For the third year in a row, prominent site selection consultants from across the nation put Tulsa and Oklahoma City among the top 50 cities for expanding or relocating a business.

Eighty site selection consultants participated in the 8th annual survey conducted by Expansion Management magazine. The results, published in its January-February 2006 issue, rank Tulsa #11 and Oklahoma City #23 among “America’s 50 Hottest Cities.”

Expansion Management asked the consultants to list their top city choices for relocating and expanding manufacturing companies, taking into consideration such factors as the business climate, work force quality, operating costs, incentive programs, and the ease of working with local political and economic development officials.

“Some cities are well-prepared to attract and retain businesses,” says Ken Krizner, managing editor of Expansion Management. “They have logistical advantages, a high quality of life, available work force, and a favorable tax and political climate. These 50 Hottest Cities have a built-in advantage when companies look to site a new manufacturing or distribution facility, or headquarters operation.” Oklahoma’s package of business incentives, which includes Quality Jobs, business incubators, and customized industrial training either free of charge or for nominal fees, consistently impress site location consultants, and, more importantly, their clients.

For example, data collected by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and released in its 2005 New & Expanded Manufacturers report, shows investment announced by new and expanding manufacturers and processors in 2005 totaled more than $403 million. Within the next three years, more than 6,415 new jobs will be created by 26 new and 39 expanding manufacturing companies. New programs and incentives such as the Oklahoma Site Ready Certification Program, which takes properties through a rigorous qualification and inspection process verified by a third party, should see those numbers and the state’s rankings in surveys like Expansion Management’s “America’s 50 Hottest Cities” rise even higher.