RedDirt717
03-15-2010, 11:56 PM
This is what I was talking about a few weeks ago. After moving back to OKC a year ago from Wash. DC (I'm 26). I've noticed an absolute outpouring of young talent in the OKC area from other parts of the country. My roomate just moved here from California, and I have a friend from Vegas (but now in DC) that's wanting to go to law school out here.
The Thunder and Hornets have already paid off in terms of changing the image of OKC. Most common description "Much cooler than I thought it was going to be, I think I want to stay"
NewsOK (http://www.newsok.com/young-professionals-made-welcome/article/3446765?custom_click=lead_story_title)
Chamber executives and young workers aren’t surprised Oklahoma City has been named one of the best places to work for people in their 20s and 30s.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber the past four years has focused on recruiting, retaining and attracting talented young professionals, said Drew Dugan, vice president of education and work force development.
"I think we’ve probably had a big impact through our Greater Grads program,” he said. Along with job fairs, the chamber every summer matches some 350 students with employers for work internships, which they augment with weekly leadership meetings.
"Participants become more sophisticated in weighing their options,” he said. "They realize Oklahoma City can provide them both a high quality of life, and the opportunity to make a big impact on the community where they work.”
Such was the experience of Greater Grads participant Matt Clark, who works in community relations for Chesapeake Energy.
"It really opened my eyes to the different industries we have, and that there are a lot of ways to be involved in nonprofits at a young age,” Clark, 26, said.
An advertising graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Mary Green, 27, moved back to Oklahoma City last week after working in Denver and then Dallas.
"I can already tell Oklahoma City is growing in a way that will bring young people back,” said Green, who’s looking for a marketing job. "There are more opportunities with bigger companies that are expanding, and more sections of town — like Midtown and the new condos downtown — that cater to the younger generation.”
"And Thunder is huge,” Green said. "I can go to a game or a Red Tie event and know I’m going to see so many people I know.
"Living out of town made me appreciate Oklahoma City so much.” She said she’s already saving $300 a month in rent. "It’s just easy here.”
and
NewsOK (http://newsok.com/oklahoma-attractive-to-young-workers/article/3446764)
For workers ages 18 to 34, Oklahoma City and Tulsa are among the 10 best markets in the country, according to a survey released Monday by Portfolio.com, a national business news site that provides analysis to small- and mid-sized businesses.
Based on 10 factors — including job growth, cost of living and the number of college-educated and employed adults — Oklahoma City ranks No. 6 and Tulsa, No. 8, among 67 metros with populations over 750,000.
The Southwest swept the survey with six of the top 14 places. Austin is No. 1, Houston, No. 5; Dallas-Fort Worth, No. 7; and San Antonio, No. 14. Behind Austin at the top of the list are Washington, D.C., Raleigh and Boston. Detroit sits at the bottom with Cleveland, Dayton, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Riverside-San Bernadino.
"Oklahoma City and Tulsa continue to have unusually good unemployment,” survey demographer G. Scott Thomas said. Based on 2008 data, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, with 5.8 percent and 6.2 percent respective unemployment, have the second and third lowest unemployment rates nationwide, Thomas said. Salt Lake City has the lowest at 4.7 percent, while Atlanta, Richmond and other places in the north and southeast have double-digit unemployment.
Another plus for Oklahoma City is its population base is the ninth youngest, Thomas said. Adults 18 to 34 comprise 24.9 percent of residents metro-wide, including the university towns of Edmond and Norman. Tulsa’s young adult base is 22.6 percent. Comparatively, Austin’s base is 28 percent, while Pittsburgh and Cleveland’s populations are below 20 percent.
From 2004 through 2009, Oklahoma City and Tulsa also saw job growth. Oklahoma City is the 11th best in the country, Thomas said, with an increase of 0.6 percent per year and 17,100 additional jobs overall. Tulsa, he said, had even stronger growth at 1.5 percent per year. Comparatively, Austin’s jobs grew an average of 2.8 percent every year, while most areas had fewer jobs including New Orleans, which lost 3 percent per year, and Detroit, which lost 343,700 jobs in the past five years.
The leading weakness with Oklahoma’s job market is its low concentration of high income among workers 45 and younger, Thomas said. Of household incomes of $100,000 or greater, Oklahoma City has 12.5 percent in that age bracket. Tulsa has 12.6 percent.
The most affluent young Americans live in the San Francisco-Bay area and the Northeast Corridor, where more than one-third of households earn $100,000 or more.
"Oklahoma metros are in the bottom 20, partly as a result of the cost of living,” Thomas said. The median rent for apartments, which generally reflect the lower cost of living, is $520 in Oklahoma City and $508 in Tulsa, he said. "They’re among the five lowest (rent-wise) in the country,” Thomas said. "The only lower are Pittsburgh and Buffalo, with Louisville stuck in between.”
The young adults survey is the latest installment of Portfolio.com’s U.S. Uncovered series — a monthly collection of exclusive, in-depth analyses of U.S. lifestyle trends. The series provides analysis of the American lifestyle and business trends of interest to the $13.7 trillion market of small- and mid-sized businesses, which are expected to spend $1.83 trillion this year, according to data compiled annually by American City Business Journals.
