National Steak and Poultry Inc. is creating about 400 positions.

National Steak and Poultry Inc. will add more than 400 jobs to its Owasso work force, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce announced Wednesday.

Company executives credited the expansion to the nation's slow but steady economic recovery and incentives offered through the department's Quality Jobs Program.

National Steak employs about 300 people and is considering expanding its nearly 60,000 square-foot processing plant, said controller Bhrent Waddell. Within four years, the company expects to have 725 to 750 people on its payroll.

Wages for the new jobs will top $8 an hour, Waddell said.

National Steak opened its doors in 1980 and moved its operations from City of Industry, Calif., to the facility it constructed in Owasso in 1996.

The privately held company processes and packs beef, poultry and pork. The products are sold to retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and restaurants, including Applebee's and Camille's Sidewalk Cafe.

The meat processor signed on to the Quality Jobs Program in 1996 with the intent of adding 500 jobs, said Dave Allison, administrator of the program for the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

National Steak's employment peaked in the fourth quarter of 2001, when it had more than 500 workers on the books, Waddell said.

"The company had a significant reduction in force during the first quarter of 2002" he said.

Last December, National Steak told the Tulsa World it had 260 employees.

The Quality Jobs Program allows companies that are creating jobs to receive an economic incentive to locate or expand in Oklahoma. The program provides quarterly cash payments to the qualified company based on a designated percentage of the new taxable payroll.

Other state tax incentives are available to companies in conjunction with the program.

Quality Jobs has generated nearly $6.5 billion in new payroll for Oklahoma since its inception in 1993, state officials say.

The incentives can last for up to 10 years and are capped at a predetermined dollar amount, Allison said.

National Steak is still benefiting from its 1996 Quality Jobs Program agreement, the program administrator said, noting that it is common for a company to collect from two program agreements at the same time.

National Steak, however, is close to reaching its payment cap of $2.79 million for the 1996 agreement.

Under the new agreement, the meat processor can collect an additional $4.83 million during the next 10 years, Allison said.

The Department of Commerce also announced agreements with several other companies Wednesday. Oklahoma City-based Atkins Benham Inc. will add 100 jobs, Grove-based Precision Machine and Manufacturing Inc. agreed to add 120 workers and Enid-based Advance Food Company Inc. will put an additional 500 people to work.

Nicole Nascenzi 581-8315
nicole.nascenzi@tulsaworld.com