By Cindy Allen Managing Editor
November 07, 2007 12:50 am
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There’s one major thing the city of Enid can do to make itself a top second-tier city in Oklahoma and reap the rewards of economic development.
Create great public schools.
That’s the advice of Vince Orza, an author, entrepreneur, corporate executive, former gubernatorial candidate and current dean of Mein-ders School of Busi-ness at Oklahoma City University.
Orza was guest speaker Tuesday at Autry Technology Center’s annual up-date to local business and industry leaders. About 90 business, city and state leaders attended the breakfast to hear Orza and also get an update on what Autry Tech-nology Center is doing to help businesses in Enid.
Orza is married to a former Enid resident, and he remembers how progressive and entrepreneurial Enid was in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s.
“Enid had a wonderful atmosphere, Enid looked different,” he said. The reason was the reinvestment and development private businesses, such as Champlin refinery, put back into the community.
When the oil bust hit and Champlin closed the refinery, Enid lost a lot of momentum, Orza said.
He said the demise of Phillips University is directly related to the loss of business leadership in those years, and he said the same thing almost happened to Oklahoma City University.
However, he believes Enid is on the move in the right direction and can capitalize on a revitalization of the oil and energy business. He listed the five most positive attributes of Enid as Vance Air Force Base, the two hospitals, Advance Food, energy companies and Autry Tech.
He further complimented Autry and the Career-Tech system and said if the state of Oklahoma had done with public education what it did with the CareerTech system, Oklahoma would be at the top in the nation in public education.
Orza said Enid can, on its own, make a decision to create great public schools.
He pointed to the long-term vision of former Oklahoma City Mayor Ron Norick when he proposed a major tax reinvestment back into Oklahoma City.
What came out of that venture was Metropolitan Area Projects, or MAPS.
The visionary capital improvement project, funded by a sales tax, has provided the city with upgrades in sports, recreation, entertainment and cultural facilities. A subsequent MAPS for Kids passed to provide a 10-year, $470 million plan for public schools.
Orza asked the audience to imagine the kind of news coverage and attention Enid would get it if committed to making public schools the top priority and paying teachers well above the state or regional average. Quality teachers would flock to Enid, he said, and, within five years, businesses would take notice and change would happen.
“If you decide an economic de-velopment goal is to build great public schools, it will drive your community in ways you would never believe,” he said.
He also said great communities have great leaders.
“It’s leadership that goes against the grain,” he said. That’s what made Norick and Oklahoma City’s MAPS program so unique — a committed leader that was willing to do what it takes to convince people to make that investment.
Orza gave another example of a committed leader who is in the process of creating a top tier university in the state of Oklahoma.
Orza said David Boren, president of the University of Oklahoma, has taken the university from a high Tier 3 school to the top of the Tier 2 list and close to being a Tier 1 school.
The University of Oklaho-ma ranks 108 in the list of top universities. Oklahoma has only one Tier 1 university, and that’s Tulsa Univer-sity, which ranks 91.
Five states in the nation have 44 of the top 100 universities. Several surrounding states have two to three universities in the top tier.
“One thing people know the value of is the education of their kids,” Orza said.
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