Direct Energy to Hire 115 People for Tulsa Center Expansion
Direct Energy announced in mid-November that is plans to hire 115 new employees for its Tulsa operations. The new jobs, part of Direct Energy’s planned expansion of its customer operations center in Tulsa, will add $7 million in wages to the area. The positions include customer contract management, information technology and training. Direct Energy is an electricity and natural gas retailer for residential, business and services customers. Direct Energy currently employs 160 people in Tulsa.
Oklahoma Ranked 13th by Site Selection Magazine
Oklahoma ranked No. 13 in Site Selection magazine’s Top Business Climate for 2011 list, up from No. 23 last year. The annual business climate ranking, which appears in the magazine’s November issue, is determined 50 percent by a tax climate criterion and the states’ performance in Conway Data’s New Plant Database, which tracks new and expanded business activity, and 50 percent by the survey of corporate site locators.
CFS II Will Expand Tulsa Location with 500 New Positions
CFS II, a Tulsa-based debt collection company, plans on adding up to 500 new employees at its Tulsa facility over the upcoming years. Positions include executive, management, human resources, information technology, legal, accounting and customer service. The average starting wage will be approximately $35,000. CFS currently employs 220 people in 52,000 square feet of space at CityPlex Towers.
Tulsa Ranked No. 4 Among Best Places to Find a Job
Tulsa is among the nation’s 10 best places to find a job, according to a report by The Fiscal Times. The Fiscal Times rated Tulsa No. 4 among the 100 largest U.S. metros based on its rate of job generation over the past 12 months compared to the number of jobs it had in September 2010. The Fiscal Times used data provided from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tulsa Sales-Tax Revenues Increase 4.54 Percent
Tulsa’s sales-tax check for November was 4.5 percent larger than the one for the same month last year. The city received $16,912,266, compared to $16,177,942 in November 2010, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission. For the fiscal-year-to-date, the budget is performing 3.8 percent, or $2.1 million ahead of last year.
Oklahoma Budget Outlook Improves with Revenue Increase
Gross revenue collections for October were 7.4 percent higher than October of last year, according to the state treasurer’s office. Collections for the past 12 months are up almost 9 percent from the prior 12 months. Gross revenue collections for October totaled $838.01 million, up $57.5 million from October of last year. Gross revenue, a reflection of the state’s economic performance, has grown for 20 straight months.
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Breaks Ground On New Tower
The next phase of growth for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino took place with a groundbreaking ceremony in early November. The 10-story tower will be the third for the complex and add 100 suites to the existing 356 rooms. Approximately 55,000 square feet of entertainment and gaming space will also be added. Total project cost is $52 million and should be complete by late 2012.
TU Received $14 Million Gift
The University of Tulsa received a $14 million gift from two supporters and will rename one of its programs in honor of them. The gift will let the school create four endowments in cyber security and information assurance, bioinformatics and computational biology, computer science and computer science engineering. TU is considered to be a leader in computer science and produces some of the most sought-after graduates in information security and digital forensics.
Fourth Phase of Tulsa Streets Program Begins in 2012
Tulsa’s fourth phase of six for Fix Our Streets projects will begin in January, including repairs to five arterial streets and 10 residential zones. The projects will be funded through a $50 million general obligation bond and $8.2 million in sales taxes made available when the city began capturing its share of Tulsa County’s Four to Fix. The $451.6 million Fix Our Streets initiative began in fiscal year 2009.
The Forge to Expand Services at new Downtown Location
The Forge, a downtown center that provides support to entrepreneurs, is expanding its services and establishing a permanent home at the Wright Building, 115 W. Third St. The business incubator’s new site, which is being made possible with help from a $600,000 federal grant from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration, comes in unison with a new partnership with the Tulsa Economic Development Corp. The new site will allow The Forge to host up to nine businesses at once, with flexible spaces capable of changing shape and size to fit various needs.
First of Two Airport Concourse Remodeling Projects Complete
On the west passenger concourse, $17.7 million in new construction has transformed a low-ceiling walkway flanked by a series of walled-in boarding gates into an open, bright, airy and sky-lighted passageway. With new furniture soon to arrive and a new business center the west concourse will be a totally new space. The project entailed raising the roof with an 8-foot-wide skylight down the length of the concourse, new lighting, new carpeting, and removal of all the walls that previously separated the boarding gates. Plans call for a similar remodel of the east concourse set to begin next year.
Serious Crime Dropping In Tulsa
Year-to-date crime totals for serious crimes in Tulsa are down 3 percent from this time last year, according to police department data. Robbery, burglary and larceny reports declined between 12 percent and 16 percent.