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PrintThere’s no place like downtown Tulsa
Business opportunities in the city’s core are not as few and far between as you might think.
I stared in awe as my school bus pulled up to the Third Street entrance of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. I don’t remember how old I was, but that field trip downtown to see a performance at the PAC made a lasting impression on me.
I was about 4 years old when I started carrying around a bag of paper and pencils and telling my family that I was going to be a businesswoman when I grew up. So the school field trip to Tulsa’s business district only fed my desire for this interesting topic called commerce. It also increased my curiosity about what went on in all those tall buildings.
Working for corporate America, I had the opportunity to visit other cities that made a lasting impact on me as well. On my list of favorites are Seattle, Boston and San Francisco. I immediately fell in love with their “business by day, entertainment by night” atmospheres and so desired that for our city as well.
A few years ago my husband, Matt, and I set out to create a business of our own. With his technical expertise in telecom and my background and education in business, we started CastleCom, a telecommunications company serving businesses’ voice, data and video-conferencing needs.
I have to fess up: Although a large portion of our client base is downtown, we originally didn’t even look at office space downtown because we assumed it would be too pricey for a startup. However, after our two-year lease was up in an east Tulsa industrial district, we explored all our options. To our surprise, we discovered there are a plethora of affordable opportunities for a small service organization to headquarter downtown, so we made the move.
Now I have first-hand experience with the opportunities that come with being downtown. I walk to the post office, our bank, to lunch, to events and to our clients’ offices. It’s good exercise; saves money on parking, gasoline and vehicle usage; and is smart for the environment.
We continue to support our downtown venues by sticking around after 5 p.m. to attend concerts, have dinner or go to a ballgame. I’m very proud that our 3-year-old has already attended events at the PAC and BOK Center and knows that the family business is “down by the tall buildings.”
Now, I’m committed to helping other businesses find opportunities to start up or relocate to downtown. I am currently leading the TYPros Business Development Crew in an economic development project to create a business incubator and flexible office (business café) at Second Street and Cheyenne Avenue.
Through a wealth of volunteer efforts by Tulsa’s Young Professionals, the doors will open on June 23. I encourage you to take part in the energy of downtown, too; you might start realizing some true business benefits and have fun while doing so — like me!
