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Record of Proceedings

Broken Arrow Economic Development Authority Meeting – Spring 2026 Biannual Report (May 19, 2026)

Meeting PortalTuesday, May 19, 2026
BodyBroken Arrow, Oklahoma
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, May 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

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Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Call the broken air economic authority to order roll call.

0:06

Here green board here.

0:09

Parks.

0:10

Wimpy.

0:12

Here.

0:12

Are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda?

0:17

I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as it stands.

0:20

Second.

0:26

Item five is uh 5A presentation discussion and possible acceptance of the October 25 through March 26th Broken Air Economic Development Corporation biannual report.

0:36

Christy.

0:37

And Travis.

0:40

And James.

0:42

Good evening, Chairperson Wimpy trustees and Mr.

0:46

Spurgeon.

0:47

I'm Christy McLean, and I'm the economic development specialist for the City of Broken Arrow.

0:52

We have with us this evening James Bell, who's the president and CEO of the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation.

0:59

And he is here to present their biannual report.

1:02

Thank you, ma'am.

1:12

Put on my chamber hat for a moment and say thank you for those remarks about Rooster Days a moment ago.

1:16

We could not do it.

1:18

Well, first of all, without my incredible staff, but without all the many partners in the community help us, including the city and uh BAPD and the fire department did an incredible job.

1:30

So thank you.

1:36

Make sure I get the right direction here.

1:38

All right.

1:38

Hey, Chair, Vice Chair, Trustee, or no Vice Chair today.

1:42

Chair, trustees, uh, and city manager, good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to present our spring 26 biannual report on behalf of EDC.

1:53

Uh for those uh watching or listening who may not know me.

1:57

My name is James Bell, and president and CEO of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation.

2:02

Have a pleasure to serve in that role uh with my staff and uh and and our board and our partners.

2:08

Um this report is required under contract with uh beta, and it's also an opportunity for accountability and and transparency and alignment uh with the city.

2:19

Um our mission is to create wealth jobs and economic growth uh through the creation, attraction, and retention of employers and talent, and that's in partnership with the business community and with government and with our educational institutions.

2:35

So tonight, what I want to show you is that the PA EDC is delivering on the contract, and that broken arrow has strong economic momentum, and that we have a clear opportunities also to address the next barriers to responsible, intentional, and balanced growth.

2:52

Um before the contract specific report, I want to uh frame the broader strategy through Amplify Broken Arrow.

2:59

Uh Amplify BA is not the uh city contract in itself, uh it is broader, uh, but it reflects aligned investment between private industry, the city, and education partners uh in the EDC around a shared economic uh growth strategy.

3:18

So through year four of a five-year plan, the EDC has directly supported projects resulting in 418 million dollars of new capital investment in broken arrow and 2,525 new high-quality jobs, and high quality jobs are measured by whether they pay above the average county wage.

3:38

That's two uh 2.8 times the capital investment promised, two and a half times the jobs promised, and we have a year to go.

3:46

Um transitioning to the uh contract reporting period for uh October 25 through March of 26.

3:53

The activity snapshot is strong.

3:55

Uh we have measurable activity and significant positive results across employer support, um, attraction, entrepreneurship, workforce, and research.

4:05

Um research, strategic planning, and economic uh outlook.

4:10

Um that we uh work hand in hand with the city on highway uh 51 corridor planning on industrial land readiness and infrastructure alignment.

4:21

We also represented uh BA at the Capitol several times, supported regional collaboration, and provided research and site selection data and completed grounds for development, and this is the foundation work that helps BA make better decisions and compete more effectively in business retention and expansion.

4:41

Existing employers remain the top priority.

4:44

That is the number one priority in economic development.

4:48

Umducted 58 BRE visits, visited uh solar turbines headquarters in San Diego, and supported project sapling, which of course the city council approved, that represents 32 million dollars in capital investment, 52 new high quality jobs, and a 38,000 foot uh square foot in uh expansion.

5:08

We're also supporting a number of uh expansion projects right now.

5:13

Um on the business attraction side of things, BA continues to receive uh receive strong national interest.

5:20

Uh we received uh in this period 32 requests for information.

