OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) — “It’s a wake-up call. It was kind of a slap in the face, to be honest with you,” said Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, after seeing data presented to members of the Oklahoma Legislature during a recent interim study.
On Tuesday, Rep. Mike Osburn, R-Edmond, hosted an interim study focused on Oklahoma’s economic competitiveness. The State Chamber of Oklahoma President and CEO Chad Warmington, The State Chamber Research Foundation Executive Director Jake Yunker, and Economic Leadership LLC Managing Partner Ted Abernathy presented “the good, the bad and the ugly” on where Oklahoma stands in key areas that drive and influence economic growth.
The State Chamber is working with Economic Leadership on a comprehensive analysis of Oklahoma’s business landscape. Early results show the state ranking well below national and regional averages in many critical categories. Chamber leaders pointed to Oklahoma’s rank of 47th in third grade reading scores as a major warning sign that the state’s present and future workforce may lack the skills needed to grow the economy.
Job loss tied to automation was another major topic of discussion. Abernathy stressed that automation is essential to remain competitive but emphasized the need to upskill employees before jobs are displaced.
“When you look at Oklahoma, you didn’t lose quite as many jobs over the last 15 to 20 years (to automation), but your skilled jobs numbers didn’t increase. You are not moving up the value chain,” Abernathy said.
He noted that, largely because of automation in the oil and gas industry, Oklahoma was the only state to lose advanced industry jobs over the last five years.
“Let’s be honest, it’s a little depressing — specifically the amount of advanced jobs that we have lost,” said Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond. “In my opinion, this is just absolutely unacceptable. I think seeing those numbers and charts really brings awareness to the situation.”
“I think we’ve moved forward in so many areas, specifically our fiscal stability as a state,” West said. “But we are lagging behind not only nationally but, more importantly for us, regionally in competition with the states around us in some areas that are fundamental to our long-term growth. If we do not reset and correct, we will fall further behind.”
“We just sat through about an hour and a half worth of information. Some of it was good, but some of it was startling,” Osburn said. “I think it was great because it shows the Legislature what our task is over the next several years. Obviously, we can’t turn things around immediately, but one thing we can do is start working on it piece by piece and focus on certain areas that are important.”
“This data calls for long term solutions. We are thinking about agendas, not just session by session, but like literally years, decades at a time,” said Warmington, State Chamber President and CEO. “These are the kind of changes that are going to be systemic in order to make Oklahoma the most advanced economy we can get. That’s the mindset we are trying to take into this.”
The State Chamber plans to unveil a comprehensive strategy to make Oklahoma more competitive on the national stage at its State of Business Forum in Oklahoma City on Nov. 17.
