Norman committee considers using freed contract funds to hire in‑house economic development staff and pursue $25M grant

At its Feb. 5 Business and Community Affairs Committee meeting in Norman, city staff and councilmembers discussed proposals to repurpose money previously budgeted for an external economic development contract and instead hire one or two in‑house economic development positions while pursuing a federal grant to acquire the former Griffin campus.

Andrew, a city staff presenter, told the committee staff had a roughly complete grant application to pursue through Congressman Cole’s office "in an amount up to $25,000,000," and that the application would be submitted in March. That federal funding, he said, could support acquisition of the main Griffin campus footprint if the city decides to pursue that path.

The discussion grew from staff history and internal capacity work presented by Andrew, who described a 2019 internal review of development services that identified coordination gaps. He credited past city employees such as Terry Floyd with helping "synchronize those gears," and noted Norman’s existing retail‑attraction…