ABB adding 265 jobs in Bartlesville
BY LAURA SUMMERS World Correspondent
Thursday, February 28, 2013
BARTLESVILLE – ABB is adding 265 jobs to its Bartlesville facility with the aid of local and state incentive dollars under a plan approved Thursday by city officials.
Bartlesville Development Corporation approved a proposal to expand by 100,000 square feet the ABB facility located in Bartlesville Industrial Park to meet growing demand for the company’s natural gas measurement equipment. Along with the $14 million facility upgrade, the company plans to add more than 250 new engineering and manufacturing jobs with average $75,000 annual salaries locally over the next decade.
“The strength of the oil & gas market - specifically unconventional drilling activity - has provided our business a great opportunity for growth in recent years,” ABB General Manager Gayle Lester said. “We have been successful in making the most of this opportunity and are very excited to be able to expand our local facility to meet the increasing demand from customers.”
A multinational corporation based in Zurich, Switzerland, ABB employs around 140,000 workers across the globe with offices in 100 countries.
Bartlesville Development Corp. in 2000 financed construction of a $5 million, 68,000-square-foot facility in Bartlesville Industrial Park for ABB to house 150 employees who work developing natural gas measuring devices. With the anticipated new jobs, ABB’s Bartlesville workforce is expected to double over the next 10 years.
The project proposed this week would expand the original building for a third time to accommodate growing operations. Bartlesville City Council must give its endorsement to the incentive plan as well. Groundbreaking on the expansion is expected to take place in April.
ABB announced in December plans to expand its Totalflow product line with its Bartlesville factory and sales team taking the lead in growing the business for the oil and gas industry. A corporate press release noted plans “to rapidly expand their offerings in the oil and gas industry in 2013 with a product expansion” that involves numerous new equipment options.
“BDC has been working collaboratively with ABB on this for over a year,” development corporation president David Wood said. “ABB continues to be a solid community partner, and we are delighted to see these new, high-wage jobs come to Bartlesville.”
