Tulsa-Based Spartan Engineering Adding Hundreds Of Jobs

By Dan Bewley & Terry Hood, The News On 6

TULSA, OKLAHOMA -- A Tulsa company announced Thursday it planned to add hundreds of high paying jobs. Spartan Engineering said it is creating 200 jobs over the next five years.

"It's huge because it represents the kinds of jobs that we're trying to bring to this state," Natalie Shirley, Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce, said.

Spartan credits Oklahoma's high paying quality jobs program for the expansion. It gives tax credits and rebates to companies that create a certain number of jobs and meet minimum salary requirements.

In Spartan's case, the jobs will average between $72,000 and $80,000 a year.

"There's a lot of folks in Tulsa that are talented, have a lot of good experience," said Wayne Lagorin, Spartan Engineering President. "We're able to pick up a good work force and set ourselves up good for when the economy comes back."

While not everyone will be able to get one of these high paying jobs, city and state officials say it's important to bring these kinds of jobs to Oklahoma because nearly everyone will feel the impact.

"First of all it creates a balance in your economy so that you're not just dependent on one sector," Shirley said.

According to the Tulsa Metro Chamber, one new high paying job at Spartan Engineering will support two new jobs elsewhere in the community and inject $421,000 into the economy.

Once Spartan adds 200 new jobs, the chamber says the economic impact jumps to more than $84 million.

Spartan's President says without the tax rebates and credits it may have been difficult to expand or even stay in Oklahoma.

"The support we're receiving from the state is going to help us in this competitive market," Lagorin said.

The job creation at Spartan was also made possible by the chamber's Tulsa's Future program. Since starting in 2005, it's recruited 18 new businesses and nearly 15,000 jobs.