• Contact
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
  • Login
Oklahoma Business Voice
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Aerospace
    • Childcare
    • Education
    • Energy & Environment
    • Federal
    • Film & Television Industry
    • Finance
    • Health Care
    • Innovation
    • Issues Affecting Oklahomans
    • OBV One-on-One
    • Opinion
    • Politics & Elections
    • Taxes & Budget
    • Tribal
    • Workforce Development
    Governor Kevin Stitt

    Reindustrialize Oklahoma bill to attract business, jobs goes to Stitt

    Gov. Stitt’s AI Task Force releases recommendations, precautions for implementing AI in Oklahoma

    Oklahoma income tax cut plan sent to Gov. Stitt for approval

    Smiling middle-aged woman studying online on laptop computer while sitting in classroom, doing second degree as mature student. Happy 45s female attending online professional development course

    New law gives more Oklahoma adults chance to earn diploma

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States of America - January 18, 2017. Ceiling of the dome of State Capitol of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK.

    Bills supporting Oklahoma Workforce Commission go to Gov. Stitt

  • Sign UpNEW
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise With Us!
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Aerospace
    • Childcare
    • Education
    • Energy & Environment
    • Federal
    • Film & Television Industry
    • Finance
    • Health Care
    • Innovation
    • Issues Affecting Oklahomans
    • OBV One-on-One
    • Opinion
    • Politics & Elections
    • Taxes & Budget
    • Tribal
    • Workforce Development
    Governor Kevin Stitt

    Reindustrialize Oklahoma bill to attract business, jobs goes to Stitt

    Gov. Stitt’s AI Task Force releases recommendations, precautions for implementing AI in Oklahoma

    Oklahoma income tax cut plan sent to Gov. Stitt for approval

    Smiling middle-aged woman studying online on laptop computer while sitting in classroom, doing second degree as mature student. Happy 45s female attending online professional development course

    New law gives more Oklahoma adults chance to earn diploma

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States of America - January 18, 2017. Ceiling of the dome of State Capitol of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK.

    Bills supporting Oklahoma Workforce Commission go to Gov. Stitt

  • Sign UpNEW
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise With Us!
No Result
View All Result
Oklahoma Business Voice
No Result
View All Result
Home News
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell speaks to Next Gen Under 30 award recipients.

EXCLUSIVE: Lt. Gov. Pinnell on investing in Oklahoma’s workforce

Guest Contributor by Guest Contributor
March 12, 2025
in News, Opinion, Politics & Elections, Workforce Development
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

This editorial was written by Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell. We at Oklahoma Business Voice thank Lt. Gov. Pinnell for his generous time and effort writing about one of our state’s most important concerns, workforce.

As your Lieutenant Governor, I have had the privilege of visiting with countless businesses in all 77 counties. Most of the time, I’m included in celebrations – welcoming a new company coming to town or breaking ground on an expansion. I’m grateful for the opportunity to celebrate those economic development wins, and I’m particularly excited when those happen in rural Oklahoma. 

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell
Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell

As I visit with business owners, there is one consistent challenge they each share with me: finding available and qualified workforce. In smaller areas, recruiting workforce has become a vicious cycle of poaching workers from other local businesses, leaving their neighbor with the same challenging hole to fill. 

A low unemployment rate is certainly something to celebrate, and ours is currently below the national average at just 3.3%. This tells us that Oklahomans are working and living our state motto, “Labor Omnia Vincit,” or “Work Conquers All.” But this coupled with the number of open jobs and the national and international demand to move to Oklahoma to take advantage of our pro-business environment leads to a workforce shortage that remains difficult to resolve. 

Unprecedented growth in aerospace, advanced manufacturing, and our continued dominance in energy have made Oklahoma in-high-demand for business relocation and expansion. The pipeline of companies considering Oklahoma is at an all-time high, and the list of wins over the past year speaks for itself: Pratt & Whitney, American Airlines, Fisher59, Liberty Energy, and several others account for at least 5,564 new jobs and $5.19 billion in potential investment.

But the workforce challenge remains, which is why we must continue the positive momentum of setting our existing businesses up for success by helping to fill quality jobs with quality workers. 

We must go about this in a few ways. First, we need to focus on increasing Oklahoma’s labor force participation rate, which is currently at 62.8%. This means that only 62.8% of available workers are currently employed. For comparison, Kansas is at 66.9%. Getting Oklahomans to work is going to be no small feat, which is why I’m working with the HELP task force to understand barriers to workforce entry for mothers, particularly the cost of childcare, and connecting with the Department of Rehabilitation Services to understand opportunities for Oklahoma’s disabled citizens. Re-entry programs for incarcerated workers and veterans are also crucial to getting Oklahomans in the workforce. 

Our CareerTech system provides an opportunity for low-cost training and education for the most in-demand jobs in our state. Working with them helps both existing and potential businesses create a workforce pipeline uniquely trained for their specific needs.

We also must invest in public education. In the 2023-2024 school year, a new all-time high of 4,676 Oklahoma teachers were emergency certified. That number is unacceptable. We need to work with teachers to ensure they’re getting the resources and support they need to stay. Oklahoma’s future workforce is sitting in our classrooms, and they deserve a high-quality education from professional educators.

While I wish that was enough, we must look outside the state to fill the workforce gap. Marketing our low cost of living, low tax rates, family values, and overall quality of life to recruit workers to Oklahoma is the last piece of the complicated workforce puzzle.

Oklahoma certainly has our work cut out for us when it comes to workforce, but I know we’re up for the challenge. Championing Oklahoma businesses and showcasing Oklahoma to the world is my favorite thing to do, and I’ll continue to play my part in building a brighter future for Oklahoma’s economy. Imagine that. 

Tags: HELP Task ForceLieutenant Governor Matt PinnellLt. Gov. Matt PinnellOklahomaRural OklahomaWorkforceWorkforce Development
ShareTweetShare
Previous Post

Aerospace Caucus works to uplift aerospace industry in Oklahoma Legislature

Next Post

Google purchases land to build data center in Stillwater

Related Posts

Governor Kevin Stitt
News

Reindustrialize Oklahoma bill to attract business, jobs goes to Stitt

May 27, 2025
Gov. Stitt’s AI Task Force releases recommendations, precautions for implementing AI in Oklahoma
News

Oklahoma income tax cut plan sent to Gov. Stitt for approval

May 23, 2025
Smiling middle-aged woman studying online on laptop computer while sitting in classroom, doing second degree as mature student. Happy 45s female attending online professional development course
Education

New law gives more Oklahoma adults chance to earn diploma

May 22, 2025
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States of America - January 18, 2017. Ceiling of the dome of State Capitol of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK.
News

Bills supporting Oklahoma Workforce Commission go to Gov. Stitt

May 21, 2025
Tulsa Port of Inola. Photo courtesy of the Tulsa Ports website
Energy & Environment

Emirates Global Aluminium to build $4 billion plant in Oklahoma

May 20, 2025
State Capitol of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City
News

Gov. Stitt gets initial report on Oklahoma Dept. of Mental Health finances

May 19, 2025
Next Post
August 19, 2018 Mountain View / CA / USA - Google logo on one of the buildings situated in Googleplex, the company's main campus in Silicon Valley

Google purchases land to build data center in Stillwater

Oklahoma Business Voice

© 2023 Oklahoma State Chamber.
Powered by High Five Media.
Privacy Policy

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • News
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise With Us!

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise With Us!

© 2023 Oklahoma State Chamber.
Powered by High Five Media.
Privacy Policy

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.