Broken Arrow Chamber Says Businesses There Are Hiring

If you're looking for a job or a change in career, businesses in Broken Arrow want you. The Broken Arrow Chamber and executives from area businesses joined forces Thursday to left folks know they have a big need for quality workers.

The message at the Chamber of Commerce is that Broken Arrow businesses are hiring, and we heard from several executives in fields that you may never have considered.

Including the just employers who attended the news conference, there were over 250 immediate job openings, and they're hiring for just about any position. Food service, teacher, forklift operator, security staff and more.

David Phillips, the Chief Operating Officer at St. John Broken Arrow, said hospitals don't need just doctors and nurses.

"We're open 24 hours seven days a week, so we got to feed the patients and the employees. So we need food service workers, very hard to find. We have to keep the hospital clean, so we have to find people in the environmental services, housekeeping," Phillips said.

The Broken Arrow school system is one of the larger employers in town with over 2,100 employees; not to mention around 18,000 students.

Superintendent Dr. Jarod Mendenhall has 50 job openings in his district and only about half are teaching positions.

"We can't have school if we don't have a bus driver, we can't have school if we can't feed children. So, we have a lot of positions to fill this summer," Mendenhall said.

If you're looking for a better career, or just looking for a career, Karen Pennington works for Transportation Connections WorkAdvance, a free federally funded program that helps train employees looking for a change.

She said that you may want to consider career paths that you never imagined.

"A lot of people think manufacturing jobs are dirty and dingy, and they're thinking to old movies that they've seen. In reality, it's some of the most cutting-edge technology that's out there. And we're helping them to learn the technology," said Pennington.

If you're looking for work and thinking about Broken Arrow, these are just some of the companies hiring and how you can get in touch with them:

• BA Public Schools
  Stop by Education Service Center at 701 South Main Street in Broken Arrow, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to apply in person.
  
  Applicants may also email resumes and cover letters to mtotten@baschools.org
  
  
• NOV Enerflow
  Fill out applications at 19425 East 54th Street, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
  
  
• BA Chamber and Economic Development Corporation
  
  
• St. John Broken Arrow
  
  
• Transportation Connections WorkAdvance
  918-442-2200
  
  
• Tulsa Tech
  918-828-5000