There is something incredible going in some of Tulsa’s suburban communities. What were once rural towns have now become dynamic communities with growing populations with an extraordinary amount of commercial real estate development. While retail development has dominated much of the new construction in these suburbs, some of these cities are now seeing other types of commercial development such as medical, office, apartments and even some light industrial. Even more amazing is the fact that development still continues despite the downturn in the economy.

Some of the strongest Tulsa suburban communities seeing this commercial development growth are Glenpool, Broken Arrow, Claremore and Owasso. In fact, these cities are becoming models to the rest of the nation of how small suburban communities can create their own commercial development that was once largely reserved for the large cities. The key to this success has been in public-private partnership where local city governments partner with private developers to attract retailers, restaurants and other types of businesses.

When it comes to these Tulsa suburbs, one of the people who has been instrumental in helping create their private-public partnerships is Rickey Hayes of Retail Attractions. Through his company, Hayes consults with cities on how they can create these partnerships that will ultimately revitalize their communities with new businesses and increase sales tax revenues.

Hayes is a wealth of information when it comes to economic development and I want you to hear from him and learn from his expertise firsthand. I have posted several short videos below that feature Hayes sharing his expertise on how cities can effectively create economic development. These videos were produced by Greg Simmons of Greg Simmons Homes in Tulsa.