If you're a small business owner in Chickasha (or anywhere, really), there’s one digital tool you can’t afford to ignore: your Google Business Profile . This free resource could be the difference between someone walking through your doors—or passing you by completely. What Is a Google Business Profile? Formerly known as Google My Business, a Google Business Profile is what shows up when someone searches for your business—or a service you offer—on Google Search or Google Maps. Think of it as your digital storefront. It gives potential customers key info like your hours, location, reviews, photos, and how to get in touch. And the best part? It’s completely free . Why It Matters 1. 📍 Increased Visibility in Local Search When someone types in “boutique near me” or “Chickasha auto shop,” Google displays what’s called the Local Pack—a short list of businesses that match that search. These results sit above traditional website links and often show maps, reviews, and directions. If your business isn’t verified or doesn’t have accurate information, you’re likely missing out on being included in that list—meaning less visibility, fewer clicks, and potentially fewer customers. ✅ Businesses with complete and optimized profiles are twice as likely to be considered reputable by customers ( Harvard Media ). 2. 🤝 Builds Trust with Potential Customers Before someone calls or visits your business, they’re checking you out online. A well-maintained profile—with up-to-date hours, clear photos, and positive reviews—builds trust. It shows you're active, reliable, and ready to serve. “First impressions matter—especially online. Your Google profile is often your first chance to make a good one,” says Boise Web . 3. 📢 Free Way to Share Updates & Engage You can also use your profile to: Post updates and promotions Respond to customer reviews Share new photos of your storefront or products Answer frequently asked questions This makes your profile not just a static listing, but a tool for active community engagement. How to Claim or Set Up Your Google Business Profile It’s easier than you think: Visit google.com/business Sign in with your Google account Search for your business name Follow the prompts to claim or create your profile Verify your business (typically by postcard, phone, or email) Fill out your profile with accurate info, photos, and service details Need help? Google’s step-by-step guide is right here . Final Thoughts A Google Business Profile is one of the easiest and most effective tools small businesses can use to stand out. It’s not about being tech-savvy—it’s about being visible, trusted, and easy to find. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got you covered. Give us a call or email cassie@chickashachamber.com and we can help you out! 

We are blessed to have strong leaders representing us in the Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Representatives Brad Boles and Dick Lowe and Senator Lonnie Paxton are very active and engaged and understand how State policies can impact us here in Chickasha. They return phone calls and text messages and make time during the busy legislative session for their constituents. For our Community to grow, it is vital to have State leaders that want to help us succeed! Last week, local developer Chet Hitt and myself had the opportunity to have breakfast with the Governor and his Chief of Staff. This invitation came from the Governor because of the potential development of our Airport Industrial Park that Mr. Hitt will close on next month. Hitt has some ambitious plans to grow jobs in the 300 plus acres that has only grown grass for decades. The Governor was supportive of Hitt’s plan and was excited to hear about recruiting businesses into rural Oklahoma. Other state and federal leaders have also been supportive in helping us grow Chickasha: from United States Senator James Lankford and Congressman Tom Cole to Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell and others at both the State Department of Commerce and Tourism. It’s an exciting time right now in Chickasha, but our momentum is only possible because of so many people all working together. As Big announcements are made in the upcoming months, it will be because of a commitment that we are stronger together and that we can’t do it alone. The combination of having a strong City Manager and Mayor along with a supportive City Council is crucial to grow our town. Mix in support from local businesses, the Chamber and the EDC and we have the formula for successful growth. It takes everyone working together for all of us to enjoy #TheGoodStuff!

The City of Chickasha started offering a Downtown Grant back in 2019. An expired economic development sales tax had generated funds that provided incentives to the property owners to fix up their buildings. This was the beginning of the Downtown Revitalization. The free market system with no incentives produced no results in 30 years, it was time to try something else. The incentive was set up on a rebate program, so the property owner had to spend the money first and then turn in receipts in order to receive the grant. For every $3 dollars spent by the property owner, they would get $1 refunded back as long as the building produced a retail business that generated sale tax. This purpose of the grant was to stimulate private investment, but sales tax was a good by-product. The Grant was overseen by the EDC and thirteen different buildings addresses received grants. The buildings were renovated all along Chickasha avenue because the tax that funded this had those specific borders. The results were outstanding! Approximately $1.5 million dollars created almost $5.5 Million in private investment from the grant. BUT…over $7 Million more was spent by the private sector because of the very visible improvements in Downtown. For a detailed breakdown of this, please see the Chickasha EDC Facebook page .

