in total, good for more than 1,500 room nights and a $5.1 million estimated total impact to the local economy.  

• The Korn Ferry Tour came to Green Country for the first time through efforts from the Tulsa Sports Commission and The Patriot Golf Club in Owasso, as the Compliance Solutions Championship was played in late September.   

• The premiere event of the Arabian Horse Association had another successful year in Tulsa. The U.S. National Arabian & Half-Arabian Championship Show spent ten days at Expo Square, good for 7,500 attendees and $32.5 million in total economic impact.  

• The Tulsa Sports Commission and USA BMX held another edition of what has become a Tulsa Thanksgiving tradition: USA BMX Grand Nationals over the holiday weekend, bringing in the best BMX racers from around the world for more than 5,100 room nights, 15,000 attendees and a $17.8 million total economic impact.  

• Oak View Group and Tulsa Sports Commission partnered to host a first-of-its-kind collegiate wrestling event, the National Duals Invitational at BOK Center. Sponsored by Paycom, some of the best NCAA wrestling programs in the country competed for their share of a $1 million prize. Ohio State came away the winner in the inaugural event, which further solidified Tulsa’s standing as the amateur wrestling capital of the world.  

• Visit Tulsa collaborated with multiple citywide partners and sponsored the 3rd Hour of TODAY to Tulsa. It was the first time the show originated from Oklahoma, with anchors Dylan Dreyer, Sheinelle Jones and the iconic Al Roker hosting the show from Guthrie Green in front of 1,600 Tulsans on Friday morning, Oct. 10.  

• TODAY highlighted several local businesses and districts around Tulsa, providing immediate, tangible impact to the small businesses featured on the show.   

• Areas/businesses highlighted included Historic Greenwood District, Route 66, Mother Road Market, Cain’s Ballroom, Country Bird Bakery, Pastis Hospitality, Oklahoma Toffee Company, Greenwood Ave., C. Fazel Designs, Agitsi Stained Glass and Topeca Coffee Roasters.  

• The show, branded “Destination: Tulsa,” was featured prominently across the TODAY broadcast and digital brand. This included 35 posts on TODAY-branded social media, 10 posts to TODAY.com, 27 hits from local NBC affiliate KJRH, 13 highlights in other local media, and more than 20 re-airs on NBC’s streaming platforms.  

• The same weekend of TODAY, Outsiders: A New Musical kicked off its North American tour at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. More than 19,000 people saw the show, making it the most successful week-long engagement in Tulsa PAC history. This came after Visit Tulsa and the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture organized a Tulsa tour for the traveling cast, which was officially announced in July.  

• Late in the year, the Tulsa Sports Commission secured several big events for 2026: the Southeastern Conference will host their gymnastics championships at the BOK Center in March, and USA Gymnastics will return to Tulsa for their Championships in June. Also, Banana Ball—made famous by the Savannah Bananas—will return to ONEOK Field in May for three games of the inaugural season of the Banana Ball Championship League.  

 

Government Affairs 

• The Chamber’s annual OneVoice Day at the Capitol brought more than 120 business and community leaders from across the Tulsa region to Oklahoma City for direct, face-to-face discussions with state lawmakers on priority issues. 

• The Chamber hosted its annual OneVoice Washington, D.C. Fly-In, convening more than 70 business and community leaders for high-level meetings with federal policymakers, members of Congress, and senior staff. This signature advocacy trip provides unparalleled access to federal decision-makers. 

• Secured $8 million in state funding to support Saint Francis Hospital’s successful pursuit of a Level I Trauma Center designation, which was officially achieved in August 2025. 

• In partnership with Tulsa County officials, and following on-site tours of off-system, structurally deficient roads and bridges for legislators, the Chamber supported efforts that resulted in Governor Kevin Stitt approving a $75 million state appropriation for critical county road and bridge repairs. 

• Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell addressed nearly 1,200 attendees, delivering a keynote and participating in a fireside chat highlighting Oklahoma’s economic progress. 

• Mayor Monroe Nichols delivered his first State of the City Address to more than 1,200 attendees, outlining accomplishments from his first year in office and goals for 2026. 2025 Chamber Chair Bill Knight moderated a formal conversation with the mayor following the address. 

• A thought-intensive OneVoice process that began in August mobilized seven task forces, which met 21 times to develop regional priorities. The process culminated at the OneVoice Regional Legislative Summit, where approximately 225 participants finalized 30 state and federal priorities for 2026 and heard from U.S. Chamber strategist Ashlee Rich Stephenson and Representative Suzanne Schreiber. 

 The Chamber also saw wins on a variety of OneVoice Regional Legislative Agenda and task force priorities, including:  

• Secured $200 million in state appropriations for the OU Pediatric Hospital. 

• Secured $250 million in state appropriations for the OSU Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital. 

• Extended the Route 66 Commission and its funding ahead of the 2026 Route 66 Centennial. 

• Passed legislation enabling OKPOP to access $18 million in state funds for construction and exhibit build-out. 

• Improved Oklahoma’s childcare landscape by easing code requirements for home-based providers and establishing no-cost childcare for childcare workers. 

• Expanded behind-the-meter energy generation to increase reliability and support industrial growth. 

• Established an oversight board for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to strengthen accountability and transparency. 

• Created a new Research and Development Rebate Program to incentivize in-state innovation and high-tech investment. 

Community Development 

 

• Jonathan Long promoted to senior vice president of community development; Reagan Gowens hired as TYPROS executive director.  

• The Chamber’s annual State of Inclusion event drew nearly 400 attendees. The event furthers the Tulsa region’s efforts to cultivate diverse, equitable and inclusive best practices. 

• The Tulsa Regional Chamber completed its 2025 Intercity Visit, the 15th in an annual series of visits to peer cities to learn best practices and hear success stories. This year’s destination was Salt Lake City, Utah. More than 125 attendees from across northeast Oklahoma – including city and county elected officials, business leaders, regional partners, education administrators and young professionals – participated in the three-day event, which ran Oct. 6-8. 

• Seven Mosaic meetings hosted throughout the year, which offer a space for businesses to learn and discuss different ways their organization can improve its DEI practices. 

• Nearly 200 attended Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS) 20th anniversary celebration at The Vista at 21. Featured speakers included 2005 TYPROS chair Andrea Myers of Candor, 2025 Chair Lauren Miers, and 2025 Chamber Chair Bill Knight. 

• TYPROS hosted 918 Lead, a nonpartisan bootcamp to prepare young Tulsans to run for public office. The program included current and former elected officials, campaign managers and political experts, all of whom spoke with the group about the merits and challenges of running for and holding public office. 

• Lead Forward launched; this is a four-month program designed to equip TYPROS members with skills and tools needed to be more inclusive leaders in their workplaces and communities. 

• Annual All-Access Networking event connected community and business leaders with area young professionals. 

• More than 400 young professionals connected at TYPROS Pub Club happy hours throughout the year. 

 

2024 Accomplishments

Economic development

Stardust Power announced the second largest economic development deal in state history, a $1.2 billion, 1,000 job, battery grade lithium refinery/processing plant. The lead was generated by Tulsa’s Future when the CEO reached out via LinkedIn based on marketing activities.

The Chamber celebrated the start of construction on a new international customs facility at Tulsa International Airport. The new 45,000-square-foot customs facility will allow commercial air carriers to offer nonstop international flights out of the airport for the first time.

A tech company (Givt) founded in The Netherlands established its U.S. headquarters in Tulsa. Givt is a digital giving app that organizes, prioritizes and maximizes charitable efforts, even showing members how to join impact groups.

The Chamber partnered with national nonprofit Engineering Tomorrow to champion a virtual Northeast Oklahoma STEM Day on April 22. More than 2,200 students participated from 19 area high schools.

The immeasurable impact the area’s three major tribes make in Oklahoma resonated at the Chamber’s inaugural State of the Tribal Nations event. Before a sold-out crowd of more than 850 people, executives from the Cherokee, Muscogee and Osage nations shared insights on panels focused on tribal leadership, economic development, and tourism and cultural education.

The Chamber added a twist to its Tulsa’s NextGEN Talent (TNT) Expansion initiative. For the first time, employer representatives from Tulsa joined the Chamber’s workforce and talent strategies team on a trip to Missouri in April.

Chamber economic development personnel led a Tulsa-area delegation that made a business trip to the Bay Area of California in April. The group met with site consultants and seven companies stretching from San Francisco to San Jose, building relationships, learning about industry trends and sharing economic development opportunities available in the Tulsa region.

This year’s Tulsa’s NextGEN Talent cohort – the fourth since the program launched in 2021 – featured 29 externs and a five-member executive leadership team. A total of 15 local employers participated.

Charting a course for the next 50 years, Webco Industries celebrated a new facility named after its founder. Close to 200 people turned out for the christening of the 72,000-square-foot F. W. Weber Leadership Campus in Sand Springs.

Norwegian solar energy company NorSun announced plans to invest $620 million into a new Tulsa factory, the company’s first in the United States. The Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust (TAIT), the Tulsa Regional Chamber and the City of Tulsa facilitated the expansion, which will encompass a new 5-gigawatt silicon ingot and solar wafer manufacturing facility that is expected to create 320 jobs. The factory will provide critically needed domestic production of ingot and wafer capacity to meet the increasing demand from U.S. solar cell and panel manufacturers, supporting growth of the renewable energy sector.

A Tulsa’s Future delegation traveled to New York City in June, meeting with 12 site consultants. Representing the Chamber were Justin McLaughlin, the Chamber’s executive Vice President and COO, and Stacy Smith, a senior director of economic development for the Chamber. They were accompanied by Neil Dailey, executive vice president of McGraw Commercial Properties and Amber Miller, vice president of business resources at the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber helped celebrate the groundbreaking for the James M. Inhofe Air Traffic Control Tower Complex, a $112.6 million project set to transform the Tulsa International Airport.

At the Farnborough International Airshow in the United Kingdom, an Oklahoma aerospace company announced that it had signed a Long Term Agreement (LTA) with a company based in Long Island, N.Y. CPI Aerostructures, Inc. signed the pact with MST Manufacturing, of Claremore, for the supply of components in support of CPI’s aero structures production.

AI-infrastructure company Crusoe Energy Systems LLC announced a $10 million expansion and the creation of 100 new jobs. Founded in 2018, Crusoe has dual headquarters in Denver and San Francisco and operates in seven states and three countries. Its facility in Tulsa will encompass roughly 120,000 square feet and manufacture critical elements of data center infrastructure, such as switchgear.

American Airlines announced the creation of nearly 500 new aviation maintenance jobs and additional lines of heavy maintenance work at the carrier’s maintenance bases in Tulsa, Charlotte, N.C., and Pittsburgh. A total of 308 of those jobs will be heading to Tulsa.

The Chamber helped usher in Helmerich & Payne’s new global headquarters at 222 N. Detroit Ave. The oil and gas well drilling company occupies about 80,000 square feet on the fifth, 10th and 11th (top) floors of the building. Helmerich & Payne has been based in Tulsa since 1926.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Education Leadership Summit convened more than 125 leaders from the region’s public-school districts and higher education institutions to discuss the opportunities and challenges in preparing students for the modern workforce.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber convened all three of its industry councils – Manufacturers’, Aerospace and Technology – to exchange ideas. More than 60 business, tribal, government and nonprofit leaders from the area attended the Tri-Council Meeting.

Scheels, which describes itself as a destination sporting goods store, will open its first location in Oklahoma on Saturday in Tulsa. About 10,000 people were expected at the official grand opening. Scheels opens a new store roughly every two years, and the Tulsa location will be the 34th for the franchise.

