E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T
The Chamber leads business efforts to grow existing industries, recruit new companies and develop an active entrepreneurial environment, resulting in quality job creation and a diverse economy. ADDING JOBS TO THE ECONOMY In 2018, the Chamber engaged with 124
companies that are planning to relocate or expand in the Oklahoma City regional market. Of those companies, 11 are new companies the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber helped recruit to the local market. In total, both new and expanding companies are projected to create approximately 7,380 new jobs and $495 million in new investment in the region. The average wage for announced positions is $47,086 with more than $347 million in new annual payroll coming to the Oklahoma City metro. Several of the companies making significant investments or announcements during 2018 include: CACI International Inc., a company that provides cyber-security and information services to intelligence, defense and federal civilian customers, centralized some of its business operations in Oklahoma City by opening a shared services center. The center is expected to employ 550 people when fully staffed. Oklahoma City was also announced as the location for the state’s first Amazon fulfillment center, a 2.4-million-square-foot facility that will create more than 1,500 full-time jobs by the end of 2019. Employees at the fulfillment center will pick, pack and ship small items to customers. Heartland, the U.S. division of Global Payments and the fifth-largest payment processor in the United States, broke ground on its headquarters in downtown Oklahoma City in December 2018.
The company will expand its workforce by 345 and build a new 100,000-square-foot headquarters on Automobile Alley at Fifth Street and Broadway Avenue to accommodate that growth. The new building, which will bridge the physical gap between the business district and Automobile Alley, will have six floors plus a ground-level lobby that will have space for two restaurants open to the public. Adding to the downtown development was HoganTaylor, a company that announced plans to relocate its Oklahoma City office to an expanded space along Automobile Alley and in the Innovation District. In addition to being closely connected to the innovation-minded companies in that district, the new location’s proximity to the OKC Streetcar and the future home of Oklahoma Contemporary adds additional benefits to employees. Echo Energy also announced plans to move its 100 employees to downtown Oklahoma City in an office building adjacent to Kerr Park. Rural Sourcing, a software development company, announced their first Oklahoma location with 150 employees located at the Rock Island Plow building in Bricktown. The location is set to be the
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