Lawton Regional Meeting Continues Workforce Tour

Governor Fallin, business leaders talk about addressing skills gap, other employment issues

Oklahoma City (August 27, 2015) – The State Chamber of Oklahoma today hosted the second of nine regional meetings featuring Governor Mary Fallin to talk with business leaders and the education community in Lawton and south central Oklahoma about problems they face finding skilled workers. The meetings are a partnership between the State Chamber, the Oklahoma Educated Workforce Initiative (OEWI) and Governor Fallin’s Oklahoma Works program.

“Most employers tell me they have good, high-paying jobs that sit empty because, too often, we are graduating students without the skills needed for the modern workforce,” said State Chamber President & CEO Fred Morgan. “We need to change that in order to make sure Oklahoma’s economy continues to grow. We want to thank Governor Fallin for starting the conversation between the business community and educators about how to address the state’s current and future workforce needs. We look forward to even more engagement by business leaders in the meetings to come.”

During the meeting at the Lawton Ft. Sill Convention Center, Governor Fallin told attendees about the skills gap the state is facing where 54-percent of the current workforce has education beyond high school while 77-percent of the jobs in ten years will require education beyond high school. “The skills gap makes it hard to recruit businesses to Oklahoma,” Fallin said. “If we want Oklahoma businesses to stay and expand in the state, we need to make sure they have access to the skilled workforce they need.”

Ryan Posey, president of HIS Sensing in Chickasha, also spoke as the Key Economic Network Business Champion for the South Central region as chosen by Governor Fallin. “As a business owner, my professional goal is to grow my business and see Oklahoma propser,” he said. “We must get the right people in the room, the right ideas at the table and sustain the efforts as we leave today.”

There are seven more regional meetings scheduled around the state through the end of October:

For more information go to www.okstatechamber.com/events.

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