Forbes named these Oklahoma employers some of the best in the country: See the list

Published

1 year ago

August 29, 2024

Forbes named these Oklahoma employers some of the best in the country: See the list

With more people content to remain at their current jobs, Forbes recently released its 2024 Best Employers by State.

The media company partnered with Statista to survey more than 160,000 employees working for companies with at least 500 people in the United States.

Forbes listed 35 companies in Oklahoma with 19 headquartered in Oklahoma.

Here’s which companies in Oklahoma made the list:

No. 1: Chickasaw Nation Department of Commerce

CEO: Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby

Headquarters: Ada

Industry: Travel and leisure

Employees: 13,500

Year founded: 1983

No. 2: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

CEO: Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton

Headquarters: Tuskahoma

Industry: Government services

Employees: 12,000

Year founded: 1820

No. 3: American Electric Power

CEO: Benjamin G.S. Fowke

Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio

Industry: Utilities

Employees: 17,250

Year founded: 1906

No. 4: Oklahoma Heart Hospital

CEO: John R. Harvey

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Health care and social services

Employees: N/A

Year founded: 2002

No. 5: Saint Francis Health System

CEO: Cliff Robertson

Headquarters: Tulsa

Industry: Health care and social services

Employees: 11,000

Year founded: 1960

No. 6: MidFirst Bank

CEO: Jeff Records

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Banking and financial services

Employees: 3,268

Year founded: 1982

No. 7: Costco Wholesale

CEO: Roland M. Vachris

Headquarters: Issaquah, Washington

Industry: Retail and wholesale

Employees: 208,000

Year founded: 1983

No. 8: Oklahoma State University – Main campus

CEO: Oklahoma State University President Kayse Shrum

Headquarters: Stillwater

Industry: Education

Employees: 8,882

Year founded: 1890

No. 9: Dell Technologies

CEO: Michael Saul Dell

Headquarters: Round Rock, Texas

Industry: Semiconductors, electronics, electrical engineering

Employees: 42,560

Year founded: 1984

No. 10: Tyson Foods

CEO: Donnie D. King

Headquarters: Springdale, Arkansas

Industry: Food, soft beverages, alcohol and tobacco

Employees: 120,000

Year founded: 1935

No. 11: Stillwater Medical Center

CEO: Denise Webber

Headquarters: Stillwater

Industry: Health care and social services

Employees: 2,000

Year founded: 1916

No. 12: University of Oklahoma

CEO: University of Oklahoma President Joseph Harroz Jr.

Headquarters: Norman

Industry: Education

Employees: 18,000

Year founded: 1890

No. 13: OGE Energy

CEO: Sean Trauschke

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Utilities

Employees: 2,329

Year founded: 1902

No. 14: Cherokee Nation

CEO: Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskins Jr.

Headquarters: Tahlequah

Industry: Government services

Employees: 11,600

Year founded: 1839

No. 15: Target

CEO: Brian C. Cornell

Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Industry: Retail and wholesale

