Not sure what you’re reading in his post, but it clearly indicates Kansas has more college graduates THAN Oklahoma, which, by the way, happens to be true.

explain how 33% of 2.94MM is bigger than 26% of 3.96MM. I'll wait.

explain how 33% of 2.94MM is bigger than 26% of 3.96MM. I'll wait.

26% of 3.96 is over a million people

33% of 2.94 is under a million people ..


quick math says that

over a million is more than under a million ..

explain how 33% of 2.94MM is bigger than 26% of 3.96MM. I'll wait.

2.9 is the Kansas pop .396 is the oklahoma pop

26% of 3960000 = 0.26 × 3960000 = 1029600
33% of 2940000 = 0.33 × 2940000 = 970200

But also shouldn't we be comparing population over 25 since children can't attain a degree?

That puts us at a pop of 686k and 26% with degree. Kansas is at 652k with 34%.

Census data on the subject:
https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=educational%20attainment&g=0100000US,.04000.001_0400000US72&tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1501&tp=true&hidePreview=true

explain how 33% of 2.94MM is bigger than 26% of 3.96MM. I'll wait.

You’re right. I apologize for misreading BoulderSooner: I was taking PB’s post to refer to proportion of college graduates rather than absolute numbers and applied only that context to BS’s post. I did that because most debates of this type focus on proportion of college graduates rather than absolute number.

Anyway, my point (opinion) stands that the number of college graduates will not be a determining factor whether we get the Panasonic plant over Kansas.

You’re right. I apologize for misreading BoulderSooner: I was taking PB’s post to refer to proportion of college graduates rather than absolute numbers and applied only that context to BS’s post. I did that because most debates of this type focus on proportion of college graduates rather than absolute number.

Anyway, my point (opinion) stands that the number of college graduates will not be a determining factor whether we get the Panasonic plant over Kansas.

How many people with a college degree are building batteries? Honest question.

I think it comes down to three things: 1) the incentive deal from each state, 2) access to labor and 3) the proposed site, and water/utilities associated with it. Not sure how Kansas could top what Mid-America has with their GRDA connection for water and power rates.

How many people with a college degree are building batteries? Honest question.

I think it comes down to three things: 1) the incentive deal from each state, 2) access to labor and 3) the proposed site, and water/utilities associated with it. Not sure how Kansas could top what Mid-America has with their GRDA connection for water and power rates.

From my understanding of the issue, after speaking with those knowledgeable, the people building the batteries—and the vast majority of the employed workforce—will not be (need to be) college graduates. They will be skilled laborers with a high school/technical school education. The engineers will, of course, have them, but I suspect many of those will be imported from out of state.

I think your three factors for what will determine who gets the plant are spot on.

its for RareEarth, will be in Stillwater. Good for Oklahoma, but seems like Governor Stitt is a proponent of bringing more business to Tulsa, OSU, and Stillwater. Perhaps the OKC Chamber of Commerce along with the mayor of OKC can step up to the plate and recruit companies to OKC area. I do know sometimes for incentives it must go through the State of Oklahoma. Is the OKC Chamber of Commerce very proactive in luring companies?

Here is a link regarding Kansas which includes college degree. According this this link below, Kansas has 43.1% college educated people. Even higher than I previous saw via Google. Overall Kansas is ranked #23 in education.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas

Here is a link regarding Kansas which includes college degree. According this this link below, Kansas has 43.1% college educated people. Even higher than I previous saw via Google. Overall Kansas is ranked #23 in education.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kansas

I would trust the census more than a listicle.

Kansas 33.9% vs Oklahoma 26.1%

Kansas statistically as a state is very skewed because it's largest metro area has its core city in another state. Kansas has just under half the population of the KC Metro and has most of the wealthy suburbs while Missouri gets the relatively poorer core city and the more middle class suburbs. Makes Kansas look much better than it really is.

It depends on how you look at it. Rural Oklahoma pulls down those numbers for Oklahoma. There is a higher percentage of people with college degrees in the Oklahoma City & Tulsa metro areas. With the plant possibly being located near Tulsa, I don't think finding educated employees is the issue.

Maybe l missed something specific to this plant but except for limited positions, what need is there for a college degree to manufacture battaries? I would think all of the design and engineering is done elsewhere?

There isn't. Just the same handful of posters being relentlessly negative due to their bias'

its for RareEarth, will be in Stillwater. Good for Oklahoma, but seems like Governor Stitt is a proponent of bringing more business to Tulsa, OSU, and Stillwater.

