Tulsa Ports Outline Vision For Growth At ‘State Of Ports’ Event

About 140 people attended Tulsa Ports’ annual “State of the Ports” event at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa on September 9, as speakers highlighted progress and laid out visions of future growth.

The Catoosa Chamber of Commerce and Tulsa Ports hosted the event, which provides an update on one of Oklahoma’s most important economic engines. Attendees heard from local officials, leadership from companies located at the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and port leadership. Deanne Hughes, port authority board chair, reflected on the past year’s successes and the future of the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and Tulsa Port of Inola.

Employment numbers are up at the port, with more than 3,900 Oklahomans employed at Tulsa Ports’ 50 companies, an 8 percent increase from 2024.

Construction is officially underway on the new $37.5 million unit train facility at the port, made possible through collaboration and investment from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma Finance Authorities, BNSF Railway and OmniTRAX. The engineering firm Burns and McDonnell is providing engineering expertise on the project.

Utilizing the letters of the word “port” as a framework, Hughes elaborated on the impact of the People; the Opportunities at both Tulsa Ports locations; the Responsibility bestowed on port leadership, the community, local, state and national leadership to continue to be good stewards of the ports; and the future that is Tomorrow.

Other speakers at the event included Tulsa Ports Executive Director David Yarbrough, Tulsa Ports Director of Economic Development Andrew Ralston, Rogers County Commissioner Ron Burrows and Vice President of Operations at Kelvion Billy Hart.

“In Inola, we are in the process of building a $70+ million wastewater treatment plant,” Hughes said.  “This project is a great example of people working together to create win-win opportunities. We have partnered with the town of Inola and its public works department so that the facility being constructed will safely treat both wastewaters from future tenants at the Port of Inola as well as replace the town’s current sanitary sewer collection and treatment facilities, which have been a limit on the town’s growth. It required a concerted team to bring this project together: of course, the port staff and board, but also the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Rogers County, the town of Inola, the Department of Environmental Quality, and our state and local elected leaders. The legislature saw the benefit of this asset for the region and supported it with partial funding. To those elected leaders in the room – thank you!”

Hughes also touted the arrival of Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA), which has announced the Port of Inola as its home for its next aluminum production plant. This will be the first aluminum production facility built in the United States since 1980. It will nearly double the domestic production of aluminum and reduce the amount imported by the United States. EGA will utilize the waterway and is forecast to create 1,000 direct jobs with a direct investment of about $4 billion.

“EGA is the first to join Sofidel America at the Port of Inola, and I don’t think it will be the last,” Hughes said.

“But for the work of Sen. McClellan of Arkansas and our own Sen. Kerr, this inland navigation system would not exist,” she concluded. “The Army Corps of Engineers continues to operate the 18 locks that allow more than 11 million tons of goods to flow on our waterway. They take their responsibility for our waterway seriously and are strong partners in our work. Both the city of Tulsa and Rogers County have played a role in the more than 50 years of growth for our region. As we contemplate our future, we envision a Tulsa Ports that create generational opportunities and continue to contribute to a stronger, more sustainable local economy.

With Sheila Shook, director of workforce development at the port, standing by, Hughes highlighted the port’s recruiting efforts.

“In addition to the physical infrastructure and the business development activities, Tulsa Ports also work diligently on workforce development,” Hughes said. “From grade school field trips to re-skilling adults, our ports work with local education providers like Tulsa Tech and Northeast Tech to ensure that we have the people who will ultimately drive the economic growth for our region. Our team assists our current port companies with their open positions, and we highlight the port and our region in our marketing and recruitment campaigns – to share with a larger audience the amazing things happening in northeast Oklahoma.”