Governor Mary Fallin devoted her Friday to Durant as she was the guest of honor at two events at what officials said are crucial to Durant’s economic growth. Early Friday morning, the Governor arrived at the new Workforce Oklahoma building located on Highway 70 just across the street from its old location.
Janet Reed, executive director of the Durant Area Chamber of Commerce, said about the importance of the projects, “We are going to feel the impact of this directly but it will have a huge impact on the entire state also. This will impact locally and statewide.”
The resounding theme of the day from the Governor and those who don’t live in Durant, or those who will be moving here, is that Durant is so welcoming and friendly.
Reed said, “People always feel when they come to Durant that they are embraced. The people of the city are the ones that sell Durant. The quality of togetherness is formed and the way the people of Durant greet people and their warmth is what makes Durant so special.”
Workforce Oklahoma’s new facility is opening just in time to handle the duties of placing employees with CMC and other employers. Reed said, “That’s where they go when they are unemployed and looking for jobs. That’s a definite tie-in with CMC coming to Durant. Workforce Oklahoma will be instrumental in preparing the local workforce for the company’s opening. That’s why it’s been such a top priority. I’m so happy she has spent so much time on the CMC project because of what it will do for Durant and Oklahoma.”
Fallin told the Workforce audience, “Workforce Oklahoma is making sure Oklahoma has a highly educated, highly skilled, relevant workforce for our state. Oklahoma works has been about bringing together our employers, state agencies, educational institutions, and our career technology centers and anyone who helps find jobs.”
The second event Governor Fallin attended was hosted by the Choctaw Nation at the Event Center. Chief Gary Batton was proud to welcome Oklahoma’s government leaders to Choctaw land. The Choctaw Nation always embraces every opportunity for growth of the Nation’s home state. Kramer was praised by everyone associated with the Commercial Metals Company project. The nearly $3 million project has taken a year and a half to get to the point of the formal groundbreaking ceremony. It was originally planned for the location east of Durant, but bad weather forced its relocation inside to the Choctaw Event Center. Kramer told of how he received the call that a multi-million dollar company was looking for 400 acres. Several executives with CMC told details of the steps that got the company to the groundbreaking.
“Tommy Kramer worked tirelessly to make this happen,” Fallin said, as she praised Kramer and his efforts.
Fallin spoke to the audience praising Durant and how its citizens have rallied behind the project. A CMC executive said, “We opened our Mesa, Arizona, plant but we didn’t get nearly this big a welcome.”
CMC metals will be one of only two state of the art metal production plants of its kind in the world. CMC has supplied metal to many Oklahoma projects as well as the current Choctaw Nation projects. In a short 18 months, CMC will be producing world class steel out of Durant, officials said.
The bypass around Durant on the east side is a big part of what convinced CMC executives to locate here. The nearly two-hour ceremony told of the many people who made this vision for CMC a reality.
Kramer said, “There’s one thing that’s very apparent, CMC having 9,000 employees around the world, billions of dollars in sales, the leader of steel technology and manufacturing, they are committed to their employees and the employees’ excellence in production and producing. CMC is unbelievable. They give back to the community. They have great families and they will fare well in this community.”
CMC has been in business 100 years in their other locations around the world.
Kramer said summing up part of his personal welcome to the company, “They are here to stay, let me tell you. CMC will be here a hundred good years in the future. God bless you.”
Contact Dan Pennington at (580) 634-2162 or dpennington@civitasmedia.com.
By Dan Pennington
dpennington@civitasmedia.com
