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2020 Tulsa Chamber Board Chair Stresses Importance of Tech and Innovation

Tulsa Regional Chamber

The new Tulsa Regional Chamber board chair wants the region to focus on technology and innovation.

Cox Communications Vice President Roger Ramseyer said it used to be a city’s proximity to rivers, then railroads, then airports that most influenced its success.

"Many contend that the most prosperous cities of the future will be those in which businesses and educational institutions connect to the rest of the world through technology and leverage core strengths in developing new industries," Ramseyer said.

With a tech focus in mind, Ramseyer called on the chamber and its business partners to work on boosting diversity and equity, promoting Tulsa outside the region, landing more direct flights, fostering small business growth, and helping more students get degrees or certificates.

Ramseyer said 2020 could be a turning point for the Tulsa region if the Census shows it’s surpassed the 1 million mark in population.

"And that, in the world of economic development, is a key number because a lot of big companies won’t consider relocating to communities with fewer than 1 million residents," Ramseyer said.

Some of Ramseyer's priorities for the chamber in 2020 were also priorities for its 2019 chair, BOK Executive Vice President David Stratton. Stratton said there was definite progress in improving diversity on the chamber board, securing more direct flights and laying the ground work to help more students earn degrees.

Stratton said 2019 was also a good year for the public-private development plan known as Tulsa’s Future, with the region picking up more than $829 million in capital investment.

"This marks our second straight year of record-setting capital investment for the region, which puts us well on our way to doubling the capital investment goal originally set for the third phase of Tulsa’s Future," Stratton said.

Stratton said the chamber also easily surpassed its goal of 170,000 new hotel room bookings.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.