The city of Tulsa has not given up on encouraging Williams to bring more jobs to town

You could call it an "economic" disaster. Tulsa had hoped to snag about 550 high-paying Houston jobs, after Williams Companies considered moving its Gas Pipeline unit here. <br><br>But as we told you

Wednesday, February 12th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

You could call it an "economic" disaster. Tulsa had hoped to snag about 550 high-paying Houston jobs, after Williams Companies considered moving its Gas Pipeline unit here.

But as we told you Tuesday, the company says it's not financially feasible right now. So "what" now? That's the question News on Six business reporter Steve Berg asks Mayor Bill LaFortune.

Like all Tulsans, the mayor was disappointed by the news that the city would not be tapping into Williams Gas Pipeline unit for its 550 jobs. "Well certainly, we were very encouraged when we heard they might move the jobs here and this latest announcement is certainly discouraging. We'll hold the hope out that someday, it might be appropriate to move those jobs to Tulsa."

That might not be far-fetched. The trend with many businesses is toward consolidation, and many businesses consolidate toward the home office. That's certainly the city's hope. "Mr. Malcolm was very clear with me that Tulsa is the headquarters for Williams they're here, they're gonna stay here, and they're gonna continue with their operations in Tulsa, and be headquartered here, so that's the good news."

The mayor says Williams has not shut the door on the idea of moving the pipeline unit here. But he says there's no new plan as specific as the one that was just abandoned. Right now, he says the city will just have to keep looking for jobs somewhere else.

The city had been working with the state to provide financial incentives for Williams to move the jobs here. Williams has withdrawn its request for those incentives.