Oklahoma Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell told Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce members and guests that “we have successfully preserved here in Oklahoma exactly what the rest of American is searching for.”

He went on to say that was friendly, welcoming people with patriotic American values and traditions to share.

Pinnell was speaking Thursday at The Cedar Gate, a multi-building rustic meeting and conference facility owned and operated by Brian and Marla Hill west of Kingfisher.

The Biz-Connect luncheon for which Pinnell was the featured speaker was hosted by the Chamber of Commerce with the meal provided by Pioneer Telephone Cooperative. 4 Arrows Cookie Company provided the dessert.

Also speaking was Blake Callaham, general manager of Pioneer Telephone Cooperative, who commented that the local communications company was in the process of providing over 70,000 locations in over 80 communities with fiberoptic cable for increased communication capability and speed of service.

Pinnell was introduced by Kingfisher resident Mike Sanders, who is executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office. The lieutenant governor touched on a variety of subjects during his talk, with the emphasis placed on “being ready and prepared” to capitalize on the growth that is coming to Oklahoma through the relocation of professionals, businesses and families who are moving to the state to escape the congestion and high taxes of, specifically, California and also the large metropolitan centers of Texas.

Pinnell said Oklahoma currently has a population of slightly over 4 million residents.

For the first time in recent history, Pinnell said, Oklahoma now has more people moving from Texas to Oklahoma rather than the reverse.

He noted that his main jobs as lieutenant governor were to promote tourism and enhance and grow the state’s workforce and he said the future looks bright in those endeavors.

Pinnell said Oklahoma City and Tulsa were experiencing tremendous growth now, but he said there are 75 other counties in the state and his job was to spread that growth and prosperity to those other counties.

“We are bottling up and selling that to the rest of the nation,” he said. “There is a huge desire across the nation for folks to recapture the America they either remember or have heard that once existed. We have that right here in Oklahoma.

“And our job is to convince them to come to Oklahoma, rather than Iowa, Kansas or some other state that is selling the same recipe.”

He added that he has overseen the raising of billboards along the traffi c corridors of the Dallas metroplex that state: “If you lived in Oklahoma, you would be home now.”

“We make no apologies to Texas. They have been taking our college and high school graduates for generations,” Pinnell said. “Now it’s time we start taking theirs and also bringing back home those that left us.”

He commended Kingfisher Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Shauna Rupp and her staff for growing her base to over 250 member businesses.

“That’s exactly what we need to be doing across rural Oklahoma,” he said. “We need to be spreading the message that sales tax dollars are the lifeblood of a community. Those tax dollars we capture through tourism and through spending at home allow us the opportunity to grow and prosper.”

He also had praise for Chisholm Trail Museum Executive Director Jason Harris, who is currently overseeing an expansion and re-tooling to be the featured homegrown business and enterprise museum in the state and is to be renamed “The Chisholm.”

“You have an outstanding museum here and that provides a great venue to bring visitors to your community to capture tourism dollars here,” Pinnell said.

The eight year goal was to grow Oklahoma’s population back to above 4.3 million, which was the number needed to regain a sixth congressional seat in the state, Pinnell offered.

“Frank Lucas has one of the largest congressional districts in the nation. It stretches from Sapulpa to the Texas panhandle,” Pinnell said.

“Most people don’t even remember that we used to have six members of Congress representing our state. Our goal is to reclaim that representative.”