Name: Jason McCarty
Phone: 405-815-5320

14 Counties Included in Workforce Effort by State, Tribal Partners

August 8, 2011 -- Fourteen Oklahoma counties recently added an important tool in their job creation kits when they received "Work Ready" recognition from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce.  

Commerce recognizes the 14 Northeastern Oklahoma counties - Washington, Nowata, Craig, Ottawa, Rogers, Mayes, Delaware, Wagoner, Cherokee, Adair, Okmulgee, Muskogee, Sequoyah, and McIntosh – as one of Oklahoma’s premier “work ready” regions.

Norma Noble, Commerce Deputy Secretary of Workforce Development, praised the combined efforts of the regional leaders to become the fifth area in the state to earn Oklahoma Certified Work Ready status and the second multi-county region to earn the distinction.

“The key to economic development in Oklahoma is workforce recruitment, training, and certification,” Noble said. "The Work Ready certification is a tool that will strengthen the pipeline of skilled workers in Oklahoma. It says this region is open and ready to do business.”

Managed by the Governor's Council for Workforce & Economic Development and Commerce, the Certified Work Ready program quantifies the skilled workforce available to an existing employer or a new business considering Oklahoma for a new location.

A broad array of partners in Northeast Oklahoma, including Commerce, the Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Northeastern State University, Rogers State University, OSU Institute of Technology in Okmulgee, the Northeast Oklahoma Rural Alliance, Workforce Oklahoma, Eastern Workforce Investment Board, Northeast Workforce Investment Board and  multiple local economic development organizations partnered to create the largest certified area in Oklahoma.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith said working with many community partners, including the Northeast Oklahoma Rural Alliance, to obtain the work ready certification is an important step for northeastern Oklahoma.  

"It helps the entire community by ensuring citizens are employable and increases our ability to recruit and expand businesses in our region,” Smith said.

Noble said every state in the nation is competing to attract industry and grow existing businesses.

“What it takes to compete effectively is a skilled and available workforce,” Noble said. "Regional partnerships can automatically gain a competitive advantage over non-certified regions because they can quantify a skilled workforce to an existing employer or a new business considering Oklahoma for a new location."

Oklahoma’s Certified Work Ready project is an innovative program that encourages counties and regions to link workforce and economic development. Work Ready expands the state's skills assessment and certification effort currently offered to individual employees, job seekers, and employers through the Career Readiness Certificate program (CRC). To be certified Work Ready, counties must meet the following requirements.

Workforce achievement:

• 3% of the existing workforce must be credentialed with CRCs; and
• 25% of the available workforce must be credentialed with CRCs;

High School achievement:

• A community commitment to improve the high school graduation rate; and
• At least 85% high school graduation rate; or 
• At least 82% of high school seniors must earn a CRC.

To learn more about the Work Ready Certification program or to download an application, please contact the Oklahoma Department of Commerce at OKcommerce.gov/workready or call 800-879-6552.