Officials from the Ponca City Development Authority (PCDA) and the City of Ponca City were on hand recently as an incentive payment was paid to Garaga-Mid America Door. The check, which was presented to the company’s Chief Financial Officer Carl Christenson, completed a 2018 agreement with the company intended to add jobs, increase pay for the plant’s existing workers and make significant improvements to the plant located at Hartford and Ash Street.

Mayor Homer Nicholson and PCDA Trustee Garrett Bowers were on hand to turn over the check in the amount of $268,687 to the company.

“It’s another great day in Ponca City,” the Mayor said, his trademark greeting. “Mid America has been a very important employer and company in Ponca City and their recent growth is both welcome and appreciated.”

Bowers noted that the agreement produced the results intended and praised the company for their commitment to the community.

“We couldn’t be happier with the results,” Bowers said. “The additional jobs, higher pay, the improvements to the facility, everything the company has done has truly exceeded our expectations.”

Mid America Door was founded in Ponca City in 1991. In 2018, the business was purchased by Garaga Door, an established company seeking to expand into the southern United States. Garaga was founded by Michael Gendreau in Quebec in 1983 and has grown to be one of Canada’s leading manufacturers of garage doors. The addition of the Mid America facility allows the company to make and sell its products throughout the southern states from Ponca City.

“The purchase of Mid America by Garaga opened the door, forgive the pun, to opportunity,” said PCDA Executive Director David Myers. “Naturally, we wanted to anchor them in Ponca City. We also wanted to encourage them to take an already strong company to the next level by not only investing in their plant, but also investing in their employees.”

Under the terms of the 2018 agreement approved by the PCDA Board of Trustees, the company was provided incentives if they hit certain benchmarks for growth, pay rates and investment in the facility.

“This was an agreement that did not pay the incentives until they did what they said they would do,” said Myers. “There is no doubt about it, they did everything they said they would do and more so we’re excited to keep our part of the deal.”

Myers said that PCDA received annual documentation from the company on wage levels, investment and the number of jobs.

“They invested millions here in Ponca City, grew their job count significantly and really ramped up their pay levels,” said Myers.

“Garaga has been a great addition to our community,” added Bowers.