Greenheck Group’s Tulsa Operations: A Growing Presence

In 2017, Greenheck Group, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of air movement, control and conditioning equipment, announced plans to open a new campus in Tulsa, Okla. The first phase of the company’s expansion to Oklahoma included a $100 million capital investment and construction of more than 200,000 square feet of operational space and 20,000 square feet of office space. Since then, Greenheck Group has added significant square footage, growing their presence in Tulsa.

Commerce sat down with the company and the Tulsa Regional Chamber to discuss how Greenheck Group narrowed in on Oklahoma and how its continued to grow here in the Sooner State.

Q: Tell us about Greenheck Group and the company’s history.

Rich Totzke, CEO, Greenheck Group: Greenheck Group is a family-owned, privately-held organization headquartered in Wisconsin. We manufacture equipment for all kinds of buildings. So think of schools, restaurants, apartment buildings, commercial space.

Q: How did Greenheck Group narrow in on Oklahoma and what were the key factors that let you to choose Tulsa for your expansion?

Rich Totzke: Greenheck Group chose Oklahoma after a really, really exhaustive process. The question we started with was where do we want to go as we continue to grow and where can we go to find a community that feels like it fits our cultures and values? But in the criteria, as we looked at kind of across the country, we said, what’s access to education? How prevalent are manufacturing jobs? What’s the proximity to customers? That was a big one. The process of working with Oklahoma could not have gone better.

Q: What benefits does Greenheck Group find operating in Oklahoma?

Rachel James, Director of Culture & Engagement, Greenheck Group: Oklahoma literally is in the middle of the country, so we can ship any of our products to a customer within a day or two.

Joey Lada, Engineering Manufacturing Manager, Greenheck Group: Once our location was chosen, we quickly started recruiting, and we were pleasantly surprised to find an abundance of talented, professional and other skilled labor.

Q: From a company perspective, tell us about being recruited to Oklahoma.

Rich Totzke: Tulsa and the team that we met is the gold standard across the country. The partnership started from the minute we got off the plane, and it still exists today.

Joey Lada: We’re getting great support locally and at a larger level statewide. So it’s been very enticing to be here from day one.

Rachel James: When you partner with Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Tulsa Regional Chamber, the City of Tulsa, all of these folks just really go out of their way to assist and make sure that you’re successful.

Q: From the community perspective, tell us about recruiting Greenheck to Oklahoma.

Mike Neal, President & CEO, Tulsa Regional Chamber: It was an absolute blast to recruit Greenheck to Tulsa. We worked hand-in-hand with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, who did a great job working through the incentives and really helping the company get situated and satisfied here. But it was one of these projects that were just able to bring so many people to the table – the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County, the Cherokee Nation, Tulsa Tech. I think that public-private partnership has really impressed [Greenheck] and gave them an opportunity to expedite this project.

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I can’t say enough about what a phenomenal company Greenheck is. This is just a textbook example about how you recruit a company to your state, to your city. I don’t think there’s any company that could be a better champion for Tulsa, for northeast Oklahoma and the state of Oklahoma than the Greenheck Group. They love us and we love them.

To learn more about Greenheck Group, visit greenheckgroup.com.