CLAREMORE (OBV) — Advanced manufacturing may not always be visible from the outside, but inside facilities like MST Manufacturing, it is driving some of Oklahoma’s most competitive, high-paying workforce opportunities.
Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber of Oklahoma, joined Sen. Ally Seifried on a recent visit to MST Manufacturing’s headquarters in Claremore, where the group toured the company’s advanced machine shop and learned how precision manufacturing is supporting growth across aerospace and other industries.
Warmington said the visit reiterated a core message the State Chamber continues to emphasize in its workforce and competitiveness work: Oklahoma has hundreds of high-skill, high-wage jobs that do not require a traditional four-year degree, but do require awareness, training, and alignment between education and industry.
“There are hundreds of really good, high-skilled, high-paid jobs that don’t require a college degree,” Warmington said. “Seeing a high-tech, advanced manufacturing machine shop is exactly the type of environment we’re talking about. These are the jobs we need students to know about, and MST is doing exactly the kind of training and workforce development that leads directly into advanced manufacturing careers.”
At MST, Warmington said, employees receive hands-on training while working with highly automated equipment and modern manufacturing processes that serve customers across multiple sectors.
“What we saw at MST — the training they provide, the advanced manufacturing they’re doing across aerospace and other industries — is exactly the type of workforce development we want to see more of in Oklahoma,” he said.
Seifried, who represents the Claremore area in the Oklahoma Senate, said MST Manufacturing exemplifies how local companies can compete globally while creating opportunity at home.
“MST Manufacturing is one of the businesses I’m really proud of, headquartered right here in Claremore,” Seifried said. “They’re competing internationally and continuing to grow while providing high-paying jobs. They’re always innovating, always automating, and always pushing the needle forward.”
Seifried said seeing the company’s operations firsthand reinforced the role advanced manufacturing plays in Oklahoma’s economic future.
“These advanced manufacturing jobs are exactly what we want to grow our Oklahoma economy,” she said. “I’m really proud that a company like this is in my district, and I’ll continue to champion it.”