5:24

We responded to eight projects, and we had four site visits.

5:29

Uh Project SAM, of course, was announced as uh the Amazon Last Mile uh facility, which represents 61 million dollars of new investment in broken arrow and a hundred new jobs.

5:39

Um we also conducted uh national outreach and uh continued advancing high impact uh prospects, including Project Ascend and Project Blade Runner.

5:49

Uh the opportunity is real.

5:51

The limitation is also clear.

5:54

We need additional large sites.

5:57

Um we also need rail served properties, and we need uh probably most importantly, right now, move in ready buildings to convert uh more interest into wins.

6:09

Um AeroForge remains one of our most important long-term opportunities.

6:14

Uh we hosted two really high quality uh visits that are tied to aerospace defense and space and engagement with industry partners and site selectors has significantly uh accelerated with AeroForge site visits or be getting site visits uh at this point.

6:31

Um AeroForge gives Broken Arrow a clearer position in advanced manufacturing and aerospace in entrepreneurship and small business development.

6:40

The EDC continued strengthening the local ecosystem.

6:43

Uh one million broken one uh million cups broken arrow had 444 attendees, and we conducted 64 one-on-one entrepreneur support meetings.

6:55

Uh we also advanced planning for an entrepreneurship cohort and continued building regional partnerships and much much more.

7:03

Uh workforce remains central to economic development.

7:06

We hosted solar turbines uh hiring event that connected 50 job seekers and uh generated nine job offers.

7:14

We reached more than 5,000 students through programs like Manufacturing Day and Healthcare Career Days, and we continue partnerships with our school districts and higher education uh institutions.

7:26

Uh the next slides, uh, I'm not gonna go through those line by line, uh, but they show our year-to-date contract deliverables with three months left on uh on this year for the contract.

7:36

Green check marks mean we've mean we've met or exceeded uh the contractual terms.

7:42

Um and the work continues, and I would give the the EDC an A at about a 99.99% completion.

7:50

Um our only missing uh timing or only miss on timing was grounds for development.

7:56

We delivered it a few days after January 2nd.

7:59

Uh frankly, the timeline on that one doesn't fit the EDC or the city, but we delivered it well before February came, which is when y'all hit the recruiting trail on the retail front.

8:10

Um for business retention and expansion.

8:12

This contract work is being fulfilled through consistent employer engagement and direct support for business growth.

8:19

In business attraction, that contract work is being fulfilled through active project response through market visibility and strategic partner relationships and entrepreneurship, small business innovation.

8:30

That contract work is being uh fulfilled through ecosystem building, through entrepreneur support, and continued work at uh Aero Forge and the progress there for workforce development.

8:41

Uh that contract work is being fulfilled through entrepreneur-led, I'm sorry, employer-led strategy, uh, education partnerships, and tools that connect people to opportunity.

8:53

So the message tonight is straightforward that the EDC is uh exceeding delivery on the contract, that we're supporting real projects that were strengthening employer relationships and uh advancing strategic priorities and positioning broken arrow for long-term competitiveness.

9:12

Uh the next barriers that seems are clear.

9:15

It's site readiness, available buildings, infrastructure alignment, and uh workforce pipeline development.

9:21

So continued alignment with city leadership and educational partners and importantly private employers will be critical to converting this pipeline to additional wins and to continuing to build a city where every business and person can uh has the opportunity uh to thrive.

9:40

So, with that, I'll take any questions.

9:42

Thank you, sir.

9:44

So with with the with this update, um I think I saw that the lands transfer had been completed for CSI for the innovation district.

9:53

Do we have any kind of uh idea on time frame when ground may be getting broken over there?

9:58

Amber.

10:00

Yes, they they are in the design.

10:05

Come on down.

10:07

I know a lot of people are excited about it and want to hear up progress.

10:12

They are currently, they have actually just entered the design phase of the project.

10:17

Um so we still have a little bit of time before we see sticks in the ground, um, but progress is moving on that project on or for that anchor tenant.

10:28

Where are they located?

10:30

Excuse me, where are they gonna locate?

10:31

So just south of where you see that roundabout, it's going to be the that that that front 10 acres um between the roundabout, and then you see that easement, um, they will be located.

