Evan Brown serves because the Govt Director of EDGE (Financial Growth Progress and Growth) on the Oklahoma Division of Commerce. With earlier roles as Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy Director of Enterprise Growth and Legislative Director on the Division of Commerce, Evan brings a wealth of expertise in public service and financial technique. At EDGE, he leads initiatives to drive enterprise progress and broaden financial alternatives statewide, with a robust emphasis on attracting know-how firms to Oklahoma.
Evan has helped advance Oklahoma’s place as a aggressive hub for tech funding—highlighted by Google’s latest land buy for a future knowledge heart, a key milestone within the state’s ongoing push to draw innovation and high-tech trade progress.
Let’s begin with the large information—Google has acquired land in Stillwater, Oklahoma for a future knowledge heart campus. Are you able to inform us how this mission got here to life and what it means for the native and state economic system?
Google has known as Oklahoma residence for over a decade, investing $4.4 billion in its knowledge heart at MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor, Oklahoma. The corporate has been a improbable associate with the state, each using a whole lot of Oklahomans and giving again to the local people the place it’s situated. Google has additionally continued to put money into STEM training by awarding grants to varsities and different organizations, which additionally helps guarantee a gradual workforce pipeline for years to return.
Oklahoma was particularly named as a beneficiary of the $20 billion overseas funding aimed toward boosting AI and cloud know-how. What makes Oklahoma such a strategic location for this type of improvement?
Oklahoma’s central location, reasonably priced vitality prices and dedication to being probably the most business-friendly state within the nation make it good for any vital funding. Our state is at all times open for enterprise, providing incentives and state-of-the-art infrastructure for brand new and increasing firms. Companies solely must name us, and we’ll present them precisely why Oklahoma is the precise state for them to develop or broaden.
In 2023, Oklahoma noticed 71 bulletins for brand new and increasing firms. What traits are you seeing within the varieties of companies selecting Oklahoma, and what’s driving this momentum?
Not solely is Oklahoma the right location for brand new know-how firms, however it is usually changing into a hub for nationwide protection. We now have 5 navy installations that the Division of Protection continues to put money into, and our workforce can also be engaged on a number of protection manufacturing tasks that might convey greater than 1,000 jobs and $1 billion in funding. We now have Lengthy Wave, an Oklahoma Metropolis-based firm, which was lately awarded a subcontract to assist develop the Navy’s new plane. The contract is for a whole lot of thousands and thousands of {dollars} over six years, and they’re including 150 new jobs. We’re additionally taking steps to onshore essential mineral manufacturing within the U.S., lowering the nation’s dependence on different nations. In Stillwater, we have now USA Uncommon Earth, America’s first uncommon earth steel manufacturing facility. They produced their first batch of magnets earlier this 12 months. There’s additionally Stardust Energy, a lithium refining firm, that broke floor on a $1.2 billion refinery in Muskogee earlier this 12 months.
Google’s determination displays confidence in Oklahoma’s infrastructure. Might you elaborate on what makes the state’s infrastructure significantly well-suited for large-scale knowledge facilities?
All of it comes right down to our reasonably priced vitality and business-friendly insurance policies. Knowledge facilities require a considerable amount of vitality, and proper now, we produce 60% extra vitality than we devour in Oklahoma. Communities even have the flexibility to work instantly with these firms to give you designated energy era for knowledge heart improvement or different tasks.
With vitality prices almost 20% under the nationwide common and a #1 rating from CNBC for value of doing enterprise, Oklahoma is clearly aggressive. How are you leveraging these strengths in your financial improvement technique?
In Oklahoma, we produce 60% extra vitality than we devour, and that’s an enormous benefit when recruiting knowledge facilities or different comparable high-energy-consuming companies. Our grid is dependable as a result of we’re members of the Southwest Energy Pull, so we don’t expertise the rolling blackouts you see in some elements of the nation. Our objective is to be probably the most business-friendly state within the nation. We’re centrally situated, we have now the furthest inland port within the nation, state management is dedicated to slicing purple tape, we have now reasonably priced vitality, and we provide direct entry to state management.
The SITES Program has been instrumental in figuring out industrial and mega websites throughout the state. How does this program work, and the way has it helped appeal to tasks like Google’s?
SITES stands for Supporting Industrial Transformation and Financial Success. It’s our method of partnering with communities throughout the state to proactively handle infrastructure wants to fulfill the demand of current companies and firms seeking to set up operations in Oklahoma. Communities can apply if they’ve a web site with infrastructure wants, and if chosen, we associate with the group to assist cowl a few of the prices of these enhancements. This exhibits firms seeking to broaden or transfer to Oklahoma that the state is dedicated to having a web site prepared for them to get operations up and operating as rapidly as attainable. It additionally exhibits Oklahoma communities that the state is dedicated to investing of their group and making ready them for financial progress. It’s like if you’re searching for a brand new residence. We wish the enterprise to see its potential spot, fall in love with the location and group, and be enthusiastic about transferring in.
How is Oklahoma making ready its expertise pipeline—particularly in areas like tech and superior manufacturing—to fulfill the calls for of those new investments?
We’re dedicated to making sure each pupil who graduates highschool is college-ready or career-ready. We now have colleges just like the Aviation Academy in Norman, the place excessive schoolers can work in direction of their pilot license or technical certificates in aviation upkeep. We’re taking steps to broaden internships and apprenticeship applications whereas additionally constructing partnerships between colleges and companies. Oklahoma has a terrific CareerTech system, which helps firms perceive the talents they want and incorporates that data within the classroom.
Stillwater’s collaboration with a number of native companions was important to securing this mission. What classes can different cities or states be taught from this profitable public-private partnership?
We perceive the worth of private and non-private partnerships. Financial improvement is just not accomplished in a silo. It’s not state or group; it’s state partnering with communities to know their wants and needs for progress. We should deliberately put money into sturdy relationships throughout our state via elected officers and group companions to make sure we totally perceive the property. If we’re out pitching to an organization that Oklahoma is the place to be, we have now to know all of our property so we may help join a enterprise to the group that most closely fits their wants.
How do you see this Google funding shaping the way forward for financial improvement in Oklahoma? Might it pave the way in which for comparable tech-focused initiatives or firms to comply with?
We perceive that the free market creates jobs, not the federal government. We don’t wish to put our thumb on the dimensions and choose winners and losers. Due to our business-friendly insurance policies and benefits in vitality and different areas, we’ve created an surroundings the place entrepreneurs and companies can thrive. We get weekly calls from knowledge facilities, uncommon earth companies, and different tech-focused firms excited by Oklahoma and doubtlessly discovering a group associate that will greatest match their wants.
Wanting forward, what’s your imaginative and prescient for Oklahoma’s position within the nationwide economic system, particularly as AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure proceed to develop?
Governor Kevin Stitt at all times says he desires to take Oklahoma to the world and produce the world again to Oklahoma. In 2024 alone, our workforce hosted 19 consulate representatives, two ambassadors, and a Crown Prince. We coordinated eight worldwide outbound missions to nations like South Korea and Japan and assisted with six worldwide MOU agreements. We’re working to construct relationships instantly between Oklahoma and different nations.
