State's rural economies deserve support
Source: Tulsa World, by BRENT KISLING & TOM SETH SMITH
February 14, 2008
Have you ever noticed at a wedding that you never see the bride and groom standing at the front of the church by themselves?
They always have a few of their closest friends and family members standing by their side on this important day. The couple wants these people there to support them not just on their wedding day, but also to lend strength to their marriage and lifelong vows.
In Oklahoma, we have a wedding of sorts that has occurred between the rural part of our state and the urban areas. And the time has come for us to get out of our pews and stand up for this relationship so it does not fail.
Over the years it has been easy to get economic developers, community leaders, cabinet members and legislators to stand up for urban development, but it takes a constant and persistent effort to have these same individuals and organizations stand up for the rural parts of our state. With the legislative session kicking off, it's time to reignite this coalition.
Oklahoma has an estimated 3.5 million people, of whom 980,000 live in rural areas. Our community leaders in these rural areas want to attract new businesses, capitalize their
existing businesses, create jobs, provide working families with affordable housing, build their infrastructure, provide adequate health care, strengthen their educational institutions and build a community where people want to work and live. Their concerns are real, but they lack the resources to achieve success.
Despite these efforts, a question that continues to be asked is, "Why invest in rural Oklahoma?"
Well, other than the 980,000 reasons mentioned above, there is another simple answer to this question: natural resources. Oklahoma's economy is built upon two strong pillars: agriculture and energy.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Agriculture Statistics Service, in 2006 agriculture had a $5.6 billion impact on Oklahoma's gross domestic product, and energy had a $20.6 billion impact. This doesn't even include the impact of manufacturing and transportation businesses that support these industries.
Most of this mining and production does not occur in our urban areas -- it happens in rural Oklahoma, and is run by rural Oklahomans. These same residents own the land around our scenic waterways and live next door to the water treatment facilities that send drinking water all around the state.
Of course, you cannot maintain these vital industries and the people producing and mining these commodities without a strong infrastructure of roads, bridges, water systems, electrical grid and high-speed connectivity. You need affordable housing, investment capital, quality schools, convenient health care and first responders. Today, the needs in these categories greatly exceed the available resources.
Two organizations have already made their way to the front of the church to stand up for rural Oklahoma -- Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma Inc. and USDA Rural Development. Here, at the beginning of the legislative session, they are asking you to join them.
These two agencies have been at work for years to help meet the demand for more economic development opportunities in regions like rural western Oklahoma, where REI opened two satellite offices in Alva and Lawton. These offices, combined with the offices in Durant, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, were created with legislative help and other resources.
USDA Rural Development brings federal investment dollars to Oklahoma in housing and utilities programs, business loans, community facilities and infrastructure. Both of these organizations leverage money out of Washington, D.C., along with money appropriated by the state Legislature, but more help is needed.
We all know of marriages that have failed, but we cannot let the relationship between rural and urban Oklahoma falter. Rural Oklahoma needs its urban neighbors for jobs and market access, but urban Oklahoma needs its rural neighbors as well for the agriculture, energy, water and other natural resources that are abundant in this state.
We are calling on all of you to stand with us for the future of Oklahoma.
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