IMO, just let Tulsa have their moment. Stitt is a huge proponent of the Access Oklahoma Turnpike Expansion which will greatly increase infrastructure investment in and around OKC much more than Tulsa. The other candidate for governor doesn’t support it. Let Tulsa get theirs because they need it there isn’t much happening up there other than a few small projects. OKC has much more momentum going. Tulsa needs a boost.

Exactly. I've seen countless comments over the years about how there needs to be growth all over the state and not just OKC. Then, whenever there's the potential for a game changer in the state's second largest metro, people freak out and want it on OKC. I get it to a degree, but I would much rather see big industrial undertakings like this all over the state. I'm talking Tulsa, Ardmore, Lawton, Woodward, and Enid. Get the entire state booming and not just OKC.

Exactly. I've seen countless comments over the years about how there needs to be growth all over the state and not just OKC. Then, whenever there's the potential for a game changer in the state's second largest metro, people freak out and want it on OKC. I get it to a degree, but I would much rather see big industrial undertakings like this all over the state. I'm talking Tulsa, Ardmore, Lawton, Woodward, and Enid. Get the entire state booming and not just OKC.

Stillwater, too, since unlike Ardmore, Woodward and Enid, it has daily passenger airline access to DFW. The Armstrong flooring plant that recently shut down could use a new tenant.

Also, I doubt Kansas would offer a ton more incentive to build a 8 billion dollar plant as opposed to the 4 billion one. At least not much more than Oklahoma would offer.

So they might as well build a plant in Kansas to collect the benefits, and then build another in Oklahoma to also collect the benefits we offered them.

I’ve got some contacts in Topeka and they tell me that Kansas is throwing the book at them to get the second facility there as well….and most likely are the front runner.

I’ve got some contacts in Topeka and they tell me that Kansas is throwing the book at them to get the second facility there as well….and most likely are the front runner.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Oklahoma completely blow it and lose out. Again.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Oklahoma completely blow it and lose out. Again.

Yeah, I don't think Kansas is getting another one. They wouldn't have basically put out that OK was a prohibitive favorite without Panasonic allowing it, and likely something being signed.

I’ve got some contacts in Topeka and they tell me that Kansas is throwing the book at them to get the second facility there as well….and most likely are the front runner.

So about 50 different articles or press releases are lying? Got it.

So about 50 different articles or press releases are lying? Got it.

I don't read it as lying, just that until contracts are signed, nothing is set in stone. Panasonic may have let slip to a reporter that they were looking at Oklahoma - probably because of our prior proposal - but that could change depending on the situation. All the reporting I am finding at first glance is crediting the Wall Street Journal for breaking the story, and in WSJ's article it says this (emphasis mine):


TOKYO—Panasonic Holdings Corp., PCRFY 1.63%▲ a supplier to electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc., TSLA -0.75%▼ is in discussions to build an additional roughly $4 billion EV battery plant in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.

The Japanese company is looking at Oklahoma as the location for its new plant, though there are no guarantees that an agreement will be reached, the people said.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-supplier-panasonic-plans-additional-4-billion-ev-battery-plant-in-u-s-11661495847

I don't read it as lying, just that until contracts are signed, nothing is set in stone. Panasonic may have let slip to a reporter that they were looking at Oklahoma - probably because of our prior proposal - but that could change depending on the situation. All the reporting I am finding at first glance is crediting the Wall Street Journal for breaking the story, and in WSJ's article it says this (emphasis mine):



https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-supplier-panasonic-plans-additional-4-billion-ev-battery-plant-in-u-s-11661495847

The article in post 350 makes it seem like there is far more than hearsay.

Wouldn't surprise me to see Oklahoma completely blow it and lose out. Again.