 

Regional tourism

For the 38th year, Tulsa hosted the Chili Bowl Nationals racing event, attracting 20,000 visitors to Expo Square and generating an economic impact of more than $31 million.

According to MovieMaker Magazine, Tulsa is one of the top 20 cities in the United States for people wanting to make films.

Sterlin Harjo, co-creator and executive producer of Reservation Dogs, is working with Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke on a new show to be filmed in Tulsa. A pilot was shot for a new FX drama titled “The Sensitive Kind,” which is described as a “Tulsa noir.”

The City of Tulsa was selected as a new site for New York University’s Study Away program. The program is a partnership between New York University and the George Kaiser Family Foundation that will bring NYU’s next academic center to Tulsa.

Tulsa returned to the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festival for an eighth year, hosting two full days of programming March 8-9 in the Augustine cocktail lounge in the heart of Austin’s Rainey Street.

The Big 12 Conference and the Tulsa Sports Commission announced that the Big 12 Wrestling Championship will remain at Tulsa’s BOK Center through 2028. Tulsa has hosted the tournament since 2017, and the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship was the eighth consecutive championship at the site.

Some of the world’s best breakdancers descended on Cain’s Ballroom in March for a battle to decide which crew would earn a guaranteed spot at the World Breaking Classic World Final.

The Bassmaster Classic, the “Super Bowl” of bass fishing, took place for the third time at the BOK Center, generating an economic impact of $20 million.

The Chamber led a delegation of more than 100 Tulsans who visited New York City in April. The group, which included local business leaders and Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum, saw the Broadway premiere of “The Outsiders: A New Musical” and met with prospective companies, site selectors and national media to boost Tulsa’s profile.

Tulsa, through the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture, was the only U.S. city to make the 2024 short list in the “City of Film” category for the Global Production Awards.

Tulsa hosted 400 athletes from 28 states and four countries for the Axe & Knife Throwing World Championship.

The Tulsa Sports Commission and USA BMX were part of another high-level event at the Hardesty National BMX Stadium in Tulsa. The competition was one of three qualifiers for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and the only such event in the United States.

Tulsa hosted the only teqball event in the United States in 2024 in June. Teqball is played on a curved table, combining elements of kick volleyball with table tennis.

“The Outsiders” continues to shine a light on Tulsa. The Broadway musical, based on S.E. Hinton's coming-of-age novel set in Tulsa, won four Tony Awards, including “Best Musical.”

For the third consecutive year, Tulsa’s Expo Square played host to the AAA Route 66 Roadfest. The celebration of the Mother Road attracted visitors from all over the world, including Japan, Germany and Scotland.

Coinciding with the start of the fourth annual “Tulsa Music Month,” the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (FMAC) launched “Tulsa on Tour,” an ambassadorship program designed to help musicians offset costs of travel and taking their acts on the road.

At Destination International’s annual convention in Tampa, Fla., Tulsa Regional Tourism officially earned reaccreditation with the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP). Also at the convention, President of Tulsa Regional Tourism Renee McKenney received the Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) accreditation, the tourism industry’s highest individual educational achievement.

Six of the top 10 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking teed it up at Southern Hills Country Club for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Golf Tournament. All told, 13 players ranked in the top 25 were in Tulsa.

For the second consecutive year, the National Reined Cow Horse Association held its MARS Hackamore Classic in Tulsa. The weeklong event, which brings an estimated $4.7 million of total economic impact, featured the second year of the “World’s Greatest Non Pro” category.

A 60-year wait for Tulsa officially came to an end during Labor Day weekend with the “Big Dam Party,” which celebrated the opening of the renovated Zink Lake, the new Tulsa Wave Park and Williams Crossing pedestrian bridge. More than 100,000 visitors flooded the Gathering Place to take in Tulsa’s newest game-changing tourism assets during the four-day celebration.

It was announced that The Patriot Golf Club in Owasso will host a Korn Ferry Tour tournament for the next three years beginning in 2025. Korn Ferry is the development tour for the PGA Tour. The Compliance Solutions Champion will start its three-year run starting Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2025.

The Texas chapter of the Recording Academy held its first board meeting outside Texas in Tulsa. Board members were taken on an Experience Tulsa trolley tour that included stops at the Bob Dylan Center, 3CG Studio and the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, where more than 100 guests attended a mixer and enjoyed performances from local artists.

It was announced that, for the ninth time in city history, Tulsa will play host to the NCAA's Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. First- and second-round games will be played at the BOK Center in 2028, marking the fourth time since 2011 that tournament games have been played at the facility.

 

Government affairs

The Chamber’s annual OneVoice Day at the Capitol attracted more than 120 business and community leaders from the Tulsa region to Oklahoma City to discuss important issues face-to-face with elected officials.

The Chamber held its annual OneVoice Washington D.C. Fly-In, bringing a group of more than 50 business and community leaders to the nation’s capital. This signature federal advocacy trip provides business and community leaders with exclusive access to federal policy experts, members of Congress and their staff.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber partnered with Tulsa County’s two major political parties and the Tulsa County Election Board to create the Adopt a Precinct initiative, which encourages businesses to promote civic engagement by allowing their employees paid time off to serve as poll workers on election days.

Navigating the waters of much-needed flood control, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed off on a $50 million state appropriation for repairs to the Tulsa/West Tulsa Levee System.

The Chamber also saw wins on a variety of other OneVoice Regional Legislative Agenda and task force priorities, including:

Appropriation of $1.5 million for the revolving fund for the Civil Rights Trail.

Appropriation of $1 million to fund the Oklahoma Workforce Commission and unlocks $4 million of ARPA funding.

Permission for persons incarcerated in state, federal and private correctional facilities who are 5 years or fewer from being released to receive state tuition aid grants for certain higher education programs.

Establishment of a pathway to fund a pilot program designed to expand opportunities to invest in Oklahoma’s mental health workforce.

Creation of the division on Economic Development, Growth and Expansion (EDGE) to oversee the state’s economic development efforts and the Community Outreach and Revitalization Enterprise (CORE), focusing on the long-term development of local communities to increase competitiveness and enhance economic opportunities.

In partnership with 2 News Oklahoma and NonDoc, the Tulsa Regional Chamber hosted a mayoral candidate debate, titled Tulsa Two Step, which was watched by an estimated 300 attendees and streamed live by 2 News Oklahoma. Tres Savage of NonDoc and Erin Christy of 2 News Oklahoma served as moderators as three Tulsa mayoral candidates faced off at the historic Cain’s Ballroom, making their case to succeed Mayor G.T. Bynum. Brent VanNorman, Karen Keith, and Monroe Nichols addressed issues such as business growth, government efficiency and homelessness.

The transition in leadership at the Oklahoma Legislature was the focus at the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s annual State of the State event. A crowd of close to 1,000 watched NonDoc Editor Tres Savage moderate a pair of panel discussions, the first featuring outgoing Oklahoma lawmakers Greg Treat (Senate President Pro Tempore) and Charles McCall (Speaker of the House) and the second highlighting Oklahoma Sen. Lonnie Paxton (Senate President Pro Tempore-designate) and Oklahoma Rep. Kyle Hilbert (Speaker of the House-designate).

A thought-intensive process that started in August and mobilized seven task forces that met a total of 21 times culminated at the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s OneVoice Regional Legislative Summit. Before about 225 people at Venue 918, collaborators and partners representing the OneVoice advocacy initiative settled on 30 legislative priorities for 2025.

 

Community development

The Chamber partnered with the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative (HMPI) on a study that illustrates how an investment in behavioral health would benefit the community.

The Tulsa Global Alliance honored the Chamber with the Organization of the Year Award at TGA’s annual Global Vision gala and fundraiser.

The Chamber’s annual State of Inclusion event drew 500 attendees. The event furthers the Tulsa region’s efforts to cultivate diverse, equitable and inclusive best practices.

Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS) hosted 918 Lead, a nonpartisan bootcamp to prepare young Tulsans to run for public office. The program included current and former elected officials, campaign managers and political experts, all of whom spoke with the group about the merits and challenges of running for and holding public office.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber completed its 2024 Intercity Visit, the 15th in an annual series of visits to peer cities to learn best practices and hear success stories. This year’s destination was Detroit, Michigan. More than 125 attendees from across northeast Oklahoma – including city and county elected officials, business leaders, regional partners, education administrators and young professionals – participated in the three-day event, which ran Oct. 7-9.

2023 Accomplishments

 

Economic Development

Compu-Link Corporation, a financial services company headquartered in Lansing, Michigan, announced it is expanding its operations to Tulsa. The company will occupy 29,000 square feet at Eastgate Metroplex, and its Tulsa operations will provide reverse mortgage servicing support. Tulsa’s Future, the Chamber-led regional economic development partnership, worked with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Eastgate Metroplex and McGraw Realtors to help Compu-Link identify a site in the region.

Specialty outdoor retailer REI Co-op will open a store in Tulsa in spring 2024, the Seattle-based company announced. REI Tulsa is expected to employ about 50 people at a 23,000-square-foot store on the northwest corner of 71st Street and Elwood Avenue, which is next to the Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area and near Tulsa Hills shopping center.

MidAmerica Industrial Park was featured in Forbes for its innovative workforce development training program. MidAmerica opened the MidAmerica Career Center, a one-stop shop for career guidance. It also links employers to crucial job resources accessed from state, tribal and corporate agencies.

Laundris™, a B2B Enterprise Industrial Automation software platform, announced it is relocating its headquarters from Austin, Texas, to Tulsa. The company will be located at 36 Degrees North and plans to invest $3 million in operations in conjunction with its move to Tulsa.

Roxtec Inc. – the world’s leading provider of modular-based cable and pipe transits and transit safety services – announced it is nearly doubling the size of its operations in Tulsa with a $9.4 million expansion. Headquartered in Sweden, Roxtec has maintained a site in Tulsa for more than 25 years. It transitioned to a newly remodeled 56,000-square-foot building and added 17 jobs locally.

Swiss company WindShape announced a strategic partnership with the Osage Nation to open an indoor drone testing and validation facility at the Skyway36 Droneport and Technology Innovation Center in Tulsa. The 19,000-square-foot facility will be operated exclusively by WindShape, using its  ‘Windshaper’ technology to create an indoor free-flight laboratory, simulating natural wind and weather profiles for precise and reliable test results.

An Italy-based clean energy company announced it is investing more than $1 billion in what has been labeled the biggest economic development project in Oklahoma history. Enel North America chose the Port of Inola as site for one of the largest solar cell and panel manufacturing plants in the nation, the company and its affiliate, 3Sun USA LLC. Enel plans to start manufacturing solar panels by the end of 2024. The project is expected to create more than 1,800 construction jobs, as well as 1,000 new permanent jobs by 2025.

Costco celebrated the opening of its north Tulsa facility along U.S. 169. Expected to employ 250 people, Costco’s 152,000-square-foot warehouse is the company’s second facility in Tulsa, joining one that opened in 2016.

The third annual cohort of Tulsa’s NextGEN Talent (TNT) featured 33 externs gaining valuable experience at 17 companies, nonprofits and educational institutions. TNT is a growth and talent retention initiative designed to increase economic mobility and development for diverse talent in the Tulsa region through externships. For three weeks, the program places Black juniors and seniors from regional public schools in Tulsa-area companies for career exploration and experiential learning.