Employees: 415,000

Year founded: 1902

No. 16: Arvest Bank

CEO: Kevin Sabin

Headquarters: Lowell, Arkansas

Industry: Banking and financial services

Employees: 6,462

Year founded: 1961

No. 17: Cox Entertainment

CEO: Alex Taylor

Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia

Industry: Telecommunications services, cable supplier

Employees: 50,000

Year founded: 1898

No. 18: Amazon

CEO: Andrew R. Jassy

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington

Industry: Retail and wholesale

Employees: 1,525,000

Year founded: 1994

No. 19: Oklahoma State University Medical Center

CEO: Johnny Stephens

Headquarters: Tulsa

Industry: Health care and social services

Employees: N/A

Year founded: 1972

No. 20: Whirlpool

CEO: Marc Robert Bitzer

Headquarters: Benton Harbor, Michigan

Industry: Semiconductors, electronics, electrical engineering

Employees: 18,880

Year founded: 1911

No. 21: Oklahoma Department of Human Services

CEO: Deborah Shropshire

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Government services

Employees: 5,000

Year founded: 1936

No. 22: Sodexo

CEO: Sophie Clamens

Headquarters: Gaithersburg, Maryland

Industry: Business services and supplies

Employees: 435,159

Year founded: 1966

No. 23: U.S. Department of Defense

CEO: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III

Headquarters: Arlington County, Virginia

Industry: Government services

Employees: 3,400,000

Year founded: 1947

No. 24: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

CEO: U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough

Headquarters: Washington, District of Columbia

Industry: Government services

Employees: 400,000

Year founded: 1930

No. 25: Enterprise Mobility

CEO: Andrew C. Taylor

Headquarters: St. Louis, Missouri

Industry: Travel and leisure

Employees: 90,000

Year founded: 1957

No. 26: Oklahoma City Public Schools

CEO: Oklahoma City Public Schools Superintendent Jamie Polk

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Education

Employees: 4,285

Year founded: 1889

No. 27: Macy’s

CEO: Antony Spring

Headquarters: New York, New York

Industry: Retail and wholesale

Employees: 85,581

Year founded: 1858

No. 28: FedEx

CEO: Rajesh Subramaniam

Headquarters: Memphis, Tennessee

Industry: Transportation and logistics

Employees: 600,000

Year founded: 1971

No. 29: One Gas

CEO: Robert S. McAnnally

Headquarters: Tulsa

Industry: Utilities

Employees: 3,900

Year founded: 2014

No. 30: AT&T

CEO: John T. Stankey

Headquarters: Dallas, Texas

Industry: Telecommunications services, cable supplier

Employees: 149,900

Year founded: 1876

No. 31: Hobby Lobby

CEO: David Green

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Retail and wholesale

Employees: 43,000

Year founded: 1972

No. 32: Devon Energy

CEO: Richard E. Muncrief

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Construction, chemicals, raw materials

Employees: 1,900

Year founded: 1971

No. 33: State of Oklahoma

CEO: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Government services

Employees: 30,000

Year founded: 1907

No. 34: City of Oklahoma City

CEO: Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt

Headquarters: Oklahoma City

Industry: Government services

Employees: 4,500

Year founded: 1889

No. 35: Norman Regional Health System

CEO: Richie Splitt

Headquarters: Norman

Industry: Health care and social services

Employees: 2,700

Year founded: 1946

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Baylor looks to bounce back on the road in game against Oklahoma State

Published

3 days ago

September 24, 2025

Press Room

Baylor looks to bounce back on the road in game against Oklahoma State

WACO, Texas (KXXV) — To say the least, it has been a memorable four games for Baylor football so far this season.

A walk off field goal by Arizona State at McLane Stadium brings the Bears to 2-2 for the season and now they are heading to Stillwater looking to bounce back against Oklahoma State.

Watch the full story here:

Baylor looks to bounce back in road game against Oklahoma State

“Saturday’s game was a tough one,” head coach Dave Aranda said. “But, I think the message there is that hey, you can prepare, you can practice, you can do all of the things — that doesn’t mean you’re gonna win. There’s still more things that you gotta do.”

“There’s no participation trophy for preparing right and staying late and doing the extra all these details matter and so we’re really focused on that,” he added.

The Bears enter Stillwater following the firing of Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy after 21 years on the job. While the Cowboys are reeling, the Bears understand that they still have a talented roster.

“They play hard, you know. They get after the ball, their record doesn’t reflect the kind of team they are. They got a lot of talent and they’re gonna be ready to play,” safety Devyn Bobby said.

“Same thing we always talk about — respect all, fear none. We take that into every week, you know they’re still a great program. They have great coaching staff, great athletes on the field, so we gotta be prepared and ready for them,” wide receiver Kobe Prentice said.

After the Arizona State game, head coach Aranda spoke about complimentary football. While the defense had a great game last week, the offense struggled — and they are looking to find that balance.

“Obviously we didn’t get the win, so we got to get better so you know a lot of people might say we had a great game but we didn’t get to win — we could have had more stops, had more turnovers, but you know we’re still having to attack everyday mindset and we’re trying to get better,” Bobby said.

“The higher level than all of that is the team is that you know if one side’s down the other side picks it up. We need to be able to have that, you know, when we’ve played at the level that we need to play, we play that way and so we’re going to continue to aim for it,” Aranda said.

Baylor vs Oklahoma State is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. this Saturday.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma State football fires coach Mike Gundy after 21 seasons, school announces

Published

5 days ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

Oklahoma State football fires coach Mike Gundy after 21 seasons, school announces

Oklahoma State football has fired head coach Mike Gundy after 21 seasons, the program announced on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

Gundy, previously the second-longest tenured head coach with one program in college football, led the Cowboys to a 1-2 start this season, including a 19-12 loss to in-state foe Tulsa on Sept. 19, which was OSU’s first at home to Tulsa since 1951. Oklahoma State also lost to Oregon 69-3 in Week 2.