10:44

Um that's uh that's a little bit more than 10 acres.

10:47

That's about 15.

10:50

But behind you.

10:51

Sweet.

10:51

So smart.

10:53

Red button.

10:53

Other behind you.

10:57

We can't see it.

10:58

Yeah, right.

10:59

Okay.

10:59

What you can't see you don't have eyes in the back of your head?

11:02

Don't tell our kids.

11:03

I understand yeah, right.

11:08

Um, this is roughly where CSI will be.

11:11

Okay, okay.

11:11

And then that's that drainage easement that I mentioned.

11:14

Okay, thank you.

11:16

Thank you.

11:17

All right.

11:18

I will say I do like seeing all those green checks.

11:20

Like you have one yellow check.

11:22

And I mean, yeah, I I like progress.

11:26

Okay.

11:27

Even further.

11:29

All right, thank you guys.

11:34

There's no general authority business.

11:35

Any remarks by governing body members?

11:40

None, madam chair.

11:41

All right.

11:41

There's no executive session.

11:43

Motion to adjourn.

11:53

So moved.

12:04

Do we have a second?

12:06

Second?

12:06

Second.

12:11

Roll call.

12:12

Yeah, we have to vote.

12:17

Lisa.

12:18

Yeah.

12:18

I second that is that.

12:21

Uh but you're voting now.

12:22

She can't vote, she can't closed out.

12:27

Do you want to do a vote?

12:28

Do you want to yay or nay?

12:29

Yes.

12:30

Okay.

12:34

Okay.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development█████████████████████████████████████████████78%
Procedural█████████████22%
Summary of Proceedings

Broken Arrow Economic Development Authority Meeting – Spring 2026 Biannual Report (May 19, 2026)

On May 19, 2026, the Broken Arrow Economic Development Authority (BAEDA) convened to receive the biannual report from the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for the period October 2025 through March 2026. The meeting included a presentation by EDC President and CEO James Bell, highlighting strong economic momentum, contract compliance, and future challenges. The authority approved the consent agenda and adjourned without further business.

Consent Calendar

  • A motion was made and seconded to approve the consent agenda as presented. The motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote (Board members present: Green, Parks, Wimpy).

Discussion Items

  • 5A – Presentation, Discussion, and Possible Acceptance of the October 2025 – March 2026 EDC Biannual Report
    • Christy McLean, Economic Development Specialist for the City of Broken Arrow, introduced James Bell, President and CEO of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation, to present the report.
    • James Bell presented the spring 2026 biannual report, stating that the EDC is exceeding delivery on its contract with the city. Key achievements cited: over the four-year period of the five-year Amplify Broken Arrow plan, the EDC directly supported projects generating $418 million in new capital investment and 2,525 new high-quality jobs (jobs paying above the average county wage) — 2.8 times the capital investment and 2.5 times the jobs promised, with one year remaining.
    • For the reporting period (October 2025 – March 2026):
      • Conducted 58 Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) visits, including a visit to Solar Turbines headquarters in San Diego.
      • Supported Project Sapling, which represents $32 million in capital investment, 52 new high-quality jobs, and a 38,000-square-foot expansion (approved by city council).
      • Received 32 Requests for Information (RFIs), responded to eight projects, and hosted four site visits.
      • Announced Project SAM (Amazon Last Mile facility), representing $61 million in new investment and 100 new jobs.
      • Continued advancing prospects including Project Ascend and Project Blade Runner.
      • Hosted two high-quality visits tied to the AeroForge site, which enhances Broken Arrow’s position in advanced manufacturing and aerospace.
      • Entrepreneurship program: 444 attendees at 1 Million Cups Broken Arrow, and 64 one-on-one entrepreneur support meetings.
      • Workforce development: Hosted a Solar Turbines hiring event connecting 50 job seekers, resulting in nine job offers; reached over 5,000 students through Manufacturing Day and Healthcare Career Days.
    • James Bell noted the EDC met or exceeded contractual deliverables on almost all metrics (99.99% completion), with the sole timing miss being the “Grounds for Development” report, which was delivered a few days after the January 2 deadline but before February.
    • Identified next barriers to growth: site readiness, available buildings, infrastructure alignment, and workforce pipeline development.
  • Following the presentation, Chairperson Wimpy asked about the timeline for groundbreaking of the innovation district anchor tenant (CSI). City staff Amber responded that CSI has entered the design phase for a location on approximately 15 acres south of the roundabout, near a drainage easement. A specific groundbreaking date is not yet available.