The Chamber helped celebrate the grand opening of Juno Medical at 21 N. Greenwood Avenue. The 3,800-square-foot facility is part of a Juno expansion across the United States. Founded three years ago in New York City, Juno now has clinics in Harlem, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Tulsa, with a fifth clinic planned for Los Angeles.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber was named the Economic Development Organization of the Year by the International Economic Development Council during IEDC’s annual conference in Dallas. IEDC’s Excellence in Economic Development Awards recognize the world's best economic development programs and partnerships, marketing materials and the year's most influential leaders. The Chamber, winner of a Silver Award in 2022 and a Bronze in 2021, was a Gold Award recipient in this year’s Economic Development Organization of the Year category (population of 500,000 or greater).

A workforce talent initiative of the Tulsa Regional Chamber was also recognized as one of the best in the world during the IEDC annual conference. Tulsa’s NextGEN Talent (TNT), a program of the Chamber-led Tulsa’s Future regional economic development partnership, took home an IEDC Excellence in Economic Development Award (population of 500,000 or greater), capturing a Bronze in the talent development and retention category.

Global company Expleo announced it is locating a new office and 30 full-time jobs in Tulsa. The engineering technology and consulting service provider has signed a strategic agreement with Spirit AeroSystems to deliver advanced digital engineering services for major aerospace programs. The companies will share an office on the 10th floor of the Philcade Building in downtown Tulsa.

The Chamber partnered with Development Counsellors International – DCI – to promote the Tulsa region nationally to investors, visitors and talent. One result of that work was an extensive series of podcasts on NPR as part of host Tom Wilmer’s “Journeys of Discovery” series. Wilmer visited Tulsa in 2023 and produced podcasts on a variety of local topics, including entrepreneurship in the Greenwood District, the Gathering Place and the city’s Art Deco district.

 

Regional Tourism

Tulsa ranked no. 19 on Moviemaker’s “2023 Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker” list. The ranking came at a time of significant growth in the number of TV and film productions in northeast Oklahoma. Tulsa ranked 5th on the magazine’s “top small cities and towns” list last year, but qualified for the big cities list in 2023.

Tulsa was the center of the NCAA wrestling world during the month of March. The Big 12 Wrestling Championship was hosted at the BOK Center (March 4-5), followed two weeks later by the NCAA Wrestling Championships coming to Tulsa for the first time ever. The two tournaments brought 25,000 visitors to Tulsa.

Bassmaster officials alongside hosts from the Tulsa Sports Commission announced the return of the Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic to Grand Lake and the Tulsa region in March 2024.

The 2022 IRONMAN Athletes’ Choice Awards announced that the Certified Piedmontese Beef IRONMAN Tulsa triathlon was voted as the Best in Overall Run Experience among the 50 IRONMAN events globally. The Tulsa race also earned top-3 honors in multiple other categories.

The Tulsa Convention & Visitors Bureau welcomed the 97th annual Oklahoma FFA State Convention May 2-3 at the BOK Center and Cox Business Convention Center. Considered the largest annual gathering in Oklahoma, it is estimated to have a direct economic impact of $4,991,456, with the total (direct and indirect) economic impact estimated at $8,696,122. This was the second year Tulsa hosted the Oklahoma FFA State Convention, and the city will continue to host it through the 100th anniversary convention in 2026.

Tens of thousands of visitors from across the country took part in the Second Annual Black Wall Street Rally on May 12-13. It is the fastest-growing motorcycle rally in the country and was centered on Tulsa’s historic Greenwood Avenue. The event also featured a panel discussion on minority entrepreneurship with local executive leaders from the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, Arvest Bank, and the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion, Jonathan Long.

The Tulsa Sports Commission was honored by the Sports Events and Tourism Association as the Sports Commission of the Year (population over 500,000 category).

Thousands of gymnasts from across the country were in Tulsa for the 2023 USA Gymnastics Championships. Held as the area was dealing with storm debris and power outages, the event drew the admiration of organizers, who praised the city of Tulsa and the BOK Center for a great overall experience.

LIV Golf in Tulsa generated nearly 6,500 media mentions across local, national and international news. Those mentions translate to a whopping publicity value of nearly $322 million!

Tulsa Regional Tourism, alongside the Tulsa Regional Chamber, hosted a ribbon cutting for the new Visit Tulsa Visitor Center stand-alone space at the Shops at Mother Road Market on Route 66.

City and Chamber leaders led conversations about the need for a convention center hotel in downtown Tulsa. Since 2018, the loss of convention business has cost Tulsa an estimated $186.7 million in economic impact, according to a feasibility study conducted by Hunden Partners, a Chicago-based destination real estate and development consulting firm.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture, the Oklahoma Film + Music Office and Oklahoma Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell hosted preview screenings of “Killers of the Flower Moon” for the state film community and tribal representatives prior to its national debut.

The Tulsa Sports Commission was honored by Sports ETA, the trade association for the sports events and tourism industry, for the Event Marketing Campaign of the Year (population over 500,000) for promotion of wrestling in Tulsa.

The 22/23 tourism fiscal year brought in more than $4 million in lodging tax revenue for Tulsa. Travel metrics mirrored the intense increase in efforts, including the doors opening at Visit Tulsa’s first-ever standalone Visitors Center, strategically located in front of Mother Road Market on Route 66.

The 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship in the Arena District generated a direct economic impact estimated at over $9.6 million, with a total economic impact estimated at $16.5 million.

The Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) welcomed the massive National Reining Breeders Classic to Tulsa for the first time–which was the largest new equine event in Tulsa.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) supported 33 film and television projects, which included 376 production days, amassed nearly $21 million in local spend, and contributed to workforce with jobs for 184 local crew members.

Filming for the hit FX on Hulu show “Reservation Dogs” brought multiple stars to the Tulsa area, including actor Ethan Hawke, who was spotted at many Tulsa attractions. Supported by Tulsa FMAC, “Reservation Dogs” filmed all three of its seasons in the Tulsa region.

Tulsa FMAC spearheaded the third official (and most widely publicized) Tulsa Music Month, which takes place every July. Efforts included distribution of five thousand coasters around the city and dedicated press and advertising campaigns focused on 235+ live music events featured on visittulsa.com.

Tulsa FMAC hosted the first-ever networking happy hour for 250 of Tulsa’s music industry at the historic Cain’s Ballroom and partnered with multiple organizations for additional special events and discounts.

 

 

Government Affairs

Additional funding was announced for Tulsa’s new downtown Veterans Affairs hospital. Additional funding for the Veterans Hospital has been a priority of the OneVoice Regional Legislative Agenda. The government affairs team at the Chamber has worked closely with federal, congressional, state, city, county and philanthropic partners for many years to help make the hospital a reality.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber joined the State Chamber of Oklahoma, the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, the Oklahoma District Attorneys Association, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt in opposing State Question 820. Voters across the state overwhelmingly rejected SQ 820, which would have legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over. With just over 25 percent of registered voters participating, SQ 820 failed by a margin of 61% to 38%.

More than 60 attendees from across northeast Oklahoma traveled to our nation’s capital as part of our annual OneVoice Washington D.C. Fly-in. Attendees heard from members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, as well as some of the nation’s top policy experts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who spoke on topics ranging from cybersecurity and minority business development to downtown revitalization and energy.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber led the campaign on behalf of Improve Our Tulsa 3, an $814 million capital improvements proposition. IOT3 was approved by voters in August.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber partnered with Tulsa County’s two major political parties and the Tulsa County Election Board to create the Adopt a Precinct initiative, which encourages businesses to take an active role in promoting civic engagement by allowing their employees paid leave to serve as much-needed poll workers on election days.

Below are some of the bills passed during the 2023 legislative session that the Chamber either supported, were of interest to our OneVoice task forces, or that we successfully lobbied to defeat. An ‘x’ after a bill’s number means it was passed in the special session.

 

Tourism & Quality of Life

HB 2459 – Filmed in Oklahoma Act updates

SB 14x – Tourism Dev Act cap increase from $15-30M

SB22x/SB 31x – OKPOP money/Historical Society Budget

SB 509 – Civil Rights Trail

 

Workforce & Talent Strategies

HB 1019 – Funds the Workforce Coordination Fund

HB 2452 – Child Care bill

HB 1041 – Alternative Diploma Program

HB 2559 – Inspired to Teach scholarship expansion

HB 1934 – Parental Choice Tax Credit Act

HB 2901 – Public school funding of 500 Million dollars

HB 2902 – Increase to poverty & transportation weights

SB 27 – OHLAP expansion, including career tech – Governor pocket vetoed

SB 93 – FAFSA requirement for graduation

SB 467 – Creates the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact Act

SB 621 – Creates the Oklahoma Workforce Commission - State Chamber request bill

SB 930 – Creates the Aero Student Pathways for Aerospace Careers

SB 1119 – Teacher pay raises between 3,000-6,000 based on longevity

SB 1120 – Increase funding for the Redbud Fund $125 Million

SB 1121 – 6 weeks paid maternity leave for teachers

 

Health & Human Services

HB 1031x – Oklahoma Housing Stability Program

HB 2036 – Pilot program for behavioral health workforce development

HB 2154 – Health Care facility protection

HB 2513 – Handle With Care Program – Governor pocket vetoed

HB 2790 – HIE bill

SB 39 – Health Care Workforce Training Commission appropriation

 

Economic Development

SB 1176 – LEAD Act changes

SB 1177 – Perform Act

HB1018x – OCAST ARPA funding

HB 1030x – Oklahoma Accelerator Program & revolving fund

HB 1038x – MidAmerica site improvement money

HB 1039x – Sunsets the franchise tax

HB 1378 – Anti NDA bill – Successfully defeated

HB 1379 – Anti TIF bill – Successfully defeated

 

Energy & Natural Resources

SB 200 – Carbon sequestration

SB 852 – Carbon sequestration

HB 1928 – Flood Hazard Mitigation Financial Assistance Program

HB 2542 – Hydrogen fuel cell tax credit

 

Transportation, Infrastructure & Aerospace

SB 502 – EV Charging Act

SB 773 – Advanced Mobility Pilot Program

SB 942 – Oklahoma Aircraft Engine Testing Dev Grant Program – Governor vetoed

 

General Government & Legal Reform

SB 266 – Allows super precincts

SB 290 – Increased compensation for election officials

SB 481 – election official protection

SB 1040 – Online voter registration

SB 813 – Medical Marijuana quality assurance lab

HB 1030 – Data Privacy – Successfully defeated

 

 

Community Development

The Tulsa Regional Chamber held its annual State of Inclusion event, which elevates the Tulsa region’s efforts to cultivate diverse, equitable and inclusive best practices. The gathering featured keynote speaker Brian Black, director of diversity and inclusion for the Customer Channels Group (CCG) and BioProduction Group (BPG) at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Before a crowd of more than 500 people, he spoke on the need to stand up and create inclusive environments. State of Inclusion also featured an expert panel of local leaders discussing inclusive leadership.

Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS) hosted its third year of 918 Lead, a nonpartisan bootcamp to prepare young Tulsans to run for public office. The program included current and former elected officials, campaign managers and political insiders, all of whom spoke about the merits and challenges of running for, and holding, public office.

Community leaders shared their expertise with TYPROS at its annual All Access event. All Access is a vertical networking event that gives young professionals a chance to have informal conversations with community and business leaders in a roundtable setting.

The Chamber took more than 100 attendees to Austin, Texas, for this year’s Intercity Visit, which focused on homelessness, affordable housing, river development, and the impact of destination venues.

 

 

 

2022 Accomplishments

The Tulsa Regional Chamber is awarded its five-star reaccreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In order to receive accreditation, a chamber must meet minimum standards in their operations and programs, including areas of governance, government affairs, communications, and technology. To receive five-star accreditation, the applicant must have met all minimum requirements and 90%-100% of additional criteria. The Chamber scores 117 out of a possible 117 points on its reaccreditation application. Accreditation is good for five years, and the Chamber had previously been reaccredited in 2017.