But a manufacturing concern that is only expected to hire 100 workers is no big deal. Surely long gone are the days when Stillwater could attract manufacturing that ultimately employed over 1000 people.

Looks like Kansas was chosen

Panasonic to build EV battery plant for Tesla in U.S. state of Kansas (https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/Panasonic-to-build-EV-battery-plant-for-Tesla-in-U.S.-state-of-Kansas)

Of course

lol. Top 10!

With the state of education in Oklahoma, why would anyone locate a business here when there are 48 higher ranking states?

With the state of education in Oklahoma, why would anyone locate a business here when there are 48 higher ranking states?
You’re not wrong. But it still hurts to see Kansas get this over Oklahoma but then I’m biased being from OKC. This just sucks all the way around.

It's pretty discouraging that one big company chooses the state to your immediate south (Tesla/Texas) and then another that wants to be close by skips over you and goes to a state immediately north (Panasonic/Kansas).

If nothing else, it sends a strong signal that Oklahoma is not competitive and we need to make serious changes.

Yikes. What a miss.

Landing Panasonic would have been huge for the state and transformational for the city of Tulsa so I'm not surprised in the slightest that the state absolutely blew it.

This is a very good time to study the reasons why we keep getting passed over.

Everyone has opinions, but it would be nice to talk directly to the decision-makers at Panasonic and find out why they preferred Kansas. This should not be led by the governor or his cronies. I'd like to see a bi-partisan group established so we can find out the real truth, whatever it may be.


We were never going to get Tesla, but this is different and we need to learn from it.

This is a very good time to study the reasons why we keep getting passed over.

Everyone has opinions, but it would be nice to talk directly to the decision-makers at Panasonic and find out why they preferred Kansas. This should happen and not be led by the governor or one of his cronies. I'd like to see a bi-partisan group established so we can find out the real truth, whatever it may be.


We were never going to get Tesla, but this is different and we need to learn from it.

Especially when it has been noted that the location Oklahoma offered was situated really well and was an ideal place for such a plant. If that still can't get you this project then obviously there's something terribly wrong (I think most of us know what.)

Especially when it has been noted that the location Oklahoma offered was situated really well and was an ideal place for such a plant. If that still can't get you this project then obviously there's something terribly wrong (I think most of us know what.)

Panasonic specifically stated they wanted to be near the new Texas Telsa facility.

And yet they skipped us and opted for someplace farther away. Alarm bells are ringing.

Panasonic specifically stated they wanted to be near the new Texas Telsa facility.

And yet they skipped us and opted for someplace farther away. Alarm bells are ringing.

I’m worried the alarm bells are on silent for those who need to hear them most. The last few months has not been a good display of competence from Oklahoma government.

If only we put Panasonic on the Tulsa driller!

I hope losing Panasonic will mean that a lot of incumbent state legislators get voted out in Nov., including Gov. Stitt. They are NOT doing a good job of leading the state. Interesting that a former legislator, Cal Hobson, wrote in the July Observer, "And as I have said for months, Panasonic ain't coming and most folks wish Canoo wouldn't."

Not going to happen, they will all be reelected and nothing will change. Too many stupid people in this state, it makes the educated ones question whether they should move somewhere else.

Not going to happen, they will all be reelected and nothing will change. Too many stupid people in this state, it makes the educated ones question whether they should move somewhere else.

I love OKC and the state of Oklahoma along with the people that live here and very happy that I moved here but I do not like the state government but I could say that about the federal government and most other state governments.

I'm no fan of democrats or republicans both sides are funded by massive corporate money.

More attention needs to be focused on overturning citizens united.

Not going to happen, they will all be reelected and nothing will change. Too many stupid people in this state, it makes the educated ones question whether they should move somewhere else.

Guarantee you that the majority of Oklahomans have/had no idea about the Panasonic plant and if they did, they wouldn't care, so yeah, all of the above is correct, really sadly.

You guys are forgetting that, aside from the OKC and Tulsa areas, the rest of the state wants OK to suck. And our legislators have rigged it to where the part of the state with 10% of the population have 50% or more of the power at the state level.

So yeah. There is nothing we can do. People in Guymon don't care if the state grows, same with people in Atoka. Yet they have an unjust amount of representation, based on population.

You won't hear a damn thing from state legislators, considering some of them wanted them to pick Kansas because they were pro-choice. Quit thinking this will spark change.

