January 2009

Welcome to the Table

STELERA WIRELESS, OKC.  Stelera, a privately held company, started in business in 2007 and is leader in the technology of broadband services for rural markets.  They are committed to providing customers with the latest broadband technology to provide the fastest data speeds available.  Stelera owns 42 licenses to cover 6 million people in 9 states and 300 cities and towns across the U. S.  They expect to employ 75 to 100 by year’s end.  Ed Evans is their Chairman and CEO.

Siite Consultant Event Scheduled in Dallas

Oklahoma economic developers and the Roundtable will host an annual networking reception for national site location consultants and corporate real estate executives at the Oklahoma-owned Hotel ZaZa in Dallas on January 22, 2008. Roundtable members who have Dallas operations or plan to be in the area are encouraged to attend. For more details, contact the Roundtable office.

Nominations Sought by Wall Street Journal – Top Small Workplaces in America

Oklahoma’s small-medium sized companies are encouraged to compete for recognition in the The Wall Street Journal’s third annual “Winning Workplaces” competition – identifying the Top Small Workplaces in North America. The competition is targeted to companies  with no more than $200 million in annual revenues,  500 or fewer employees and having been in business at least five years

Award criteria: Small employers that foster teamwork, flexibility, high productivity and innovation while also helping their employees grow personally and professionally, and providing them benefits that improve their lives and communities.

Nominations are due January 30, 2009. For information contact:

https://secure.winningworkplaces.org/topsmallbiz/2009/nominations/index.html

New $5,000 Tax Credit A Boost For Engineers And The Companies Trying To Recruit Them

A new law establishing tax credits for engineers going to work for Oklahoma companies as well as the companies that hire them is helping businesses take off.

The Aerospace Industry Engineer Work Force Bill, signed in 2008 by Gov. Brad Henry, is a useful recruitment tool for companies luring engineers from other states as well as home-grown engineers that are recent college graduates.

The legislation extends tax credits of $5,000 a year for up to five years to engineers who are hired after Jan. 1, 2009. The companies hiring the engineers will receive a tax credit equal to 10% of the compensation paid to an engineer during the first five years of his or her employment if the engineer graduated from an Oklahoma college. If the engineer graduated from a college outside Oklahoma, the employer will get a tax credit equal to 5% of the compensation paid to the employee during the first five years.

In addition, the new law grants Oklahoma aerospace companies a tax credit in the amount of 50% of the tuition reimbursed to a new engineer graduate for the first four years of his or her employment. The tax credit is limited to 50% of the average annual tuition paid by an engineer at a public university in Oklahoma.

Entrepreneurship Conference Set for February

The Business Roundtable is a primary sponsor of “Innovation Interactive – The Entrepreneurs Conference”, February 23-24, 2009 at the Embassy Suites in Norman.

The conference brings together those interested in starting or growing a business and the service providers that can help them.

For more information, contact the Roundtable Office.

OKC/Tulsa Rank Well in Salary “Value” Index

Salary.com’s 2008 Salary Value Index looks primarily at living costs and pay in cities of 250,000 and above.

Rankings of Selected Cities

1. Plano TX
2. Aurora CO
3. Omaha NE
4. Oklahoma City
5. Tulsa
6. Austin TX
7. Fort Worth TX
8. Dallas
9. New York City