 

Economic Development

ClearSign Technologies, an emerging leader in industrial combustion and sensing technologies, announces the relocation and grand opening of the company’s new headquarters to Tulsa.

Milo’s Tea Company, an Alabama-based beverage manufacturer, announces it will invest an additional $20 million at its local production facility, adding production space to its existing facility and creating 50 jobs.

Global technology company Northern Data AG announces it will locate its North American headquarters at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor.

Air Transport Components (ATC) announces it will locate its headquarters and open a 60,000-square-foot maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) facility in Tulsa.

Google, which operates the world’s second-largest data center at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, announces plans to invest $75 million in Oklahoma during 2022.

CymSTAR, a training and simulation firm in the military defense market, celebrated the grand opening of its 42,000-square-foot headquarters in Broken Arrow.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signs into law HB 4455, a major economic development incentive package that creates a performance-based rebate for large employers as they create jobs in Oklahoma.

Expansion Solutions Magazine—an industry-leading digital and print publication devoted to all aspects of economic development—features the Tulsa Ports as part of a larger story on modes of freight transportation.

A Tulsa coalition that includes the Chamber is announced as one of 21 winners of the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The $38.2 million grant will help establish the Tulsa Regional Advanced Mobility (TRAM) Corridor, which will cultivate a diverse hub for research, development and production in the advanced mobility industry.

For the second year in a row, the Tulsa Regional Chamber is recognized as a top economic development organization by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).

Quality Aircraft Accessories, an FAA-approved repair station that supports the general aviation industry, celebrates a $3 million, 13,000-square-foot expansion at its Tulsa plant.

Tulsa Regional Chamber leaders, including members of the economic development team, join city officials to celebrate the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newest mixed-use building in downtown Tulsa at 222 N. Detroit—the site of what was originally planned to be WPX’s new headquarters before WPX was acquired by Devon Energy.

American Airlines starts new nonstop service from Tulsa to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, marking Tulsa International Airport’s first direct flight to New York City, and American’s ninth nonstop destination served from Tulsa.

Hayden Industrial, a California-based heat exchanger manufacturer, announces it will expand its operations to Tulsa, utilizing an existing 200,000-square-foot facility north of the Tulsa International Airport.

 

Regional Tourism

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) announces Tulsa was named one of the top five small cities and towns on Moviemaker Magazine’s list of Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2022.

State and local leaders gather to celebrate the long-anticipated grand opening of the USA BMX headquarters in Tulsa’s historic Greenwood District. The $23 million complex, which was largely funded through Vision Tulsa, includes the Hardesty National BMX Stadium, the National BMX Hall of Fame and Museum, and the new headquarters of both USA BMX and the USA BMX Foundation.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) relaunches the Tulsa County Film Recovery Program (Film Tulsa Fund) to support the film industry in northeast Oklahoma. The $600,000 recovery program is made possible through Tulsa County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

The Big 12 Wrestling Championship returns to Tulsa and the BOK Center, marking the tournament’s sixth consecutive year in Tulsa. Tulsa Regional Tourism estimates an economic impact of $2 million from the tournament, including direct spending on ticket sales and indirect spending from shopping, dining and hotel stays.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) announces the relaunch of Play Tulsa Music, a recovery program that enables Tulsa County venues to hire local musicians for live performances. The fund is made possible through Tulsa County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

A Tulsa coalition, led by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) and Tulsa Remote, returns to the 2022 South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival. Tulsa FMAC and Tulsa Remote host several activations and events, including an official SXSW Day Party.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) announces the launch of the Creative Content Fund to support area musicians. The fund leverages $100,000 to help Tulsa County musicians cover costs for non-live music projects.

Forbes highlights Tulsa as an arts and music destination thanks to attractions such as Cain’s Ballroom, the Church Studio and the recently opened Bob Dylan Center. This feature is a result of the Chamber’s work with Development Counsellors International (DCI) to increase the region’s national visibility among site selectors and business executives through the Tulsa's Future program.

Tulsa hosts the World Breaking Classic (WBC) USA Open Qualifier at the Cox Business Convention Center, marking the first time since 2015 that a WBC world qualifier was held in the United States.

Tulsa hosts the largest-ever USA Wrestling Junior National Duals and 14U Girls National Duals tournament at the Cox Business Convention Center.

July is declared the second annual Tulsa Music Month by the City of Tulsa in collaboration with the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC).

Tulsa Regional Tourism announces the 2023 National Reining Breeders Classic will take place at Expo Square in Tulsa. The event, which has been held in Katy, Texas, for the past 22 years, is moving to Tulsa through 2027 to accommodate the event’s growth trajectory.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber introduces Renee McKenney, CMP, as the new senior vice president of regional tourism and president of Tulsa Regional Tourism. McKenney has 33 years of experience in the tourism industry.

USA Volleyball brings its All-Star Championship event to Tulsa after the competition was canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19. Around 100 teams from across the country compete at the Cox Business Convention Center for the title.

PGA announces the total economic impact the PGA Championship had on the Tulsa regional economy. During the week of the tournament, an estimated $82.7 million was spent in town, which aligns with Tulsa Regional Tourism’s initial reports, and an additional $75 million was spent at Southern Hills on corporate hospitality venues, tickets, merchandise and concessions. The total estimated economic impact was $157.7 million, further affirming the event as the largest in Tulsa's history.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) announces its two Play Tulsa Music recovery programs—the Play Tulsa Music Live Fund and Play Tulsa Music Creative Content Fund—were fully allocated. Through the programs, 73 applicants received more than $502,000 in funding to support 1,650 live music performances and 49 other music projects in Tulsa County.

The National Snaffle Bit Association World Championship brings thousands of horses and worldwide visitors to Tulsa. The 11-day show, which is held at Expo Square, consisted of classes, activities, competitions and 2,700 horses.

IRONMAN announces a new IRONMAN® 70.3® triathlon will be added in Tulsa next year. The inaugural IRONMAN 70.3 Tulsa half-distance race will take place Sunday, May 21, in conjunction with the full-distance Certified Piedmontese Beef IRONMAN Tulsa triathlon.

The U.S. National Arabian & Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show is hosted in Tulsa for the 15th year, with 1,800 horses coming from all over the United States and parts of Canada.

Tulsa hosts the 11th global edition of the Music Cities Convention, presented by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts, and Culture (Tulsa FMAC). The event features two days of presentations from thought leaders in city planning, music, economic development, tourism, academia, events, and more.

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) and Tulsa Regional Tourism host a free watch party at the Cox Business Convention Center to celebrate the first episode of Sylvester Stallone’s new TV show, “Tulsa King.”

The 2022 USA BMX Grand Nationals, presented by the Tulsa Sports Commission, returns to Tulsa for the 25th consecutive year. Professional BMX racers from all over the world and North America’s fastest amateur riders compete for one of the seven USA BMX number one championships.

 

Government Affairs

The Gilcrease Expressway extension opens after being under construction for nearly two years. The new turnpike facilitates a modern connection from I-44 to US-412 across the Arkansas River four miles west of downtown Tulsa. The Gilcrease Expressway has been a OneVoice priority for 10 years, and this project’s completion is a major win for the OneVoice Regional Legislative coalition.

 

Notable accomplishments from the regular legislative session, by category:

 

General government and legal reform

Making the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) a standalone agency (SB 1543).

Adjusting medical marijuana licensing fees (HB 2179).

Changes to packaging requirements for medical marijuana products (HB 3019).

Providing funding to local sheriff's offices to support OMMA inspectors (HB 3530).

Halted passage of burdensome data privacy bills that would have penalized smaller sized businesses with compliances costs and a patchwork of inconsistent state regulations.

 

Economic development

Nearly $1 billion for Project Ocean (HB 4455), a major technology and manufacturing job opportunity.

Created a special Progressing Rural Economic Prosperity (PREP) Fund within the treasury (HB 4456) and appropriated funds for expansion of rural broadband to make sure rural Oklahoma is prepared for the future (HB 4464).

$95 million to critical rural water projects (SB 429).

Setting the stage for hundreds of millions of dollars in broadband infrastructure funding (HB 3363 + ARPA bills).

Created the Research and Development Attraction Act, which directs the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) to institute a grant program for research and development by state-based small businesses (HB 4354).

Created the Oklahoma Rural Jobs Act, which provides a system for rural funds seeking investment to be certified and qualify for tax credits (HB 4085).

 

Tourism and quality of life

Created the Oklahoma Air Service Development Grant Program to offer financial assistance for securing new direct flight routes in the state (SB 1461).

Created the new Oklahoma Route 66 Commission and the Oklahoma Route 66 Commission Revolving Fund, which will apportion up to $6M in sales tax collections to the fund.

 

Transportation, infrastructure and aerospace

Maintaining all state transportation infrastructure funding (GA Bill SB 1040).

Created a strategic industrial development enhancement tax credit that can help ensure sustained development for the Tulsa ports (HB 3081).

Created the Oklahoma Broadband Office (HB 3363) with the goal of bringing high-speed internet access to 95% of Oklahomans by 2027.

 

Workforce and talent strategies

Provided a 7% increase to higher education, the largest single-year increase to colleges and universities in recent history (GA Bill SB 1040).

Funded and addressed nursing and teacher shortages with $55 million for nursing programs at higher education institutions statewide (SB 1495).

Created the Health Care Workforce Development and Finance Act for recruiting and educating the state’s health care workforce and directs the Health Care Workforce Training Commission to administer the loan repayment program (HB 2776).

$17.4 million for scholarships and employment incentives for aspiring teachers to improve recruitment and retention (HB 3564).

Performance-based teacher raises ranging between $3,000 and $10,000 for specially certified teachers, and one-time awards between $1,500 and $5,000 for teachers in economically disadvantaged or smaller schools (HB 4388).

Created a STEM Workforce Pipeline Program (HB 4362).

Improved and expedited the teacher certification process (HB 3658).

Increased the eligibility threshold for entry into the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (SB 1673).

 

Health and human services

Controlled and capped Medicaid spending through capitated managed care that provides budget certainty and produces hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity, especially in rural Oklahoma (SB 1337 implementation, SB 1396 $130M, SB 1074 approx. $80.5M).

Improved mental health services with increased provider rates and expanded rural access (SB 1048).

Established partnerships between public schools and community mental health providers for responding to students in a suicidal crisis (HB 4106).

Strengthened Oklahoma’s ability to enforce parity in insurance coverage between mental and physical health care (SB 1413).

Made long awaited changes to the Landlord Tenant Act, permitting tenants to make repairs for things that materially affect health as long as the costs are equal to or less than their monthly rent or certain consumer price index values and deduct expenses from future rent (HB 3409).

 

Energy and natural resources

Passed the Oklahoma Emission Reduction Technology Incentive Act to improve both the environment and the economy (HB 3568).

Set a hydrogen fuel production standard that will serve as an annual goal to be reached each year through 2028 to increase the production of hydrogen fuel in the state (SB 1853).

Adjusted the applicable years for the clean-burning motor fuel tax credit, increased the maximum value of credits and allowing the credits to be applied to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (SB 1857).

Subject to federal appropriations, created a grant program for entities utilizing sequestration of carbon captured from production of hydrogen from natural gas (SB 1856).

 

Community Development

The second annual Tulsa’s NextGEN Talent (TNT) externship experience completes its 2022 cohort. During the course of three weeks, nearly 30 Black juniors and seniors from five school districts (TPS, Union, Jenks, Owasso and Broken Arrow) connect with local employers across a variety of industries for career exploration and professional development.

