FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: State Rep. Joe Dorman
Capitol: (405) 557-7305

Dorman Seeks to Expand Quality Jobs Program

OKLAHOMA CITY– Under legislation state Rep. Joe Dorman plans to file next week, companies that take a waste product and turn it into a new, usable product would qualify for Oklahoma’s Quality Jobs program. “The chairman of the task force looking at tax credits has praised the Oklahoma Quality Jobs program again and again and I think we should expand it to include companies involved in business-side recycling and remanufacturing,” Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said. “These businesses reduce trash, which is a major headache for government entities at all levels. They also create a product and jobs. Businesses must produce jobs to qualify, so taxpayers are ensured a return on their investment.”

Dorman said the Oklahoma Department of Commerce has helped him to ensure his legislation narrowly defines the type of company that would qualify. The Oklahoma Quality Jobs Act currently applies only to manufacturing jobs and other specific targeted sectors.

“I want to tighten up the language in the bill we are writing to ensure this legislation performs as intended and helps promote job growth in a sector often overlooked,” Dorman said. “By expanding the parameters to existing businesses which take a product considered by most to be junk and revamp it for reuse, this is the ideal way to cut down on waste, create jobs and help businesses expand in our state.Oklahoma currently has many remanufacturing facilities which could benefit from this proposed incentive. To qualify, they would be required to have a level of production comparable to manufacturing facilities and fit specific payroll criteria.”

The idea came to Dorman after a meeting with constituents in Walters who were interested in starting a local recycling program and after touring a remanufacturing facility for used products.

“I would like to see the Oklahoma Quality Jobs program be a tool that rural communities like Walters could use to attract companies that offer recycling services on products which fit under the definition of remanufacturing,” Dorman said. “The fact that these companies would be required to provide quality jobs to the community would make them doubly beneficial.”

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