Tim Stanley, Mike Simmons
An AI infrastructure company making waves for its climate-friendly mission is expanding its operations in Tulsa, creating 100 new jobs by the end of the year.
Crusoe Energy Systems LLC, which is headquartered in Denver and San Francisco and operates in seven countries, currently has a small team in Tulsa dedicated to repairing the company's technology and parts used in the field.
Crusoe's expansion plans, announced at a news conference in Tulsa on Friday, include investing about $10 million in a new manufacturing facility in Tulsa.
Officials said the facility will manufacture key elements of data center infrastructure, such as switchgear.
The plant will be built in existing space at 5404 S. 122nd East Ave. and will be about 120,000 square feet.
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Crusoe was recently featured on “60 Minutes” about his efforts to make computing greener.
“We're really pleased. We think it's a really exciting step for Crusoe, and we hope it's an equally exciting step for Tulsa,” said Callie Cavness, Crusoe's president and co-founder.
“Tulsa is just the perfect place for us to scale,” Cavness said. “We're going to need the ability to hire a lot of talent quickly across all disciplines, from engineering to manufacturing to safety, and we already have that talent in Tulsa.”
Tulsa's “business-friendly” environment is also a big selling point, he added.
“The Chamber of Commerce and other organizations have been so welcoming, offering everything from introductions to various incentives to helping us make the right connections,” Cavness said, “but more than anything, the atmosphere is amazing. You can tell Tulsa wants us to be there, and today, we can't take that for granted.”
“We're very excited about this,” said Ken Parker, Crusoe's senior vice president of operations and a Tulsa native. “We're looking to manufacture switchgear. There's a serious shortage of switchgear right now in the U.S. and around the world, and Tulsa will be able to help us manufacture the switchgear.”
The company hopes to hire 100 people by the end of the year, he said.
“And we're hoping to get the equipment and the personnel as quickly as possible, get the training and increase that number to several hundred by next year,” Parker said.
Crusoe builds and operates clean computing infrastructure to reduce both the costs and environmental impact of the world's growing digital economy. The company is also focused on sustainable innovation, harnessing waste and stranded clean energy sources to power AI, cryptography and other high-performance computing applications.
“It's clear that Crusoe has a really great culture and a really bright future ahead of it,” said Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Area Chamber of Commerce. “We're really excited to share that bright future with us here in Tulsa and in northeast Oklahoma.”
“It's one of the greatest gifts and compliments a city can get when a business comes to your city and says it's time for them to invest and expand in your city, too,” said Eran Parsley, economic development director for the city of Tulsa. “So, we want to thank you again for investing in and expanding in our city.”
To learn more about Crusoe, visit crusoe.ai.
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