Street Cred, one of the largest and most anticipated annual events from Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS), is designed to reimagine under-used spaces. This year’s family-friendly event transforms an historic warehouse in the Crutchfield neighborhood of Tulsa into a pop-up market with programming, including a community resource fair, food trucks, movie night, and performances.

TYPROS also successfully wraps up its second year of 918 Lead, the nonpartisan boot camp to prepare young Tulsans for public office. Through 918 Lead, TYPROS seeks to create a pipeline of informed and engaged young Tulsans who will become leaders in our region and beyond.

The Tulsa Regional Chamber hosts representatives from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for a conversation with Black business owners and entrepreneurs on Tulsa's Black Wall Street. The dialogue includes discussion of the horrific events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, what was done leading up to last year’s centennial commemoration of that event, the challenges our community continues to face, and how Tulsa is addressing those challenges through projects such as Oasis Fresh Market.

More than 100 business and community leaders spend three days in Denver for the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s annual Intercity Visit. The trip covers a variety of topics, including visionary leadership, community investments, the changing nature of downtowns, college-educated workforce and business attraction, community building, mental health and homelessness, and regional collaboration.

 

Resource Development / Membership

The Tulsa Small Business Connection launches its new professional development webinar series, BUILD, which is aimed at providing education and resources to small business owners and their growing team of leaders.

The Chamber, along with Leadership Tulsa and Tracy Spears of Exceptional Leaders Lab, hosts the Women’s Leadership Summit at the Cox Business Convention Center. Around 400 attendees gathered to hear from national keynote speaker Mimi Brown and other Tulsa-area women business leaders throughout the full-day event.

 

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2021

TEDC Creative Capital CEO Rose Washington is inaugurated as the 2021 chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors. Mosaic, the Chamber’s coalition of companies and nonprofits committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, hosts local programming for National Day of Racial Healing. Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS) facilitates its first 30-person cohort for 918 Lead, a four-month, nine-session boot camp to prepare young Tulsans to run for local, state and federal office. Allison Walden, the Chamber’s senior vice president of resource development, receives the Gerald W. Hathaway Staff Person of the Year Award from the Western Association of Chamber Executives (W.A.C.E.). The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) releases the Tulsa Music Strategy, a comprehensive analysis of Tulsa’s music industry and five-year action plan. The Chamber hires Arthur Jackson, formerly of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, as senior vice president of economic development; Jackson is later named a 2021 Economic Development 40 Under 40 Award recipient by Development Counsellors International (DCI) and Jorgenson Consulting. The Chamber releases the results of an analysis of the region’s dislocated workforce and a roadmap for recovery. The Big 12 Wrestling Championship returns to Tulsa for the fifth consecutive year in front of a nearly sold-out crowd at 25% of the BOK Center’s capacity. The Chamber signs the Mayor's Pay Equity Pledge, a voluntary commitment by area companies and organizations to ensure equal pay for equal work. The Chamber partners with Oklahoma Sen. Kevin Matthews and Tulsa Public Schools to launch Tulsa’s NextGEN Talent, an initiative providing externship opportunities to African American high school students at TPS. The Chamber, the City of Tulsa and the George Kaiser Family Foundation launch Campus Tulsa, a new initiative to encourage college graduates to begin their careers in the Tulsa region. The Chamber leads the “vote yes” campaign to renew a $414 million Tulsa Public Schools bond package, which is overwhelmingly approved by voters. Amazon announces its third investment in Tulsa since 2020 with the addition of a new 270,000-square-foot sortation facility near Tulsa International Airport. TAT Technologies Ltd., an Israeli aerospace company and the parent company of Tulsa-based Limco Airepair, announces it will relocate its thermal components activities from Israel to Tulsa and expand operations at Limco Airepair, creating more than 300 jobs. Thousands of people descend on northeast Oklahoma for the IRONMAN Tulsa North American Championship, the first-ever IRONMAN Tulsa event. Chamber leaders celebrate the grand opening of Oasis Fresh Market, a full-service grocery store championed by Chamber Chair Rose Washington as part of a local, public-private collaboration led by TEDC to eliminate food deserts in Tulsa’s most underserved communities. Professional golf returns to Tulsa's Southern Hills Country Club with the 2021 Senior PGA Championship. Tulsans observe the centennial anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre with several events, vigils and faith services, as well as dedication of the new Greenwood Rising history center. Whirlpool announces a $16 million expansion at its Tulsa facility, which is expected to create 150 new jobs. Chamber representatives join area business and community leaders to celebrate 50 years of service for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) and Tulsa Ports. Canoo, an electric vehicle manufacturer, announces plans to locate its first production facility—a $400 million, 400-acre Oklahoma campus—at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, employing 2,000 people. Canoo later announces plans to locate a technology hub and software development center in Tulsa, adding another 375 high-paying jobs to the region. New signs honoring and preserving Native American history funded through a TYPROS Foundation grant are installed along the Midland Valley Trail in Tulsa. The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) announces a second funding round of $100,000 for its Play Tulsa Music program made possible by private donors. The Oklahoma FFA State Convention and Expo announces it will move to Tulsa in 2022. Hundreds of amateur boxers duke it out at the Golden Gloves of America National Tournament of Champions at the Cox Business Convention Center. The Chamber’s 2021 Intercity Visit to northwest Arkansas features a strong focus on the regional collaboration among the various local communities. Both the City of Tulsa and the Tulsa metropolitan statistical area (MSA) exceed projections for the 2020 census, with the Tulsa MSA topping a million residents. TYPROS joins several community stakeholders to celebrate the grand opening of EAT 36 ST N, a new pop-up food truck park in north Tulsa’s Phoenix District. The International Economic Development Council (IEDC) honors Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. with its Leadership Award for Public Service; Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal is awarded IEDC’s Honorary Lifetime Member (HLM) status. The Chamber receives Bronze Rank in the category of Economic Development Organization of the Year, an award program presented annually by IEDC. The Chamber receives its reaccreditation through IEDC’s Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO) program. Lyseon North America Inc. (LNAI), a supplier for Tulsa-based Navistar, announces it will lease 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and add 80 employees during the next three years. From July 2020 through June 2021, Tulsa Regional Tourism—the Chamber’s destination marketing organization—recruits 62 new events to Tulsa and retains 97 for a total estimated economic impact of $227 million. Tulsa FMAC, the accredited film commission under Tulsa Regional Tourism, supports 41 film productions during that same time. Tulsa FMAC is nominated for Best Global Music Office in the annual Music Cities Awards program. Tulsa is announced as the host city for the 2022 Music Cities Convention, an annual event attended by hundreds of tourism and music industry professionals and policymakers. RadNet, a national leader in providing high-quality and cost-effective outpatient diagnostic imaging services, announces it will lease 69,000 square feet at the Eastgate Metroplex for a customer operations center that will employ up to 500 customer service coordinators. American Airlines launches new nonstop flights to and from Austin, Washington, D.C., and Miami. The Chamber recognizes more than 70 northeast Oklahoma organizations as the region’s Top Inclusive Workplaces. USA Volleyball (USAV) selects Tulsa to host its 2022 All-Star Championship. TYPROS announces the recipients of its annual Boomtown Awards, including Tony Williams (aka "Mr. Black Wall Street"), the Black Wall Street Liquid Lounge, Urban Coders Guild, and a Legacy Award for Black Tech Street founder Tyrance Billingsley II. The TYPROS Foundation announces $50,000 worth of grants awarded to projects that engage young professionals in placemaking and community development. Two events facilitated by the Tulsa Sports Commission—the 2020 Big 12 Wrestling Championship and the 2020 USA BMX Grand Nationals—are named Champions of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism by Sports Destination Management, the leading publication for sports event planners and tournament directors. L3Harris, which employs more than 260 people at its 90,000-square-foot Tulsa facility, announces it will add a new production line and at least 80 jobs to support the growing demand for U.S. special operations intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. USA BMX’s Grand Nationals and the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants bring thousands of visitors to Tulsa and a combined $13 million economic impact.

 

2020

American Airlines announces it will invest $550 million at its base maintenance facility in Tulsa, the largest commercial aircraft maintenance facility in the world. This project is the largest capital investment in northeast Oklahoma's history. Chamber personnel join Whirlpool Corporation executives to celebrate the opening of a new factory distribution center adjacent to the company’s Tulsa manufacturing plant. Whirlpool’s $55 million investment in this new 800,000-square-foot facility will approximately double the size of its footprint in Tulsa. The facility will also add an estimated 150 new manufacturing jobs to the plant’s existing workforce of 1,710. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chamber partners with Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum on the creation of the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Advisory Committee. This diverse 23-member committee is made up of veteran CEOs and business leaders, including 15 members of the Chamber’s Board of Directors. The Chamber also launches its Business Support Series of 30-minute webinars with experts sharing their insights with the community. Beginning in mid-March, the Chamber produces more than two dozen of these webinars, on topics ranging from human resources and crisis leadership to tourism and mental health. The six-story Vast Bank building opens downtown next to ONEOK Field, and work commences on a new headquarters building for WPX Energy in the Greenwood District. When WPX merges with Devon Energy, a search begins to find a new owner for the building. PGA of America announces that the 2030 PGA Championship will return to Tulsa and Southern Hills Country Club. The Chamber joins the coalition of organizations endorsing Medicaid expansion through State Question 802, which voters approve in June. Tulsa becomes a finalist for a new Tesla Gigafactory, and though the project ultimately goes to Austin, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he is very impressed with Tulsa and the company “will strongly consider Tulsa for future operations down the road.” The more than $40 million of free publicity surrounding this project substantially elevates Tulsa’s profile. The Chamber joins Muncie Power Products to celebrate the groundbreaking of the company's new manufacturing facility. Muncie is the first tenant to break ground in north Tulsa’s Peoria-Mohawk Business Park, a joint venture of the City of Tulsa and the George Kaiser Family Foundation. The Chamber also celebrates progress on two projects funded by Vision Tulsa. First, after two years of renovations, the Cox Business Convention Center holds a grand reopening. This $55 million project includes completion of a brand new entryway and Grand Hall, which becomes Oklahoma’s largest banquet space. Tulsa also breaks ground on the new Zink Dam, a $48 million project that will improve safety and increase the depth of the Arkansas River. The Chamber partners with Tulsa County and the Tulsa Area Emergency Management Agency to administer the $1 million “Safer Tulsa County” program funded through the federal CARES Act. Chamber personnel help distribute 2,550 personal protective equipment kits at no cost to 1,980 qualified small businesses and non-profits. Amazon begins hiring for more than 1,500 full-time positions at the company’s Tulsa fulfillment center. The $130 million, 600,000-square-foot facility will have an annual payroll of almost $50 million. The Chamber wins – for a record fourth time in 15 years – the national Chamber of the Year Award from the industry’s governing body, the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. The honor is given in recognition of the Chamber’s excellence in operations, member services and community leadership. Tulsa’s Young Professionals – TYPROS – uses its 2020 Street Cred event to support the design of parklets with the goal of activating parking spaces downtown to create usable public space that supports social distancing. Tulsa Regional Tourism, the destination marketing organization housed at the Chamber, leads a promotional effort – “Tulsa Safely” – to raise awareness of the health and safety precautions taken by local businesses. The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) leads Play Tulsa Music, a recovery program to help area music venues hire local musicians for live performances. This $150,000 program is made possible by funding from Tulsa County through the federal CARES Act. The NCAA announces Tulsa will host the 2023 Division 1 Wrestling Championships. Tulsa’s bid for the tournament was led by the Tulsa Sports Commission, the amateur sports sales and marketing organization housed at the Chamber under Tulsa Regional Tourism, in partnership with OSU and the BOK Center. The event is expected to have an economic impact of more than $17 million. Milo’s Tea Company celebrates the grand opening of its new production and distribution plant in Owasso, the company’s first expansion outside its home state of Alabama. Sofidel opens its $360 million manufacturing plant in Inola. Green Bay Packaging breaks ground on its “super plant.” Nine regional entities – including the Tulsa Regional Chamber – are designated as Centers for Workforce Excellence.

