TULSA, Okla.. — There are hopes a new multi million dollar building will help boost the tech industry in Tulsa.

Holberton school officially opened an annex to their downtown campus on Monday and more than 200 people turned out for the ribbon cutting.

The school had designed a special Instagram filter so the people at the event could do the ribbon cutting on their phones too.

Officials hope the opening of the new annex will also open new job opportunities for people across Green Country.

Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum helped cut the ribbon on the building.

He said the new building will help the tech industry in Tulsa grow.

“It’s going to create a pipeline for tech industry to grow here in Tulsa, so it’s exciting knowing that businesses want to grow here, knowing that there’s a school that’s creating the pipeline for people to help those businesses grow,” said Bynum.

“It’s really I think a positive omen for the future of Tulsa’s economy,” he continued.

The people behind Holberton, which is a software engineering school, said there the demand for tech jobs in growing in Tulsa.

Holberton Tulsa CEO Libby Ediger said monthly job postings for software developers have increased 57% this year.

“This year alone we’ve seen a 57% growth of new job postings for software engineers, and so for us this expanded space means that we can take on those new students and teach them all the skills that the need to be successful in the industry,” said Ediger.

The new school building in the downtown Tulsa’s arts district cost $5.5 million.

The 17,000 square foot building makes the campus three times bigger and adds an extra 12 classrooms and 7 meeting rooms.

Ediger said the software industry needs more people.

“When you think of software development, you might think of the big technology companies, but the reality is that every bank in town, and every aerospace company, and every oil and gas business has software developers, and so we have a deep need for this talent pool,” said Ediger.

Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum also said the building is also a massive boost to downtown Tulsa’s economy.

“This is anchoring the revitalization of north west downtown, and the students on this campus are patronizing places around this area just like you would on any university campus, so it’s really cool to see that happening,” Bynum said.

The school has around 140 students at the moment, and they hope, with the new building, they’ll be able to teach around 500 students.

Oklahoma Secretary of Science and Innovation Elizabeth Pollard was also at the opening.

She said there are hopes to make Oklahoma a top 10 state for technology.

“We’re growing to meet that demand at the moment and that investment is being made at our university level where we’re expanding our programs to train the workforce that we need,” Pollard said.

“We need all of our schools to be focused on technology sectors and training work force in the areas that are necessary. That means more engineering, more medical fields being addressed, all of those things together will help grow that economic ecosystem,” she continued.

Mayor Bynum said the expansion of the building is leading the way for a generation of jobs in Tulsa

“I’m confident that we’re going to have success stories that come out of this that we’re going to be bragging about for decades to come,” Bynum said.

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