By Pat Hammert/Staff Writer

Mustang city officials may soon be asked to put their support behind a countywide effort to increase development in the county.

El Reno City Manager Tony Rivera presented an idea for an economic development alliance in Canadian County at a recent El Reno Economic Development Authority meeting. An afternoon “economic development summit” is planned March 30 at Redlands Community College to which Rivera has invited Lance LaCour, president of a Katy, Texas-area economic development alliance, to speak to a diverse group of area leaders.

“Forming a regional alliance would put us in a unique position in Oklahoma, in that we would be one of the first regional areas that would form to work jointly towards attracting industrial and commercial development,” Rivera said.

For the upcoming meeting, “We want to get as wide a group as possible involved in economic development and that is a trend encouraged by the state and also at the national level.”

Rivera has received good response from local leaders and an informal newspaper survey of three other potential players indicates a positive response from the cities of Yukon and Mustang and Canadian County leaders.

“We would be so interested in forming an alliance,” said Sandy Meyer, Yukon Chamber of Commerce executive director. Meyer said the Yukon chamber and a group of Yukon leaders are in the process of forming a group, made up of “people that want to make an effort to market Yukon to interested business or industry.”

In Mustang, the city planner works with the city manager and Mustang chamber to market the city and filter business prospects. But a regional approach is a “great idea” that makes sense, said Melissa Helsel, city planner.

“Take Boral Bricks (in Union City). Those employees may be living in El Reno, Mustang and Yukon and spend money there and so whatever comes into the county affects the entire area. Even school districts cross boundaries,” Helsel said.

The Mustang Industrial Authority last functioned in 1997 when an industrial gasket manufacturer needed financial help.

“A regional approach is always better than a local approach, especially when you’re dealing with industry,” Helsel said.

At the county, commissioners dissolved its industrial authority last month because of lack of use. For several years, Canadian County has paid an annual $24,000 membership fee to belong to the Greater Oklahoma City Partnership, a coalition formed by the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce.

For that fee, Canadian County and its three major cities are included in the partnership’s marketing effort and can benefit from economic development specialists on staff.

The concept is to market the region and its work force, said Bill Hulsey, Canadian Valley Technology Center’s business development director.

“Marketing the region and we look more desirable as a work force that can get 10,000 workers, or 20,000 or 50,000 or whatever the needs of the industry that might be looking at central Oklahoma as a prospective location,” Hulsey said. The partnership also lets its members know of prospects that have shown interest in the area.

He said with any alliance between cities and towns, turf battles come into play or “the Friday night football mentality,” since luring industry is extremely competitive.

Canadian County Commissioner Phil Carson said he encourages a more localized, countywide effort toward a common goal.

“I think we certainly ought to work together for a common goal. I’ve always thought, for instance, that city managers and mayors of each town should meet once a month or even quarterly to discuss common issues,” Carson said.

Rivera envisions a future alliance made up of a board of governors from two dozen key companies, the city, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes, chamber of commerces and the county, who each provide, for instance, $15,000 annually; strategic partners — made up of about a dozen larger companies that provide $5,000; and associates, made up of about 50 smaller companies, banks and other organizations that provide $1,000 annually.

The alliance, with a full-time director, would maintain geographic information and development data for prospects, market the area, develop a site database, respond to site selectors,and business prospects, recruit new business, help businesses expand with technical resources and develop incentive policies.

“The idea is to get as many area agencies involved, combined with private businesses, to form an alliance and provide a commitment to get the right type of person in here,” Rivera said.

Any organization with vested interest in bringing jobs to the area would benefit, he said, including utility companies, nonprofit organizations, the private sector, colleges and municipal and county governments.

Rivera said he doesn’t know of many regional alliances in Oklahoma. In south central Oklahoma, three counties, Garvin, Murray and Pontotoc County, have joined to form the South Central Oklahoma Regional Enterprise that works toward planned economic development in that area.

Lance LaCour oversees a 22-member board of governors on the Katy Alliance involving more than 60 business enterprises in three counties located on Interstate 10 near Houston.

LaCour moved to the Katy area in 2005. Before that he was involved in forming the Baldwin County, Ala., economic development alliance.

The Baldwin County Alliance was named one of the Top 20 economic development groups in North America in 2005 by Site Selection magazine. It was credited with having generated more than 41 projects, 1,300 jobs and $87 million in capital investment in the area.