Tulsa Sees Significant Job Growth In Year Of 2011

Compared to the rest of the country, business is booming in Tulsa with job creation among the top cities in the nation. As we step into 2012, Tulsa leaders are resolved to bring even more jobs to T-town, and say they know exactly how to do it.

Tulsa, a city known for its art deco skyline, its deep musical roots, and now city leaders say, its jobs.

Tulsa is no stranger to top ten lists touted as the most affordable city to being among the best places to retire. Now Tulsa is listed in the top five cities for job growth. That's because, according to the Bureau of Labor, Tulsa gained about 10,300 jobs in 2011.

"We're definitely headed in the right direction economically," said Jim Fram, the Tulsa Metro Chamber's VP of economic development.

Fram attributes Tulsa's job growth to our low cost of living, our quality of life, our location in the U.S. and the world, and recruiting initiatives, like the one called "Tulsa's Future."

"Tulsa's Future is a marketing program where we do business attraction. We work with existing companies here in the Tulsa area to make sure they have a platform for growth and then we have an entrepreneurship program that helps new companies start up," Fram said.

Of the 10,300 jobs gained, Fram says the Tulsa's Future initiative had a hand in more than 8,200 of them.

The best part, Fram says about half of those are quality, high-paying jobs, like the ones announced in October by Tulsa's Direct Energy.

The initiative's targets are jobs that pay $50,000 or more.

"We want to raise per capita income. We want to raise household income. You don't increase those things by recruiting low-paying jobs," Fram said.

So, in 2012, Fram says expect to see more quality job announcements from companies like Tulsa's Direct Energy. If things go as planned, the Chamber hopes to surpass their four year goal in less than two.