The COVID 19 Pandemic has disrupted lives and businesses. As Oklahoma communities begin to consider alternatives and options to return to a new normal sound approaches and strategies will be critical. Mainstreet businesses will have to balance debt structures and monthly expenses with new sometimes unknown levels of sales and customer expectations. While new and innovative approaches are required it is likely that sound business practices and well-known strategies for local development will be even more critical. This document provides resources that local businesses and local community leaders may access in the coming months. 

Several OSU Extension Fact Sheets are curated and presented below. These fact sheets are related to economic development in general or specific topics dealing with agriculture and retail trade. In addition, a series of fact sheets from the Cooperative Management Series are listed. Finally, several fact sheets related to broadband technology in rural areas are cited. View the complete set of OSU Extension Fact Sheets. This website presents resources related to county and local government; economic development; and leadership and volunteer development.

Agriculture and Economic Development

• Crowdsourcing in the Food Industry - The terminology, methods and tips to execute crowdsourcing in the food industry.
• Rural-Urban Interface Problems and Opportunities - A review of the many problems that farmers and homeowners face possible solutions to help move past those problems.
• Contribution of Agriculture to Oklahoma's Economy: 2015 - This report aims to document the contribution agriculture makes to the Oklahoma economy in 2015.
• Economic Impact of Conservation Dollars in Oklahoma - The economic impact of the amount of additional economic activity generated from conservation funding.
• Agritourism in Oklahoma - An explanation of Oklahoma agritourism, the importance of the industry and the challenges that the field faces
• Know Your Customers: Oklahoma Agritourism Visitor Characteristics and Opinions about a New Liability Law - The analysis of perceptions and demographics of agritourism consumers and consumer perceptions of the Oklahoma Agritourism Liability Limitations Act.

General Economic Development

• What Drives Small Town Population Growth in Oklahoma? - Statistics on population growth for small towns in Oklahoma.
• What is an Entrepreneurial Community? - The uniqueness of entrepreneurship and the steps recommended to develop entrepreneurship skills and abilities.
• Oklahoma's Recovery from the Great Recession: Trends in Rural vs. Urban Areas - Oklahoma's experience with the Great Recession focusing on the differences between rural and urban areas.
• Strategic Planning for Economic Development in Rural Areas and Small Towns of Oklahoma - The benefits of strategic planning, steps to build an economic strategy and utilize tools for preliminary work on formulating the strategy.

Retail Trade

• Pull Factors: A Measure of Retail Sales Success Estimates for 77 Oklahoma Cities (2018)- The 2018 findings of measuring the retail trade in the 77 Oklahoma counties using pull factor.
• Measuring Community Retail Activity - A description of pull-factor and sales gap analysis used as tools for the measuring of retail activity in a community.
• Gap Analysis as a Tool for Community Economic Development - Local retail marketers can learn basic statistics on performing analyses, indicating data requirements and suggesting likely sources.
• Website Basics for Small Businesses - The first steps to understanding if a website is beneficial for your small business and the components recommended to build your online presence.
• E-Commerce and Sales Taxes: What You Collect Depends on Where You Ship - An easy-to-use guide for online sellers to figure out their sales tax requirements for in-state and out-of-state consumers.
• Helpful Tips for Improving the Visual Appeal of Marketing Materials - Design guidelines will improve any marketing program and serve as an evaluation tool for prospective service providers' portfolios or work examples.
• The Financial Puzzle: Using Credit Wisely - Basic information that can help make better decisions about using credit wisely.
• Use Tax for County Government - Basic information of the term “use tax” and the fundamentals about a county use tax.
• Mask-Wearing Beliefs in the State of Oklahoma and Surrounding Region - An analysis focusing on the beliefs and impacts of facial coverings in Oklahoma compared to other parts of the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cooperative Management Series

• Cooperative Management Series: Conducting Customer Satisfaction Surveys - Creating effective customer satisfaction surveys through a detailed statement of objectives, project scope, methodology, and analyzing the results.
• Cooperative Management Series: Evaluating Investment Opportunities - Explanation of payback periods and internal rates of return in investment opportunities as a cooperative manager.
• Cooperative Management Series: Customer Segmentation in Agricultural Cooperatives - How to organize an overall customer base into groups with similar values and/or habits.
• Cooperative Management Series: Building the Board Packet - The purpose, format, logistics and timeline of a board packet.

Broadband and Technology

• Rural Broadband Success Story: Panhandle Telephone – Progressive Thinking in a Rural Area - A Q&A with the CEO of a phone cooperative about Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc.’s impact on rural communities.
• Rural Broadband Success Story: Sallisaw – A Fiber Optic Network for the Ages - A Q&A with management from a small Oklahoma town about the introduction of Broadband Internet to a town.
• Broadband Infrastructure and Adoption in Oklahoma – 2015 Edition - How broadband infrastructure and adoption is progressing across Oklahoma, and how the state compares to its neighbors and the nation as a whole.
• Electronic Medical Records: What are They - The benefits and process of using electronic medical records at a hospital.
• Evaluating the Economic Impact of Telemedicine in a Rural Community - This is an overview of the methodology that allows rural areas to estimate the economic impact of telemedicine on their community.
• EMR Adoption Across Oklahoma - The adoption rate and characteristics of using Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in the health industry.
• Web 2.0: What Is It and What Can It Do For My Business? - Definitions, tools and recommendations on how to properly use Web 2.0 as an interactive environment for small-business owners.

Additional Resources

• Oklahoma Department of Commerce
• Oklahoma Department of Commerce - Guideline Resources
• COVID-19
• U.S Rural Development Rural Resource Guide
• COVID Impact Reports OSU Extension -  Resource topics: COVID-19 Impact Reports, Farm and Ranch, Food Safety, Household, Livestock, Parenting, and Person Finance
• Sandstone Hills
• Crossing Borders