Oklahoma
Forbes named these Oklahoma employers some of the best in the country: See the list
National parks within driving distance of Oklahoma City
These national parks are great for a weekend road trip out of Oklahoma.
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
NORMAN — After an up-and down week that saw Oklahoma drop the lone Bedlam match of the season, and then split two tight games with Arkansas before blowing out the Razorbacks on Sunday, the Sooners remained No. 1 in the NFCA/Go Rout coaches’ poll released Tuesday.
But there’s far from a consensus.
Oklahoma received 12 first-place votes — the same total they had last week — but five other teams received first-place votes.
Texas Tech remained No. 2 with four four-place votes and Alabama No. 3 with seven. Nebraska moved up two spots to No. 4 with four first-place votes, followed by Florida with two and UCLA with two.
Texas is No. 7, followed by Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida State.
Texas A&M, the Sooners’ opponent for the final regular-season weekend in two weeks, comes in at No. 11.
Other SEC teams include Georgia at No. 15, Mississippi State at No. 17 and LSU at No. 20.
OU hosts the Georgia Bulldogs in a three-game series beginning Friday.
Other Sooners’ opponents this season in the polls include No. 14 Duke, No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, No. 24 Arizona State and No. 25 Washington.
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Oklahoma also remained in the top spot in the D1Softball poll, with Alabama No. 2 there followed by Texas Tech, Nebraska at Texas.
The Sooners dropped a spot in the Softball America poll, with Nebraska elevating to No. 1 behind the two-way stardom of former OU standout Jordy Frahm (formerly Jordy Bahl).
Frahm is 13-4 with a 1.36 ERA and 157 strikeouts in 118 2/3 innings in the circle and hitting .440 with 16 home runs and 42 RBIs. Another former Sooners player, Hannah Coor, is among the Cornhuskers’ regulars as well.
The Sooners have 158 home runs, just three away from tying their own season record in the category, but UCLA has closed the gap in a major way, sitting just four behind Oklahoma.
OU freshman sensation Kendall Wells leads the nation with 34 home runs, three ahead of UCLA’s Megan Grant. Wells tied Jocelyn Alo‘s program record for home runs in a season with her home run in Sunday’s win.
The Sooners host Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season before opening the series against Georgia at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Love’s FIeld.
Follow
Putnam City West High School will shift to virtual learning on Tuesday after an incident involving two students prompted an investigation by the district and Oklahoma City police, according to Putnam City Schools.
District officials said administrators were alerted near the end of the school day Monday to an altercation involving two students in the school’s arena area.
Officials said the students left campus, and the case was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for investigation.
District officials said no students or staff were harmed and there is no ongoing safety threat related to the incident.
What we know
Putnam City West sent the following email to all families and staff at the school:
All PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st.
Today, an isolated serious incident involving two students occurred on school grounds. Near the end of the school day, administrators were alerted to an altercation between two students in the arena area. The individuals involved quickly left campus, prompting an initial fact-finding response by school administrators before the matter was turned over to Putnam City Campus Police and the Oklahoma City Police Department for further investigation. Because this is an active investigation involving students, no further information will be released at this time.
We understand this information may be concerning to students, staff, and families. Please know we are committed to maintaining a safe, secure, and positive learning environment for all students. At Putnam City Schools, student and staff safety remains our highest priority. Therefore, out of an abundance of caution and to allow for a thorough investigation, all PCW students and staff will transition to virtual learning for Tuesday, April 21st. Students will need to check Google Classroom for updates from teachers.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support of PC West.
Putnam City Schools
All students and staff at Putnam City West will transition to virtual learning on Tuesday, April 21, while investigators continue their work, according to the district.
Students were told to check Google Classroom for instructions from teachers.
The district said it is withholding additional details because the case involves students and remains under investigation.
School officials have not said what triggered the incident or whether any arrests have been made.
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as more information becomes available.
TULSA, OKLA (KTUL) — A new program in Oklahoma is giving adults another way to finish high school by allowing them to use past credits and test scores to earn a diploma, an option officials say could help thousands of people and strengthen the state’s workforce.
For years, adults in Oklahoma who did not finish high school largely had one main option: earning a GED. Now, Oklahoma CareerTech is rolling out the Career Readiness Diploma, a pathway designed to build on what students have already completed rather than requiring them to start over.
“So in Oklahoma right now, if you look at the demographics, we have about 279,000 people in our state without a high school diploma. So it’s almost 10% of our population doesn’t have a high school diploma,” said Lance Allee, an adult education and family literacy specialist with Oklahoma CareerTech.
Allee said the program allows adults to apply previously earned high school credit and combine different assessment scores into a single record to qualify for a diploma.
“It allows the student to use previously earned high school credit. So, it’s kind of like a portfolio where you can take multiple assessment scores and put them into one portfolio to get your high school diploma,” Allee said.
The program is open to adults 21 and older. In some cases, officials said, participants can finish in just weeks, depending on how many credits they already have.
CareerTech officials say the program is also aimed at improving job prospects for individuals while helping Oklahoma remain competitive when attracting employers.
“When you’re a company and you’re looking at moving into Oklahoma, you look at the demographics and say, is there a workforce there that we can employ? And you say, well, about 10% of the population doesn’t have a diploma, they may start looking at states that surround us. So, we definitely want to get as many diplomas out there as we can,” Allee said.
The program started issuing diplomas in recent weeks, and officials said dozens more people are already in the process. For more information or to sign up click here.
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