Alva Review-Courier -

The Woods County Economic Development Committee hosted its first donor dinner and annual reception earlier this week in hopes of spreading awareness of who they are and what they do. Its executive director, Jeremy Zeller, presented information on what WCEDC offers to the community regarding economic development and growth. Over a meal catered by Yur place of Hardtner, Zeller told of ways he and the committee are working to improve the Woods County area's business base through communication, retention and recruitment efforts. Zeller said that WCEDC searches for funding and grant opportunities to help with business improvements and infrastructure, having access to data and statistical sources for analytic and strategic planning. He said WCEDC also offers free one-on-one confidential business consultations and can help with business plans and start-up reviews for a new business.

OG&E Economic Development

OG&E Economic Development Manager Christy Idelman gave a brief presentation highlighting the different tools OG&E offers to businesses searching for market insights. These tools include complimentary data and research analysis that helps organizations get the information they need, such as regional industry trends, occupation and wage trends, and labor insights.

Idelman spoke about OG&E's self-service insights tool, SizeUp Local Business Intelligence (LBI), which provides tailored expert analysis on advertising strategies, demographics data, and business and industry information. She said businesses could use SizeUp to analyze their market position and gain further insight to grow their business. (That information can be found under the Stewardship tab on OG&E's website.)

Before the evening ended, Idelman and Zeller offered themselves as resources and invited listeners to take advantage of the tools available to help them and the community prosper.