Company of the Day: Stokely Outdoor
Markets: Oklahoma
Address: PO Box 141277, Broken Arrow, OK. 74014-1277
Phone: 918-402-9016
Stokely Outdoor operates a plant of over 806 billboard faces including 8 digital faces in Oklahoma. The company was started by Bill and Sarah Stokely in 1978. Bill’s son Sam and his wife Jillian Ray Stokely now own and run the company. In 2019 Stokely added 36 billboards with 144 faces across Oklahoma. All the signs were new builds. In 2025 Stokely gave Billboard Insider some tips for dealing with condemnation authorities. We’ve excerpted his advice below…
How did you get in the out of home business?
I grew up in the same business with my family. They also have a commercial division as well that did signs for regular businesses growing up in the business I saw all the different employees and equipment and headaches that went on in the shop. So when I started my business, I subbed out all those departments and don’t have those day-to-day headaches that my parents put up with. Running a lean, mean operation with not a lot of overhead or employees has been the key to our success, allowing us to put profit back in the building new signs….This is a great business to be in. It’s a ton of fun. My landowners love me because of the income source they were able to receive for no upfront cost on their behalf. My customers love it because I send new business every day.
You’ve been involved with several condemnations
A lot of the major interstates in my area specifically between Tulsa and Oklahoma City they’re widening from 2 lanes to three lanes and in the process they’re also acquiring more land to make the slopes on the hills a lot less grade so they can maintain them better than the steep ones that they had in the past. So that means they’re probably needing to condemn billboards or make you move. I went through that four times.
Can you move the board rather than take it down?
They allow us to move it back if there’s room. In most instances there’s room to just to move it back. If the billboard moves parallel with the road in in any way you have to re-permit but if you’re moving straight back on the property you don’t have to re permit it.
How does the move work?
You need to make sure you talk to the landowner to make sure they’re OK with moving it back. Then you want to get a survey to make sure you put the billboard in the right place and are not overhanging the new easements. Then the next step is to follow up with the state or any local or federal authorities to make sure they’re OK.
Do they compensate you for moving costs?
The state will usually hire an appraisal firm that will approach you with a first initial offer and it’s your job to look at that offer and try to come up with other reasons why it would cost more than what they’re offering because usually the first offer is kind of low. So you submit more information and costs to them and usually they’ll come back with a better offer on the second time but if you reject that offer they’ll come back one more time with the 3rd and final offer and if you reject that offer then it goes to the lawyers.
What kind of costs did you have to estimate?
The electrician. The crane. I had a lot of build receipts still on hand. So you submit all that and kind of show them the justification of a higher number.
It pays to settle
If you litigate you end up with less because the you have to pay a lawyer now and that cuts into what you’re getting. It also adds delays in getting paid. The first offer is kind of low, the second offer you know you kind of justify all that and the third offer you better take it because it doesn’t get any better. I’ve watched a lot of land owners refuse it and two years ,three years later they still haven’t settled and the the only person that money was the lawyer.
To receive a free morning newsletter with each day’s Billboard insider articles email info@billboardinsider.com with the word “Subscribe” in the title. Our newsletter is free and we don’t sell our subscriber list.
Paid Advertisement
