David Burnett, director of economic development for the Midwest City Chamber of Commerce, released information about the impact of the GM plan closing in southeast Oklahoma City to a packed meeting of home builders, developers, lenders and others yesterday. While the GM plan closing will have a negative impact on the SE OKC metro area, the continued growth at Tinker Air Force Base will more than offset the GM losses over time. Tinker's 27,000 personel is the real engine of the area economy.

Only 4% of the GM workforce live in the Edmond area so the overall economic impact there is expected to be minimal. Losing GM will hurt, but the strong growth in other parts of the metro OKC economy is expected to minimize that impact. Burnett said "Three to five years from today, we will see more jobs and a greater growth curve in eastern Oklahoma County than we've ever seen."