The Thunder and Hornets have already paid off in terms of changing the image of OKC. Most common description "Much cooler than I thought it was going to be, I think I want to stay"
NewsOK (http://www.newsok.com/young-professionals-made-welcome/article/3446765?custom_click=lead_story_title)
Chamber executives and young workers aren’t surprised Oklahoma City has been named one of the best places to work for people in their 20s and 30s.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber the past four years has focused on recruiting, retaining and attracting talented young professionals, said Drew Dugan, vice president of education and work force development.
"I think we’ve probably had a big impact through our Greater Grads program,” he said. Along with job fairs, the chamber every summer matches some 350 students with employers for work internships, which they augment with weekly leadership meetings.
"Participants become more sophisticated in weighing their options,” he said. "They realize Oklahoma City can provide them both a high quality of life, and the opportunity to make a big impact on the community where they work.”
Such was the experience of Greater Grads participant Matt Clark, who works in community relations for Chesapeake Energy.
"It really opened my eyes to the different industries we have, and that there are a lot of ways to be involved in nonprofits at a young age,” Clark, 26, said.
An advertising graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Mary Green, 27, moved back to Oklahoma City last week after working in Denver and then Dallas.
"I can already tell Oklahoma City is growing in a way that will bring young people back,” said Green, who’s looking for a marketing job. "There are more opportunities with bigger companies that are expanding, and more sections of town — like Midtown and the new condos downtown — that cater to the younger generation.”
"And Thunder is huge,” Green said. "I can go to a game or a Red Tie event and know I’m going to see so many people I know.
"Living out of town made me appreciate Oklahoma City so much.” She said she’s already saving $300 a month in rent. "It’s just easy here.”
and
NewsOK (http://newsok.com/oklahoma-attractive-to-young-workers/article/3446764)
For workers ages 18 to 34, Oklahoma City and Tulsa are among the 10 best markets in the country, according to a survey released Monday by Portfolio.com, a national business news site that provides analysis to small- and mid-sized businesses.
Based on 10 factors — including job growth, cost of living and the number of college-educated and employed adults — Oklahoma City ranks No. 6 and Tulsa, No. 8, among 67 metros with populations over 750,000.
The Southwest swept the survey with six of the top 14 places. Austin is No. 1, Houston, No. 5; Dallas-Fort Worth, No. 7; and San Antonio, No. 14. Behind Austin at the top of the list are Washington, D.C., Raleigh and Boston. Detroit sits at the bottom with Cleveland, Dayton, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Riverside-San Bernadino.
"Oklahoma City and Tulsa continue to have unusually good unemployment,” survey demographer G. Scott Thomas said. Based on 2008 data, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, with 5.8 percent and 6.2 percent respective unemployment, have the second and third lowest unemployment rates nationwide, Thomas said. Salt Lake City has the lowest at 4.7 percent, while Atlanta, Richmond and other places in the north and southeast have double-digit unemployment.
Another plus for Oklahoma City is its population base is the ninth youngest, Thomas said. Adults 18 to 34 comprise 24.9 percent of residents metro-wide, including the university towns of Edmond and Norman. Tulsa’s young adult base is 22.6 percent. Comparatively, Austin’s base is 28 percent, while Pittsburgh and Cleveland’s populations are below 20 percent.
From 2004 through 2009, Oklahoma City and Tulsa also saw job growth. Oklahoma City is the 11th best in the country, Thomas said, with an increase of 0.6 percent per year and 17,100 additional jobs overall. Tulsa, he said, had even stronger growth at 1.5 percent per year. Comparatively, Austin’s jobs grew an average of 2.8 percent every year, while most areas had fewer jobs including New Orleans, which lost 3 percent per year, and Detroit, which lost 343,700 jobs in the past five years.
The leading weakness with Oklahoma’s job market is its low concentration of high income among workers 45 and younger, Thomas said. Of household incomes of $100,000 or greater, Oklahoma City has 12.5 percent in that age bracket. Tulsa has 12.6 percent.
The most affluent young Americans live in the San Francisco-Bay area and the Northeast Corridor, where more than one-third of households earn $100,000 or more.
"Oklahoma metros are in the bottom 20, partly as a result of the cost of living,” Thomas said. The median rent for apartments, which generally reflect the lower cost of living, is $520 in Oklahoma City and $508 in Tulsa, he said. "They’re among the five lowest (rent-wise) in the country,” Thomas said. "The only lower are Pittsburgh and Buffalo, with Louisville stuck in between.”
The young adults survey is the latest installment of Portfolio.com’s U.S. Uncovered series — a monthly collection of exclusive, in-depth analyses of U.S. lifestyle trends. The series provides analysis of the American lifestyle and business trends of interest to the $13.7 trillion market of small- and mid-sized businesses, which are expected to spend $1.83 trillion this year, according to data compiled annually by American City Business Journals.