Business Environment

Never pictured yourself or your company relocating to Oklahoma? The business climate in Bixby, Oklahoma may surprise you. Prime location, vital logistics, less taxation and better incentives all make Bixby the natural choice for business. The city is characterized by an open attitude toward quality development. Fueled by a population growth rate of 44.68% since 2000, Bixby is fast becoming the focus for new development in the south Tulsa metro area. Immediately adjacent to south Tulsa, Bixby is an affluent area with exceptional new housing developments, new businesses and new amenities coming online all the time.

The municipal government of Bixby is dedicated to providing quality shopping, dining, services and recreation choices for all of the south Tulsa area. Now open in Bixby, the 5,000 seat SpiritBank Event Center and accompanying 300,000 sq. ft. Regal Plaza retail development anchored by a hotel added restaurants, retail and entertainment options to the community. With many events ranging from concerts to trade shows, the SpiritBank Event Center brings traffic and visitors to Bixby along with Regal Plaza’s offerings such as Indigo Joe’s Sports Bar, Which Wich, Rooster’s Bar, Savastano’s PiΩzza, Lavish Fine Apparel, Absolute Nutrition and more. Limited space is still available in Regal Plaza. Other major developments are under consideration as the retail community begins to discover the market potential in Bixby. South Village, a mixed-use, master-planned development featuring more than 100,000 sq. ft. of shopping, hotel and other uses is planned for 2010.

Oklahoma offers numerous incentives and programs to encourage development, and has been consistently ranked as a business-friendly state by leading research firms. In a recent report published by Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Oklahoma was among America's Top 15 Pro-Business States overall and third in the nation for its economic development services. The study identified 25 factors -- all controlled by state government -- including taxation, human resources, infrastructure, and economic incentive programs that can positively impact businss and job development.

A Natural Location

Bixby is centrally located less than 4 hours from the geographic center of the 48 states and less than 3 hours from the population center of the United States. A business located here can reach half of the US with same-day or overnight motor transport service, and the entire nation with next-day service. Most population growth in the US is occurring in the South and West, meaning locating in Oklahoma makes sense for the long-term.

Vital Logistics

Bixby offers interstate and major highway access (I-44, US 169, US 75, HWY 64)
International air service via the Tulsa International Airport - only 20 minutes from downtown Bixby
Water transport through the Tulsa Port of Catoosa, 15 minutes away. The Port serves as the head of navigation for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation system. The Port offers companies ocean access and year-round ice-free barge service. More than 2.2 million tons of cargo move through the Port each year by barge, rail and truck.

Note: The Tulsa metro area earned a "5-Star" rating in Expansion Managements 2004 Logistics Quotient™ report.

Taxation

Oklahoma ranks 40th in the nation in its per capita state and local tax burden. Put another way, the average Oklahoman pays $257 less in total state and local taxes in a year than the national average. Oklahoma's per capita property taxes are 4th lowest in the nation. In October 2008, the State Business Tax Climate Index, compiled by the Tax Foundation, ranked Oklahoma 18th in a nationwide study that identifies which states have the most business-friendly tax codes. More on Oklahoma taxes is available from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.

Better Incentives

Bixby believes in judicious application of incentives to encourage growth the city. We don't take a cookie-cutter approach to incentive packages or to development in general. However, we do have a comprehensive array of economic development tools ready to be applied to the right project.

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Bixby: The Natural Choice for Business.
Trish Richey
Director of Economic Development
116 West Needles
Bixby, Oklahoma 74008
918-366-4430