Inola is a suburb of Tulsa 30 miles to the east. Since the town is so small, this thread is a general catch all for development there.

A new 360 million dollar Italian Tissue Paper plant is being built there and will support 300 or so jobs. This is pretty good get. I like seeing developments like this and it only furthers the need for I-45 being expanded and fast tracked to Tulsa.


INOLA, Okla. – An Italian tissue paper manufacturer is investing $360 million to build a new plant in northeastern Oklahoma that it says will support 300 area jobs.

Sofidel Group announced the plan Friday as it broke ground on the project in Inola, a town of 1,900 people located about 30 miles east of Tulsa.

The 1.8-million-square-foot plant is expected to be online by 2020 and will be able to produce 120,000 tons of tissue paper annually. Hundreds of jobs are expected to be created in the Rogers County area.

Luigi Lazzareschi, the CEO of Sofidel Group, says the plant will serve the south-central and central-western U.S., where it has been operating since 2012.

The company has more than 6,000 employees and subsidiaries in 13 countries.

- http://kfor.com/2018/03/17/italian-tissue-paper-manufacturer-announces-360m-plant-in-oklahoma/

More good news for this place:

https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/governor-gets-218-6-million-incentive-package-for-solar-panel-manufacturing-facility-bid/article_882f16ca-f348-11ed-acfa-3724d8344d2b.html

Solar panel plant is official.

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/italys-enel-invest-more-than-1-bln-oklahoma-solar-panel-factory-2023-05-22/

1000 jobs by 2025 and the potential to scale to 2000 jobs is a great win for the Port of Inola. Many of these workers will commute from east Tulsa and Broken Arrow.

Another exciting prospect of this is the need for wider freeways as well. ODOT needs to be looking at this and planning new widenings.

Another exciting prospect of this is the need for wider freeways as well. ODOT needs to be looking at this and planning new widenings.

ODOT just finished a decade long project to widen the highway from Catoosa to the I-244 split to ten lanes and in Catoosa the OK-66 interchange is being fixed starting next year. The ten miles from Catoosa to Inola is being upgraded to an interstate quality limited access highway as part of the US-412 Interstate upgrade project by 2028.

It is being worked on.

^ They will eventually need a new river bridge between 412 and 51..

1000 jobs by 2025 and the potential to scale to 2000 jobs is a great win for the Port of Inola. Many of these workers will commute from east Tulsa and Broken Arrow.

This is huge. A $1 billion investment by Enel North America for the Tulsa metro area with the plant in Tulsa's Port of Inola Industrial Park.

It will boost population estimates for the 2025-26 when the plant goes into production.

Enel North America (headquarters in Andover, MA) has a regional office in Oklahoma City.

^ They will eventually need a new river bridge between 412 and 51..

A bridge across the Verdigris along 71st would make a lot of sense. Improve 71st all the way back toward the Creek and then have it connect into 4200 Road into Inola. 4200 Road would make sense to upgrade as well and maybe turn it into an extension of Highway 88 that ends in Inola now. Build an east bypass for Highway 88 where it stays along 4200 versus going into downtown Inola.

The 71st connection would make Forest Ridge and all those new subdivisions there a less than 10 minute drive to the Port versus 30+ now where you'd have to take the Creek north to 412 then back south.

A bridge across the Verdigris along 71st would make a lot of sense. Improve 71st all the way back toward the Creek and then have it connect into 4200 Road into Inola. 4200 Road would make sense to upgrade as well and maybe turn it into an extension of Highway 88 that ends in Inola now. Build an east bypass for Highway 88 where it stays along 4200 versus going into downtown Inola.

The 71st connection would make Forest Ridge and all those new subdivisions there a less than 10 minute drive to the Port versus 30+ now where you'd have to take the Creek north to 412 then back south.

Sign 71st from the Creek to US-69 as OK-151

● Why is Enel making plans for a solar manufacturing facility in the US?
o Demand-and-supply imbalances, changes in regulation and logistics disruptions
have led to a higher risk of lead time increases and extra costs for solar projects.
Building domestic solar manufacturing in the US helps meet this significant
demand from solar developers.
● What’s the timeline for operations?
o The company plans to begin construction by fall 2023. On this timeline, the
company anticipates the facility to have a minimum production capacity of 3 GW
with the possibility to scale production to 6 GW annually.
● Where will the facility be located? What factors are being considered?
o Enel has selected a site in Inola, Oklahoma for the planned facility.
o The company is considering land availability, the presence of a skilled workforce,
connections to transportation networks, and tax and incentive structures in
making its siting decision.
● How large will the facility be – both physically and by product capacity?
o Enel has previously announced initial plans to consider building a facility in the
US on par with its 3 GW “gigafactory” expansion underway in Catania, Italy.
INTERNAL
o At this time, the company expects to build at least a 3 GW facility, with the
potential for up to 6 GW. This represents approximately 2.5M square feet of
facility space.
● What’s the total investment expected to build the facility? Is Enel financing it
entirely with its own resources?
o Plans for the project represent an investment of over 1 billion USD.
o Financing for the facility is still to be determined. Enel may utilize its own
resources or partner with a third-party co-investor, in accordance with its
“stewardship” model.

I really wish they’d revive the Black Fox Nuke Plant in Inola.

https://www.inolaok.com/black-fox-protest

I really wish they’d revive the Black Fox Nuke Plant in Inola.

https://www.inolaok.com/black-fox-protest

The Black Fox site is the Tulsa Port of Inola. Enel is building on it.

The Black Fox site is the Tulsa Port of Inola. Enel is building on it.
It isn’t like they couldn’t find another site.