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

Published

2 years 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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Jack Van Dorselaer: ‘No-Brainer’ to Follow Jason Witten to Oklahoma

Published

2 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Jack Van Dorselaer: ‘No-Brainer’ to Follow Jason Witten to Oklahoma

NORMAN — Located just 190 miles from Norman, Southlake, TX, sits comfortably within Oklahoma’s recruiting footprint. Many Dallas–Fort Worth prospects grow up viewing OU as either a favorite destination or a local option thanks to its close proximity.

New Oklahoma tight end Jack Van Dorselaer, however, had a different perspective during his recruitment at Southlake Carroll High School.

“Honestly, growing up, I wasn’t the biggest OU fan,” Van Dorselaer said Monday during Oklahoma’s Spring Media Day. “When I was getting recruited, I was really into Tennessee and going to Tennessee.”

He wasn’t exaggerating — his recruiting profile backs it up. Oklahoma extended an offer to Van Dorselaer on March 25, 2023, never took a visit. At the time, former tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley’s track record probably didn’t do much to boost confidence in a highly-touted tight end’s development.

Tennessee Volunteers tight end Jack Van Dorselaer dives for a touchdown against East Tennessee State Buccaneers. | Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

Van Dorselaer would go on to pledge to the Volunteers, playing in all 13 games — an experience where he “learned some things as the season went on,” — before entering the transfer portal.

If Oklahoma’s previous tight ends coach left doubts lingering, one phone call changed everything. Ironically, it came from a Tennessee alum — now tabbed to coach that same position in Norman. For Van Dorselaer, it was the pitch that finally landed.

“I guess that was kind of a funny coincidence (getting a call from Jason Witten), but once he got the job, it was kind of a no‑brainer for me,” Van Dorselaer said. “To not pass that up and also to come back home and play in the SEC and play for Oklahoma.

“And I just felt like this offense was better for me and a better opportunity for me to succeed at the next level,” he added.

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The irony ran deeper than Van Dorselaer’s plan to leave Tennessee — only to get recruited by a Tennessee legend for Oklahoma.

It also sprang from his Southlake roots, where he grew up idolizing hometown hero Witten through his Hall of Fame Cowboys career — an opportunity Van Dorselaer sees as being able to make him a more complete tight end.

“I think last year at Tennessee, I was really utilized in the run game,” Van Dorselaer said “I feel like I have the ability to do everything — not just run block, not just pass catch, but to do everything. A lot of tight ends just want to catch and not block. I think coach Witten offers that coaching that really helped me in the pass game.”

Jason Witten watches from the sidelines | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Van Dorselaer joins fellow transfer tight ends Hayden Hansen and Rocky Beers — all tasked, as general manager Jim Nagy put it, with “flipping the room” from last year under Witten. Each brings a unique skill set that Ben Arbuckle will channel his inner Dr. Frankenstein to stitch together.

If Hansen is the bigger body that can help open lanes for Sooner ball carries and Beers is the field-stretching tight end, Van Dorselaer already seems him as a bridge between then two.

“I think (Arbuckle) sees me more as like a hybrid guy — not just blocking, not just pass catching, but doing everything,” he said. “I think that’s kind of also what drew me to Oklahoma, was that aspect of it.”

For that vision to be fully realized, Van Dorselaer will have to use this spring and summer as the time to build chemistry with his new quarterback, John Mateer, who appealed to the tight end during his transfer portal recruitment.

“I think his mindset is a big thing for me,” Van Dorselaer said. “But I mean, just being around him more, I think his mindset is something that’s cool for me to be a part of. He holds me to a standard that is going to make me a better football player and a better person.”

Van Dorselaer enters spring ball with a clean slate, syncing his hybrid skill set alongside Mateer’s winning mindset and under coach Witten’s complete-tight-end blueprint.

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Christian Coleman ‘motored up’ as Oklahoma State basketball advances in Big 12 Tournament

Published

14 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Christian Coleman ‘motored up’ as Oklahoma State basketball advances in Big 12 Tournament

KANSAS CITY, MO — Christian Coleman reached high but couldn’t grab the alley-oop pass from Jaylen Curry.

But it glanced off his fingertips, hit the backboard, then the rim and fell in the basket.

It wasn’t the prettiest clutch play by the Oklahoma State forward, but it was as important as any of them.

Coleman’s alley-oops layup with just over two minutes remaining helped the 14th-seeded Cowboys stretch their lead on the way to a 92-83 win over No. 11 Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday at T-Mobile Center.

Had Coleman gotten his hands on the ball, it would have been a massive exclamation-point jam, yet as he rose for it, he could tell it was out of his reach.

“But God had his hands around it and it kinda fell in for me,” Coleman said with a laugh. “So we count it.”

