LONG TERM PROJECTS HELP DIVERSIFY ENID’S ECONOMY

LONG TERM PROJECTS HELP DIVERSIFY ENID’S ECONOMY

Those attending the Enid Regional Development Alliance’s quarterly luncheon Thursday learned a new transloading facility of wind turbine equipment plans to expand in the area.

Brent Kisling, ERDA executive director, said the Wyoming-based Transportation Partners and Logistics company picked Enid, with phase one constructing a 160-acre yard next to a new BNSF rail spur and future development of a unique product transportation hub. That partnership will help the Oklahoma Department of Transportation reconstruct 66th Street near the property.

 “This facility will be a busy yard for four years just based on one customer,” said Billy Brenton, vice president for TP&L. “At the height of last summer, we had 132 people out there working and of that, a good portion were trucking, which means they were eating in restaurants, staying in hotels and spending money here.”

Kisling included TP&L in his monthly ERDA update listing Enid’s Top 10 economic development success stories. Other highlights were the Hanor Headquarters relocation from Wisconsin, the Love’s Travel Stop opening providing water line infrastructure, Vance Air Force Base runway construction, the Academy Sports + Outdoors opening, Chisholm View II wind farm construction, new Enid entrance signs, Koch Fertilizer plant expansion and the successful passage of Enid Public Schools’ $92 million bond issue and the Kaw Lake water vote.

 While Enid residents are waiting for oil prices to improve — and, for some, increasing royalty checks and sales tax revenue — these long-term projects have helped diversity our local economy.

As Kisling says, Enid is open for business and the rest of the country is starting to notice.

Story provided by:  Enid News & Eagle

Written by:  Enid News & Eagle Editorial Board