Business plans to bring 150 jobs to Bricktown
Rural Sourcing, a software development company with no presence in Oklahoma, is set to open an office employing 150 people at the Rock Island Plow building in Bricktown.
The deal is pending approval of $450,000 in incentives from the general obligation limited tax bonds approved last year by voters. The jobs are to be added over three years with an average first-year wage of $68,614 and expected future growth beyond the initial 150 positions.
The application is set for presentation Tuesday to the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust with final approval by the Oklahoma City Council when the deal is finalized.
In a memo to the committee, City Manager Jim Couch wrote Rural Sourcing chose the Rock Island Plow Building at 29 E Reno Ave. due to efficiencies and infrastructure at the location along with available quality workforce and incentives from the city and state.
“This location will be the company’s fifth software development center and will service clients throughout the U.S.,” Couch said. “Rural Sourcing is consistently recognized as an employer of choice and the company has a commitment of community involvement in each of its locations.”
The deal follows a rapid turnaround for the selection of Oklahoma City that started in July. The company is based in Atlanta and has software development centers in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Mobile, Alabama; Augusta, Georgia; and Jonesboro, Arkansas.
The company currently employs 420 people, and the Bricktown location is set to be the company’s largest.
“Prior to the site visit, the company reviewed 50 mid-sized metros for characteristics such as IT talent, cost of living, quality of life and incentives,” Couch said. “Oklahoma City was one of three cities chosen for a site selection and further review. Based in part upon local incentives, the company has decided to locate this operation in Oklahoma City.”
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber estimates the first-year payroll will total $2.8 million and will hit $11.7 million at the end of the fifth year of operation. Total estimated economic impact of the operation is estimated to top $122.5 million over the first seven years with a $179,000 annual impact from that time forward.
The Rural Sourcing announcement comes just weeks after Heartland Payment Systems, the U.S. division of Global Payments, chose to open a headquarters in a $40 million new building being developed by Andy and David Burnett along Automobile Alley. That expansion is set to bring at least 345 new jobs paying an average wage of $65,000 a year along with another 160 jobs currently located in Edmond.
Cynthia Reid, vice president of marketing and communications at the chamber, said the deal is representative of the potential prospects still being recruited to the city. She said more details about the company’s plans will be released at Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’ve been very focused on both filling vacant space downtown, and we’ve seen a lot of interest for shared service back office, it and development positions,” Reid said. “We’re excited about this diversification and growing our reputation to recruit shared service high-end positions. This is very good for our downtown.”
The Rock Island Plow Building, empty since the late 1970s, was on the verge of collapse 15 years ago. Developer Richard McKown spent $13 million restoring and rebuilding the interior before it reopened about five years ago.
The building’s top three floors are already leased to a construction firm, architecture firm, energy company and tech company.
McKown said he was surprised by how quickly the deal came together.
“They fell in love with it,” McKown said. “They said this building was the one that worked for them, it looked like them, and it felt like them.”