‘State of the ports is strong’: 400 jobs added with projects ahead to spur growth

“So the state of the ports is strong,” said Andrew Ralston, Tulsa Ports‘ director of economic development.

He made the comment during an annual State of the Ports luncheon last week, sponsored by Tulsa Ports and the Catoosa Chamber of Commerce.

Officials touted strong partnerships among the Tulsa Ports’ board, its staff, local state and federal politicians in key roles, and private enterprise.

With 400 new jobs added since last October, the number of employees at the ports now is about 3,600. Many of those jobs are relatively high paying and above regional averages, officials said.

“We have a tremendous future,” said Dewey Bartlett Jr., former Tulsa mayor who has been chairman of the Tulsa Ports’ board for the past four years.

“We are going to become the next Silicon Valley in the midsection of this country, in my opinion, and we look forward to that day,” he told the Tulsa World.

The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and the Tulsa Port of Catoosa was officially dedicated on June 5, 1971, with president Richard Nixon speaking. Tulsa Ports, an umbrella organization administered by the City of Tulsa and Rogers County, owns the port land near both Catoosa and Inola.

It does not receive any direct government funding for daily operations, though state and federal grants for infrastructure help lure private companies.

The Port of Inola is about 20 miles southeast of Catoosa and downstream along the Verdigris River.

Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, a major electric utility in the state, transferred 2,000 acres of what is now the Port of Inola to Tulsa Ports in late 2019.

Ralston said that at the Port of Inola, infrastructure, such as electricity and water, is now in place, where it can now be all turned on faster than a company can build their building.

“And that is everything,” he said. “We are competing with projects nationwide and even internationally.”

The first major employer at the Port of Inola was Italian-based company, Sofidel, which opened a 1.8-million-square-foot paper manufacturing plant in 2020.

While some speakers at last week’s event touted Sofidel, none mentioned Enel, another Italian company, which announced in May 2023 plans to build a giant solar panel manufacturing plant at the Port of Inola.

That announcement was touted as the biggest economic development project in state history.

But plans for Enel have been on hold.

State Sen. John Haste, R-Broken Arrow, chairman of the Senate Aeronautics and Transportation Committee, said that between Tulsa and Arkansas, the conversion of U.S. 412 into the proposed new Interstate 412 could have a significant impact on the area.

“A part of that strategy is a multi-model corridor, right here,” he said. “All the things that are taking place in our ports … it’s just exciting to see all of that happening.”

U.S. 412 runs between Catoosa and Inola.

“Ports in Oklahoma are a big deal,” Haste said. “It’s making us a better state.”

Since its dedication in 1971, barges at Tulsa Ports have transported more than 89 million tons of equipment, supplies and commodities, with about 150,000 tons per month.

The barges carry bulk goods such as steel, grain, fertilizer and large machinery.

The barges that are able to traverse the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System are much smaller than international cargo ships that bring goods with thousands of containers to major U.S. coastal seaports.

But nonetheless, a barge traversing back and forth from Tulsa ports can carry the same load as 15 railroad cars and 60 semi-tractor trailer trucks.

“So when you think about it, we are really reducing traffic on the roads with the ports,” Bartlett said.