Officials are preparing to host the International Economic Development Council’s annual meeting and conference, which brings together economic developers and corporate real estate executives from all over the globe for training, presentations, networking and more – and gives the host city a chance to showcase their city and state to an influential group of attendees when it comes to facilitating business expansion and job creation.

With a theme of “Turning Disruption into Innovation and Opportunity,” the conference, set for September 18-21 at the Oklahoma City Convention Center, expects to welcome more than 1,000 professionals and their families from all over the world and promises to show off some of the assets and qualities that have propelled Oklahoma City’s growth. While every community had to deal with massive disruption due to the effects of the coronavirus, Oklahoma City’s demonstrated ability to recover from difficulties and come out stronger makes our city an apropos location for the conference.

GET MORE INFO AND REGISTER AT IEDCCONFERENCES.ORG/OKC

“In Oklahoma City, we’ve experienced disruptions to our economy in ways that would be very difficult for some communities to recover from. It’s a testament to our spirit, our people and the Oklahoma standard that we’ve been able to continue to move forward and come together to create success out of those difficulties,” said Chamber President and CEO Roy Williams. “We look forward to showing off OKC’s best to this influential group while they’re here to learn and network together.”

While the conference is being held in Oklahoma City, support to execute the event has come from every corner of the state. Beyond an outstanding statewide response to sponsoring the conference, partners from all over Oklahoma have been important contributors on the various planning committees to ensure a first-class event. This extends to programming where ground-breaking economic development initiatives are happening in both urban and rural Oklahoma. Statewide involvement has helped the programming of the conference appeal to communities of all sizes nationwide.

“We’ve had great support for the IEDC conference from so many of our economic development partners and other forward-thinking companies and firms from all over the state,” said Sean Trauschke, Chamber chair. “It really goes to show everyone understands what a great opportunity this is to show off OKC’s readiness to support economic growth and expansion.”

All area professionals that are involved with economic or community development, or corporate site location or expansion decisions are invited to attend and enjoy a fantastic slate of programming.

Kent Shortridge, vice chair of economic development, and Bill Lance, vice chair of partnership development for the Chamber, are serving as co-chairs of the OKC Host Committee.

Along with educational sessions, professional development, certification exams and networking, the conference program includes tours of historic OKC districts and neighborhoods like The Paseo, the Plaza District, Capitol Hill, Midtown, NE 23rd/EastPoint and the Innovation District to show how redevelopment and progress have taken place in core areas alongside the transformation of downtown. Tours will also be offered of the National Weather Center and Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth and Innovation Lab at the University of Oklahoma, Tinker Air Force Base and the FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center for a look at OKC’s aerospace cluster and the redevelopment of the former GM facility into an aerospace hub, as well as a focus on MAPS projects and other urban redevelopments such as the Skirvin and Colcord hotels and the First National Center, alongside new developments like the Devon Tower.

Any and all Oklahomans with ties to economic or community development, or corporate real estate/site location functions are encouraged to register to not just expand their professional network, but also learn about the latest trends, legal issues and others relevant to the field to help make the conference a success.

If you are interested in attending, sponsoring or exhibiting, learn more at iedcconferences.org/OKC.

Special thanks to all our current IEDC sponsors that have graciously provided valuable support to help Oklahoma host this event:

• Ada Jobs Foundation
• Ardmore Development Authority
• Arvest Bank
• BancFirst
• Chickasaw Nation Department of Commerce
• Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
• Citizen Potawatomi Nation
• Downtown OKC Partnership
• Delaware Resource Group
• Duncan Area Economic Development
• Enid Regional Development Alliance
• Greater Oklahoma City Chamber
• Lawton-Fort Sill Economic Development Corporation
• MidAmerica Industrial Park
• Muskogee City County Port Authority
• Norman Economic Development Coalition
• Oklahoma Business Roundtable, Inc.
• OCAST
• Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company Foundation, Inc.
• Oklahoma Department of Commerce
• One Gas, Inc.
• University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute
• Ponca City Development Authority
• AEP-Public Service Company of Oklahoma
• Resource Development Group
• Saxum
• Shawnee Forward, Inc.
• Tulsa Regional Chamber
• Tulsa Economic Development Corporation

This story originally appeared in the August 2022 edition of the VeloCity newsletter.