Bixby Metro Chamber Unveils New Economic Development Endeavor

By ELIZABETH KING
Elizabeth King Consulting

The Bixby Metro Chamber continues its 73-year tradition of stimulating growth and enhancing the quality of life in Bixby with the creation of the Bixby Development Foundation, a new 501(c)3 nonprofit organization focused on the long-term economic success of the community.
The Bixby Metro Chamber unveiled details about the Bixby Development Foundation at the annual Awards Gala on Jan. 25.

“The needs of business and our community are constantly evolving. The Bixby Metro Chamber has seen first-hand the rapid change in how people start and build businesses, learn and innovate,” said Krystal Crockett, Bixby Metro Chamber CEO. “By creating this foundation, we have built a strong framework to support the growth and future of our community and fill in the gaps in the event of business interruptions during disasters.”
The Bixby Development Foundation’s mission is to: create a culture in Bixby that attracts, recruits, and retains jobs for our community and provides resources for start-ups and small business development; aid businesses in the event of a disaster; and acquire a location that will serve as a co-working and incubator space, a center for educational partnerships, as well as a staging ground for disaster resiliency for local businesses in the event of a disaster.
Although initiated by the Bixby Metro Chamber, the Bixby Development Foundation is a separate entity with its own board of directors, strategic priorities and fundraising goals. Through a management agreement, the Bixby Chamber will serve as the program administrator and support the day-to-day operations of the Foundation.
It is to be a hub to connect incubator and co-working tenants with the resources to help them thrive, a launching pad to energize and inspire students to pursue their dreams, and a staging ground for disaster resiliency for local businesses impacted by disaster. This new space is coming in January 2021.
“The Chamber saw a need to have a central location in our community for people to come together, to have a place where businesses could begin and thrive, and a place where our City and first responders could gather in emergencies,” Crockett continued.
“The Bixby Development Foundation believes that when the private, public, and educational sectors work together to develop our workforce, our community will be able to provide jobs and quality of life that strengthens our local economy,” said Justin Langston, general manager of Two Men & a Truck and Bixby Development Foundation board chair.
As the foundation embarks on its first year of operation, there are several educational opportunities and ways for the community get involved, including the economic update breakfast, business education series, Leadership Bixby program, foot-golf tournament and the community table dinner. For more information about these events, call 918-366-9445.