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Energy Company Layoffs, Buyouts Overshadow Local Tech Growth

Matt Trotter
/
KWGS

While it’s been doom and gloom for local energy companies, a Broken Arrow tech firm grows.

L3 AMI makes various simulators for military and private sector clients. The machines help pilots learn how to fly different aircraft or even help truck drivers brush up on their skills.

Vice President Ron Falk said the company is adding 30 well-paying tech jobs in the next six months and has added 84 in last year.

"Half of our jobs are engineering jobs, and they typically require a four-year degree," Falk said. "And then we have a lot of manufacturing jobs, and typically, most of those people have at least two-year degrees from locations like Spartan Aviation or local community colleges in various disciplines."

Gov. Mary Fallin was on hand for a tour of the company’s recent 20,000-square feet expansion. The company recently added the new facility and jobs with help from state incentives like the Quality Jobs Program.

Fallin helped promote the company during a visit to the Paris Air Show two years ago, one factor executives cite as a reason for expanding.

Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce President Wes Smithwick calls the city the simulator capital of Oklahoma.

"And our strategy is to be the simulator capital of the United States," Smithwick said. "There are over 1,000 jobs directly tied to simulation in this area, and that doesn't count the multiplier of secondary and tertiary suppliers. So we are going gung-ho to make this our area of focus."

Fallin has called for schools and businesses to work together to prepare students for jobs like the ones the company is offering.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.