Nearly $37 million in competitive, U.S. Department of Education school improvement grants were awarded today to 10 persistently low-performing Oklahoma schools — six of which are in Tulsa — after the State Board of Education’s approval. Beginning with the approaching school year, the funds are to be used over three years to dramatically improve student [...]

Tulsa National Bank announced the appointment of Ray B. Baumgarten as an executive vice president and member of the bank’s management team. Baumgarten joins Tulsa National with nearly 30 years of experience in banking, most recently as senior vice president and manager of commercial real estate lending at Tulsa’s Arvest Bank. A Houston native, Baumgarten [...]

The U.S. economy is slowly working its way out of the worst recession since World War II. However, unemployment remains high, the market is highly volatile, and credit is not readily available. Surprisingly, such conditions generally result in great opportunities for franchisors and franchisees. For franchisors offering opportunities requiring an initial investment of less than [...]

During a visit to Denver, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis on Friday announced $75 million in American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 funds will go to on-the-job training and national emergency grants for 41 states, the District of Columbia and three federally recognized Native American tribes. The resources will be used to help Americans [...]

As the economy turns around, a business in Jenks is pushing for shoppers to keep their sales tax dollars local. Liv-A-Little Boutique & Gifts, a shop located at 201 E. Main St., kicked off the idea for the campaign last month. DeAnna VanBecelaere, one of the owners of the shop, partnered with 10 other businesses [...]

Curbing the high school dropout rate isn’t just a social and cultural issue; it’s an economic issue as well, according to the Tulsa Metro Chamber of Commerce and educational leaders in the area. Susan Harris, senior vice president of education and work force for the Tulsa Metro Chamber; Keith Ballard, superintendent of Tulsa Public Schools; [...]

UMB Bank, the lead bank of Kansas City-based UMB Financial Corp., which has been a leading performer among the nation’s banks and has made recent notable acquisitions in the financial services arena, has named a Tulsa market president for its Tulsa branch. In this newly created position, Brad Scrivner will manage banking operations, business development [...]

Mayor Dewey Bartlett Jr. announced at yesterday’s City Council Urban & Economic Development Committee meeting that he will recall police officers who were laid off during the current fiscal year, pending the Council approval of the proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 and Fraternal Order of Police approval of the police contract for next year. [...]

Saxum Public Relations, a multidimensional creative, public relations and marketing firm, announced Wednesday it has selected Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma as the recipient of the firm’s $50,000 pro bono service grant for 2010-2011. “Saxum is pleased to add Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma to our client roster,” said Saxum CEO Renzi Stone. [...]

Arvest Bank yesterday released the results of its mortgage servicing activities at the end of April. For the first time, Arvest is providing mortgage servicing for more than 50,000 loans. The total value of loans in servicing reached $5.56 billion. At the end of April 2009, Arvest was providing service for 46,086 loans with a [...]