Aircraft manufacturing coming back to Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY — Hundreds of new jobs are headed to Oklahoma. Governor Mary Fallin made the announcement Friday afternoon.

It's a deal that took shape after the introduction of executives with California-based aerospace company Kratos and U.S. Representative Steve Russell (R-OK).

"Without hesitation, I jumped on a plane to where their corporate headquarters was and I said let me tell you about Oklahoma and airspace,” Rep. Russell said.

That conversation led to a meeting with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. Both exchanges prompted the company to begin seriously considering Oklahoma as a potential location for the company's unmanned systems division. Kratos Unmanned Systems Division President Steve Fendley says they were immediately intrigued.

"The aerospace community that exists here is fantastic,” Fendley said. “The welcome that we got; some of the incentives we've been offered have factored into that."

Some of those incentives include the engineers tax credit and the Quality Jobs Program. Gov. Fallin says several factors placed Oklahoma ahead of the competition.

"We're competitive because of our cost of land, our workforce, our cost of employment, our utility costs are 22 percent below the national average,” Fallin said. “And, so, we have a lot of very positive things going for us."

The company will bring more than 350 new jobs to the state. Fendley says current Kratos employees are already asking to transfer. And the cost and quality of living aren't the only things luring them here.

"They want to take advantage of the no income tax on a military retirement, “he said. “That's very, very attractive to people."

And their military expertise will undoubtedly go on to benefit not only the state of Oklahoma but the entire country.

"What they're getting ready to do here that we get to participate in is going to be good for the defense of our country for years to come,” Russell said.

The company is currently occupying a facility near the airport. Fendley says they are still in the process of locking down and expanding into a more permanent facility near Tinker Air Force Base.