This article originally was published in the Journal Record. Click here to read the original article.

TULSA – A New Jersey engine developer on Wednesday announced plans for a manufacturing plant in Miami, Okla., to the surprise and consternation of some state economic development officials.

Coates International of Wall Township, N.J., reported signing a joint venture for a $300 million bond offering to start two manufacturing and production facilities, one in Miami and one near its headquarters.

No timetable or method was disclosed for raising the money or launching the plants, which would build two proprietary products, the Coates CSRV Industrial Electric Power Natural Gas Generator and the 18 Wheeler Tractor Trailer Diesel CSRV Engine.

In a press release, the company said it had reached an agreement with the state of Oklahoma enabling it to qualify for up to $750 million in business and tax incentives.

Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Natalie Shirley said no such formal agreement exists.

This story originally appeared in the Stillwater NewsPress. Click here to read the original story.

The Spears School of Business Center for Applied Economic Research (CAER) at Oklahoma State University is pleased to announce the new leadership team of economists Russell Evans and Kyle Dean.

Evans joined the CAER in May and replaced Mark Snead as CAER director. Evans is an OSU graduate and is returning to the Spears School after spending a year as a faculty member at the University of Tulsa.

Having completed his graduate coursework in 2005, he and Dean formed a private economic consulting firm, Economic Impact Group, LLC, in Edmond, Okla., and they have continued working together ever since.

“I have enjoyed thoroughly the experiences acquired as a small business entrepreneur and hope to bring the same client-oriented approach to the center,” Evans said.

Story originally published in the Tulsa World. Click here to read the original story.

TULSA - Mark Snead of Oklahoma State University says that while the official forecast for Tulsa is a 0.2 percent decrease in jobs in 2009, it actually could turn out to be a gain of 0.2 percent.

In March 2007, the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting a significant change in arts, education and hospitality jobs. In the next revision, last March, the numbers got even worse.

Originally published in the Journal Record. Click here to read the original story.

TULSA – Noted J.P. Morgan chief economist Anthony Chan said the national recession could bottom out within six to nine months – paralleling forecasts by Oklahoma State University economist Mark Snead, who based his positive state, Oklahoma City and Tulsa outlooks on a projected 2009 turnaround.

To Snead, oil price volatility holds the greatest threat to sustaining Oklahoma’s growth. But while the state’s oil sector has trimmed its capital expenditure plans, Williams Cos. executive Evan Hanson expects the industry to maintain its current labor force.