Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development

State agencies across the country are grappling with how to position their competitive edge, in order to attract, retain and grow businesses. States are launching slick advertising campaigns with catchy taglines and slogans in an attempt to lure prospective businesses and sell them on their competitive business climate and their skilled workforce. However, when one looks behind the curtain of these glossy images and campaigns, what surfaces, more often than not, are turf issues and a lack of true collaboration in building regional economies that contribute to the sum of a solid state brand identity.

State workforce boards and governor's councils need to take a serious look behind the strategies of the GROW Oklahoma campaign. What's refreshing about GROW is that there is a true foundation of regional workforce and economic development collaborations supported by funding and systems at the state level.

Governor Brad Henry reconstituted the State Workforce Board as the Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development, and appointed a Deputy Secretary of Commerce to oversee Workforce Initiatives. With these actions, he set in motion a process for developing a workforce system in support of economic development at both the state and regional levels. The Oklahoma Legislature codified the Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development and a Workforce Solutions Staff Team (WSST) into law during the legislative session. This action ensures that the work of the Council, including its sector based strategies, can continue regardless of politics or who occupies the Governor's office.

The Workforce Solutions Staff Team is comprised of executive level staff from nine state agencies and local workforce boards. They are responsible for ensuring that agency goals and resources are aligned toward common statewide objectives, and provide support to the Governor's Council.

Oklahoma's local workforce investment boards are supported at the state level through funding and technical assistance in developing and implementing a regional workforce and economic development plan. These efforts are measured, and contribute to an overall state report card that monitors milestones and communicates both successes and areas of opportunities.

Oklahoma has several components that other states should carefully examine when looking at effective systems to engage local partners in the concept of regionalism. These include:

1. a clearly defined strategic plan at the state level that translates into actionable steps at the local level;
2. funding provided at the local level to meet objectives within the state plan;
3. technical assistance and support to improve capacity at the local level for building regional structures;
4. a metrics system other than standard Workforce Investment Act (WIA) performance measurements that monitors milestones and reports value to key stakeholders; and
5. a system of stakeholders that can respond to market demands.

Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. developed the Council's annual report and an executive summary to tell their powerful story of statewide collaboration and regionalism.