This is a very good time to study the reasons why we keep getting passed over.

Everyone has opinions, but it would be nice to talk directly to the decision-makers at Panasonic and find out why they preferred Kansas. This should not be led by the governor or his cronies. I'd like to see a bi-partisan group established so we can find out the real truth, whatever it may be.


We were never going to get Tesla, but this is different and we need to learn from it.

Kansas had a 6 month head start and we were used as leverage.

At least we have good leadership and positive momentum in OKC.

We are clearly not competitive at the state level, but OKC can continue to move forward and do its own thing. It's the only reason we continue to grow while the rest of the state languishes and it all started with the first MAPS.

Good thing as a city we didn't hitch our wagon to the fortunes of the state.

Hey Boulder Sooner, what do you think?

Kansas had a 6 month head start and we were used as leverage.

Then why weren't we in on this sooner?

It's a failure and we need to learn from it otherwise as a state we'll continue missing out.

Top 10 state, eh? Yet another failure to deliver from the Governor's office. Yet I'm sure people will just eat up the rhetoric despite zero evidence of success at recruiting businesses (or anything else).

At least we have good leadership and positive momentum in OKC.

We are clearly not competitive at the state level, but OKC can continue to move forward and do its own thing. It's the only reason we continue to grow while the rest of the state languishes and it all started with the first MAPS.

Good thing as a city we didn't hitch our wagon to the fortunes of the state.

That is a good way to put it without diving too deep into politics.

If we play our cards right we can land another Milo's sweet tea factory.

If we play our cards right we can land another Milo's sweet tea factory.
Jake, I love the positivity! lol

At least we have good leadership and positive momentum in OKC.

We are clearly not competitive at the state level, but OKC can continue to move forward and do its own thing. It's the only reason we continue to grow while the rest of the state languishes and it all started with the first MAPS.

Good thing as a city we didn't hitch our wagon to the fortunes of the state.

I wish this mattered. As more people come to OKC, you actually have less of the population represented at the state level. All but 500 people could move from places like Duncan, Durant, Atoka, etc, and they wouldn't lose a vote. But as those people move to OKC, OKC doesn't gain anything. Just more people losing a say at the state level.

Panasonic specifically stated they wanted to be near the new Texas Telsa facility.

And yet they skipped us and opted for someplace farther away. Alarm bells are ringing.

Oklahoma, well Tulsa specifically, is losing potential businesses to TX, AR, and now KS. We are turning into a black hole. Best we can get is maybe a small production facility here and there. The offices go to Bentonville, KC, or Dallas. Anything worth being excited for is picked off.

I've said elsewhere that I doubt this came down to subsidies/tax breaks. I think OK was competitive there and would have given them anything. There's other issues going on here and I'm too tired at this point to list them all out. OK as a whole can't cut it, and hope for the future is diming.

Good for OKC that you guys have some critical mass and momentum, but Tulsa is going to languish in the future. We can barely keep our regional hub status with NWA and OKC growing so much.

I've never posted this before, but I don't think many people in OKC are clued into the mindset of small-town Oklahoma, which a lot of legislators represent.


I spent a couple of days in Carnegie when I was researching the Farmer's Bank story. I went and sat in the local donut shop (one of the few places the locals have to congregate) and even after talking to a bunch of people who were all pretty friendly and forthcoming (they were universally withering about the then bank president), when I handed my card to a few of the men and asked them to call me if they thought of anything additional to share, one of them saw my last name (it's Polish) and asked me in a dark and accusatory tone, "Where are you from"? I had already told them I was from OKC doing an investigative report on the bank, so there was no mistaking what he was really asking.

All the others in the group clearly wanted to know the answer to this ridiculous question. To put this in perspective, I am fair-skinned with blue eyes and sandy hair. And if I have any accent at all, it comes from living in Oklahoma.

I could not have been more shocked or disturbed. I can't imagine what someone with dark coloring puts up with in these small towns.


Many of these people have been brainwashed into thinking any sort of outsider is evil and hell-bent on making everyone speak a foreign language while they systematically destroy Christianity, freedom, and America as a whole.

Do you think the guys in that donut shop want a Panasonic plant in Oklahoma? Do you think their state rep runs on a platform of economic development through bringing in foreign or coastal companies? You can bet the message is almost completely fear-based and aimed at all these 'others' (gay, feminists, brown, foreigners and big-city elites) who are plotting to destroy them all.

