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As cities compete for new businesses and workers, the gap between classrooms and employers is increasingly shaping local economic success. In Oklahoma City, business and civic leaders are pushing a coordinated response to ensure students graduate with skills that match actual job openings — and that strategy has implications for hiring, investment and long-term growth.
Bob Funk Jr., chief executive of Express Employment Professionals, points to patterns he sees across the company’s North American network: communities that align schools, employers and civic groups build deeper talent pools and face fewer hiring obstacles.
Why connection matters now
Employers report chronic difficulty filling roles despite steady unemployment declines — a mismatch driven in part by education and training that don’t reflect current labor-market needs. Funk argues that addressing those gaps is not the responsibility of any single institution.
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“Workforce systems need to be collaborative,” he says, reframing workforce policy as shared civic infrastructure rather than a business-only or school-only task. When communities coordinate, students gain clearer career pathways and employers find better-prepared applicants.
That logic underpins the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber’s Talent OKC: Connecting Education & Workforce initiative, which convenes business leaders, educators and community partners to map a regional strategy linking classroom learning to in-demand careers.
Lessons from other states
Funk highlights examples in states such as Tennessee and Indiana where targeted investments helped tighten the link between education and employer needs. Tennessee has expanded credential programs that let students earn industry-recognized certifications before they graduate. Indiana has focused on employer-centered training that equips local firms with the skilled workers they need to scale.
Although approaches differ, the shared feature is intentional coordination — not accidental or ad hoc programs. Communities that pursue this alignment tend to attract employers who value reliable access to trained staff.
What employers can practically do
Businesses play an active role when they move beyond posting job openings and into shaping the systems that produce talent. Practical employer involvement ranges from curriculum input to providing real-world experiences for students.
- Curriculum guidance: Help schools identify the specific skills and credentials local employers require.
- Work-based learning: Offer internships, apprenticeships and job-shadowing to give students exposure to careers early.
- Mentorship and classroom engagement: Place employees in schools to explain daily work and career progression.
- Investment in training: Partner on industry-aligned certification programs or co-fund technical training for prospective hires.
These efforts are especially urgent in fields like the skilled trades, where retirements and low youth entry have left demand well ahead of supply despite strong pay and stable career prospects.
Local momentum, long-term payoff
Initiatives such as the Chamber’s collaboration with CivicLab aim to formalize those employer-education linkages in Oklahoma City. By bringing diverse stakeholders to the table, the initiative seeks to create predictable pipelines that benefit students, businesses and the broader economy.
Funk notes that what Oklahoma City has achieved over recent decades did not happen by accident but through sustained, forward-looking choices. He urges business leaders to see workforce investment as a central part of economic development — essential to keeping the region competitive.
In practical terms, that means sustained partnerships, not one-off efforts: aligning local training with employer needs today to avoid acute shortages tomorrow, and building systems that let graduates transition smoothly into long-term careers.
As communities nationwide recalibrate after pandemic disruptions and shifting labor markets, Oklahoma City’s push to synchronize education and employment offers a model of how coordinated action can convert local talent into measurable economic advantage.
