North Central Oklahoma Center of Workforce Excellence (NCOCWE) held a legislative luncheon on Friday, Jan. 20 in Conference Center B at Pioneer Technology Center (PTC). NCOCWE Chair Garrett Bowers welcomed the assembled group of people from the fields of businesses, industry, education, economic development organizations, chambers of commerce, state agencies, tribes and government. NCOCWE is a consortium that engages in promoting growth opportunities for students and providing ample workforce to meet the ever-changing needs of regional businesses and industries.

Janet Schwabe shared the 2022 NCOCWE initiatives.

Schwabe began by sharing the primary focus industries, which were chosen by looking at the data and finding the largest employer bases.

In 2020, the largest employer base was in healthcare and construction, while high growth industries included transportation and material moving, manufacturing/ production, and protective service.

In 2022, the largest employer base was in healthcare and manufacturing, and the high growth industries were transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing.

Government, retail trade, management of companies, and accommodation and food services were also in primary industries.

The goals of NCOCWE, and several of the items needed to achieve those goals, include some of the following:

1. To help individuals understand both the skills that are required by employers and how to prepare for success.

Initiatives include job shadowing, internships, career fairs/job fairs, certified apprenticeships, VR tours, STEM camps and other summer career academies.

• 100 student internships at Ponca City High School

• 98 work-based learning student participants at Pioneer Technology Center

• 10 internships at Northern Oklahoma College - Tonkawa annually

• Created a WBL guide for employers

• Ponca City Public Schools is building a STEM program with the passing of the recent bond issue

2. To help policy makers and stakeholders measure and close skill gaps that help individuals and businesses thrive.

Initiatives include data gathering from state and local entities/agencies, active communication and collaboration, advisory committee participation.

• Legislative luncheon with state and federal representatives, and regional employers

• Oklahoma Works workshops on worker training programs and Skillful Talent hiring

• Compiled asset map of available resources

• Identifying regional assets in the areas of education, transportation, quality of life, health care and recent capital investments to create an engaging and informative website and use in a digital marketing campaign

• Engaged the Department of Rehabilitation Services for employer resources

3. Respond to employers’ most urgent needs.

Initiatives include personal visits to employers, job board postings, recruitment through career/job fairs, career pathways/degree programs offered in focus industries, specialized training programs.

• Quarterly focused industry sector meetings (Transportation, Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Education, Protective Service)

• Industry survey for workforce needs/ challenges

• Manufacturing Day career exploration • Hiring flowchart infographic

• Basic Peace Officer Certification, Biomedical Sciences Academy and Wind Energy Programs implemented in response to regional needs

• Exploring opportunities for apprenticeships in the trades industry and transportation (CDL) Schwabe also identified several gaps in workforce including local branding, marketing and communication outreach to share the resources and what is trying to be accomplish in the community. This includes promoting the various programs and events, and highlighting successful workforce initiatives, as well as digital marketing program.

Other gaps include coordination of work-based learning opportunities for high school students across the region and in smaller communities.

While there are strong workforce programs in different pockets of this region, NCOCWE wants to establish a more unified and continual effort such as a shortterm “Implementation Specialist” to perform business process analysis and optimization with support services planning and buildout.

The group was joined by legislative members including Tanner Roberts with Senator James Lankford’s office, and Representative Ken Luttrell to discuss a variety of topics in the group’s open forum.

Amongst the topics discussed, the fear for rural schools being able to maintain being well-funded as well as the looming presence of school vouchers. School vouchers use public funds set aside for a school district and allocate them toward a participating family in the form of a voucher to pay partial or full tuition for a child’s private school.

Representative Luttrell shared that the Oklahoma House of Representatives was working to protect rural schools by having the vouchers have a population cap, thereby keeping them in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Cleveland Counties.

“We know and understand in the rural caucus in the House, that [vouchers] are bad for rural education,” said Representative Luttrell. “We know that it is coming, and I think our task on that will be to protect common education in rural Oklahoma. Don’t think we’re going to roll over and take it, there will be a battle.”

One of the problems with vouchers is that there is one general fund for common education in Oklahoma, and if the money goes out, then that will impact rural schools. The group also expressed worry that the vouchers could open up issues for attack including higher education.

The State Chamber has made efforts to show legislators what goes on in rural Oklahoma, with a group of legislators visiting Ponca City recently. A group of about 20 legislators from the House and Senate also toured the research facilities of Philips 66 in Bartlesville on Thursday, Jan. 19.

It was suggested by the group that if vouchers are an inevitability, then the standards must be the same for accountability, testing, auditing and academic standards for all schools public and private in the state.

Another topic discussed marijuana in Oklahoma and grow operations. It was shared that the Wall Street Journal1 recently had an article about Oklahoma becoming the largest sources of black market weed in the country.

Concerns were also raised about some industries not wanting to come to Oklahoma due to the rampant unlicensed black market operations.

In Oklahoma, a grow operation must be at least 75% local ownership, however, foreign and out-of-state investors have been paying Oklahoma residents to be “in name only” majority owners.

The legalization of recreational marijuana will come up with SQ 820 on the March 7, 2023 general ballot.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 26 at noon.

Sources

1. https://www.wsj.com/articles/oklahomahas- become-a-top-source-of-black-marketweed- 11671990991