#TheGoodStuff: Setting goals for Chickasha in 2021
By Jim Cowan, Chickasha Economic Development Council
With 2020 behind us now, it’s time to start 2021 with optimism and excitement. Have you ever wondered what exactly the Economic Development guy does? Here are my Top 5 New Year resolutions for Chickasha this year. Please hold me accountable to show progress on each one of these as we go through the year.
- Recruit New Business: This always sounds good, but how do we measure this, especially in a challenging economy? We will upgrade our website as more companies are searching online than ever. We will showcase all Chickasha has to offer and answer the question of “Why Chickasha?” We will define what items our residents are leaving Chickasha to purchase in another town and determine if we can bring that business here or help current businesses offer that item. Since Oklahoma has a fast growing Film industry, we will market Chickasha as film friendly to capture some of that business right here like Guthrie does.
- Business Retention and Expansion: Bringing in new business will always be important, but taking care of our local industries and merchants should always be one of top priorities. We want to listen to our local companies to learn what we can do to help in such fast changing economic times. This includes assisting with the new PPP programs and grants, helping them form a more strategic marketing plan or connecting them with workforce training. We will also work with The Chamber to develop and App for all of Chickasha to raise awareness of all the diverse businesses Chickasha has to offer.
- Grow the Holiday Season all throughout Chickasha. The Festival of Light draws thousands of people to town and we want to make sure we are maximizing sales tax revenue during the holidays, while also embracing our feeling of a Hometown Christmas.
- Solidify Chickasha Tourism: We will form a committee made up of personnel from hotels, restaurants, and attractions so that we can strengthen the communication between everyone as we grow tourism in Chickasha. We will increase our marketing efforts to promote Chickasha as a destination city which will help local businesses and increase our sales tax.
- Market Chickasha’s Brand: So much of my new year’s resolutions involve better communication. We have multiple organizations that promote our town and it’s important we are all sending the same message. We need to continue to change our culture to one where we believe in ourselves and are excited about our future. Look for a “Love where you live” task force to be created in an effort to unite the whole community to show more civic pride and ignite volunteerism so that we can clean up our town and keep it that way.
Making new year resolutions is an annual tradition, but making them happen here in Chickasha is #TheGoodStuff.
