Both Tulsa and Claremore stand to gain jobs when a local aerospace manufacturer opens a
second plant next summer.
Tulsa-based Pryer Machine & Tool Co. Inc. plans to build a $3 million facility in a Claremore
business park, initially bringing about 50 positions to the city.
Scott Pryer, president of the company, said employment at the new plant is expected to rise to
about 150 in five years.
Several Tulsa employees will likely transfer to Claremore, and the company says it will hire locally
to replace them. In addition, more jobs will be added over the years to the company's 190-
member work force in Tulsa, Pryer said.
"We're simply running out of room in Tulsa," he said, noting that the aviation sector appears to be
on a strong rebound. "We feel now is the time to move forward."
Pryer Machine & Tool, founded in 1965, builds engine components for commercial airlines,
business jets and military aircraft. American Airlines is a major local customer, and the company
also sells nationally and internationally.
The 50,000-square-foot facility in Claremore will be devoted to machining and forming work,
freeing up room for more production processes in Tulsa.
"By moving some processes off site, we anticipate additional production in Tulsa," Pryer said.
The 110,000-square-foot plant is at 2230 N. Sheridan Road.
Construction on the Claremore plant is expected to begin in January.
Through an arrangement with the Claremore Industrial and Economic Development Authority,
Pryer Machine & Tool will build on 20 acres in a business park without charge, so long as the
company creates the jobs it has projected.
Michael Strotheide, executive director of the authority, said the aeronautics manufacturer is the
first company in the new Claremore North Business Park.
"It's helped us kick off the park," he said. "We wouldn't have started building infrastructure without
a tenant."
Workers are constructing roads in the park to accommodate Pryer Machine & Tool.
Landing the manufacturing jobs, which typically pay high wages, will have a multimillion-dollar
economic impact on the local economy, Strotheide said.
The industrial authority is buying land for the business park in phases. Long-term plans
call for a 125-acre spread with walking trails and a day-care center. |
