FROM THE DESK OF DAVE STEWART: Multi-state partnerships are key to developing America’s newest emerging mega region
12/02/2023
As metropolitan regions continue to expand throughout the United States, their boundaries begin to blur with integrated economic systems, shared natural resources, and connected transportation systems.
A new mega region is characterized by growing capital wealth, attracting and retaining talent, and generating innovation.
The future of economic development and quality of life initiatives are strengthened through the blending of political and geographic boundaries between the greater Tulsa region in Northeast Oklahoma and the expanding Bentonville region in Northwest Arkansas.
MidAmerica Industrial Park is centrally located between the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies by revenue in the United States. We are also located within the historic boundary of the Cherokee Nation, the largest tribe in the U.S., which further supports the region with an economic and social contribution of more than $1 billion annually.
Partnering on economic development and legislative initiatives will leverage our regions’ industry concentrations, labor pools, infrastructure and pro-business government in order to compete globally for a talented workforce, capital investment, and new jobs.
Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas are joined together by environmental, cultural, and fundamental interests, not just boundaries.
Recent examples of this burgeoning partnership are the consolidated efforts by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and the Arkansas Department of Transportation to convert the U.S. Highway 412 corridor to an Interstate status. This would not only further leverage our economic development goals to enhance transportation and distribution of manufacturing products, but will also expand our labor force recruitment region.
Additionally, our two regions are collaborating on quality-of-life initiatives by connecting bike trails, preserving the environment and investing in STEM education. The recently opened WOKA Whitewater Park on the border of the Arkansas and Oklahoma state lines is a public-private partnership between the Grand River Dam Authority, City of Siloam Springs, Ark., and the Walton Family Foundation.
We are at a crossroads and we have a unique opportunity to transform our entire region by working together and forming cooperative relationships between the public and private sectors.
“This is the right time for a forward-leaning vision and plan of action for connecting Tulsa to MidAmerica to Bentonville to create a super region and a true hub of manufacturing innovation and growth.”