The Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Workforce and Talent Council convened more than 30 employer and talent ecosystem partners Wednesday to learn how the Chamber is bolstering the engineering talent pipeline.

Spearheaded by Rue Ramsey, the Chamber’s vice president of workforce and talent strategies, and sponsored by CF Industries, the meeting was held at Tulsa Tech’s Lemley Campus and unveiled a pilot talent recruitment website designed to connect experienced engineers with in-demand opportunities in Tulsa.

Using targeted advertising, the platform enables seasoned professionals to directly access job openings with local companies in this high-growth sector.

Engineering is among the high-demand and hard-to-fill jobs for the greater Tulsa region, and that is what the Chamber is zeroing in on, Ramsey said.

“For employers in the room, our job is to make sure you have the talented workforce you need to expand and grow,” she said. “The only way to really do that is to bring you guys together with the talent ecosystem,” she said.

The importance of early career opportunities via internships and work-based learning was also covered as a key strategy to retain qualified talent for the region.

As director of Early Career Programs at Experience Tulsa, Brooke Randels leads efforts to expand the local economy by investing in early-career talent (Campus Tulsa & Tulsa Service Year).

“We’re not saying, `Come work at a specific company,” she said. “We’re saying, `Tulsa has amazing opportunities,” Randels said. “You look like you’re looking for some amazing opportunities.

“`We tell students, there’s something from PSO. There’s something from T.D. Williamson here on this job board. What fits you? What are you looking for and take a chance on Tulsa.’”

Dr. Laura Latta, executive director of The Tulsa Higher Education Consortium, said Tulsa recently was designated as a Tech Hub by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, a label that brings with it about $52 million to expand tech industries.

“That very much includes a lot of engineering pathways and programs,” Latta said. “We have been thinking about how to match the workforce demand and the talent supply.

“As we’re growing as a Tech Hub, how do we ensure that we have enough talent to match the growth that’s happening?  That’s going to take all of us, every single person in this room, K (kindergarten) through 12 (12^th grade), higher ed, tech and business industries.”

Launching this spring is the T-3 Tech Hubs Talent Training Program, an 8- to 10-week internships initiative of the Tulsa Tech Hub and led by the Tulsa Higher Education Consortium in collaboration with Tulsa Innovation Labs and regional employers.

“This is a really an opportunity for us to build out that tech talent,” Latta said. “What better way to do that than through internships.”

Ramsey closed the program, emphasizing that employers need to “normalize” promoting from within to increase upward mobility.

She also talked about the Chamber’s unprecedented effort of working collaboratively with regional employers to recruit talent.

The Chamber is running ads in cities with a high concentration of engineers, placing on its Tulsa’s Future website the job openings of Tulsa’s Future investors.

The Chamber plans to expand that initiative to other sectors.

Beyond job listings, the site offers a suite of resources to support relocation decisions. These include a cost-of-living calculator to compare Tulsa with other cities, a tourism guide highlighting the area's attractions and detailed information on K-12 education in the region.

“We’re elevating Tulsa as a place where you can live, work and play,” Ramsey said. “I hope you all bombard me and say, `I need to be on that website.’ This is why we’re building it.”