Oklahoma officials praise $1.3 billion expansion

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Oklahoma officials are praising the groundbreaking for a $1.3 billion expansion of Koch Nitrogen’s fertilizer production plant in Enid.

Governor Mary Fallin says Thursday’s groundbreaking represents a major investment in the state and its people. Koch Nitrogen currently employs about 2,100 Oklahomans. The expansion project will employ up to 800 people and create as many as 30 new permanent jobs.

Fallin says she is grateful for the company’s continued confidence in Oklahoma’s workforce and the state’s continued economic growth.

Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb says Koch Nitrogen is a global company and that it could have invested in a plant anywhere in the world. Lamb says the importance of the investment in Oklahoma cannot be understated and that it indicates Koch Nitrogen plans on being in Oklahoma for a long time.