Year’s Top Stories: Economic development projects calculated to expand local economy

(This is the third of the five biggest stories of 2024 as determined by The Constitution staff. More stories will follow each edition through Jan. 1.)

It was a year of growth for Lawton, with projects that economic development experts say could change the region.

In downtown Lawton, FISTA Innovation Park is expanding faster than its CEO and governing board can find space for the military contractors who want to set up office and work space.

In southwest Lawton, Westwin Elements started operations in its demonstration plant in late Fall, with the plant producing its first nickel powder in mid-December as company officials move closer to announcing where they will build the full-scale commercial refinery.

In the west industrial park, community leaders are working with state officials for funding that will pay for construction of an industrial bypass to serve major tenants already here, as well as those moving in.

In south Lawton, contractors are nearing completion on a $15.3 million modernization of Lawton-Fort Sill Regional Airport’s terminal, while tenants in the nearby industrial park are building new facilities to accommodate larger work forces.

FISTA Innovation Park already has hit a goal that CEO/President Krista Ratliff didn’t expect to reach for three years: the former Sears is full (meaning, all space is being used or has been reserved for tenants) and space in the former Dillard’s has been reserved for use by a single tenant. Ratliff said that means she has to consider other possibilities for those with pending leases, only 18 months after she, her staff and the FISTA Development Trust Authority formally opened the downtown mall to military defense contractors.

The idea is transforming vacant retail space in Central Plaza to use by companies that work on military defense contracts for Fort Sill and other Department of Defense facilities. It’s a concept FISTA officials detailed at their formal opening in April 2023, but even Ratliff has been surprised by the speed of growth that has finished work space in the old Sears filled with workers, while other tenants wait for their work areas to be built. She’s weighing options as she looks at other space within the mall — and the community — for tenants who are waiting to sign leases and those who are seriously looking at Lawton-Fort Sill.

In addition, construction is beginning on a STEM Lab just outside the old Sears, space Ratliff said will allow secondary and college-age students to see real-world applications of science, technology, engineering and math. FISTA tenant employees will be close enough to work with students, Ratliff said. The site within Central Plaza is walled off, but windows allow visitors to watch the work.

In southwest Lawton, Westwin Elements announced it had produced vials of nickel powder, as operations in the demonstration plant began.

The idea is to provide data for a bankable feasibility study, the document financial institutions or investors will want before investing the full-scale, $732.5 million commercial refinery, local bankers say. Westwin officials said groundbreaking on that refinery is expected in the second quarter of 2025, and while a public decision has not been announced, Lawton is being considered as the site.

The plant’s staff started operations Sept. 30 on what they said is the nation’s only domestic source of refined nickel. Workers had been testing processes until production of those first vials of nickel power the week of Dec. 9. Westwin had 24 full-time employees mid-December, as the plant moves closer to its goal of 35 employees for the demonstration plant. That total is expected to increase to more than 700 employees if the commercial refinery opens here.

In south Lawton, Herring Construction is working on the final components of a $15.3 million modernization project in the terminal. This phase, launched in early 2022 after the carousel-style baggage claim area opened, includes a new secured passenger holding area, separate corridors for arriving and departing passengers, a covered walkway and larger area for TSA, all completed earlier this year. That allowed contractors to begin the final work: new carrier ticket counter and TSA baggage screening area, renovated areas for other tenants, and upgrading the terminal’s front entrance.

Contractors are expected to be done by April 1.

On the south end of the airport’s runway, Fisher59 is making plans to build a new warehouse and expand its workforce. The developer is receiving an economic incentive for its expansion, the same deal provided to PepsiCo last year when it built a larger complex and added employees: reimbursement for the cost of building a public road, waterline and sewer main.

Funding is possible because of an economic incentive program the City Council updated earlier this month: a STEDI (Skills Training, Education, Development and Incentive) Project Plan, which guides Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs). In a TIF, investments in underused or deteriorating areas create new revenue that can fund the infrastructure that allowed development to occur. In simple terms: the development creates more ad valorem taxes, money that can be used to pay for needed infrastructure.

The amended STEDI plan identifies two new TIFs: one for Fisher59; the second for Westwin. It also creates two new categories where tax revenue can be used: workforce training and homebuyer assistance for employees at entities within a TIF district.

In October, state officials set a plan that will cover a large portion of a project that business and city leaders have been planning for years: creating an industrial bypass by extending Goodyear Boulevard. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation set the project in its 2025 budget year, allocating $21,333,333 to extend Goodyear Boulevard one-half mile north to link to U.S. 62/Rogers Lane.

City officials said the project will give heavy truck drivers a more direct route to Interstate 44 while taking heavy traffic off city streets.

The city also plans to rebuild the existing Goodyear Boulevard, under a two-phase project designed to lessen the impact on trucks who need the road.

Funding for the city’s share of the work is being provided by voters, who agreed in August to extend the Capital Improvements Program through 2040 to provide funding for a variety of projects, including industrial development and infrastructure.