As brought up before the lack of a big enough work force for Panasonic was cited as one reason why Oklahoma was turned down as told at an interim study at the state capitol. So, it's also important to entice new companies with a large well-qualified workforce. I think it surely reflects Oklahoma's lack of desire to do a better job of supporting education with no sign of things getting better, especially if out of state employers don't think promoting private education is the right direction to go. Another problem causing worker shortages is that Texas companies are enticing Oklahomans with higher pay to come. The article concludes with State Rep. Kevin McDugle, R-Broken Arrow, said he’s looking at developing an incentive program to bring workers from other states to Oklahoma. The program could offer new graduates who work in biotechnical or engineering fields four years of income tax-free earnings.

https://www.stwnewspress.com/oklahoma/industry-commerce-officials-say-workforce-shortage-still-a-challenge/article_8cd42b33-a369-5a11-bbca-86fe1262c5f8.html

The leading candidate for School Super is campaigning on refusing federal edication dollars for education as well as advocating for the loss of career of any teacher that strays from conservative orthadoxy.
Strong selling points for tech companies.

No, Oklahoma schools don't need defunded to any extent, unless we don't want to attract industry, especially in high tech. Top education official mulls rejecting federal funds as districts worry about lost revenue: https://www.stwnewspress.com/oklahoma/top-education-official-mulls-rejecting-federal-funds-as-districts-worry-about-lost-revenue/article_361cedf6-95b2-52da-a9ae-e54db77fb280.html

Article from Teslarati(not exactly a source I’d taken with anything more than a grain of salt from) about the groundbreaking of the factory in De Soto. They mentioned the potential Oklahoma sites but never mentioned the possibility of a second site.

https://www.teslarati.com/panasonic-2170-production-groundbreaking-kansas-plant/

Canoo plans to build a 3200 mwh battery plant at MAIP. Panasonic is much larger at at 30,000 mwh. It will be interesting to see if they end up building a second plant.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/canoo-build-battery-manufacturing-facility-oklahoma-2022-11-02/

Saw a walmart branded Canoo driving around the metro last week. Testing Testing

Supposedly the state is trying to lure another large manufacturer with what they tried to land Panasonic with. Anyone have any ideas who it could be? Hope they don’t completely fumble this again:

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/another-mega-manufacturer-eyeing-pryor-industrial-park-gov-kevin-stitt-says/article_cbef33ee-aee8-11ed-88d6-ff0743fc2649.html

Did we ever get word on if Panasonic was going to consider a second plant in Pryor?

Did we ever get word on if Panasonic was going to consider a second plant in Pryor?

Still very much a possibility. This was from a recent article:


There was that whole beauty pageant between Kansas and Oklahoma to win that plant, each state was throwing incentives at you. Is there still potential for a plant in Oklahoma?

We estimate we’ll grow roughly fourfold by 2030. So yes, there’s definitely potential for other plants in the US.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-27/panasonic-sees-potential-for-another-ev-battery-plant-in-us

And there is another multi-billion dollar manufacturing plant the state is trying to land at MAIP https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/another-mega-manufacturer-eyeing-pryor-industrial-park-gov-kevin-stitt-says/article_cbef33ee-aee8-11ed-88d6-ff0743fc2649.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

Good deal. Hopefully they land it.

There is funding in the LEAD Fund for only one of those two deals (Panasonic or the Project Connect entity). In other words, whoever makes the move first would get the incentive funds and the other would likely not come to Oklahoma, unless they’re willing to without those incentives.

The state can come up with more money.

The state can come up with more money.

I thought the state was flush with cash?

The state can come up with more money.

Simple! Why didn’t I think of that?

Apparently you haven’t been following the legislative discourse on this topic.

This is just flat out depressing thinking this could’ve been Oklahoma.

https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/20/kansas-governor-1-9-billion-1200-job-computer-chip-plant-to-be-built-in-coffey-county/

This is just flat out depressing thinking this could’ve been Oklahoma.

https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/20/kansas-governor-1-9-billion-1200-job-computer-chip-plant-to-be-built-in-coffey-county/

All it takes is landing one and then it’s like a snowball effect. Good for Kansas for capitalizing on the opportunity.

Looks like OK is trying to get a VW battery plant https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/sources-oklahoma-trying-to-lure-volkswagen-to-midamerica-industrial-park/

Sounds like Canada has already sealed this deal but at least we are trying to get some more new energy projects.

All it takes is landing one and then it’s like a snowball effect. Good for Kansas for capitalizing on the opportunity.
I’m happy for Kansas and they deserve it. Just irritated how Oklahoma constantly drops the ball.

