State targeting business leaders in Forbes issue

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Mar 25, 1998 by David Meuser Special to The Journal Record

The state has placed a 16-page advertising section targeting business leaders in an upcoming issue of Forbes magazine.

Entitled "The New Oklahoma," the section highlights Oklahoma's work force and its employment growth, business incentives, quality of life and accessibility to other areas of the country.

Sherry Vance, director of marketing for the state Commerce Department's business recruitment division, said 21 sponsors contributed nearly $450,000 to cover the advertisement. The sponsors received ads highlighting their companies. "The Forbes section is the most compelling business piece developed to date," said Vance, who announced the ads with Gov. Frank Keating and Ron Rosenfeld, state commerce secretary. "In essence, the insert proves our case that Oklahoma is the place to do business. "The fact that the state ranks ninth lowest in total taxes in the country, and property and corporate income taxes rank at the bottom per capita in the United States, will change some people's perception of Oklahoma, and they will be better informed." Despite those points, officials with the Office of State Finance have on occasion portrayed Oklahoma as having middling taxes with below-average per capita personal income. But Keating downplayed the apparent discrepancy, noting it's important to portray Oklahoma's strong points outside the state while focusing on those things that need to be changed within the state. The governor said the state needs to focus its efforts in a number of areas for future growth. "There are many things that we don't have that we should have, such as a much tougher education system, right to work and lower business taxes. That's why we need to emphasize Oklahoma change." Keating pointed out Arkansas is projected to surpass Oklahoma's per capita personal income in the middle of the next decade. "The reality," he noted, is the Sooner State has slipped in per capita personal income from ranking among the mid-30s during the depths of the Great Depression to today's 45th ranking. "Louisiana moved past us in 1993," he said. "And as the OSU analysis suggests that by 2005, if a fundamental change doesn't take place, Arkansas and New Mexico will pass us up. Those are the fundamentals that must be discussed by policy makers. "Obviously, we are going to take the most positive things we have and advertise them to the outside world, and it's only appropriate."