House study explores stronger connections between employers and workforce programs

OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) — Workforce intermediaries could help Oklahoma employers connect with colleges, recruit interns, and shape training around hiring needs, according to presentations prepared for a House interim study.

Rep. Tammy West, R-Oklahoma City, sponsored the Oct. 19 study before the House Business Committee. The study examined organizations that coordinate among employers, education institutions, and workforce programs to help people move into jobs.

For businesses, that coordination can provide a clearer entry point into a system spread across multiple institutions.

Tom McHugh, a student success coach with the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium, outlined how the consortium connects employers with nine higher education institutions. Businesses can bring a hiring need or project to one organization, which identifies relevant programs, students, and partners across the network.

The consortium’s T3 internship program puts that approach into practice through recruitment support, student matching, professional skills training, and coaching during paid internships.

“Creating an internship is not the same as creating an accessible pathway into it,” McHugh’s presentation states.

The inaugural spring 2026 cohort included six interns. The presentation reported that 83% received employment, an internship extension, or continued project work. All participating employer partners indicated they would host another T3 intern. Those results represent a small initial cohort and include several types of continued work.

The model addresses obstacles on both sides: employers need help finding and preparing candidates, while students may need coaching and introductions to professional networks.

An Indiana example illustrated the coordination required to expand work experience for high school students.

Alex Maggos of Ascend Indiana described a statewide learning network of 24 regional intermediary organizations. Their work includes helping schools and employers understand their responsibilities, develop experiences, and identify staffing and infrastructure needs.

“Intermediaries connect school and employer capacity into one regional system,” the presentation states.

Ascend’s materials emphasized clear roles, practical tools, and a process for using regional successes and challenges to inform state policy.

The study materials also addressed how Oklahoma can determine whether workforce investments produce results.

Heather McKay, executive director of the Strada Institute for the Future of Work, presented a model for a permanent, nonpartisan state office that analyzes education and workforce data.

Such an office would connect information about education, employment, and the economy to identify talent shortages, evaluate the return on education investments, and inform policy. Its work would extend beyond maintaining a database to answering questions from policymakers, educators, and employers.

Jake Cronin, director of research and head of the Labor Market Observatory at Tulsa for You, described related work already underway in Oklahoma.

His presentation identified workforce data tools being developed with the Oklahoma Workforce Commission, agency efforts to connect education and employment information, and Tulsa’s Labor Market Observatory.

Those efforts can help compare the supply of graduates and workers with employer demand, identify gaps, and guide decisions about where to expand or redirect resources.

“Use wage and employment outcomes to learn which programs work, beyond enrollment counts,” one slide recommends.

Cronin’s materials also emphasized formal data-sharing agreements, clear governance, and dedicated analysts to turn information into usable findings.

Libby Ediger of Good Jobs Tulsa addressed coordination from the job seeker’s perspective.

Her presentation described work involving 14 Tulsa-focused organizations to improve career navigation. Identified problems included disconnected information, inconsistent measures of success, and limited incentives to refer people to another organization better equipped to help them.

“The root causes sit between organizations, requiring improved ecosystem coordination,” the presentation states.

The proposed approach combines trained career navigators, better connections among service providers, and practical information about jobs and training. For employers and job seekers alike, the goal is a system that makes the next step easier to find and follow.