 

2019

The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture (Tulsa FMAC) – an accredited film commission housed at the Chamber under the regional tourism division – returns to Park City, Utah, for its second annual FILM TULSA event during the Sundance Film Festival. Voices for National Service, a diverse coalition of national service programs, state service commissions and individual champions who work to ensure Americans of all ages can serve and volunteer in their community, presents the Chamber with its 2019 Corporate Service Award in Washington, D.C. Site Selection Magazine recognizes the Tulsa region for success in business expansion and attraction projects during 2018; Tulsa ranks sixth in America for midsize metros (populations between 200,000 and 1,000,000). For the fifth year in a row, dozens of area musicians attend the South by Southwest festival in Austin to promote Tulsa. Gov. Stitt signs into law HB2536, the Small Employer Quality Jobs Act; this bill sprang from the Chamber’s OneVoice task forces and will modify the requirements of the small employer quality jobs program, allowing a much greater number of companies to take advantage of the program. TYPROS’ 2019 Street Cred is held downtown at Chapman Centennial Green; this year’s event is a partnership with Tulsa Art Alley, a TYPROS Foundation grant recipient transforming the alley between 5th and 6th street, Boston and Main into a creative oasis. The Chamber donates to the Greenwood Cultural Center a copy of the meeting minutes from the weeks following the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre; their preservation alongside other important archival material will help ensure the most complete set of historical facts about the massacre as possible. Alabama-based beverage company Milo’s Tea breaks ground on a $60 million manufacturing facility in north Tulsa County to keep up with growing demand for their all-natural beverages. The Chamber’s economic development team partners with local firm Gitwit to create customized social media campaigns targeting site selectors. Google announces a $600 million expansion of its data center at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor; this expansion increases Google’s investment in Mayes County to $3 billion. The Chamber’s regional tourism team scores a huge win with the announcement that Tulsa is selected as a multi-year host venue for a brand new IRONMAN triathlon. An incredibly successful year for the OneVoice agenda is underscored when Gov. Stitt signs a bill to create the Oklahoma Software Engineering and Cybersecurity Talent Incentive. WPX Energy announces plans to build an 11-story, 260,000-square foot corporate headquarters in the historic Greenwood District. The Chamber’s economic development team assists the Triumph Group in locating an engineering center in downtown Tulsa at the Philcade Building; this project has the potential to relocate aerospace engineering jobs to Tulsa, and become a center of excellence for the company. American Airlines announces the addition of more than 400 highly skilled new jobs at its Tulsa maintenance base. The Chamber takes part in groundbreaking events for extension of the Gilcrease Expressway and OKPOP, the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture; both have been long-time Chamber advocacy priorities. The Chamber achieves its goal of attaining the third of five increasingly rigorous levels within the Oklahoma Quality Foundation framework. USA BMX – the largest sanctioning body of BMX racing in the world – breaks ground for construction of their new $23 million USA BMX corporate headquarters. The Chamber leads fundraising and campaign efforts that result in the overwhelming passage of the Improve Our Tulsa capital improvements package.

 

2018

The Chamber joins the lengthy list of organizations and individuals who speak out in support of the state reforms and revenue package proposed by the coalition of business leaders known as Step Up Oklahoma. The Chamber and Tulsa’s Future regional economic development partnership offers support and assistance to Baker Hughes – Claremore’s largest employer – as the company relocates a significant number of manufacturing jobs from Oklahoma City to Claremore. The Chamber applauds Frontier Airlines’ addition of nonstop destinations from Tulsa International Airport to San José and Washington, D.C., as well as an announcement from Via Airlines to provide service to Austin. Sofidel Group, an Italian manufacturer of tissue paper, announces a $360 million capital investment in Inola; the project includes the construction of a new facility that will support 300 jobs in the Rogers County community. Coordinated by Tulsa’s Future, the Chamber-led regional economic development plan supported by public and private investors, the project involves more partner entities than any in the plan’s 12-year history. The Chamber applauds the Oklahoma legislature for passing the largest teacher pay increase in state history. The Chamber heralds passage of the Oklahoma Justice Reform bills as a victory for the Chamber-led OneVoice regional legislative coalition and its pro-growth, pro-business legislative agenda. The Chamber joins the “SQ 788 is NOT Medical” coalition of organizations that oppose State Question 788, which proposes to legalize the licensed use, sale and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma for medicinal purposes. Amazon announces plans to build a more than 600,000-square-foot, $130 million fulfillment center near Tulsa International Airport. The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC) launches the Tulsa Creativity Database, a searchable online platform showcasing the region’s creativity resources, including locations for use by filmmakers. The Chamber applauds the U.S. Supreme Court ruling to allow state collection of sales tax on internet purchases. American Airlines announces the addition of daily nonstop service between Tulsa International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) beginning in April 2019. The Chamber hosts its first annual State of Inclusion event; formerly known as the Economic Inclusion Forum and hosted by Mosaic, the Chamber’s diversity and inclusion council, the State of Inclusion seeks to elevate the importance of equity, inclusion and diversity for regional economic progress. Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal is inducted into the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives Hall of Fame in recognition of his 29-year career leading successful chambers. The Big 12 Conference and the Tulsa Sports Commission announce a partnership to host the Big 12 Wrestling Championship at Tulsa’s BOK Center through 2024. Executives with Greenheck Group from Wisconsin join Chamber officials and Gov. Mary Fallin for the ribbon cutting on their first two manufacturing facilities at their new Tulsa campus.

 

2017

The Tulsa Small Business Connection (TSBC) announces a partnership with SCORE, a national volunteer-based organization providing mentorship and education, for a local small business mentorship program. The Oklahoma Justice Reform Task Force delivers recommendations for the state’s criminal justice system. Members of the task force, including Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal, say that, if adopted, the recommendations could reduce the state’s prison population by more than 9,000 beds in the next 10 years, allowing more nonviolent offenders to support their families and fill workforce gaps. The Chamber partners with the City of Tulsa and Impact Tulsa for a month-long campaign encouraging students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (FMAC) produces the first-ever Tulsa Music Showcase, an official South by Southwest (SXSW) showcase concert headlined by Tulsa band Hanson. The Chamber, in partnership with Site Selection Group of Dallas, kicks off a four-month regional workforce study to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the region's labor market and better serve area employers. The Downtown Coordinating Council – with sponsorship from the Chamber – hosts urbanist and walkability expert Jeff Speck for the presentation of his completed Walkable Tulsa Study. Presented by the Tulsa Sports Commission and the University of Tulsa, March Madness first and second round games for the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament take place at the BOK Center, generating an $8-10 million economic impact, with roughly 7,500 hotel room nights booked. Hosted by the Tulsa Sports Commission at the BOK Center, the Big 12 Wrestling Championships see Oklahoma State University win its fifth consecutive team title. The tournament's estimated economic impact totals $1.3 million, with more than 16,000 tickets sold. Gov. Mary Fallin joins Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum and officials from across the state to announce a plan to complete the last leg of the Gilcrease Expressway. Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal joins current Board Chairman Phil Albert and former Chair Jeff Dunn to serve on the State Regents’ Task Force on the Future of Higher Education. The Chamber launches a new initiative – the Mosaic CEO Roundtable – to encourage mindfulness of inclusion and diversity and its positive impact on organizations at the highest levels. Logistyx Technologies, a new logistics software company, announces it will establish global headquarters in Tulsa. The Chamber completes the fundraising phase of Tulsa’s Future III, its regional economic development plan. The Chamber joins Mayor G.T. Bynum to announce that the City of Tulsa and USA BMX have identified the Evans Fintube site east of downtown as the preferred location for USA BMX’s national arena and headquarters. The results of a two-year, comprehensive study of the aviation and aerospace industry’s economic impact in Oklahoma are unveiled, showing that the Tulsa area significantly contributes to the state’s overall aerospace and aviation output. Lumina Foundation announces Tulsa as one of 17 communities across the country designated as a Talent Hub. Greenheck Group, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of air movement, control and conditioning equipment, breaks ground for a new campus in Tulsa. Ingredion Incorporated, a leading global provider of ingredient solutions to diversified industries, announces it plans to open a shared service center in Tulsa. Coding Dojo, a coding school with a presence in some of the country’s major metropolitan areas, locates a computer programming boot camp at 36 Degrees North, Tulsa’s downtown entrepreneurial hub supported by Tulsa's Future. Tulsa submits a proposal to be the location for Amazon’s second headquarters; several members of the Chamber’s economic development staff participate in the broad collaborative effort to make the case to Amazon for the Tulsa region. 36 Degrees North adds a second location to help meet a growing need for quality work space for startup founders and their teams of three to 10 employees. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce renews the Chamber’s five-star accreditation, making the Chamber one of only 112 chambers in the country to receive this five-star recognition. Ray Hoyt, senior vice president of Tulsa Regional Tourism, leads the marketing efforts of the Tulsa Route 66 Commission, a mayoral-appointed committee working to proactively develop and market Tulsa’s stretch of the Mother Road. The Outsiders House Museum garners international acclaim from fans of the novel and cult classic film. With funding from the TYPROS Foundation, this project will include use of a vacant lot next to the Curtis brothers’ home for events and movie screenings. The Chamber continues to partner with Resonance Consultancy for a process of research, stakeholder engagement and workshops designed to identify and define a regional competitive identity. Resonance develops design concepts for “Tulsa Inspires” messaging.

 

2016

The Chamber leads the successful passage of three Vision sales tax propositions, with critical investments in quality of life projects, public transportation, public safety and river development. The Chamber joins a coalition of government and business community leaders to fight for Williams Companies’ continued independence and presence in northeast Oklahoma. Williams’ proposed merger with Energy Transfer Equity collapses after months of legal wrangling, ensuring the stalwart corporate citizen remains headquartered in the Tulsa region. VisitTulsa hosts the XPO Game Festival, a weekend-long demonstration of gaming and technology competition, creativity and innovation. The Chamber joins Gov. Mary Fallin, state and community leaders, and Google employees to celebrate the company's expansion of its Mayes County facility; Google's total Oklahoma investment stands at $2 billion, with a local employment of more than 400 individuals. Tulsa’s Young Professionals (TYPROS) rallies young voters to the polls throughout the year; a dedicated voter engagement campaign during the summer helps drive a 50 percent increase in young voter turnout for the June primary. Championed by VisitTulsa, Tourism Improvement Districts (TID) are approved by the Oklahoma legislature, enabling the Tulsa region to leverage a dedicated funding stream for tourism marketing and regional branding. With grant funding from Lumina Foundation, Chamber staff manage a career awareness digital marketing campaign that connects working adults with the training and certification programs necessary to advance their careers. 36 Degrees North, Tulsa’s base camp for entrepreneurs, opens its doors as the central hub the region’s burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem; the Chamber joins the George Kaiser Family Foundation, the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation and Tulsa Tech as founding partners in the venture. VisitTulsa hosts the 2016 GEICO Bassmaster Classic, marking the signature fishing tournament’s second appearance in northeast Oklahoma. Tulsa welcomes more than 300 economic development professionals from across the nation for the International Economic Development Council's Economic Future Forum. The Chamber convenes the Tulsa Regional Workforce Advisory Council; leaders from industry and education meet regularly to ensure alignment on workforce development strategies from the classroom to the boardroom.