I’m happy for Kansas and they deserve it. Just irritated how Oklahoma constantly drops the ball.

How did Oklahoma drop the ball in the Panasonic battery plant race again?

How did Oklahoma drop the ball in the Panasonic battery plant race again?
Oh not increasing incentives to match Kansas, the comments from legislators about Panasonic being a woke cesspool(or something like that), and the overall backwards nature of the government doesn’t help.

How did Oklahoma drop the ball in the Panasonic battery plant race again?

Im guessing it was simply Kansas going higher with incentives. Like over $800,000,000!

The more OK waves it’s arms in the air saying “pick me, pick me” the more skeptical these other businesses may become. At some point it may not be about money. When business’s are constantly passing you over they will probably become more suspicious of why other companies are passing.

The more OK waves it’s arms in the air saying “pick me, pick me” the more skeptical these other businesses may become. At some point it may not be about money. When business’s are constantly passing you over they will probably become more suspicious of why other companies are passing.

There definitely needs to be a serious study of why we keep getting passed over for these big projects. I have my suspicions, as seemingly do many here, but we can't make forward progress until we have hard data to either back up or refute our gut feelings.

This is just flat out depressing thinking this could’ve been Oklahoma.

https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/20/kansas-governor-1-9-billion-1200-job-computer-chip-plant-to-be-built-in-coffey-county/

Yeah, we need to talk about this more. It's not just one or two projects now, it's a succession of projects and billions upon billions of dollars of investment that are bypassing our state. As others are suggesting, something is up. I know we got beat on the Panasonic deal, but surely we would have landed something mildly big at this point over the last couple years of trying and throwing out massive incentives. All the states around us are growing more substantially than us and all we get are dregs and basic low-level manufacturing and other low-level jobs. I think the biggest new jobs announcement for the Tulsa metro lately was a call center. OKC has more going on, but as has been pointed out a lot of it is just sucking in from the rest of the state.

^I'd love to be a fly on the wall in some of these company meetings discussion our prospects. Without a lead, it's hard to do anything but speculate what is going wrong. The comments from various politicians regarding Panasonic were troublesome, and the firebrands that are increasingly a louder voice in our already deep red politics can be embarrassing. I know we don't want to get too political in here, but it's a factor. Schools are a major concern for employers, especially those expecting to move or attract employees here. Another report came out recently showing that we are in dead last place among one metric of teacher pay.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article272536113.html?ac_cid=DM765788&ac_bid=-2101803497

Kansas is already saying they need more incentives than what was previously committed to Panasonic.


In the past year Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration has committed more than $1.1 billion to Panasonic and Integra Technologies through the state’s largest economic incentive tool. Now the Democratic governor’s administration is asking lawmakers to make even more state dollars available to suppliers of those major companies, arguing the incentives already available aren’t enough.


But economic development experts told The Star that high incentives for suppliers shouldn’t be necessary for major companies like Panasonic. It’s rare for governments to incentivize suppliers, said Nathan Jensen, a professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin who researches economic development incentives.

“It’s weird,’‘ he said. “It’s not something you see very often, in particular in the auto industry.” That’s because state government leaders often use suppliers as part of their justification for awarding big incentives to large factories. The argument is that projects like Panasonic will have a so-called multiplier effect. Aside from the direct jobs and investments at the plant, the project is expected to create spin-off employment among suppliers.

But that argument falls flat if the suppliers are getting incentives, too.

They gave them an inch, so of course they want a mile.

Yeah, we need to talk about this more. It's not just one or two projects now, it's a succession of projects and billions upon billions of dollars of investment that are bypassing our state. As others are suggesting, something is up. I know we got beat on the Panasonic deal, but surely we would have landed something mildly big at this point over the last couple years of trying and throwing out massive incentives. All the states around us are growing more substantially than us and all we get are dregs and basic low-level manufacturing and other low-level jobs. I think the biggest new jobs announcement for the Tulsa metro lately was a call center. OKC has more going on, but as has been pointed out a lot of it is just sucking in from the rest of the state.

