OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Over 50 attendees and 27 state officials were on hand Tuesday for The State Chamber’s Employers in Action Capitol Day. HR and employment professionals from all over the state came to Oklahoma City to hear from Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell and other lawmakers about bills that could affect their workplace and companies.
Coalition members were able to meet one-on-one with their own legislators to develop connections that are invaluable to both businesses and politicians.
“It’s really where the rubber hits the road for the employers in action coalition,” said Dalton Miller of The State Chamber. “We bring employers, HR professionals, benefit managers, people that are doing the work behind the scenes to make businesses run. We find those folks and bring them up to the capitol. We share with them some of the issues of the day, what the legislature is actually discussing, and then we actually bring them up to the chambers so that they can actually meet their legislators.”
EIA member engaged in networking and building connections all in an effort to make our state more business-friendly
“We hope we can facilitate those conversations and make sure that those professionals are connected and that they know the importance of what’s going on at the capitol as it relates to their business,” said Miller.
“I can promise you these legislators want to have connections with you. They want to be able to pick up the phone and get your input on a bill that affects your industry,” said The State Chamber’s president and CEO, Chad Warmington.
“It is really cool that The Chamber has the vision of starting something like this,” Pinnell said.
“It was great. To hear all about the new bills and to meet our senators, it was amazing. It was worth the trip,” said Nelia Carbajal of Durant.
“We hope we can facilitate those conversations and make sure that those professionals are connected and that they know the importance of what’s going on at the capitol as it relates to their business,” said Miller.
The coalition heard from Sen. Adam Pugh, Rep. Brian Hill and Rep. Mark McBride about some of the legislation in the pipeline to fix some of Oklahoma’s workforce issues. Rep. Suzanne Schreiber and other Oklahoma business leaders talked about bills that could alleviate Oklahoma’s childcare shortages and in turn get more parents back into the workforce.