Source: Tulsa World, Okla.文件倉Aug. 11--Whirlpool to add 150 jobs to Tulsa facilityWhirlpool Corp. announced Thursday it will add approximately 150 jobs at its Tulsa factory.Additionally, the manufacturer said it will spend $18.8 million for capital improvements at the facility, located near U.S. 75 and 76th Street North in the Cherokee Industrial Park.Whirlpool currently employs 850 people in Tulsa, down from a high of 1,200 five years ago.The plant chiefly manufactures cooking ranges, and the growth in employment was attributed to a new cooking product line that will be made in Tulsa.The new jobs will mostly be in manufacturing and skilled labor, with a few salaried positions in support, Whirlpool said in a news release. The company did not disclose the salary range or what the capital improvements will entail.Gov. Mary Fallin said she is excited that the company is expanding and creating jobs in Tulsa."Whirlpool's investment in Oklahoma is a great vote of confidence in the state's pro-business climate and its long-term economic outlook," she said in a statement. "My thanks go out to Whirlpool and its employees for continuing to be an important part of our Oklahoma community."- ROBERT EVATT, World Business WriterAA-US Airways merger passes regulatory hurdleThe European Commission has approved the proposed merger between US Airways and AMR Corp., the parent of American Airlines, removing another obstacle to the deal.As a condition of its approval, the EC is requiring the new combined carrier to give up one daily take-off and landing slot between London's Heathrow Airport and Philadelphia. Currently, Tempe, Ariz.-based US Airways operates one daily flight between London and Philadelphia, and American's Oneworld alliance partner, British Airways, operates two daily flights between the cities."The commitments include a corresponding slot at London Heathrow as well as far-reaching feeder arrangements to induce entry by a new competitor on the route," EC official Joaquin Almunia said in a statement. "We are therefore satisfied that the competitive dynamics will be maintained so as to ensure choice and quality of air services for passengers on this route."With clearance from the EC, the merger is awaiting approval from the U.S. Department of Justice as well as confirmation of AMR's restructuring plan in bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy court is scheduled to take up the matter Thursday. And both airlines expect to close the merger by September, when American will exit bankruptcy.- ANDREA HALES, Fort Worth Star-TelegramMidtown may get another grocery storeCould midtown Tulsa be getting another big-name grocery store?According to a recent city Board of Adjustment case report, an applicant plans to tear down and rebuild the former Homeland building near 31st Street and Harvard Avenue for a new grocery store.Chatter on Facebook and elsewhere is that a Walmart Neighborhood Market may locate at the site in Ranch Acres Shopping Center.Officials at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. were asked by phone Tuesday about the possibility of locating a grocery store at the site."We're always looking for opportunities to serve our Tulsa customers, but we存倉have nothing to announce," said an emailed response by Erica Jones, senior manager of communications for the Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant.A Walmart Neighborhood Market operates on the southwest corner of 21st Street and Yale Avenue, less than two miles away.The applicant received approval for the plan at the July 9 Board of Adjustment meeting.Lynne Tucker, who sits on the board of trustees for the Ranch Acres Homeowners Association, voiced support for a new store."We're all very much thrilled and in favor of it," she said.- LAURIE WINSLOW, World Business WriterPlanned community in the works in west TulsaThe site around a pick-your-own blueberry farm in west Tulsa could become a 23-acre planned community with residential and commercial components.The development, currently known as The Land, was unveiled Wednesday by Richard Presley, owner of retail optical shops in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas, during the regular meeting of the Tulsa Rotary Club downtown.Presley said he's in the planning phases of the project and hopes to present a site plan for permitting approval by the end of the year.For the design, Presley has hired Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., a Miami, Fla.-based architectural firm that has planned a number of communities built around smart growth, sustainable development and community planning over the past three decades.Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, a founding principal of the firm, spoke during the luncheon about design strategies to tackle the interconnected problems of urban disinvestment and suburban sprawl.The principles the company tends to follow in its mixed-use developments include having everything within a five-minute walking radius; focal civic places such as post offices, activity centers and churches; and a road layout that focuses on interconnectedness.She said The Land will have a similar feel with a cluster of commercial and community space, featuring a mix of offices, restaurants and a market, as well as a variety of residential options.- ROBERT EVATT, World Business WriterThe week in numbers48Drop, in percentage, in second-quarter net income for HollyFrontier Corp. after the company reported $257 million in earnings, down from $493.5 million a year earlier. The drop is due to many refineries being down for maintenance, CEO Mike Jennings said.5.8Increase, in percentage, of car rentals at Tulsa International Airport in June over the same month last year after being up 11.4 percent in May. The Global Business Travel Association is predicting a 5.4 percent increase in business travel this year.17Number of high school graduates in the state, out of 100, who earn a college degree in Oklahoma, according to Marilyn Feaver of the Southwest Oklahoma Impact Coalition. Groups at a Monday conference gathered to address the need for skilled labor in the state.Quotable"In a few years, I think vinyl and downloads will be the only formats for music."- Jim Paddack, co-owner of Oklahoma retailer Size Records, on the comeback in popularity of vinyl recordsCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉
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