^I'd love to be a fly on the wall in some of these company meetings discussion our prospects. Without a lead, it's hard to do anything but speculate what is going wrong. The comments from various politicians regarding Panasonic were troublesome, and the firebrands that are increasingly a louder voice in our already deep red politics can be embarrassing. I know we don't want to get too political in here, but it's a factor. Schools are a major concern for employers, especially those expecting to move or attract employees here. Another report came out recently showing that we are in dead last place among one metric of teacher pay.

They don't get the headlines but there is a significant amount of new job creation with small businesses and especially small tech businesses in Tulsa. 36 Degrees N, the co-working/business incubator space in downtown Tulsa, has already expanded to three locations and is currently building out an even bigger space downtown due to the increased demand.

That being said, more advanced manufacturing jobs would be great to have and hopefully that is on the horizon. Oklahoma is at least on the radar, there are many states that aren't at all, and there are a lot of built-in advantages especially at a place like MAIP with its utilities. IThere doesn't seem to be a shortage of these large plants being proposed as more domestic manufacturing is needed and different types like batteries, EV's, semiconductors and robotics. I get being close to Kansas City helps with labor but when I see big new EV plants proposed for rural Kentucky, Tennessee or Alabama it isn't any different than MAIP...

Is there a chance in hell of Oklahoma getting any Airbus/Boeing manufacturing (like what South Carolina and Mobile have)?

I’m happy for Kansas and they deserve it. Just irritated how Oklahoma constantly drops the ball.

The rumor going around is that Kevin Stitt personally insulted a high-level Panasonic senior executive, and Oklahoma is blacklisted until he is out of office.

The rumor going around is that Kevin Stitt personally insulted a high-level Panasonic senior executive, and Oklahoma is blacklisted until he is out of office.
It wouldn’t surprise me. I wish I could find it but I swear there was a quote of one or more lawmakers openly mocking Panasonic on the house floor. Something along the lines of worries about the company bringing in a “woke” culture to Oklahoma.

It wouldn’t surprise me. I wish I could find it but I swear there was a quote of one or more lawmakers openly mocking Panasonic on the house floor. Something along the lines of worries about the company bringing in a “woke” culture to Oklahoma.

It was a letter, signed by 11 Republicans (of the total 149 legislators) who are known for being non-contributing zeros (i.e., they have very little influence over legislation and are widely mocked within their respective houses).

Looks to me that our personal political grievances line up perfectly with our reasons for our failure to gain the large business opportunity.

Is any of this you say with any backup or is it all just speculation? I say this only because Japan isn't exactly a "woke" society.

The irony of on one hand hating corporate handouts and on the other getting mad at our state for not handing out enough. Almost as great as glorifying big pharma companies 2 years ago.

^ Very true. I both hate corporate subsidies/handouts, and yet desperately want our state to land something big so that we can move up in the world. It's cognitive dissonance for sure, but sometimes you have to grit your teeth and play the game. Obviously Kansas is learning that it's a double edged sword though. Even though they 'won' they are going to be bled dry. It was already a questionable deal to give them so much, but if they go along with the extensions they'll probably be underwater despite the new investment. They'll probably be safe if they say no to anything else though. After all, they beat us by a mile.

I guess the only way to stop the handouts madness would be for a large number of states to come together to stop the practice with a pact of some sort. Not going to happen unfortunately.

There are some states that have those restrictions. It would likely have to come in the form of an interstate compact.

It looks like Volkswagen has chosen the US for a new site but hasn’t said where yet.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-build-own-plant-us-scout-brand-automobilwoche-2023-02-24/

It looks like Volkswagen has chosen the US for a new site but hasn’t said where yet.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/volkswagen-build-own-plant-us-scout-brand-automobilwoche-2023-02-24/

This is who they are in discussions with currently for building in Oklahoma.

Looking good. Hopefully we get the good news on Friday!


OKLAHOMA CITY — A multibillion-dollar company will decide Friday whether it will expand its operations to the MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, a key state lawmaker said.

Lawmakers on Monday took steps to update an economic development incentive package that would be offered to the unnamed company that reportedly is Volkswagen.

A company that is looking to build a new battery plant is close to deciding whether its new facility will be located in Oklahoma or Canada.

