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Choctaw Nation Economic Development official highlights national accreditation and regional outreach to boost McAlester area projects
Summary
Stephanie Irvine of the Choctaw Nation Economic Development office briefed the council on the agency’s recent accreditation and ongoing efforts to attract investment to southeastern Oklahoma, including support for local technology and council chambers upgrades.
Stephanie Irvine, with Choctaw Nation Economic Development, told the council the office recently earned accreditation from the International Economic Development Council and is using that recognition to raise the region’s profile with developers and site selectors.
Irvine said the accreditation ‘‘places us on a higher level as far as being competitive across the United States’’ and noted the Choctaw Nation is the only Native American tribe to have that accreditation, while other Oklahoma recipients include Ada, Ponca City and Tulsa. She said that accreditation and outreach increase visibility for southeastern Oklahoma and can help attract retail, housing and energy projects.
Irvine described work the tribal economic development office is doing with local governments, including support for technology upgrades in council chambers (monitors, microphones, podiums and laptops) and workforce-development programs. She said the Choctaw Nation can help pay for or coordinate education and training programs and that the office has conducted several site-selection visits to show developers local land and industrial sites.
She said her coverage area includes Pittsburg, Atoka and Coal counties and that the office is helping localities with grant and incentive navigation. Irvine also previewed forthcoming local cooperation with a city staff member identified as Ken on technology improvements for the council chamber and said the tribe will continue to share information on economic opportunities.
Quote "We were the only Native American tribe to ever win that award. It places us on a higher level as far as being competitive," Irvine said.
Ending Councilors thanked the Choctaw Nation representative and asked staff to coordinate with her office on chamber-technology needs and ongoing recruitment visiting site selectors.
