A needed focus on workforce

Kevin Stitt is new to the governor's office but one of his chief concerns is not: workforce development in Oklahoma.

Many of Stitt's predecessors have spent considerable time looking for ways to help ensure that Oklahomans have the skills necessary to meet job demands, and thus help existing local businesses grow and bring new businesses to the state.

Most recently, former Gov. Mary Fallin had her Complete College America initiative, which sought to increase by 1,700 per year the number of degrees and certificates earned in Oklahoma. She also had an initiative called Oklahoma Works, which sought to increase degree/certificate completion by coupling K-12 schools, higher education, CareerTech and the business community.

Stitt's administration is looking to expand on those ideas and produce new ones.

At the CareerTech system's recent summer conference, Stitt said it was a must that the state “do a better job of breaking down those silos between common ed, CareerTech and higher ed and focusing on our

students.”

“We have to put that together and get this lined up so we can focus on what's best for our kids getting ready for the workforce.”

He's right. We have written numerous times about the need for Oklahoma to produce more college graduates, as our state has long lagged the national average in the percentage of residents with bachelor's degrees and higher. Oklahoma absolutely needs to produce more physicians, engineers, researchers and the like.

But it also needs more welders, electricians, health care workers, computer programmers, etc. — good-paying jobs available through two-year programs.

The state Commerce Department recently announced that the state's Office of Workforce Development will be moved back to the agency after having been under the umbrella of Oklahoma State UniversityOklahoma City. Commerce Secretary Steve Kouplen said he and the governor agree that “the No. 1 impediment to economic development is the Oklahoma workforce. It's such a big deal.”

Brent Kisling, executive director of the Commerce Department, says Oklahoma has many assets that make it attractive to businesses considering moving in, such as its location, its strong work ethic and a low cost of doing business. But workforce can be a sticking point

“We have had a couple projects we were very close to closing,” he said in a recent interview, “but for either real or perceived reasons, they decided not to come here because they didn't have the confidence they could invest millions of dollars and when they open doors, they would then have enough qualified resumes.”

The administration will look to establish workforce teams in communities across the state and try to better align education with local industry. One goal is to better direct resources to create centers of excellence in different fields of work.

One challenge, Kisling says, is “making sure we're inspiring young people … to get into the pipeline, and get into it searching for jobs available at the other end.”

It's a pursuit well worth the administration's time.