Business Briefs (Week of Dec. 3)
Monday, December 6, 2021
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Looking for business briefs? This week's roundup (for the week of Dec. 3) from The Journal Record.
Oklahoma AG: Businesses should avoid vaccine mandates
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor is asking businesses to hold off on implementing vaccine mandates while his office and other attorneys general continue to litigate the issue. Though Jan. 4, 2022 was originally designated as the deadline for large companies and health care providers nationwide to require either employee vaccination or weekly testing of unvaccinated workers, O’Connor said those directives have been temporarily halted by federal courts and are not being enforced at the present time.
Big Red Dealership schemes unravel in court
Bad credit, no credit – come to Big Red Dealerships in Norman and they will get you approved, the dealership’s radio ads proclaimed, asserting the dealership had cultivated relationships with the most forgiving lenders. But in fact, dealership executives had devised a number of schemes to fool lenders into approving loans with falsified down payments and nonexistent trade-ins. On Nov. 19, a federal jury convicted Bobby Chris Mayes, former president and CEO; Charles Gooch, former vice president and compliance officer; and Courtney Wells, former comptroller of Big Red Dealerships, with multiple counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, issuing forged securities, and aggravated identity theft, announced Robert J. Troester, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Deaths lead to more scrutiny of tank cleaning
In August 2020, two workers entered a natural gas tanker on a railcar in Hugo and fell victim to vapors. Their deaths, among those of 36 workers in the transportation and tank cleaning industry reported across the extended region since 2016, have been investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. To reduce the risks faced by tank cleaning workers, OSHA has established a Local Emphasis Program, or LEP, to raise awareness among employers in Region 6 (Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma) and Region 5 based in Chicago.
Warm, dry September cuts state’s soybean crop down from 2020
Soybeans, a major cash crop in Oklahoma valued at more than $163 million last year, produced smaller-than-projected yields this year. According to ag experts at Oklahoma State University, warmer and drier than normal conditions in September across much of the state disrupted soybean development. Actually, 2021 will likely be remembered by soybean producers as a tale of two outcomes. More quickly developing double-crop varieties were less affected by the September weather than slower developing full-season varieties.
State ranks first in medical negligence lawsuits
Oklahoma ranks first nationwide in the number of medical negligence lawsuits per capita, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources data. A team from Weiss & Paarz – a law firm that handles medical malpractice cases in New Jersey and Pennsylvania – reviewed 30 years of claims in every state and found a total of 1.41 million cases were filed involving various types of medical malpractice claims, an average of about 47,000 cases a year. The analysis showed Oklahoma topped the list of lawsuits filed per capita with one for every 3,573 residents.
Energy executives rank Oklahoma as desirable place to invest
Oklahoma came in second recently among U.S. states and Canadian provinces ranked according to their desirability as places to invest in oil or gas projects. The Fraser Institute asked energy industry executives to consider how regulation by states or provinces might come into play in their decisions either to invest or not to invest in projects. Oklahoma came in only behind Texas, according to the institute’s findings.
AARP is lone opposition to OG&E financial deal
All parties who participated in the process that produced an agreement allowing OG&E to recoup $739.1 million in costs incurred by February’s winter weather event have expressed their support of the plan – except for AARP. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission on Tuesday heard oral arguments on the joint stipulation agreement in response to a request from AARP. In addition to Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers, OCC staff, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office and a number of stakeholders including Walmart, consumer groups and OG&E support the agreement, said Thomas P. Schroedter, representing the OIEC.
Firm plans to increase output of Oklahoma wells
A Canadian company, Xfuels Inc., has announced intentions to ramp up production of at least 142 wells in Craig and Nowata counties in Oklahoma following its purchase of Jubilee Exploration, an oil and gas producer that currently controls 516 wells across 10 counties in northeastern Oklahoma and southeastern Kansas. In a release, Xfuels said it has arranged to purchase 100% of the common stock of Jubilee, marking its largest acquisition ever. It added its plans are to focus immediately on increasing oil and gas production from a core group of 142 wells in Craig and Nowata counties.
Planned service center to bring 200 jobs to OKC metro
A national company involved in analytics and the business end of health care delivery and payment systems has announced it will open a service center in Oklahoma City, a move that will bring 200 jobs to the metro area. The company, Signify Health Inc., also announced it will build its 25,000-square-foot facility at 5400 E. Memorial Rd. It said it already has planned a recruiting event, to include in-person interviews, to take place Dec. 15 in Edmond. It expects to hire 50 people to begin work by February.
COVID-19 numbers in state show sharp increase
The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Oklahoma was declining, but made a sharp reversal Thursday. The state’s seven-day rolling average of new cases was 756 Wednesday, down from 850 two weeks ago. On Thursday it jumped to 852 when the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 1,620 new cases, nearly three times as many as the day before.
Chesapeake board OKs $1B common stock repurchase
Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced that its board of directors has authorized repurchase of up to $1 billion in aggregate value of its common stock and/or warrants. The authorization permits Chesapeake to make repurchases on a discretionary basis as determined by management, subject to market conditions, available liquidity and other factors.
Shallow labor pool top concern for businesses
While it’s encouraging news that Oklahoma’s unemployment rate is at a historically low level, troubling news is that there are many vacant jobs in the state, so many in fact that small business owners report an extremely shallow labor pool is their biggest worry. That’s according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. The labor shortage isn’t just an Oklahoma problem. In its monthly jobs report, the NFIB said labor quality and supply issues are plaguing businesses across the country.
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