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I saw a Facebook post last week from Mayor Zach Grayson discussing his experience at the Oklahoma Municipal League’s conference in Alva Oklahoma. Traveling to other rural towns in Oklahoma and seeing what they are doing is always fun. It’s good to get out of our bubble and realize how Chickasha compares to other towns, both strengths and weaknesses. From the Mayor’s post, it looks like he had time to do some reflecting on his drive home. If you want to read his entire post, it’s on the Facebook page “Chickasha Positively Speaking” which he created for everyone to share exactly that: Positivity! He is like most of us that choose to live here, he likes what he sees. He also recognizes what our Community needs to work on and that’s why he chose to run for Mayor, a position that requires a lot of time, with zero financial compensation. His rewards is helping lead our town and to unite us to work together for progress. In his post, Zach commented on feedback he has received from people that have lived here their whole life or at least several decades and how they like what they see. I have heard a lot of that too. I wonder if we took a poll of the citizens that live in Chickasha and asked them what they think about how our town is going, what would the results of the poll be? I guess we will find out next Tuesday, April 1 st when citizens will go to the polls and Vote for City Council. Being a City Council member pays no salary, just like the Mayor’s job, it’s strictly volunteer. For someone to run for Council they have to be willing to attend a minimum of two meetings a month on Monday nights. They have to represent the citizens of the Ward they live in and make decisions that shape our future. It’s a commitment, very different from those that like to sit back and criticize everything on social media. Next Tuesday I hope we have a huge voter turnout. I hope that citizens understand that no matter what Ward they live in that they get to vote on all three races. I hope they do some research and find the candidates that best represent their views for Chickasha and its future. Leadership matters! Whether good or bad, we get what we vote for in elections. I hope you will get out and vote and I hope you will remind all your friends to do the same. Great Leadership is the only way we will get to enjoy #TheGoodStuff! 

Spring has officially sprung, and with it comes the much-anticipated Easter Shop Local Campaign ! Following the success of our previous campaigns—Local Love and Rainbow Hunters—we’re back with another exciting opportunity for our local businesses and the Chickasha community to come together and celebrate all things local this spring. From April 16th-19th , we’re encouraging everyone to shop local and join the Easter fun by participating in a city-wide Easter egg hunt. Participating businesses will hide Easter eggs in their stores, each containing a special discount, freebie, or surprise prize for shoppers to discover. Whether you’re a seasoned local or a newcomer to Chickasha, this campaign is the perfect way to connect with the community, support small businesses, and snag some fantastic deals! How Does the Easter Shop Local Campaign Work? It’s easy to get involved and even easier for your customers to participate! Here’s a quick rundown of the campaign process: Sign Up : Local businesses sign up to participate by March 28th . Once you’re on board, we’ll deliver Easter eggs filled with special offers to your business between April 9th-15th —just in time for the hunt to begin! Hide Your Eggs : When you receive your eggs, you’ll need to hide them somewhere inside your store. Each participating business is asked to provide at least 5 prizes , whether they’re discounts, free items, or fun surprises. The Hunt Begins! : From April 16th-19th , shoppers will be on the lookout for those hidden eggs, hopping from store to store in search of deals. The thrill of discovery is all part of the fun! Claim Your Prize : Once a shopper finds one of your eggs, they’ll be able to redeem their prize between April 21st-30th . Whether it’s a small treat or a big discount, they’ll be excited to return and shop with you again! Golden Eggs : For a little extra excitement, there will be three Golden Eggs hidden around Chickasha. These special eggs contain grand prizes for lucky shoppers. Who doesn’t love a good surprise? Join Us for the Big Kickoff Event! To get everyone in the spirit and make sure the hunt starts with a bang, we’re kicking off the campaign with a big event at Walmart on April 11th . This will be during Walmart’s ribbon cutting and our Chamber Connects event, which is a perfect opportunity to network with fellow local businesses and celebrate the start of the Easter Shop Local Campaign together. Be sure to stop by, grab your eggs, and learn more about how this campaign can boost your sales and connect you with new customers. Why Participate? The Easter Shop Local Campaign isn’t just about hiding eggs and offering discounts—it’s a fantastic way to: Increase foot traffic to your store Boost sales and attract new customers Connect with the local community in a fun, engaging way Showcase your business in a city-wide campaign And let’s not forget, it’s a great way to bring some joy and excitement to the Easter season! We’ve already seen tremendous participation in our Local Love and Rainbow Hunters campaigns, and we know that this Easter campaign will be just as successful, if not more! The support from the Chickasha community has been incredible, and we can’t wait to see how many people will join in on this hunt! How to Sign Up Ready to be a part of the Easter Shop Local Campaign? Sign up by March 28th to secure your spot! Just email cassie@chickashachamber.com to let us know you’d like to participate. We’ll provide everything you need, including the Easter eggs, promotional materials, and all the details on how to make the most of the campaign. We can’t wait to see how this Easter Shop Local Campaign brings our community together and supports our wonderful local businesses. Let’s hop to it—don’t miss out on this fun and exciting opportunity!

