Six Tulsa-Area Companies Announce 300 New Jobs

The Tulsa Chamber of Commerce is targeting some fields for expansion and the result is 300 new jobs.

The Chamber considers them good jobs – with pay upwards of $50,000 a year. It could mean a big turn for the city's economy.

M&M Manufacturing started as a small, five-person machine shop. 15 years later, it's working out of a 50,000 square foot facility with more than 70 employees.

It's one of six Tulsa companies looking to hire in one of the area's key fields, manufacturing.

"What you see here is opportunity - not only to increase jobs but also long-term, prosperous living for a lot of folks," said Richard Havir with M&M Manufacturing.

In total, six companies -  Janeway Machine, M&M Machine, Persimmon Group, Melton Truck Lines Atalaya Resources and Verinovum - are hiring in the kind of industries Tulsa wants to grow and excel in - energy, health care, aerospace and transportation. Ones the City says have the most potential for growth.

Mayor Dewey Bartlett said, “All of these really contribute to the diversity of our economy. So when one sector of our economy is having difficulty, like oil and gas, other industries are doing well.”

The Chamber estimates the new hires will bring in a total income of $90 million, offering about $65 million to Tulsa's economy every single year.

Many of the jobs are high-skilled and/or high-paying.

Tonya Janeway with Janeway Machine said, "We are looking for skilled machinists. We are working with Tulsa Tech and TCC, but these jobs are for a seasoned machinist, a Class A Machinist."

While it means more money for Tulsa's economy, it also means qualified candidates are harder to come by.

Janeway said, "It's been difficult, I'm not going to say it's not, to find qualified employees."

The Chamber said the city has seen 3,200 new jobs since the start of the year.