Oklahoma, well Tulsa specifically, is losing potential businesses to TX, AR, and now KS. We are turning into a black hole. Best we can get is maybe a small production facility here and there. The offices go to Bentonville, KC, or Dallas. Anything worth being excited for is picked off.

I've said elsewhere that I doubt this came down to subsidies/tax breaks. I think OK was competitive there and would have given them anything. There's other issues going on here and I'm too tired at this point to list them all out. OK as a whole can't cut it, and hope for the future is diming.

Good for OKC that you guys have some critical mass and momentum, but Tulsa is going to languish in the future. We can barely keep our regional hub status with NWA and OKC growing so much.

Bleak. Worst I've felt about Tulsa and the state's prospects in a long time. I thought Tulsa was on the brink of something big happening for once, another strikeout. Not sure how long it is till I start seriously looking to move to another state. OKC at least has some consistent momentum.

If we play our cards right we can land another Milo's sweet tea factory.

Whether meant to be serious or not, that's largely how Oklahoma grows. From within. So, we got some of the greatest casinos in the world, along with the greatest state medical marijuana program in the country. Kansas and Texas have nothing like any of that. I don't think politicians at the State Capitol led the way to make it all happen. It was the people.

If we want more advanced jobs, such as having to do with high tech, the state needs to do a lot better job of supporting education. In doing so, maybe Oklahomans will find it easier to come up with innovative business ideas to present to Shark Tank.

Sigh, and of course it is presumed to be going really close to KC.

This thread is toting the political line, but the answer to all of this is younger people not voting. It is honestly mind blowing how many people in Oklahoma do not vote, especially young people. But this is exactly why the system exists in its current form.

At least our good ole boy network of car dealerships will be as strong as ever

I've never posted this before, but I don't think many people in OKC are clued into the mindset of small-town Oklahoma, which a lot of legislators represent.


I spent a couple of days in Carnegie when I was researching the Farmer's Bank story. I went and sat in the local donut shop (one of the few places the locals have to congregate) and even after talking to a bunch of people who were all pretty friendly and forthcoming (they were universally withering about the then bank president), when I handed my card to a few of the men and asked them to call me if they thought of anything additional to share, one of them saw my last name (it's Polish) and asked me in a dark and accusatory tone, "Where are you from"? I had already told them I was from OKC doing an investigative report on the bank, so there was no mistaking what he was really asking.

All the others in the group clearly wanted to know the answer to this ridiculous question. To put this in perspective, I am fair-skinned with blue eyes and sandy hair. And if I have any accent at all, it comes from living in Oklahoma.

I could not have been more shocked or disturbed. I can't imagine what someone with dark coloring puts up with in these small towns.


Many of these people have been brainwashed into thinking any sort of outsider is evil and hell-bent on making everyone speak a foreign language while they systematically destroy Christianity, freedom, and America as a whole.

Do you think the guys in that donut shop want a Panasonic plant in Oklahoma? Do you think their state rep runs on a platform of economic development through bringing in foreign or coastal companies? You can bet the message is almost completely fear-based and aimed at all these 'others' (gay, feminists, brown, foreigners and big-city elites) who are plotting to destroy them all.

1,000,000,000,000%. The ignorants in small-town Oklahoma have a lot of power because of how the districts are drawn in this state.

Sigh, and of course it is presumed to be going really close to KC.

This thread is toting the political line, but the answer to all of this is younger people not voting. It is honestly mind blowing how many people in Oklahoma do not vote, especially young people. But this is exactly why the system exists in its current form.

according to this site 18-29 year olds vote the same as 65+

18-44 years old makes up 46.6% of the vote. Doesn't surprise me that the largest percentage is 45 - 65 year olds.

https://stacker.com/oklahoma/29-million-votes-see-demographics-oklahomas-voting-population

Sigh, and of course it is presumed to be going really close to KC.

This thread is toting the political line, but the answer to all of this is younger people not voting. It is honestly mind blowing how many people in Oklahoma do not vote, especially young people. But this is exactly why the system exists in its current form.

If legalization of rec marijuana is on the ballot in Nov., that will bring out young people to vote to counteract the rural vote, likely opposed to it.

I don't know how or why it happened, but I have a statewide practice, so you'll find me at small town diners several times a month. What you generally overhear is local residents repeating and trading conspiracy theories as if they were fact. Last I checked, the big thingw as that the Chinese are buying all of our land and that they own all of the windmills going in near Tishomingo.

