By Pamela Grady
OKCBusiness

A group of developers in Norman continue working to create and further develop proactive communication within their community.

The Norman Developers Council, a subcommittee of the Norman Builders Association, has met monthly for the past 18 months in an effort to better communicate and educate local citizens on community development issues.

The council’s mission: to promote the quality of life in Norman by presenting a unified voice that fosters open and constructive dialogue with city staff, city council and the public.

“We’ve got a ways to go,” says Richard McKown of Ideal Homes and Green Earth Land Design and chairman of the Norman Developers Council.

McKown would like to see the city’s industry leaders, local citizens and city staff work strategically to create a quality of life.

“The state of Oklahoma is going through this wonderful period and there isn’t any reason for Norman to be left behind,” McKown said. “The [University of Oklahoma] is doing amazing things, creating all of this opportunity. Talent comes to Norman from all corners of the globe… I’m thinking that if somebody woke up somewhere from China and figured out how to get all the way to Oklahoma to get an education, we want to keep that person here because that’s incredible leadership, ingenuity and entrepreneurship.”

McKown says he and other developers would like to see the city as a whole work together in creating Norman’s future, similar to what city and industry leaders and the public has in Oklahoma City – all moving in the same direction and understanding its vision.

“We can create an environment, a rise of creative class kind of culture and state of creativity,” he said. “Norman could be that. Norman’s got this neat quirky art community character to it and we have to have this dialogue to build the kind of city where the talent wants to stay, wants to start up their company, wants to put all of their entrepreneurial energy to work in our town.”

The next community dialogue meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. March 29 at the Norman High School Commons. The meeting’s theme will be “Growing Smart and Sustainable.” Participants will be asked to engage in focused table conversations. The roundtable discussion will focus on how Norman should plan for growth.

Conversation will focus on the challenges of smart growth including how to maintain the structural integrity of the community and preserve environmental assets.