New Greater Oklahoma City Chamber chairman sets priorities

Q: What are some unique opportunities for Oklahoma City businesses in 2013?

A: Oklahoma City offers a compelling opportunity to attract business, with a low cost of living, an expanding, dynamic metropolitan area and a positive business environment. Our economy is growing, which provides higher tax revenue for our city to fund important programs such as MAPS and other critical infrastructure. This economic growth creates opportunities for service-based industries to grow their businesses.

Q: What are your top three priorities for your time as Chamber chairman?

A: My first priority is to ensure the Chamber continues to engage businesses by providing a unified voice of the business community that promotes sound business policies. I also want to continue to improve the business environment in the Greater Oklahoma City region by addressing workers' compensation reform, improving the structure of the public education system and securing incentives that will allow Oklahoma City to recruit innovative companies. Finally, I want to strengthen the public-private partnerships that have already resulted in the MAPS initiatives and the Chesapeake Energy Arena renovations, to name a few.