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TAHLEQUAH, OK - Cherokee Motorcycle Company broke ground on a new manufacturing facility in Tahlequah at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 22 at the intersection of Main Parkway and Industrial Parkway. The new facility will employ between 250 and 300 people in a variety of manufacturing, marketing and administrative positions.

Fast Trac Manufacturing announced in December that it had reached agreements in principal with the Cherokee Nation, the City of Tahlequah and the state of Oklahoma, which resulted in the company relocating its operations to the Tahlequah Business and Industrial Park.

Fast Trac will begin operations in Tahlequah under the name Cherokee Motorcycle Company. The company projects that it will employ between 250 and 300 within two to three years.

"Everyone here has been very pleased with Tahlequah and all that it has to offer, both as a manufacturing center and as a place to live and raise a family", said Ray Whitehead, President of Fast Trac. "We are delighted at the prospect of bringing well paying jobs and an exciting product to such an historic, beautiful and friendly part of the country."

"My focus for this year has been on economic development for the Cherokee Nation", said Chad Smith, Principal Chief. "Working in partnership with the city of Tahlequah, state agencies and NSU, we have recruited businesses that will employ nearly 700 people in substantive and challenging jobs, making products we can take satisfaction in producing."

"This announcement is a direct result of cooperation and teamwork", said Roy Cartwright, chairman of the Tahlequah Industrial Trust Authority. "Fast Trac will bring a diversification of jobs to Tahlequah. These will range from machine shop, welding, production, engine assembly, painting, marketing and administrative positions. This company will bring their key employees and families to Tahlequah. It is their desire to become a vital part of our community."

"After a great deal of discussion with members of the Tahlequah City Council and many other members of the Tahlequah community, we have decided not to participate in the national economic downturn", said Tahlequah Mayor Jerry Cook. "We are very proud of the efforts of the entire community to convince the Fast Trac Manufacturing Company to relocate their operations from the State of California to what we think is the No. 1 non-metropolitan community in the central region of the United States. It is just one more example why Tahlequah, Oklahoma, is such a wonderfully unique place to live and raise a family, to be employed, to be educated, and to retire, because the people make the difference."

Fast Trac Manufacturing/Cherokee Motorcycle Company is a rapidly growing manufacturer of cruiser and touring motorcycles and related motorcycle parts and accessories. Its present headquarters in Hollister, California will be closed following the move to Tahlequah. The company intends to relocate about a dozen key employees from California while hiring the balance of its employees locally.

"We are in a unique situation by working with a company like Fast Trac that is not interested in exploiting stereotypical images of Indians, but instead focused on the development of images that center around performance and quality, the attributes that the nation associates with the Cherokee", Smith said.