Oklahoma Department of Commerce announce grants totaling $500,000

You can find this original post in the Tulsa World. We are grateful for their continued support.

Two northeast Oklahoma entities, Premier Logistics (Tulsa County) and Heavy Metal Training Institute (Big Cabin) are among the recipients of $500,000 in grants announced Thursday by the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development.

The grants will support five industry sector partnerships as they build collaborative partnerships to solve workforce development challenges.

“The Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development and the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development (OOWD) believe that businesses are best positioned to solve the problems of industry, including talent recruitment, development and retention,” Board Chair Chuck Gray said in a statement. “The grants announced (Thursday) will play an important role in scaling business driven strategies tailored to meet the needs of regional economies.”

The grant for Premier is for the development of career exposure and training for logistics, supply chain and transportation jobs, and the money for Heavy Metal Training Institute is to go toward solving talent shortages in the trucking industry.

Sector partnerships are groups of business leaders, from the same industry and in a shared labor market, who work with education, workforce development, economic development and community organizations to address the workforce and other competitiveness needs of their industry.

“The Sector Partnership Grants continue the Governor’s Council and the Office of Workforce Development’s commitment to expanding business-led solutions to workforce challenges in the state,” Executive Director Don Morris said in a statement.

“These grants provide an opportunity for industry to identify specific needs and work side-by-side with education, economic and workforce development and community partners to solve local and regional problems.”