The latest tenant of the Cherokee Industrial Park has opened its doors.
Milo’s Tea has a 108,000-square foot production and distribution center there now. It’s the beverage maker’s first location outside its home state of Alabama.
It’s served by Tulsa’s municipal water supply, and the company famously took a tanker truck full back to Bessemer, Alabama, to test its quality in their products. Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum said he’s been asked why he’s so big on the Milo’s facility, which is in Owasso and is bringing 110 jobs there.
"It doesn’t matter if it’s going in, in the Tulsa city limits. It’s bringing great jobs to the Tulsa metro, and that benefits all of us," Bynum said.
The Cherokee Nation helped with a $350,000 improvement to 76th Street North from Highway 75 to the tea plant. At a Tuesday ribbon cutting, Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Junior said it was a "bright day on the Cherokee Nation reservation."
"But the reason it’s a bright day on the Cherokee Nation reservation is because we’ve proven once again that the Cherokee Nation can make the difference in economic development," Hoskin said.
Milo’s Tea CEO Tricia Wallwork said since she took the helm of the family-owned company in 2012, it’s had a blended growth rate of at least 20% every year, and she plans to keep that going at the new Owasso plant.
"The building has a lot more room to go, and we have already, you know, are moving forward with our PO to put in an additional line here. We are not going to stop growing. We are innovating with new items, we’re innovating with new brands," Wallwork said.
The company plans to follow the same sustainability practices here that it has in Alabama. That facility is certified zero-waste despite producing more than six tons of spent tea a day.
Milo’s Tea qualifies for Oklahoma state tax incentives and has a training partnership with nearby Tulsa Tech.