Coleman finished with 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, backing guard Anthony Roy, who had 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. Curry added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Late in the game, the lanky 6-foot-8 Coleman moved to center as coach Steve Lutz was forced to put a small lineup on the floor.

The Cowboys were without their two most-used bigs, Parsa Fallah and Andrija Vukovic, because of injuries. Their freshman replacements, Benjamin Ahmed and Mekhi Ragland, found themselves in foul trouble.

“He’s versatile,” said OSU point guard Kanye Clary, who had seven points, six assists and five rebounds. “He can guard the 1-5. He switches and plays hard.

“When he’s motored up, I don’t really think there’s nobody who can stop him. He’s the only person who can stop himself. And tonight, he went out there and showed how impactful he is.”

The Cowboys (19-13) will take on sixth-seeded TCU at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday as they try to once again keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

“Our mentality has been the same every game in the Big 12, because the league is so darn hard,” Lutz said. “If you look forward, you have no chance.

“I’m proud of the guys for sticking together and banding together, because we’ve had some key people, teammates, go down and we had to piece it together. I’m just happy for them and excited to face TCU tomorrow night.”

Here are three takeaways from the OSU victory:

Anthony Roy settles in for big game

In an odd twist, Colorado was hit with a technical foul for not submitting its lineup in time prior to the game, and that put Roy on the free throw line before the tipoff.

He missed the attempt, but it was the only one he’d miss all night, hitting the next 10.

Roy hit some rough patches throughout the first half, at one point getting quickly subbed out after missing an awkward 3-pointer from the corner.

But in the second half, he found his rhythm, going 5 of 6 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and a couple tough drives for layups.

“He got to the free-throw line and made 10 of 11,” Lutz said. “I thought he did a good job with that. And we tease him a bunch about his defense, but I thought at the end of the game when it mattered, he played good defense. And he rebounded the basketball.”

Freshmen Benjamin Ahmed, Mekhi Ragland play key minutes

With the Cowboys thin in the frontcourt, Ahmed made his third straight start, and Ragland was the first center off the bench.

Ahmed went to the bench after getting his fourth foul with 7:20 to play and didn’t return, but still played his second-most minutes in a game this season at 21. He finished with seven points, six rebounds and a blocked shot.

“Parsa going down, he spoke to me about it that I have a big role to fill,” Ahmed said. “It’s a learning process for me. I’m just excited to see what the future holds for me.”

Ragland had four points, a rebound and an assist in eight minutes — his most against a Big 12 opponent.

“It felt good being able to step up,” Ragland said. “I’ve wanted to show myself and show what I can do all year.

“The first couple up-and-downs, you’re a little nervous, but that goes away fast. It’s just basketball at the end of the day, so I was ready for the moment.”

OSU by the numbers

∎ The Cowboys are now 29-1 under Steve Lutz when scoring at least 81 points. The only loss came to TCU earlier this year, 95-92 in overtime at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

∎ The 92 points scored Tuesday are the most by OSU in the Big 12 Tournament. The previous high was 87, scored against Colorado in 2005.

∎ Coleman’s 14 rebounds were his season high and tied his career high.

∎ Adding a new combination Tuesday, OSU has used 19 different starting lineups this season.

∎ Clary led the team in plus-minus at 17, followed by Vyctorius Miller at 14.

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on X at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

Oklahoma State vs. TCU

TIPOFF: 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. (ESPNU)

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Oklahoma

Severe weather threat increasing for Oklahoma tonight

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Severe weather threat increasing for Oklahoma tonight

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Severe weather is still expected tonight across much of our area. In fact, the threats have increased since this morning due to more clearing skies in western Oklahoma. More sunshine means more instability to work with.

SPC Severe Weather Outlook. (KOKH)

Due to this, the Storm Prediction Center has increased all hazards for our part of Oklahoma. The strongest storms could produce winds up to 80 mph, baseball size hail, and a few tornadoes. This would be from essentially now until early Wednesday morning.

SPC Tornado Outlook. (KOKH)

The tornadic potential has increased across much of the area generally along and east of I-44/I-35.

The general thinking is that discrete supercells will form in western North Texas in the 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM window and begin to make their way towards southwest Oklahoma. These storms will then quickly go from being individual cells to more clusters of storms. This would increase the wind potential and make it possible for brief spinup tornadoes to form. These QLCS (quasi-linear convective systems) tornadoes can form and develop quickly.

Once the storms are generally east of I-35, there won’t be any more cells anymore and we’d be looking at a larger squall line. Check out the below model images for a look at the evolution of the storms tonight:

There is also the potential for very heavy rain with these storms too.

A cold front will sweep the storms away to the east tonight. After the front, strong northerly winds are possible. Due to this, there is a Wind Advisory Wednesday for parts of our area.