Spring officially begins this week. We’ve already experienced daylight savings time, but now the calendar will make it official and hopefully the weather will too. I’m sure we are all ready for more sunshine and less wind. Our Community was incredibly blessed last week by our local first responders, firefighters and City staff that worked very hard to keep us safe. The weather and mother nature will let us know that change is coming, but we will also see a lot of changes here in our town over the next few months. The City Council election is on Tuesday, April 1 st and everyone will get a chance to vote on candidates in all wards, not just the one they live in. I think Chickasha has a good system where every year citizens get a chance to run for office as well as vote for whoever you think will best represent your views. I realize that it can be pretty challenging for the average citizen to know who to vote for if you don’t know the candidates. The Chickasha Lions Club is again doing a meet the candidate reception. It will be held on Thursday, March 27 th at Canadian Valley Technology Center. It will be from 5:30 to 7 that night. It’s free and open to the public and a great opportunity to learn more about the candidates. Much like the season changing to Spring, Chickasha is also changing. It’s growing with new businesses and new homes. Our population is growing. We are witnessing change on a monthly basis. There will be several MAJOR announcements made in the next 90 days. These announcements will be about growth and change. However you feel about change and growth, you have an opportunity on April 1 st to go Vote! Do some research and find the candidate that best represents your views for the future of Chickasha. Voting for what you believe in…well that’s definitely #TheGoodStuff! 

So what does it mean to you when you hear the phrase “Pro-Chickasha”? I think that’s a question we should all be asking ourselves, do you consider yourself to be Pro-Chickasha? Here’s what it means to me. I believe in the town I grew up in! I don’t believe it’s perfect, but I love the direction it’s going. I think it’s great for our Community to see new businesses coming to town, new homes being build, run down homes being fixed up, and all three of our schools working together to educate our youth. Pro-Chickasha to me means we all are working together: the Business community, the City, the Chamber, the EDC, our Educational partners, civic clubs and most importantly the citizens that love living here and want to see our town continue to thrive. The reason we have so much momentum right now is because the majority of our town is Pro-Chickasha! I don’t think anyone thinks our town is perfect, like every other town we have plenty to work on. It was very cool when the Mayor of Weatherford stopped by recently and he was asking questions about our Downtown and what we did to bring it back to life? Weatherford is a wonderful town that I visited last summer and they certainly have their town headed in the right direction. He was very kind mentioning the momentum we have right now. If you are reading this column, there is a good chance you are Pro-Chickasha. Thank you! That’s how amazing things happen: we believe in ourselves and are willing to invest in ourselves to make our Community better! I believe that that this will be an incredible year. When we are Pro-Chickasha, that’s when #TheGoodStuff happens!

This past week, I had the honor to meet with two different candidates that a company is interviewing for an executive management position here in Chickasha. My job was not to interview them, that was someone else’s responsibility. My job was to “Sell” them on Chickasha and why it’s a great place to live, work and play. Both of the candidates were from out of state. Each came here at different times and stayed the night, but like most people they googled our town long before they arrived. They are just like most businesses that are considering Chickasha, they want to learn as much as they can online, before I get a chance to tell them all about #TheGoodStuff we have to offer. They did their research on housing, education and quality of life. They had a lot of great questions about ‘Why Chickasha” and I told them because we are in the Middle of Everywhere! Think about how close we are to so many amenities: Thunder basketball, incredible lakes, the Wichita Mountains, Dallas Cowboy Football or OU/OSU Football, Branson Missouri, incredible Casinos, and Broadway plays at the Civic Center. The list goes on and on. So many big time amenities within a reasonable drive, yet you can enjoy the hassle free life that our Community has to offer. There is a graphic about this on the Chickasha EDC Facebook page. Both candidates remarked that they could tell that our town was growing, they could see it but then they could also “feel” it. When I asked them what they meant by that, they mentioned that when they talked to hotel or restaurant staffs, that the message was the same. When they compared where they were living to what they saw in Chickasha, we stood out in one major thing: Growth! One of them commented that the town they were in was Anti-Growth! The local officials didn’t want new businesses or new housing additions, they wanted to stay small. Ouch… If I find out that either one of these candidates gets the job here, I may ask them to be a guest columnist for the #TheGoodStuff, that way you can hear it directly from them. We will always have challenges to overcome, every town does, but we will continue to see unprecedented growth in Chickasha as long as we stay focused on #TheGoodStuff right here in the Middle of Everywhere!