 

2015

The last month of 2015 sees the culmination of the Tulsa’s Future II program, with the stretch goal of 15,000 high paying jobs. The total number of jobs created through the Tulsa’s Future program during 2011-2015 is an astounding 28,000 across northeast Oklahoma. The Chamber leads the Tulsa Public Schools $415 million bond package to success, with the package passing with a record 84 percent of votes. Macy’s opens its new Fulfillment Center. WPX moves 120 positions to Tulsa from Denver. Enterprise Holdings opens a new facility in Eastgate Metroplex and announces plans to add 214 jobs. As a result of the tremendous efforts of the OneVoice coalition, $25 million in funding is approved for the OKPOP Museum. In partnership with the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation, the Chamber announces development of 36 Degrees North, a co-working space and entrepreneurial hub. The Forge partners with several organizations to launch Tulsa’s first “editions” Startup Weekend with an energy industry focus. The event is selected by the international Startup Weekend organization as one of the top 10 editions events, out of 80 editions events held around the world; Tulsa is one of only three US cities selected. The Tulsa Sports Commission and VisitTulsa teams host the Big 12 Baseball Championship at ONEOK Field. Other notable events held in Tulsa include USA Wrestling, U.S. Girls Golf and USYS Youth Soccer. The Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts and Culture launches within the VisitTulsa program. The Bassmaster Classic announces it will return to Tulsa in 2016. The Chamber continues its quality journey through the Oklahoma Quality Foundation (OQF), winning the second of five increasingly rigorous levels with the OQF framework.

 

2014

The Small Business Connection launches as the lead entity dedicated to educating, empowering and expanding small businesses in northeast Oklahoma. Chamber staff and the Connection board organize the inaugural Small Business Summit, where more than 400 attendees gather to share best practices and recognize winners of the annual Crystal Star Awards. The Chamber continues building strong corporate partnerships and cultivating relationships with downtown business owners, developers and planners. The Tulsa region has the nation’s fourth-largest increase of college degrees awarded annually between 2010-2013, surpassing all but three of the 57 metropolitan areas that participate in a landmark three-year contest, Talent Dividend, to increase college attainment in their communities. Degree attainment in the Tulsa area increases by 15.9 percent during the national Talent Dividend contest – more than double the average increase of 7.9 percent. The Chamber leads the Tulsa region’s Talent Dividend efforts. The Chamber advocates for a $1.2 million increase in lodging tax dollars in an effort to boost the ability of VisitTulsa to competitively compete for quality events. Chamber staff release the findings of the Workforce Analysis Project, a 24-week study on the state of the Tulsa region’s workforce in relation to our economy. Recommendations are provided for improving job opportunities for residents and maximizing the pool of skilled labor available to area employers. The project culminates in a 116-page report outlining workforce strengths, opportunities and challenges for the region. VisitTulsa acquires the Tulsa Film and Music Office to expand efforts to attract, develop and facilitate local musicians, filmmakers and artists, increasing the visibility for all art and culture in northeast Oklahoma. Macy’s breaks ground on a 1.3 million-square-foot, $180 million order fulfillment center in north Tulsa County. Chamber leaders, along with federal, tribal, regional, local and state officials join Macy’s to celebrate the groundbreaking. The center is the largest Tulsa-region jobs announcement in nearly a decade. The Chamber launches the Manufacturers’ Council, bringing together owners, presidents and company representatives of manufacturers to discuss relevant issues and provide information to their peers on concerns and interests that affect them.

 

2013 

The Tulsa’s Future program announces more than 3,800 new jobs, with 1,909 of them above the initiative’s target annual income of $50,000. The Bassmaster Classic is held in Tulsa, and TRC partners with numerous regional partners throughout northeast Oklahoma for the event, which draws more than 100,000 attendees to downtown Tulsa. FDi Magazine includes Tulsa on its newly-released list of “American Cities of the Future,” placing Tulsa No. 10 among mid-sized cities in the category of “Foreign Direct Investment Strategy.” Downtown Tulsa attracts close to $1 billion in private and public investment since 2008 in the form of projects announced, under way or recently completed. The Downtown Steering Committee and consultant group, Mary Means & Associates, completes the Downtown Tulsa Strategic Action Plan, which presents six initiatives that address downtown needs and opportunities. The consultants then assign related tasks to nine stakeholder groups, including the Chamber, the City of Tulsa, Tulsa County and the Downtown Coordinating Council. The Chamber is instrumental in the passage of Improve Our Tulsa, the City of Tulsa capital projects campaign. The Chamber begins its quality journey through the Oklahoma Quality Foundation (OQF), winning the first of five increasingly rigorous levels with the OQF framework.

 

2012

The Chamber’s board of directors vote unanimously to change the organization’s name to the Tulsa Regional Chamber in order to continue the momentum toward creating a unified commitment to the success of all communities in northeast Oklahoma. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce awards the Chamber its highest recognition – five-star accreditation. The honor makes Tulsa the only five-star accredited chamber in Oklahoma, and one of only nine American MSAs of 500,000-plus with five stars. The Chamber’s economic development division is honored with AEDO (accredited economic development organization) accreditation through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). The Chamber hosts the enVision Summit with more than 400 Tulsans who meet to contribute their ideas for the future growth and development of the Tulsa region. The Chamber partners with Gov. Mary Fallin and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to lead a group of more than 20 business, education and economic development leaders to 18 appointments in six countries in Europe for the Governor’s Trade Mission. The Chamber and area business leaders launch a state-level nonpartisan political action committee called OklahomaBizPac. The American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) awards the Chamber three gold “Awards for Communications Excellence” at its annual convention. VisitTulsa secures a five-year renewal with the Arabian Horse Association, which will create a 10-year economic impact of $350 million. The Tulsa’s Future plan helps create more than 3,400 jobs. The Chamber, Tulsa Community College and other regional partners in industry and education announce that Tulsa Community College is part of a consortium receiving nearly $15 million in federal grant funding to establish a nationally recognized aerospace certificate program. The Chamber, City of Tulsa, and Tulsa County announce a new downtown development effort; a consulting firm, Mary Means & Associates, will identify and prioritize opportunities for growth and development in downtown Tulsa. Lufthansa Technik Component Services announces it will add 90 employees during the next few years as part of a significant, ongoing expansion in Tulsa. The Chamber’s business diversity council, Mosaic, continues to expand and launches a web presence, mosaictulsa.com. The Tulsa Sports Commission hosts its first Tulsa Run, with more than 9,800 runners participating, as well as its first AC Milan Heartland Cup international youth soccer tournament. The Tulsa Sports Commission secures the 2014 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship Finals. Tulsa’s Young Professionals opens a new, permanent location for The Forge business development center. Tulsa’s Young Professionals also raises more than $9,000 and contributes more than 1,500 volunteer hours for its 2012 community partner, YWCA Tulsa. The Chamber relocates to Williams Tower I at Third and Boulder.

 

2011

Through the privately funded Tulsa’s Future plan, at least 7,900 jobs are created in 2011; 4,028 of these are above the target income of $50,000. The Tulsa Sports Commission hosts the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships. The Tulsa Sports Commission also announces creation of an international youth soccer tournament in Tulsa for May 2012, in partnership with A.C. Milan, an international soccer club. VisitTulsa and Expo Square announce the signing of a three-year contract between Breeder’s Invitational and Expo Square. Tulsa’s Young Professionals holds the inaugural Street CReD, the urbanization and revitalization initiative and annual makeover event. The U.S. Chamber honors Tulsa-based Part-Time Pros, Eloté Café & Catering, and The Persimmon Group with the prestigious Blue Ribbon Award at America’s Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C. Baker Hughes, a global provider of products and services to the oil and gas industry with multiple locations in northeastern Oklahoma, announces its acceptance into the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program and the creation of as many as 667 jobs during the next decade. The Chamber launches a website dedicated to downtown development, TulsaDowntown.org, focused on economic development to leverage the progressive growth and public investment in the BOK Center, ONEOK Field, expanded Tulsa Convention Center, new hotel and residential properties. The Chamber’s OneVoice program sees multiple legislative successes, including passage of the Quick Action Closing Fund, reinstatement of the aerospace tax credit, and lawsuit and workers compensation reform. The Chamber coordinates Tulsa’s entry into the CEOs for Cities Talent Dividend Prize contest as part of its ongoing effort to increase the number of quality potential employees in the metro and develop the workforce pipeline. The Chamber launches Mosaic, a program to leverage the importance of diversity and inclusion in business. The Tulsa Sports Commission announces the selection of Tulsa to host the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

 

2010

The Chamber is named the Nation’s Best Chamber for a record third time. The Chamber hosts one of two gubernatorial debates for the 2010 elections, and Oklahoma elects its first female governor, Mary Fallin. The Tulsa Drillers play their season opener in a new home, ONEOK Field, with the first pitch thrown by country music star and emerging actor Tim McGraw. VisitTulsa announces Tulsa’s selection to host the 2011 and 2012 Appaloosa Horse Club’s National Shows. Several new downtown hotels open, including the Courtyard by Marriot, Mayo Hotel and Holiday Inn City Center. The Chamber launches a new entrepreneur referral program, SourceLink, to support small businesses and start-ups in the region. Tulsa’s Young Professionals opens The Forge, a business development center for young entrepreneurs. The Chamber works to defeat State Question 744, which some described as the most devastating policy in Oklahoma’s recent history. International oilfield parts manufacturer Borets-Weatherford establishes its North American headquarters in Tulsa. The Chamber’s business retention and expansion program is honored as the top program of its kind in the nation. The Chamber launches Tulsa’s Future II, a new regional economic development plan for the next five years.

 

2009

The Chamber assists the Holly Corporation in the successful purchase of both the Tulsa Sunoco Refinery and the Tulsa Sinclair refinery. The Chamber launches a new workforce attraction effort called ChooseTulsaJobs. The Chamber successfully recruits Teach For America to the Tulsa region. The Tulsa Sports Commission and the University of Tulsa announce Tulsa’s selection to host a 2011 NCAA First-Second Round Division I Men’s Basketball tournament at the BOK Center. The Chamber works to recruit the WNBA franchise to Tulsa. The Chamber supports one proposed City Charter change, but opposes two others in the November elections. Mayor Kathy Taylor announces she will not seek re-election, and Mayor Dewey Bartlett is inaugurated in December. Business Week ranks Tulsa the No. 7 strongest U.S. metro economy in its list of the 40 top economies based on job growth, employment, home prices and economic growth.

 

2008

The Chamber wins the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) Chamber of the Year Award for the second time. Tulsa’s newest icon, the BOK Center, opens as part of the county-wide Vision 2025 package voters approved in 2003. The Chamber raises the funds and provides leadership for passage of the Fix Our Streets $4.51 tax extension and increase. The Convention and Visitors Bureau hosts premier national events, including the U.S. Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show and the National Trust for Historic Preservation National Preservation Conference. The Chamber completes one of its most successful legislative sessions by securing comprehensive funding for statewide transportation infrastructure, Arkansas River development, workforce incentives, the Leverage Act, and changes to the Quality Jobs Act. The Chamber launches an annual event, the Tulsa Regional Washington D.C. Fly-In, to strengthen communications between Tulsa area leaders and Oklahoma’s federal delegation. The Chamber supports efforts of the Baseball Stadium Trust to build a new baseball stadium in downtown Tulsa; a groundbreaking is held in December.

