Tahlequah Regional Development Authority

PROJECT PURPOSE

In early 2021, a small business and entrepreneur ecosystem study was completed showing Tahlequah needed a centralized location for business resources and support. We plan to find a space suitable to meet the needs from the completed study, provide support and resources to our entrepreneurs and small businesses, and help grow our local economy through those small businesses. We will achieve this by operating a space with co-working, incubation, and fabrication as well as having programming for businesses related to online sales, finance, Human Resources, marketing, and leadership. We will be the one-stop shop for small businesses in the region.

EVIDENCE

None

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

The Tahlequah Regional Entrepreneur Center, TREC, will support small businesses and entrepreneurs mainly in the Cherokee and Adair County area, but also reaching into the surrounding counties as needed. Adair and Cherokee Counties have the highest percentage of Native American population in the state and both are persistent poverty counties for the past several decades. The pandemic expounded the poverty levels. Our program and center will provide opportunities for small businesses to grow and hire new employees and for those who want to start a business to support themselves and rise out of the persistent poverty that has plagued this area.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

Performance will be measured by businesses supported. The goal is to support businesses in different ways by providing resources. This can be measured by keeping track of the number of businesses, currently existing or creation of new, that attend programs and events, receive consulting, have memberships to our Entrepreneur Center, and visit the space or our staff does site visits with.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma