Public-Private Partnerships Key to Economic Development in North Tulsa

It's hard to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news without being reminded of Tulsa's galloping economy. Last year alone some 14,000 jobs were created, and many of them were the kind of high-wage

Monday, February 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

It's hard to pick up a newspaper or turn on the news without being reminded of Tulsa's galloping economy. Last year alone some 14,000 jobs were created, and many of them were the kind of high-wage jobs that can sustain families and contribute to our superior quality of life. It's a great time to serve as chair of the Tulsa Chamber, an organization that does so much to build prosperity in our region.

Today's strong economy gives us an historic opportunity to focus our energies on an area that has not shared in the good times - North Tulsa. In 1998, the Chamber engaged Hammer, Siler, George Associates to prepare an urban economic development plan for the area between Harvard to 46th Street West and Admiral to 56th Street North. Not surprisingly, the study pointed out deficiencies at nearly all levels of North Tulsa's infrastructure, from retail and office space to housing and industrial capacity.

Yet the study goes on to suggest specific development dynamics in North Tulsa - a large inventory of undeveloped real estate, strong demand for high quality goods and services, and under utilization of land, to name a few - that have the potential to trigger genuine economic development. The key to tapping these development potentials is the creation of sustained interventions by a public/private initiative through what the study refers to as "linkage" and "leverage": Linkage in the sense that development opportunities in North Tulsa should be a product of finding where untapped demand and a supply of resources exist, and leverage in the sense that any development must successfully leverage the resources of the private sector along with the incentives, support, and resources of the public sector.

My predecessor as Board Chair, Chuck Patterson, has rounded up a steering committee that will facilitate North Tulsa's economic development. Its members represent a blend of public and private interestsÃ‘exactly what the study recommends. The steering committee's model is the enormously successful Adopt-A-School program, a Chamber initiative that seeks to raise the bar in common education through partnerships between businesses and schools. Through the so-called Adopt-A-Neighborhood program, the steering committee will invite realtors, bankers, builders, mortgage companies, and others with a stake in economic development to adopt specific neighborhoods and work hand-in-hand with residents to improve living conditions. The City of Tulsa, Home Ownership Tulsa, Tulsa Public Schools and other key public entities fully support the Adopt-A-Neighborhood concept and will be active participants. It's by no means a quick fixÃ‘a ten-year horizon is probably realisticÃ‘but the benefits in terms of neighborhood pride and empowerment of residents will be apparent almost immediately.

Another exciting initiative was announced last month in a press conference at the Greenwood Cultural Center. The Community Action Project of Tulsa County (CAPTC), Bank One, Self Help and Fannie Mae have teamed up in a $2 million lease-purchase pilot program to help families throughout the city repair their credit and work toward home ownership. The program will provide CAPTC with mortgage financing to purchase and renovate distressed housing that can then be leased to eligible low-income families. Key features of the program are that families will be able to rebuild their credit, save money for a down payment during the lease period, and assume loans from the CAPTC. What it amounts to is a public/private partnership aimed at helping more families realize the dream of home ownership.

The Adopt-A-Neighborhood program and the CAPTC initiative are milestones in our ongoing effort to promote balanced growth. The Chamber looks forward to working with all the stakeholders in opening up opportunities for more of Tulsa's citizens to participate in today's robust economy.