They used to get the news from the Oklahoman, so you'd generally expect them to follow whatever the editorials said. Nowadays, newspaper use has declined, and even the Oklahoman had some standards, and as small town newspapers closed, more of them have turned to the internet for their information. And somehow, after all of those years of accepting the "news" as factual, they are not equipped to consider whether the news is non-factual. And then they got on social media.

Pete hit the nail on the head though. Most of what they're consuming is conspiracy theories re how OKC/Tulsa are out to get them or don't care that someone else is victimizing them--and that's sometimes true. It's true that foreigners are buying up a lot of land and paying ridiculous prices for it, and the AG/legislator/law enforcement have only made a show of going after strawman license holders. It's true that OKC several years ago drained a lake responsible for a substantial bit of the economic activity in Canton. It's true that OKC's long-term plans involve taking water out of Sardis. So there's at least a kernel of truth to their paranoia.

And unfortunately, that's kind of how states work, right? It's necessary for most urban areas to be supported by activities happening in rural areas. Electrical generation and water are things we're reliant on small town folks for. They pay the cost, i.e., ugly windmills everywhere, noise pollution, ruined vistas, lower lake levels, we get the benefits.

It doesn't occur to them that the urban areas subsidize rural electrification, rural broadband services, their streets, highways, and bridges, their schools and access to higher education. And that's really why our State Legislature doesn't do what it's supposed to do. There's no give and take, only I want 100% of the things and I will take 100% of the things, and there's no compromise.

What would make more sense is to remove all of the OKC/Tulsa seats from the House and draw new maps in the Senate, representing only OKC/Tulsa and let them have to compromise.

Multiple people with knowledge of those negotiations told NonDoc this afternoon that the company has chosen the Kansas site for its newest manufacturing facility. However, those same people said Panasonic has been considering whether to build a second battery plant, which could ultimately be located in Pryor to take advantage of a nearly $700 million rebate incentive created by the Oklahoma Legislature earlier this year.

https://nondoc.com/2022/07/13/report-panasonic-selects-kansas-battery-plant/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=nondocmedia&utm_content=Kansas%20selected%20for%20battery%20pl ant,%20Panasonic%20purportedly%20considering%20Okl ahoma%20for%20second%20factory

^

That's nice to hear but it still leaves a huge question: Why did they prefer Kansas over Oklahoma which is closer to the Tesla plant?

Multiple people with knowledge of those negotiations told NonDoc this afternoon that the company has chosen the Kansas site for its newest manufacturing facility. However, those same people said Panasonic has been considering whether to build a second battery plant, which could ultimately be located in Pryor to take advantage of a nearly $700 million rebate incentive created by the Oklahoma Legislature earlier this year.

https://nondoc.com/2022/07/13/report-panasonic-selects-kansas-battery-plant/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=nondocmedia&utm_content=Kansas%20selected%20for%20battery%20pl ant,%20Panasonic%20purportedly%20considering%20Okl ahoma%20for%20second%20factory

From that article:


“Oklahoma is not totally out of it,” said an individual closely connected to the state’s recruitment efforts on the condition of anonymity. “The electric vehicle market is only growing.”

Senate Appropriations and Budget Chairman Roger Thompson (R-Okemah) said representatives of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce have told him Panasonic is considering the construction of a second battery plant.

and


“Gov. Stitt is confident in his plan to attract companies to Oklahoma,” Atchison said. “This is not the end of the governor’s strategy to make Oklahoma a top 10 state for business, and Oklahomans would be wise to not count us out just yet.”


These are all people with huge political motivation to spin this in the most positive light possible.

Its not that complicated. Oklahoma offered $698 million in incentives, Kansas offered over $1 billion.

Money talks...I could think of 300 million reasons why they chose Kansas over Oklahoma.

Its not that complicated. Oklahoma offered $698 million in incentives, Kansas offered or $1 billion.

Money talks...

You have no idea if that was the primary reason.

You have no idea if that was the primary reason.

I know I don't, but $300 million is a good start, that is a lot of money.

CNBC came out with its 2022 rankings for top states for business. Oklahoma ranks 38. Last year it was ranked 32. So, Stitt is slipping and still has a long way to go for top ten. Kansas for 2022 is ranked 21.

We'll get the next huge plant for sure. Just like we did after the Tesla thing.

I know I don't, but $300 million is a good start, that is a lot of money.

If it was that simple, why did we try and recruit them at all?

All I'm saying is this is a good opportunity to find out what it's going to take to be competitive because we clearly aren't now.