Turning Obstacles into Opportunities (Midwest City, OK)

Develop a world class business park on a city owned, 160 acre site. The State of Oklahoma has pledged to assist its cities and towns in attracting new business by providing significant cash rebates and tax credits for those businesses which relocate. Further, the cost of doing business in Okalahoma is among the lowest in the nation. Considering the proximity of three major interstate highways, easy rail access, and a major airport only 20 miles away, Midwest City is perfectly positioned to attract new business.

First, a flood plain runs through the middle of the proposed development. Second, the area lacked a clearly defined target market that would best match the opportunity and location.

After much evaluation and research, Midwest City decided to build a campus style business and technology park with a small lake, walking and hiking trails, a picnic area, as well as a bird sanctuary. Employees could use the park and the green space during lunch hours or breaks and the development would add to the overall perception of growth and environmental consideration.

Midwest also decided to retain the services of Economic Development Marketing (EDM) by iGroups to complete a comprehensive target market research project to determine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the location. Using the information obtained through the research, Midwest City and EDM developed a list of specific types of industries that would best fit the location. Midwest was then able to design the business park to meet the exact needs of the industries they were looking to attract and better position their location as the best area for these companies to relocate or expand.

By using creative problem solving, Midwest City is now in the process of designing the new business park to the specific needs of their target industries, taking full advantage of the unique characteristics of the land available.