New Company Brings Jobs to Muskogee, Oklahoma

Oct. 14—A Minnesota-based company that provides technology hardware and digital lesson plans to schools across the country plans to establish a regional repair center and distribution hub at the Muskogee-Davis Regional Airport.

Mayor Marlon Coleman, who announced the economic development plans Thursday morning, said Trafera plans to have 20 employees working here before the end of the year. He said the company plans to "scale up to nearly 80 employees over the next three years."

"Our goal has been to diversify our job opportunities, and with Trafera being one of the largest distributors of technology to K-12 schools, that goal is becoming a reality," Coleman said. "Nearly 20 new jobs to start and a projected job expansion over the next five years puts us light years closer to Muskogee being a place to live, work and play."

Trafera, a technology solutions provider, will occupy an existing 24,000-square-foot building — the former National Guard Armory — at the Muskogee-Davis Regional Airport. The company provides laptops preloaded with instructional material tailored for schools and maintains them as part of its warranty service.

Eric Wells, director of services for Trafera's Southwest Region, said the jobs will come with annual salaries of about $40,000. He said the compensation packages include paid time off, health insurance and defined contribution retirement plans, so they "equal about $50,000 starting out."

"Our hiring initiative will start later this month with an immediate focus on technology technicians," said Wells, who worked eight years with Muskogee Public Schools as chief operating officer and chief information officer before joining Trafera. "Our 24,000-square-foot facility is on the fast-track for renovation now."

Wells said the company plans "to be very strategic with our ramp up to make sure we handle it the best way we can for our customers." He said the company will be "methodical in our approach as we size up the company — our 24,000-square-foot facility will hold a lot of people and we're ready to fill it."

City Manager Mike Miller said he believes Trafera will be a good fit with Muskogee, a city "trying to do things better and differently in the future."

"We're sitting in a building that's powered by solar panels, the only Civic Center in the state of Oklahoma that's doing that," Miller said. "We're looking for technology to provide solutions for the future, so when a company like Trafera does that and sees the same potential in Muskogee, that is really exciting for us."

Ward IV Councilor Tracy Hoos, a local physician, was credited for making the initial contact with Trafera. Coleman and Miller spread the credit around, saying the entire team at City Hall and partners at the port and the county played instrumental roles.

Coleman said Trafera is the first of several economic development announcements he expects will be made during the coming weeks. He said the anticipated approval of a tax increment district at the Port of Muskogee would generate at least $11 million that would be used as matching funds for grants secured for flood mitigation and infrastructure improvements.

The mayor said announcements about other deals could be coming as a result of infrastructure investments at the Port of Muskogee and the John T. Griffin Industrial Park.

Trafera's leadership team is planning a grand opening once the new regional operations center is ready for occupancy. More information about Trafera may be found on its website at www.trafera.com.

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