Published: August 07, 2007 11:37 pm         

Enid can't rely on metro areas to sustain state's economy

The temperature isn’t the only thing hot these days.

According to economic data, the Oklahoma City job market is, to quote one economist, “on fire.”

Mark Snead’s data shows Oklahoma City on a pace to add 13,900 new jobs this year, a gain of 2.4 percent. The Oklahoma State University economist says the metro has been able to weather the closing of the General Motors and Dayton Tire plants well.

Snead’s information also forecasts the state adding 21,600 jobs this year, an increase of 1.4 percent. That means more than half of the new jobs this year will be in the Oklahoma City area.

This is great news for the Oklahoma City area, and great news for the state as a whole. However, we can’t just rely on the metro areas to sustain the state’s economy.

Strong oil and gas activity has helped boost some rural areas, including Woodward County, which saw job growth of more than 10 percent last year.

State officials can’t overlook the parts of the state outside the Tulsa and Oklahoma City metro areas. Neither can local officials sit back and enjoy the boosts we will see here at Vance Air Force Base and Advance Food Co.

The jobs coming to Vance and Advance are great, but we’ve got to continue efforts to grow our core businesses, which obviously include Vance and Advance, but also include Atwoods and so many more.

We also need to look forward to the impending opening of the small business incubator at Autry Technology Center. This will become an ongoing effort to help small entrepreneurs get a start.

Large or small, we need all the businesses we can get. We need to build on everything we can.