Consultant outlines Owasso economic development strategic plan with finance, outreach and tourism goals

Shelley Wheeler, the consultant the city engaged to lead its economic development strategic plan, told the Owasso City Council on Thursday that her team’s work moved from assessment to planning and is now in a six-month implementation phase aimed at ensuring follow-through.

Wheeler said the assessment included interviews with a broad cross-section of local stakeholders and research into Owasso’s local economy, and that the planning session produced consensus on four three-year goals: strengthen the city’s financial resources, engage and inform the public about how services are funded, identify and realign target industries with regional partners, and create an entity to promote tourism in Owasso. “The assessment phase is just exactly what it sounds like,” Wheeler said, explaining that interviews and research informed the plan’s recommendations.

The consultant told councilors the planning phase produced not just goals but tasks, champions and due dates “so that there’s some accountability built in.” Among the one-year steps she listed were best-practices research on municipal financing (including options such as bond financing or TIF districts), creation of an inventory of funding sources, and forming a citizen advisory group to help guide city funding decisions.

Councilors pressed for detail on what “balance” between remaining a bedroom community and recruiting primary jobs would look like; one councilor asked whether the plan recommended a specific distribution between housing and job growth. Wheeler said the group reached consensus to pursue a middle path and that staff and task-force champions — including city economic-development staff and local partners — will develop the specific methodology and targets. “To agree that, yes, it does make sense to meet someone in the middle” was an outcome she described as moving the effort forward.

Wheeler acknowledged constraints the plan must address, including limited land for expansion and questions about how to preserve the city’s “small-town feel” while adding commercial amenities. She also urged that incentives be closely tied to measurable returns: “Incentives always need to align with some kind of goal and plan,” she said.

Wheeler said the tourism goal grew out of repeated comments about sports and family entertainment opportunities and recommended exploring a small convention/visitors bureau–style entity, beginning with feasibility, structure and metrics, then launching a marketing campaign only if research supports it. She emphasized that launching such an entity would require further homework and may not be the eventual decision.

The consultant said the task force will meet monthly and that she is facilitating those meetings; she named staff and community members who will serve as champions on specific tasks and invited councilors who are not on the task force to meet with her individually. The plan’s final adoption and any policy changes stemming from it were not decided at this meeting; Wheeler said several items will return to staff and the task force for implementation steps and possible future council action.

The presentation closed with Wheeler providing contact information and offering to meet with any council member for follow-up. The city will take the plan’s tasks and champions into its next steps for budgeting and implementation.