CHOOSE NORMAN

Norman, Oklahoma is a major research university community located on the south edge of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and part of a metro population of 1.2 million with connections to over 80 million people within a 500 mile radius. Area Development (2010) ranked the State of Oklahoma in the Top 10 for Doing Business, and the city of Norman in particular has had consistent success in fostering a healthy business environment for both employers and employees.

With a population of over 112,000 residents, Norman has maintained a median household income near $45,000 and has sustained an unemployment rate between 4.6% and 5.1% in 2010. Compared to the state rate of 6.8% and the national rate of 9.4%, the city of Norman has achieved notable success in producing jobs for its residents. The NEDC has also generated a Labor Quality Index which uses four components to measure the quality of labor available at a fixed wage rate. These components include unemployment rate, educational attainment, unionization, and compensation. While Austin, Texas ranks at the top of the list of Metropolitan Statistical Areas with a Labor Quality Index of 8.28, the index for Norman, Oklahoma measures 12.67, indicating that the city’s labor force will provide higher quality labor than any metropolitan area can offer at the same wage.

In addition to the high level of labor quality, Norman is also a community that offers great lifestyle with major college sports, arts, and entertainment, which has contributed to Norman being named by Money Magazine as No. 6 of America's Best Places to live among small cities and by Forbes Magazine as the 3rd ranked College Sports Town.

Norman further enhances its value proposition with its cost of living index measuring 5.6% lower than the national average. For these reasons, the Norman population has grown by 19% since the year 2000. Along with Norman’s recent sustainable growth, the median resident age is 29.3 years old, indicating potential for developing young professionals. The Oklahoma Department of Career Technology Education capitalizes on this young median age by offering assistance to qualifying businesses by paying for employee training in newly created jobs. Along with this training resource, Oklahoma adds additional incentive with its Quality Jobs Program which provides quarterly cash payments of up to 5% of newly created gross taxable payroll to a qualifying company.

www.nedcok.com

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Downtown Norman

Norman Train Depot

National Weather Center

Our workers are very well educated and are always considered the most productive by our local employers. 51.9% of our workforce has a bachelor’s degree or better, which can be found in our most current Labor Survey at http://www.nedcok.com. Here, you may also find demographic information, number of graduates by degree, and general lifestyle information that will be helpful in your selection.

The high level of education can be attributed to the presence of The University of Oklahoma which boasts a No. 1 ranking among public universities in the number of freshman National Merit Scholars enrolled per capita, and for the past 19 years has been in the top 20 of all public and private institutions in the country. Also ranking in The Princeton Review’s Top 10 Best-Value Public Colleges for 2010, the University of Oklahoma offers an excellent source of interns and graduates who want to stay in the area. There are a total of 23,281 students currently enrolled in the OU Career Services database, along with 15,000 OU graduates who have chosen to stay and reside in Norman, who are available for internships and full-time positions. Access to these students affords your business the opportunity to establish an active intern program, which will provide an excellent lower cost labor pool and permit you to “test drive” the students prior to graduation, then select the best for continued employment.

Sustaining an exceptionally well-educated labor pool, in conjunction with a low cost of living, central location, a high quality of life, and the implementation of business incentives, Norman stands as a hidden treasure for businesses seeking to relocate for purposes of minimizing costs and maximizing benefits.

710 Asp Avenue, Suite 100Norman, OK 73069

Phone: (405) 573-1900Fax: (405) 573-1999

www.nedcok.com

AMERICA’S 6TH BEST CITY- MONEY MAGAZINE 2008

Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

SouthWest Nano Technology

University of Oklahoma