 

2007

The Chamber completes a strategic planning process to develop a comprehensive, five-year plan for the following priorities: Jobs and People, Education, Legislative Success, and Community Development for the Arkansas River and Downtown Revitalization. The Chamber raises funds for the “Our River Yes” campaign to develop the Arkansas River corridor. The Chamber launches the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s new branding campaign called “I Am.” The Chamber announces Coca-Cola Enterprises, DMI wind tower manufacturer, and Gannett’s final selection of Tulsa for major expansions. The Chamber hosts economic development and major convention and meeting planners during the PGA Championship. The Chamber coordinates the first-ever, joint regional legislative agenda (branded as “OneVoice”) on behalf of area Chambers and surrounding communities.

 

2006

The Chamber initiates branding research for the Tulsa region through the Convention and Visitors Bureau and economic development division. The Chamber launches a buy-regional campaign for existing business development called “Let’s Do Business.” The Chamber recruits a new president and CEO, Mike Neal, from the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber raises the funds and provides leadership for the successful passage of the Third Penny Sales tax extension. The Chamber announces Capital One Auto Finance’s selection of Tulsa for a major expansion.

 

2005

The Chamber launches a campaign to raise $9 million to fund the Tulsa’s Future economic development program. The Chamber establishes Tulsa’s Young Professionals, an organization focused on retaining and attracting young professionals to the Tulsa region while also establishing Tulsa’s next generation of leadership. The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) selects the Tulsa Metro Chamber as the Nation’s Best Chamber. The Chamber raises the funds and provides leadership for the successful passage of the City of Tulsa’s General Obligation Bond, Tulsa Public Schools’ largest school bond in history, and Tulsa County’s Four-to-Fix the County sales tax.

 

2004

The Chamber launches new, grass-roots legislative efforts to inform and involve the business community. Vanguard announces move of headquarters of National / Alamo to Tulsa. Tulsa is selected as one of America’s Most Livable Communities. DirecTV builds a national call-center. Task forces meet and provide input for a new regional economic development plan to be called Tulsa’s Future.

 

2003

The Chamber secures and manages over $750,000 in supportive campaign funding to pass Vision 2025. BizJet/Lufthansa announces expansion. Boeing announces 500 new jobs. American Airlines stabilizes and key aerospace jobs retained at largest employer. Convention and Visitors Bureau wins National Conference for the Historic Trust and Preservation. After 50 years in the same location, the Chamber moves its headquarters for a more progressive presentation of Tulsa. The Chamber convenes a leadership retreat of more than 150 business leaders, elected officials, community leaders and staff to create a new, regional economic development plan.

 

2002

The Chamber leads efforts to help secure Community Hospitals Authority. Honeywell announces expansion.

 

2001

IC of Oklahoma (formerly Navistar’s International Bus Group) comes to Tulsa. The Chamber leads a campaign to pass bond proposals for Tulsa Public Schools. The Chamber also leads a campaign to pass a third penny sales tax for urban infrastructure.

 

2000

The Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce changes its name to the Tulsa Metro Chamber.

 

1999

The Chamber leads a campaign to pass bond proposals for Tulsa Public Schools.

 

1998

OSU Tulsa opens.

 

1996

The Chamber leads a campaign to pass bond proposals for Tulsa Public Schools.

 

1994

Whirlpool Corp. selects Tulsa over 51 competitors in 16 states and Mexico.

 

1986  

State Farm Insurance and Kimberly-Clark Corporation come to Tulsa.

 

1981

After years of Chamber lobbying, the Inner Dispersal Loop (IDL) opens.

 

1980

The Chamber leads a campaign to pass a third penny sales tax for urban infrastructure.

 

1979

Following a 1976 visit by the Chamber Economic Development group to Hilti, Inc. in Liechtenstein, Tulsa is awarded the headquarters of Hilti of America.

 

1974

With Vision 2000, the Chamber leads campaign efforts to pass a bond issue for parks, a Performing Arts Center, passage of the hotel-motel tax to promote convention and tourism, and creation of the Citizens Crime Commission.

 

1971

President Richard Nixon dedicates the Tulsa Port of Catoosa in May.

 

1970

Tulsa Junior College (TJC) opens and another major effort begins to establish university-type curriculum –establishment of the University Center at Tulsa. The Chamber launches an advertising campaign to make Tulsa a well-known name, attracting the Ford Glass Plant, Metropolitan Life, Avis Rent-A-Car System and Sun Oil.

 

1969

The Chamber of Commerce is renamed the Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, descriptive of its regional concern.

 

1968

The Chamber studies bills and introduces a request for a junior college to be established in Tulsa. This year also sees establishment of the Indian Nations Council of Chambers of Commerce, which in turn creates INCOG.

 

1967 

For more than 50 years, the Chamber pursued navigation on the Arkansas River to Tulsa. The Tulsa Port of Catoosa groundbreaking ceremony is held on June 10.

 

1965

With assistance from Industries for Tulsa, Inc., the financial corporation organized by the Chamber, work begins to select a site for the head of navigation – the Tulsa Port.

 

1958 

The Chamber leads a campaign for the passage of a $4.2 million bond issue for a new airport terminal building.

 

1957

The Will Rogers Turnpike opens, finalizing a goal of the Chamber to build a highway to the Grand Lake recreation area. The Chamber is also involved in the creation of US 75, or the Okmulgee Expressway.

 

1955

Delegates numbering 600, from 36 eastern Oklahoma counties, answer the Chamber’s invitation to come to Tulsa to work on a common plan for the development of water resources. Six months later, President Eisenhower approves the commencement of construction on the Oologah, Markham’s Ferry, Keystone and Eufaula dams.

 

1952

The Chamber board authorizes creation of a corporation to construct a modern, 187-acre industrial distribution district in West Tulsa. Five Chamber directors comprise the board of the corporation, and borrow $600,000 from a Tulsa bank to buy and develop the land as industrial sites. Soon, 54 Chamber members agree to also put forward monetary endorsements. The project sits between West 46th Street and West 51st Street--adjoining the Frisco Railroad. As a factor in stimulating Tulsa’s growth, the decision to become actively involved in developing industrial sites and offering them at bargain prices is one of the most important decisions the Chamber has made, certainly in the second half of its history.

 

1950

Construction begins on the Turner Turnpike “airline highway” to Oklahoma City. At a Chamber dinner to honor Gov. Turner, the Turnpike Authority presents W.G. Skelly with checks totaling more than $22,000 to reimburse the Chamber leaders who had underwritten the preliminary survey of the roadway to help start the project.

 

1949

The Chamber changes the name of the “Trade Development Department” to the “Area Development Department,” official recognition of the growing role Tulsa has taken in boosting the development of a region much larger than its own city or county limits.

 

1946

The Chamber markets an empty Douglas modification center to American Airlines, which becomes Tulsa’s largest employer.

 

1943

Chamber President Russell Rhodes annual address to the board is titled “Practical Post-War Planning for Tulsa.” The Chamber also advocates for construction of an “airline highway” to Oklahoma City and to the Grand Lake recreation area, and the Chamber continues its efforts to secure favorable approval by Army Engineers and Congress for navigation of the Arkansas River to Tulsa. Plans begin to develop a “civic center” for the post office, federal courthouse, city hall and a coliseum.

 

1942

The Chamber board responds to a request from President Graham to raise $10,000 to finance a study regarding Arkansas-Verdigris river navigation.

 

1940

With World War II beginning in Europe, the manufacture of military supplies quickly becomes a major industry in the U.S. Russell S. Rhodes, the Chamber’s executive vice president, aggressively pursues aircraft manufacturing companies and, with some of the Chamber’s board members, advocates in Washington D.C. to bring defense facilities to the Tulsa region, including plants in Claremore and Pryor. In December 1940, the Defense Department announces a bomber production plant expected to employ 14,000 to 17,000 people would be built in Tulsa. With the plant, Tulsa inherits a 10,000-foot runway and the huge assembly buildings that would later house American Airlines’ main maintenance facility.

 

1928

When the federal government selects Tulsa to be among a limited few cities that would have airmail service, the celebration is restrained because Tulsa does not have a municipal airport. Chamber President W.G. Skelly pulls together 28 members from the Chamber board to join him in making sure Tulsa has an airport to meet the federal requirements. They put their personal signatures on a bank note to guarantee repayment of the money with which they build the city’s airport.

 

1927

The Chamber calls a Flood Control Congress to meet in Tulsa. During that meeting, the Arkansas River Flood Control Association is formed.

 

1923

The flow-line from Spavinaw is scheduled to deliver 25 million gallons of water daily to the city, but Tulsa’s water demand is only 10 million gallons a day. The Chamber leads efforts to put the excess into lakes in a recreational parkland on acreage donated by two Chamber members. The new site becomes Mohawk Park. Also this year, a group of veterans of the early oil boom hold a reunion at the new convention center. They meet again in 1924, 1925 and 1927, by which time the growing convention has spilled out into the streets. The Chamber is asked to assume management to make the event an exposition, and the “International Petroleum Exposition” (IPE), which the Chamber houses at the fairgrounds, is held at intervals of three or four years from 1928 to 1979. It becomes one of the largest trade shows in the world. The Golden Driller statue and the fairgrounds’ huge Expo Building are relics of the Petroleum Exposition.

 

1921

The Tulsa Race Massacre decimates the Greenwood District. In the weeks following the massacre, the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors and general membership meet several times to discuss and coordinate a response to the burning of Greenwood. Sadly, little is ultimately done, prompting 2019 Chamber leadership to formally apologize for a lack of action on the part of the Chamber in the aftermath of the massacre.

 

1919

Creation of a suitable Tulsa water supply has long been discussed, but by 1919 the problem is so evident that general support is almost unanimous—but choosing the source causes one of the most divisive debates in Tulsa’s history. The argument is cost versus quality, and the Chamber answers by assembling endorsements from 200 of its members for the (quality) Spavinaw water project. The Chamber endorsement is critical in persuading the City to call an election on the Spavinaw project—a vote that wins approval. Also this year, the Chamber incorporates the Tulsa Livestock and Industrial Exposition, for which 14 Chamber leaders underwrite a loan of $200,000 to buy 440 acres of land “adjoining the city on the east” where they propose to hold livestock expositions. Another group of Chamber members make a trip to the Iowa State Fair a year later to assess the possibility of establishing a fair in Tulsa. The tract of land becomes the Tulsa County Fairgrounds and still hosts national livestock and horse shows, and of course, the annual Tulsa State Fair.

 

1915

The Commercial Club is renamed the Chamber of Commerce.

 

1910

The Commercial Club creates a new committee to investigate and promote navigation on the Arkansas River to Tulsa. This would remain a top priority as Tulsa continues to grow and evolve during the next six decades.

 

1907

The Tulsa Commercial Club calls a rare meeting at the Opera House, making an appeal to the general public to attend and pledge their purchase of stock in a corporation that would offer to manufacturers cheap natural gas and free building sites. The $99,700 in reported pledges builds the foundation that would later make Tulsa the petroleum equipment-manufacturing center of the world. Also in 1907, the Tulsa Commercial Club’s board has the opportunity to acquire Muskogee’s Henry Kendall College. The board and the club’s members sell building lots on the edge of town to raise the necessary funds, guaranteeing what they couldn’t raise. The college settles on a piece of land “east of town,” and later adopts a new name: The University of Tulsa.

 

1903

In an effort to attract job-creators to the small community of Tulsa, less than 20 business leaders sit down to participate in the genesis of the Tulsa Commercial Club, which is later renamed the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce.