When it comes to economic development, ‘it’s an amazing time to be in Sallisaw’

When city cheerleaders laud municipal development and use terms like “we’re a city on the move” or “we’re an up-and-coming city,” such platitudes often become community white noise. But with what’s been going on in Sallisaw during the past year, and what’s still on the horizon, it’s difficult not to unbridle the city’s contagious enthusiasm to the point of exaggeration.

And George Bormann, the city’s economic development director, is not immune from the hyperbole.

“It’s overwhelming to see all the stuff that we’ve got going on,” Bormann is prone to admit. “It’s an amazing time to be in Sallisaw.”

Then he’s quick to deflect the spotlight, giving the impression that he’s merely a cog in the city’s well-oiled machinery, while noting that not only is there no “I” in “team,” the same holds true for “success,” and many other words that defer credit to others.

“If you’d have told me when we started this job seven or eight years ago that we would have this kind of development, I would have thought you were crazy,” Bormann says, commending city leaders and city commissioners, as well as the community and business partners. “Economic development is not me, it’s a team sport. It doesn’t happen unless everybody plays ball.”

What has happened is a building boom, especially on U.S. 59 (Kerr Boulevard), as well as expansion projects in Sallisaw’s industrial park and no fewer than two residential neighborhood developments.

QuikTrip will open March 6.

7Brew Drive Thru Coffee opened in December.

Second Taco Bell opened in December.Among 

Among the high-profile projects are:

• Taco Bell, a second location in the city that opened in December

• 7Brew Drive Thru Coffee, which also opened in December

Local Bank expects to open in 2025.

Holiday Inn Express expects to break ground in 2025.

• Sallisaw Veterans Center, a sprawling 215,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility that’s been compared to a resort, which opened February 21

• QuikTrip, the Tulsa chain’s farthest east and farthest south Oklahoma location, opens March 6

Whataburger will open this spring.

• Whataburger, the Texas-based chain that causes a fervor wherever it opens, is targeting a spring debut

• Local Bank, a nativeowned and native-led institution with five locations in eastern Oklahoma, expects to open in fall 2025

• Stanley H. Collins Aquatic Center, located adjacent to the football stadium, will be completed by fall 2025, but no swimming is expected until 2026

• Millison Castings Technology, located in the industrial park, is pursuing a robust expansion, with a second plant on the horizon

• Aviagen, the world’s leading poultry breeding company and also in the industrial park, is committed to a $24 million feed mill expansion

• Holiday Inn Express, a national standard for overnight lodging, is expected to break ground in 2025 immediately south of the new QuikTrip • Lee Creek Estates, a residential development located adjacent to Carl Albert State College and the industrial park, is building single-family and multi-family homes

• Redbird Smith Estates, a residential subdivision for the Cherokee Nation located near Sallisaw’s middle school and high school, offers singlefamily and multi-family homes

• Cherokee Nation Child Development Center, also located near Sallisaw High School, is a $25 million project for early childhood education, child development and childcare It’s no surprise that Kerr Boulevard (U.S. 59), in general, and the intersection of Kerr and Ruth at I-40, in particular, are a hotbed for business activity and the place to be.

Traffic counts just south of where the three regional/national restaurants have sprung up — just north of the Kerr and Ruth intersection — are about 19,000 a day. Add to that 24,000 vehicles a day on I-40, and that translates into prime exposure.

“Anytime you’ve got those numbers, it’s pretty strong if you’ve got some brand recognition,” Bormann says.“We looked at mobility data for some of those brands along the interstate, and all of them performed exceptionally well.”

Among the strongest brand recognition restaurants in Oklahoma that perform very well for foot traffic in Sallisaw include Braum’s Ice Cream, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Sonic Drive-In, and the three that recently came on line or will be added in 2025 are expected to also do very well. All have brand recognition and are able to capitalize on interstate traffic, “so I think whoever develops there, if they’ve got some brand recognition, will perform very well.”

In addition, the south side of I-40 along U.S. 59 is expected to take off in 2025.

“With QuikTrip and Holiday Inn Express and the availability of commercial property on the front side of that, that whole north-south corridor is going to change dramatically within the next few years,” Bormann predicts.

“I can’t wait to see what all this development — from the QuikTrip to $12 million in payroll injected by the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs to the new quickservice restaurants — will do to our sales tax and use tax. We’ve still been on an uptick; I see other communities that have kind of been on a downturn right now, and we’ve still been increasing. So I’m interested to see what’ll happen once these guys start remitting some taxes from their developments. It’ll be fun.”

Growth in 2024 and 2025 are a continuation of recent years, which generated plenty of optimism for the city.

“We have made tremendous progress over the past few years, progress that hasn’t been seen in Sallisaw for many years,” former City Manager Keith Skelton had said in 2024. “Our city employees work hard on a daily basis to ensure city services are provided, and that we take care of our citizens’ needs.

“The hard work of our city employees, the work of various groups, the partnerships and the hard work of several other individuals are paying off for Sallisaw. I am excited about what is next for Sallisaw.

“Who has it better than us? With everything going on in the community, I would venture to say, ‘Nobody has it better than Sallisaw’,” Skelton said.