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Workforce development effort launches in BA
 The Work In BA Career & Workforce Center was launched Dec. 1 by the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation (BAEDC).
The center is a physical and virtual space for connecting businesses and talent in Broken Arrow. The physical space, located at the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce, 210 N. Main St., provides local workforce intake, assessment and career counseling and referrals. The center supports citizens of Broken Arrow and displaced workers that are searching for jobs as our economy recovers during this unprecedented time. As the economy recovers, it is imperative to implement proactive efforts to address workforce issues for the benefit of the community. The center is a creative approach to helping both the citizens and businesses.
The Work In BA Career & Workforce Center creates a shared workspace used to host various education and workforce related organizations connecting citizens to careers. Each partner organization provides quality job placement services to connect participants with career opportunities and advancement. To serve as a one-stop-shop, the physical space will be equipped with a lab space where job seekers may access supervised computer and video equipment to assist with:
- Job Search
- Remote Career Counseling
- Soft Skill Training
- Browse Open Positions
- Career Assessment
- Referral for Training and Upskilling
A partnership of the Broken Arrow Economic Development Corporation, the City of Broken Arrow and Tulsa County Cares, the Work In BA Career & Workforce Center exist to connect business to talent in Broken Arrow.
For more information on the Work In BA Career & Workforce Center, visit www.brokenarrowedc.com/workinba.
Story courtesy of the Broken Arrow Chamber.
‘Back to BA’ aims to inspire shoppers to buy local
In order to support local businesses, the City of Broken Arrow launched the second year of its ‘Back to BA’ campaign today. To help local businesses stay profitable through this economically difficult time and generate much needed sales tax revenue, City leaders launched a shop local program to remind residents the importance of shopping in their community.
The campaign utilizes a “Back to BA” theme, with simple messages communicating how every purchase made in Broken Arrow city limits directly benefits everyone living in the community. The four-month campaign will highlight over a dozen local businesses from all regions of the city. Residents and shoppers will see digital messages featuring stories of popular local businesses and shops around town.
“Promoting local shopping not only generates much needed sales tax revenue for the City of Broken Arrow, the publicity also boosts our local businesses. Many of our small business owners are residents of Broken Arrow, so by shopping local people are also supporting their neighbors and friends, and making sure our community continues to prosper and be one of the best places to live in Oklahoma,” said Broken Arrow City Manager Michael Spurgeon.
The City of Broken Arrow, like all municipalities in the State of Oklahoma, relies solely on sales tax revenue to fund necessary operational expenses, such as answering 911 calls, providing police and fire protection and repairing potholes. Sales tax revenue is generated within Broken Arrow when customers purchase goods and dine out in our community; however consumers today have many more options when it comes to buying merchandise, putting local retailers at a competitive disadvantage. They face competition from online stores, as well as stores located in Tulsa within close proximity to Broken Arrow.
“As an independent business owner, when the community supports my business and shops locally, not only does the community get the benefit of that sales tax, but I do most of my business within the community too. So that revenue feeds upon itself,” said Todd Pendergraft, owner of BA Family Drug.
Learn more about the Back to BA campaign at the website www.BacktoBA.com.
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There's still time: Find the Elf in the Rose District!
The Elf is on the loose!
The Elf is a favorite new tradition in the City of Broken Arrow. This year The Elf is being utilized as a fun promotion to encourage shopping local here in Broken Arrow.
Each week through Dec. 22, The Elf will visit a local business. A hint will be posted on the Rose District social media pages that morning. The first person to post a photo of The Elf sighting, tag the Rose District, and use the hashtag #WantedElfBA, on their social media wins a prize!
For more information, rules, and regulations visit the Rose District website.
City, OWRB, Associated Industries partner on groundwater monitoring well and drilling exhibition
Officials from the City of Broken Arrow, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB), and Associated Environmental Industries, Corp. have partnered on a public-private project to expand Oklahoma’s groundwater monitoring well network through the drilling of a new groundwater monitoring well at Broken Arrow’s Verdigris Water Treatment Plant.
Watch video from the drilling.
A small ceremony of state and community officials was held on Dec. 7 to highlight the project, and the benefits of public-private partnerships between industry and state/local governments. Following the ceremony, the well drilling team conducted a demonstration, to provide OWRB licensed well drillers a final opportunity in 2020 to obtain their continuing education units.
The groundwater monitoring well, once completed on land donated by the City of Broken Arrow, will be added to the state of Oklahoma’s Groundwater Monitoring and Assessment Program (GMAP) – an extensive network of approximately 750 wells that help monitor the water quantity and quality of the state’s 21 major aquifers and many more minor ones.
