Latest / The 405 Payroll / OKC’s Next Paycheck: Airport Growth, VA Upgrades, and a Path to Welding

Transcript

OKC’s Next Paycheck: Airport Growth, VA Upgrades, and a Path to Welding · The 405 Payroll

• 0:13
  Welcome to The 405 Payroll, I'm Claire Brooks.
• 0:16
  This one's for our OKCREAL neighbors across the metro who already work hard and want
• 0:22
  the paycheck to match.
• 0:24
  Miles, what's the headline this week?
• 0:26
  I'm Miles, and the headline is up in the air, literally.
• 0:29
  On October 14th, Mayor David Holt and Airports Director Jeff Mulder unveiled a
• 0:34
  master plan for Will Rogers World Airport called Cleared for Takeoff.
• 0:38
  It maps growth from 4.6 million passengers a year to 20 million by 2050.
• 0:43
  Twenty million by 2050 is a long runway.
• 0:47
  What's the nearer term piece?
• 0:49
  Most of us are planning around next month's rent.
• 0:52
  The first phase targets 6 million passengers.
• 0:54
  It includes a five level, 1,538 space parking garage and a weather canopy over the
• 1:00
  upper deck rideshare waiting area, with roughly two years of construction.
• 1:04
  Meanwhile, OKC hosts Olympic softball and canoe slalom in the 2028 Summer Games,
• 1:09
  so terminal upgrades are already underway.
• 1:12
  ADA restroom overhauls in baggage claim and ticketing finish by December 2027,
• 1:17
  terrazzo floor replacements by January 2028, and a Will Rogers statue goes up at the
• 1:22
  main roundabout by February 2028.
• 1:25
  Restrooms, floors, concrete, a statue.
• 1:30
  I want to be careful, though.
• 1:31
  Nobody announced a hiring number with this plan, so I won't invent one.
• 1:36
  But buildings like this need people who move material, build,
• 1:40
  and keep things running.
• 1:42
  That's my read, not a promise.
• 1:44
  There's a second piece of evidence.
• 1:46
  The Oklahoma City VA Medical Center received nearly $28.9 million in fourth quarter
• 1:52
  fiscal year 2026 maintenance funds.
• 1:55
  Under director Wade Vlosich, that money modernizes elevators,
• 1:58
  upgrades facility infrastructure, and renovates the 5N patient unit.
• 2:03
  Elevators and infrastructure.
• 2:05
  That's facility maintenance and building trades.
• 2:07
  Put it together and I see steady demand for warehouse logistics,
• 2:11
  material movement, trades, and maintenance.
• 2:14
  And that matters if you pay rent here, because steady demand is what lets employers
• 2:18
  start people higher and keep them.
• 2:21
  You don't need a new city or a new life.
• 2:24
  You need a better rung on a ladder that's already going up around you.
• 2:28
  Today's plan: three OKC employers hiring now at $20 to $25 an hour.
• 2:34
  One training that costs $1,440 and points toward a $24 to $32 plus welding paycheck.
• 2:41
  Two ways to bring in cash this week.
• 2:44
  Plus one local agency that helps a raise stick, a true story,
• 2:49
  and one thing to do before the end of the day.
• 2:51
  Let's start with who's hiring.