Local, state and national leaders broke ground today on the 1.3 million square foot Macy's distribution center in Owasso.
Peter Longo is the company's president of logistics and operations. He said several factors sold them on the location.
"It's exactly — from a shipping point of view — in a centroid that we want to be in for getting our merchandise in and getting our package deliveries out to consumers, to minimize transportation costs," Longo said. There's also "the quality of the community and its community leaders, and a workforce that we think is second to none in all the sites that we've looked at."
Construction should be done in about a year, with the facility set to begin shipping orders next summer.
The Cherokee nation played a role in attracting the facility. It contributed infrastructure improvements and tax credits to the campaign to get Macy's here instead of Texas or Kansas.
Principal Chief Bill John Baker said they'll keep working to lure big companies because it means opportunities for 120,000 citizens in Green Country.
"One of our missions is to find gainful employment for everybody that needs it," Baker said. "We don't have to own every job that we help find for Cherokees."
State and local incentives like closing funds also played a role.