With the clock ticking, a joint legislative budget committee gave approval to legislation that would reduce from 4,000 to 3,500 the number of jobs the company must create within four years in order to be eligible for incentives through the state's LEAD Act. Senate Bill 1176 also would return the $698 million in economic development incentives to the state's general revenue fund if the business doesn't make a binding commitment by April 15.

- https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/incentive-package-tweaks-on-fast-track-as-multibillion-dollar-company-eyes-pryor-site/article_1d585d44-b6ca-11ed-9f94-a759b0e8c517.html

How pathetic it is the state blew the Panasonic deal: https://www.ttnews.com/articles/buttigieg-surveying-future-panasonic-battery-plant-sees-manufacturing-renaissance

Looking good. Hopefully we get the good news on Friday!



- https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/incentive-package-tweaks-on-fast-track-as-multibillion-dollar-company-eyes-pryor-site/article_1d585d44-b6ca-11ed-9f94-a759b0e8c517.html

Welp.

Welp.
The article specifically states, “Legislative leaders are expected to fast track the legislation this week, and company leaders are expected to make a decision Friday, with a formal announcement coming the second week of March.”

The article specifically states, “Legislative leaders are expected to fast track the legislation this week, and company leaders are expected to make a decision Friday, with a formal announcement coming the second week of March.”

Good eye, I apparently can't read lol

Good eye, I apparently can't read lol
lol no worries.

Might be for Scout, which VW bought. They just announced the vehicle manufacturing facility in SC.

https://www.wistv.com/2023/03/03/mcmaster-announces-blythewood-selected-2-billion-investment-thousands-jobs/

'Oklahoma misses out again. Scout was the rumor, and it is going elsewhere. The sad thing is, nothing we can do about it.

Another loss for Stitt, which no conservative seems to give a rat's behind about.

Oklahoma will keep losing these developments, and it is awful. OKC is fine, but the rest of the state is suffering under Bull-Stitt.

Edit: my point stands, but might be too quick on the draw.

That's just for the automotive plant -- I believe this battery plant may be separate.

That's just for the automotive plant -- I believe this battery plant may be separate.

I added an edit to my post. I was likely too quick on the draw. Granted, my point still stands.

I appreciate the clarification, sir!

I added an edit to my post. I was likely too quick on the draw. Granted, my point still stands.

I appreciate the clarification, sir!

It’s usually pretty safe to assume the state will fail/mess something up.

'Oklahoma misses out again. Scout was the rumor, and it is going elsewhere. The sad thing is, nothing we can do about it.

Another loss for Stitt, which no conservative seems to give a rat's behind about.

Oklahoma will keep losing these developments, and it is awful. OKC is fine, but the rest of the state is suffering under Bull-Stitt.

Edit: my point stands, but might be too quick on the draw.

OKC has been one of the fastest growing metros the past 20 years percentage wise. So is it really a loss if we never had it? And to give up so much money to a private company? There will be many other companies come calling, we are a good state to come to and might be able to use our tax money more wisely on 2 or 3 for the same price that an be spread around the state.

And I would love to reply to the political jab but it would not be welcomed here. No politics seems to only apply to certain viewpoints. It is unfair some are allowed as lots of people read this site. Blaming the Gov without any facts to back it up is a very poor choice..

OKC has been one of the fastest growing metros the past 20 years percentage wise.

Depends what exactly you mean by "one of" but this is not really true for the metro area. It's only true for the population of the city itself, which as we know encompasses a larger fraction of the metro area's population than many/most other major cities.

Many of your MSA cities are losing population in the last 10 years. OKC MSA population has remained consistent over the past 20 years.


Oklahoma City MSA population 2010 1,257,804 - 2020 1,428,709 +170,405/11.93% increase
Oklahoma City MSA population 2000 1,083,346 - 2010 1,252,987 +169,641/13.5% increase

Oklahoma City CITY Population 2010 579,999 - 2020 687,725 +107,726/15.7% increase
Oklahoma City CITY population 2000 506,132 - 2010 579,999 +73,867/12.7% increase

Although the numbers are strong for the core central city, the MSA numbers keep OKC among the top 50 in the 42nd/43rd spots.



Consistent population growth especially in the central city over the last 20 years with raw numbers and percentage growth rising in both categories.