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Quality Jobs in Ponca City

05/29/08

"QUALITY JOBS" GROW IN PONCA CITY

Bliss Industries was notified on May 9th that they had qualified for the Oklahoma Quality Jobs program, a state incentive for companies that provide high paying jobs. Bliss joins the University Multispectral Lab, Host Analytics, Customer Mechanical Equipment, Mertz LLC, Quarter Turn Resources and Continental Technologies as companies with current quality jobs contracts.

The state Quality Jobs program provides a payroll rebate of up to four percent of payroll for new jobs that pay a minimum of the median wage of a county, currently $15.50 in Kay County. To qualify, the company must meet a long list a criteria such as minimum investment, minimum number of jobs and reporting requirements.

According to Ponca City Development Authority Executive Director David Myers, the incentive is "performance based," which is the most desirable for a community. "Performance based incentives are not paid until the job is created and the employs has been paid. There is no up front cash so if the company does not hire and pay the way they say they will, there is no incentive," said Myers.

Quality jobs are also only available to new jobs and the company must have a contract in place prior to hiring anyone new in order to qualify for the incentive. "If you hire someone before you have received notice from the state, the position is not eligible for the Quality Jobs rebate, " said Myers. "When a company receives notice that they have qualified for the program, that's a pretty good indication that they plan to grow here."


Myers also said the program is handled locally by Doug Taylor of Pioneer Technology Center and the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance. "Doug is great to work with," said Myers. "He knows the language of business and is able to translate that for our governmental friends in Oklahoma City.

Continental Technologies is the new company moving into the second PCDA spec building in the airport industrial park. They received notice that they had qualified last fall and expect to hire up to thirty employees. The UML is planning it's grand opening on June 3rd and already has approximately 20 employees working out of other facilities until the former Research East building is completed. Host Analytics continues to hire and operate in the Bank of the West building, Quarter Turn Resources is an expanding company in the oil and gas industry, operating in Bois De Arc, while Mertz and Custom Mechanical Equipment have facilities in the Airport Industrial Park.