Tulsa, a cheap place to do business

Tulsa ranks high on a low-cost list. Forbes magazine analyzed the nation's 150 largest cities to find the cheapest place to do business and Tulsa is the 3rd least expensive. <br/><br/>News on 6 business

Monday, May 16th 2005, 4:36 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa ranks high on a low-cost list. Forbes magazine analyzed the nation's 150 largest cities to find the cheapest place to do business and Tulsa is the 3rd least expensive.

News on 6 business reporter Steve Berg talked with one successful local start-up on how Tulsa is a good springboard city.

You've probably seen Camille's Sidewalk Cafe. Well, Dave Rutkauskas is Camille's husband and now that their Tulsa-based restaurant is being franchised all over the country by the hundreds, he's had a chance to compare costs here and elsewhere. "Y'know, construction costs are a little lower in Tulsa, and we just built a bunch of stores in Northern California and they were quite expensive to build."

Tulsa does well on the Forbes list with the Cost of Business and the Cost of Living. It stumbles a bit in categories like crime and job growth for an overall finish of 77 out of 150. But Rutkauskas who says they turned down a recent chance to move the company's headquarters to Dallas says the Cost of Business is a big factor. "Rents are low, construction costs are lower, the average wage is just a tad bit lower, so that helps us, compared to other parts of the country like Manhattan or New Jersey, where we're doing business now."

He says one criteria on "his" list is the workforce in Oklahoma. "They have a tremendous work ethic; they have values that Camille and I cherish."

Other areas need work, but ranking so well with low costs could be cause for high hopes. Forbes took into account things like labor, energy, office rents, and tax costs for its "cost of business" list.

Oklahoma City ranked as the 5th cheapest place to do business.