“The City of Broken Arrow is very excited to partner with OWRB by allowing them to drill a ground water monitoring well at the intake of the City of Broken Arrow Verdigris Water Treatment Plant,” said Kenny Schwab, assistant city manager of operations. “This is the first observation well in the OWRB Groundwater Monitoring Assessment Program. We hope to encourage other communities and water districts to offer support to the program and expect that the data collected will lead to a better understanding of the interaction between surface waters of the state and the ground water within our aquifers.”
The Broken Arrow monitoring well is the first of five new monitoring wells planned for eastern Oklahoma after a significant donation by Robert Keyes, founder of Associated Industries and long-time member of Oklahoma’s Well Drillers Advisory Council. The well will expand the current network of monitoring points within the Arkansas River aquifer, and the OWRB will share all groundwater data with Broken Arrow water management officials.
Oklahoma’s ample groundwater resources, found largely in 21 major aquifers spread throughout the state, are absolutely critical to hundreds of thousands of lives and livelihoods. Groundwater is the primary water supply for approximately 300 Oklahoma communities, and comprises 43 percent of the total water used in the state each year. In rural areas, groundwater supplies around 90 percent of the state’s irrigation needs.
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Thank you Broken Arrow!
Broken Arrow achieved a 99.9 percent complete count for the 2020 Census! This includes a 78.7 self-response rate which beating the overall state self-response rate by almost 18 percent.
Your participation will help guarantee accurate representation, as well as help fund important initiatives and projects within the area and statewide.
BA officially designated a Monarch City USA city
The Monarch City USA Program has officially recognized the City of Broken Arrow for its efforts to increase the butterfly population.
Broken Arrow joins more than 19,000 other municipalities committed to sustaining the butterfly population for a healthy ecosystem.
Due to environmental changes, the butterfly population is decreasing worldwide. To address these concerns, the City is taking proactive steps to create habitats for butterflies to thrive. Currently, there are more than 10 registered monarch waystations at various locations throughout BA.
The Broken Arrow Parks and Recreation Department is encouraging residents to plant private milkweed and nectar gardens and has given away more than 1,000 milkweed seed packs over the last three years.
The Parks department also plants native pollinators throughout the City's park gardens and has been actively converting abandoned lands into monarch butterfly habitats.
The Parks Department is also working with educators and local school systems to encourage understanding of conservation practices.
For example, at Tiger Creek Nature Park, the City has a partnership with Broken Arrow Public Schools to teach and promote land use conservation. Pollinator Bio Blitz classes are also held at Ray Harral Nature Center to teach residents how they can help continue the butterfly population.
For more information on the Broken Arrow Monarch Movement, visit the Community Programs page on our website.
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Ray Harral Trail System
receives national recognition
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced that the Ray Harral Nature Center Park Trail System is one of 30 trails in 25 states recently added to the National Trails System.
Ray Harral Nature Park, 7101 S. 3rd St. (behind Spring Creek Elementary), offers three miles of trails that provide year-round opportunities to explore, hike, mountain bike and view wildlife. The National Trails System, which includes national scenic, historic and recreation trails, offers an abundance of trails for outdoor enjoyment on America’s public lands.
The National Recreation Trails Program is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service in conjunction with several nonprofit partners, including American Trails, a nongovernmental organization responsible for supporting the NRT program by maintaining a national database of trails. The Ray Harral Nature Park Trail System will now be added to this national registry.
To be included in the National Trails System, the trail’s managing agency must apply for the distinction.
“The application process took more than a year to complete and includes examining the benefits the trails provide while focusing on the usage and the number of people using the trails,” said John Darling, Ray Harral Nature Park Center supervisor.
Trail maps for Ray Harral may be obtained at baparks.org.
Holiday trash schedule
City offices will be closed Thursday, Dec. 24, and Friday, Dec. 25, for the Christmas holiday and Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, for New Year’s Day.
Trash service on Thursday, Dec. 24, will be collected as usual. Refuse collectors will work holiday overtime on this day.
City offices will also be closed Monday, Jan. 18, 2021, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. All trash collection that week will slide one day. For instance, Monday customers will have their trash collected on Tuesday, and so on.
The Police and Fire Departments will remain open on these days. If an emergency call requires the services of Public Works crews in water or streets, employees will be brought in to fix the emergency. The after-hours emergency number is 918-259-8400.
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Jan. 1, 2021 — New Year's Day City offices closed. No effect on trash service.
Jan. 5 — Broken Arrow City Council 6:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 220 S. First St.
Jan. 14 — Planning Commission 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 220 S. First St.
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Jan. 18 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day City offices closed. Trash service slides 1 day.
Jan. 19 — Broken Arrow City Council 6:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 220 S. First St.
Jan. 28 — Planning Commission 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 220 S. First St.
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Feb. 2 — Broken Arrow City Council 6:30 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 220 S. First St.
Feb. 11 — Planning Commission 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 220 S. First St.
Feb. 15 — Presidents Day City offices closed. Trash service slides 1 day.
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