In late-March, the Bartlesville City Council directed the Bartlesville Development Authority to form an Economic Recovery Task Force.

That task force has met, and there is some concern for the smallest, and most vulnerable, of businesses that may not have been able to benefit from federal programs such as the Payroll Protection Program. Working with Dennis Halpin, the CEO of Truity Credit Union and a member of the task force, BDA President David Wood said they came up with two possible ideas that could be effective for the specific group of businesses mentioned.

One idea is in the utility arena. Wood said they will need to work out some details as to how they might be able to provide relief on that front. He said the other idea was the potential of a loan fund that is guaranteed by proceeds.

Wood said this is a bit out of the Bartlesville Development Authority's wheel-house from a transaction standpoint. However, a resolution supporting a Bartlesville City Council appropriation from the Economic Development Fund for a potential Loan Guarantee and/or Utilities Assistance Program to be developed collaboratively between the BDA and City staff was presented before the BDA Trustees on Wednesday. The resolution, if approved, would be consistent with the recommendations of the Economic Recovery Task Force.

The Economic Recovery Task Force is an independent body of community and business leaders that are looking to determine what would be the best course for recovery in Bartlesville. They do not report to the Bartlesville Development Authority.

Wood said the outcome of the Economic Recovery Task Force meeting was the potential to come up with additional measures that could augment the federal and state policies to support the Bartlesville economy with the smallest of the businesses, and the discussion around them, to review and consider implementing or putting their support behind the Bartlesville City Council's use of the Economic Development Fund with the details to be worked out with the City of Bartlesville to assist those businesses. He said the task force has done this, and the resolution that was presented on Wednesday would be a show of the BDA's support for an action that the council may choose to take as recommended by the task force.

BDA Board of Trustees Chairwoman, Diana Adams read the resolution before a motion and additional discussion was had, stating:

“Today, we're voting that the BDA believes that it's in the best interest of the City of Bartlesville and its business community to consider implementation of a local economic plan to assist the Bartlesville community adversely effected by COVID-19.

The Bartlesville Development Authority, consistent with the recommendation from the task force, supports an appropriation by the City of Bartlesville, by and through City Council action, for expenditure of certain funds from the Economic Development Fund of the City of Bartlesville for a potential Loan Guarantee and/or Utilities Assistance Program to be developed collaboratively between the Bartlesville Development Authority and City staff to consider the funding of certain financial assistance to businesses in the City of Bartlesville adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Adams said the resolution did not speak to the details about the programs.

Rather, it endorses the work of the Economic Recovery Task Force, and recommends that those items move forward to a joint team with the city to come up with an implement program(s) within parameters that were discussed.

Trustee Martin Garber said he could not support an open-ended proposal. He said he firmly believes that they needed to have a cap on the total amount of money that they dedicate to the possible programs.

The concern that Garber had with the proposal predominately dealt with the utility aspect. Garber said as a member, he does not know what they meant when they talked about businesses that have not paid utility bills. He said they could run into a whole host of different things, and they could run into the problem where the business is in Bartlesville, but their operation runs outside of the city.

Bartlesville Mayor Dale Copeland said he respectively heard Martin Garber's concerns and appreciated them. He said he has confidence that the City of Bartlesville's staff will address the concerns; they will develop a proper program.

The goal of the Economic Recovery Task Force when it was formed by the Bartlesville Development Authority was to focus on business retention. Mayor Copeland said the task force has done good work. In our current environment with the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Copeland said the council felt that it needed to shift gears and focus on retaining what the City of Bartlesville already had to help those businesses through this stressful time. He said he looked at the broad program that was mentioned in the BDA meeting on Wednesday to be developed as a method of job retention to help businesses get back up to speed in the coming months.

When a vote was taken, there was only one no vote. The resolution was approved.