Economic incentives drive major developments

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This month, Oklahoma City has announced two major developments new to OKC, both of which were made possible by strategic economic incentives. The Oklahoma City Council approved incentive packages for both Scheels, a new sporting goods superstore, and a new Hapco Pole Products manufacturing facility. While these developments may not appear to have much in common, they share an important thread of economic opportunity.

Last week, the Oklahoma City Council approved an $8 million pay-for-performance incentive to help bring a $100 million Scheels store to northwest Oklahoma City. The new superstore is expected to provide more than 200 full-time jobs as well as over 300 part-time positions, with an estimated annual payroll of between $15 and $16 million.

This new retailer will offer more than just your typical sporting goods store inventory. Inside the superstore, Scheels will have specialty shops, staffed by experts, to help walk shoppers through finding the best product to fit their needs, including anything from golf club fittings to bicycle mechanics to running shoe experts.

The 300,000 square-foot store is projected to attract over 2.5 million visitors a year from within a 250-mile radius. Scheels is designing its Oklahoma City location to function as a destination shopping experience, with signature attractions like a Ferris wheel, candy shop, and a 16,000-gallon saltwater aquarium filled with over 600 fish. There will also be interactive arcade games and a restaurant for shoppers needing a mid-afternoon break while exploring all of the superstore’s amenities. It is expected that more than half of its sales will come from outside the city limits, drawing visiting shoppers to Oklahoma City to become patrons at additional retailers and surrounding restaurants.

Our other new development, a Hapco Pole Products manufacturing facility, is also expected to provide major economic growth for the city. Hapco intends to build a new plant in Oklahoma City’s OKC 577 industrial business park at Interstate-240 and S Bryant Avenue and will invest $50 million in building and equipping the facility. The City Council also approved a $175,000 job-creation economic development incentive for the site, which projects to create 81 new jobs over five years.

At the Alliance for Economic Development, our dedicated staff is committed to helping businesses, like Scheels and Hapco, connect with the right economic incentives and programs throughout the city, so that we can continue to see ample economic growth in OKC.

Kenton Tsoodle is the president of The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City.