“Cowboy Football reached an unprecedented level of success and national prominence under Coach Gundy’s leadership,” OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg said in the announcement. “I believe I speak for OSU fans everywhere when I say that we are grateful for all he did to raise the standard and show us all what is possible for Oklahoma State football.”

Oklahoma State is amid its longest losing streak to Power Four teams in program history, having lost 11 straight against such teams. The Cowboys went 3-9 last season and were winless in Big 12 play. Gundy leaves the program with a 170-90 career record and has the school’s winningest coach of all time. He has 108 more wins than Pat Jones, who ranks second in program history with 62 wins.

Gundy is owed a $15 million buyout from the school due to be fired prior to Dec. 31, 2027, according to his contract obtained by the USA TODAY Network.

Gundy said after the Tulsa loss that he had no interest in 2025 being his final season with the program, and was swarmed with questions about his future with the school.

“In 21 years it’s a different position than I’ve been in,” Gundy said. “As I say every week, my job is to evaluate the overall program, players, the systems … And then I have to make a decision on where we’re at based on what we have. That’s what I do. We’ve certainly been in a different situation a lot of years in a row, but currently we’re not in that situation.”

The 58-year-old coach helped build Oklahoma State into a perennial Big 12 title contender after taking over for Les Miles in 2005. He nearly led the Cowboys to the national championship in 2011, and was Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2010, 2021 and 2023.

The fall from grace was fast for the program, as the Cowboys earned a spot in the Big 12 championship in 2023, and also beat archrival Oklahoma in the final Bedlam for the foreseeable future.

Gundy, a former Oklahoma State quarterback and Midwest City, Oklahoma, native, has only coached four seasons at other schools in his career, serving as passing-game coordinator at Baylor in 1996 and receivers coach at Maryland from 1997-99. He was an assistant at Oklahoma State from 1990-95, and again from 2001-04.

Oklahoma State will turn to a new coach for the first time in over 20 years for the 2026 season, and they’ll look to lead the program back to the heights of Gundy’s prime in Stillwater.

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AP Top 25 Continues Troubling Trend for Big 12, Oklahoma State’s Future

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

AP Top 25 Continues Troubling Trend for Big 12, Oklahoma State’s Future

The Big 12 is still having a rough time in the national landscape.

Over the weekend, the Big 12 had some interesting matchups as it secured an unbeaten record in nonconference games. While a couple of matchups between Big 12 teams on Friday kept the conference from having a perfect record, the 12 teams in action combined for a 10-2 mark, which is the best they could have achieved in Week 3.

However, that didn’t mean a whole lot for the Big 12 in the AP poll, which dropped on Sunday. The conference had only three teams in the top 25, with No. 12 Iowa State, No. 16 Utah and No. 17 Texas Tech representing the Big 12.

In terms of how bad that is for the Big 12, the conference’s most recent departures in Texas and Oklahoma came in at Nos. 8 and 11, respectively. Meanwhile, the other three power conferences have at least one team in the top four and multiple teams in the top seven.

Of course, the AP poll is only good for discussions, as evidenced by winless Notre Dame’s inclusion, with the independent program riding the coattails of last season’s runner-up performance. The real rankings won’t come until the final weeks of the year, with the College Football Playoff’s top 25 ultimately being all that matters in the end.

To put it simply, the AP poll is unlikely to have any impact on OSU this season. The Cowboys’ loss at Oregon will keep them from receiving a single vote for quite some time, even if they could somehow put together a sizeable winning streak starting with the Tulsa matchup.

Of course, if the Cowboys could find a way to put together any sort of streak, perhaps in a similar fashion to 2023’s winning streak, they might be able to break through anyway, given the Big 12’s status nationally. Sure, the Cowboys won’t be any sort of contender at the national level any time soon, but a 5-1 start would probably be good enough to get them into the polls and the Big 12 title conversation.

In terms of the long-term future, the Pokes might not even be saved by any type of resurgence. Considering the Big 12 is easily the laughing stock of the Power Four, it needs a program to essentially save it from becoming irrelevant in the national landscape.

With OSU being the laughing stock of the Big 12, there’s no reason to expect the Cowboys to be the saviors the conference desperately needs.

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