Key Outcomes

  • The consent agenda was approved unanimously.
  • The EDC biannual report was presented and accepted; no formal vote was taken on acceptance, but no objections were raised.
  • No general authority business, governing body remarks, or executive session items were addressed.
  • A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed by voice vote.

Meeting Transcript

Call the broken air economic authority to order roll call. Here green board here. Parks. Wimpy. Here. Are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda? I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as it stands. Second. Item five is uh 5A presentation discussion and possible acceptance of the October 25 through March 26th Broken Air Economic Development Corporation biannual report. Christy. And Travis. And James. Good evening, Chairperson Wimpy trustees and Mr. Spurgeon. I'm Christy McLean, and I'm the economic development specialist for the City of Broken Arrow. We have with us this evening James Bell, who's the president and CEO of the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation. And he is here to present their biannual report. Thank you, ma'am. Put on my chamber hat for a moment and say thank you for those remarks about Rooster Days a moment ago. We could not do it. Well, first of all, without my incredible staff, but without all the many partners in the community help us, including the city and uh BAPD and the fire department did an incredible job. So thank you. Make sure I get the right direction here. All right. Hey, Chair, Vice Chair, Trustee, or no Vice Chair today. Chair, trustees, uh, and city manager, good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to present our spring 26 biannual report on behalf of EDC. Uh for those uh watching or listening who may not know me. My name is James Bell, and president and CEO of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Corporation. Have a pleasure to serve in that role uh with my staff and uh and and our board and our partners. Um this report is required under contract with uh beta, and it's also an opportunity for accountability and and transparency and alignment uh with the city. Um our mission is to create wealth jobs and economic growth uh through the creation, attraction, and retention of employers and talent, and that's in partnership with the business community and with government and with our educational institutions. So tonight, what I want to show you is that the PA EDC is delivering on the contract, and that broken arrow has strong economic momentum, and that we have a clear opportunities also to address the next barriers to responsible, intentional, and balanced growth. Um before the contract specific report, I want to uh frame the broader strategy through Amplify Broken Arrow. Uh Amplify BA is not the uh city contract in itself, uh it is broader, uh, but it reflects aligned investment between private industry, the city, and education partners uh in the EDC around a shared economic uh growth strategy. So through year four of a five-year plan, the EDC has directly supported projects resulting in 418 million dollars of new capital investment in broken arrow and 2,525 new high-quality jobs, and high quality jobs are measured by whether they pay above the average county wage. That's two uh 2.8 times the capital investment promised, two and a half times the jobs promised, and we have a year to go. Um transitioning to the uh contract reporting period for uh October 25 through March of 26. The activity snapshot is strong. Uh we have measurable activity and significant positive results across employer support, um, attraction, entrepreneurship, workforce, and research. Um research, strategic planning, and economic uh outlook. Um that we uh work hand in hand with the city on highway uh 51 corridor planning on industrial land readiness and infrastructure alignment. We also represented uh BA at the Capitol several times, supported regional collaboration, and provided research and site selection data and completed grounds for development, and this is the foundation work that helps BA make better decisions and compete more effectively in business retention and expansion. Existing employers remain the top priority. That is the number one priority in economic development. Umducted 58 BRE visits, visited uh solar turbines headquarters in San Diego, and supported project sapling, which of course the city council approved, that represents 32 million dollars in capital investment, 52 new high quality jobs, and a 38,000 foot uh square foot in uh expansion. We're also supporting a number of uh expansion projects right now. Um on the business attraction side of things, BA continues to receive uh receive strong national interest. Uh we received uh in this period 32 requests for information. We responded to eight projects, and we had four site visits. Uh Project SAM, of course, was announced as uh the Amazon Last Mile uh facility, which represents 61 million dollars of new investment in broken arrow and a hundred new jobs.

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