The Tulsa Regional Chamber is serious about attracting a skilled labor force to Tulsa.
“We want to be in partnership with you to ensure that you get the people you need,” said Rue Ramsey, the Chamber’s vice president of workforce and talent strategies. “We’re not just talking about it. We’re doing something about it. Help us help you.”
Ramsey made her pitch to about 30 attendees Friday at the Chamber’s Aerospace Council meeting at CymSTAR in Broken Arrow.
The Chamber has launched an initiative designed to attract and retain talent in high-demand occupational clusters, including engineering, accounting/finance and industrial machinery maintenance.
It unveiled the talent pipeline program in late September by posting engineering jobs on its Tulsa’s Future website and has since added the other fields. Using targeted advertising, the platform enables job-seekers to directly access openings with Tulsa companies.
“Why this is special is because Tulsa has never attracted or tried to get people to move to Tulsa together,” Ramsey said. “…As we attract talent together, we will put Tulsa on the map.”
Ramsey was among several speakers at the meeting sponsored by Atlas School, which trains students for careers in software engineering, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Daniel Marticello, president and CEO of CymSTAR, told the audience how the company designs, upgrades, and integrates advanced flight simulators and training systems for the U.S. Armed Forces and allied nations.
Of the 120 people who work at CymSTAR in Broken Arrow, about 55 are software engineers.
Johnathan Ford, assistant director of workforce and economic development at Tulsa Tech, talked about CareerTech apprenticeships, and Tai Nehisi, founder and CEO of Organizely, spoke on the merits of Tech Week, which is Sept. 21-26.
The Chamber launched the Aerospace Council in 2020 to provide a forum to share best practices within the aerospace and defense industry, as well as networking opportunities for industry professionals. The Council meets quarterly at local aerospace employers and educational facilities.
For more information, please call Brien Thorstenberg, the Chamber's vice president of economic development, at 918-560-0231.