Fact Sheet | Good Jobs Economy Partnership with Oklahoma

Today, National Governors Association (NGA) Chairman Kevin Stitt announced that as as a part of his NGA Chair’s Initiative, Reigniting the American Dream, Oklahoma will partner with Good Jobs Economy to help put thousands of Oklahomans in good jobs and transform state systems to build a workforce that powers the state’s economy into the future.

To do this, Governor Stitt: 1) announced an Oklahoma Good Jobs Fund to support high-quality workforce training for priority industries, 2) is launching an effort to assess and improve the state’s talent systems, and 3) plans to issue an executive order to ensure the state is ready to provide high-quality training options that leverage new Pell Grant funding for short-term programs.

The Oklahoma Good Jobs Fund

Governor Stitt is announcing an Oklahoma Good Jobs Fund to identify and fund the development, implementation, and growth of evidence-based, scalable programs and industry partnerships that train and place residents into good local jobs — especially in priority industries and occupations. This fund includes $4.5 million in public funds to support high-quality programs statewide, and at least $15 million from the George Kaiser Family Foundation in aligned funding to prepare Tulsans for good jobs in industries like manufacturing, advanced air mobility, and health care. These investments are designed to catalyze larger philanthropic and public funding to create pathways for Oklahomans to reach the middle class.

The purpose of this funding is to prepare workers for good jobs in select high-growth industries and high-demand occupations. The funding will help develop, modify, and scale programs to keep pace with employer hiring needs — while measuring and evaluating the impact on outcomes, including job attainment, wage gains, and earning of employer-valued credentials. Results of these programs will inform future state policy design.

As a part of this launch, Governor Stitt is utilizing the Oklahoma Workforce Commission and building off the newly formed Workforce Transformation Fund as the mechanism for a Good Jobs Fund in Oklahoma. 

Building Talent Systems 

In addition, Governor Stitt will partner with Good Jobs Economy to build a more integrated and responsive talent system that adapts more quickly to changes in the job market and supports inclusive economic growth. This system will use data, technology, and updated curriculum and training opportunities to equip Oklahoma’s workforce for the jobs of the future. To support these goals, the partnership will assess and lay the foundation for how the state: 

• Generates ongoing labor market analyses and validates the findings by engaging employers – to ensure an actionable, specific understanding of employers’ demand for good jobs, the supply of talent, and critical gaps.
• Sets and tracks measurable outcome goals for people hired into good jobs, wage gains, and attainment of valued credentials that meet demonstrated employer needs, especially in key industries and occupations.
• Funds and scales programs and career pathways that meet the hiring needs of employers, have strong industry partnerships, and are evidence-based or have strong track records of leading to good jobs.
• Builds the capacity of industry partnerships and workforce intermediaries and funds them to connect employers, job seekers, and education and training providers to meet local hiring needs.
• Establishes strong, adequately resourced governance structures that coordinate across agencies, fund and support intermediaries, and hold partners accountable.

Implementing Workforce Pell

Finally, Governor Stitt will issue an executive order to prepare Oklahoma to make effective use of newly enacted Workforce Pell Grant funding, which will help students pay for short-term job training programs starting July 1, 2026. His executive order is anticipated to establish a task force to develop a statewide implementation roadmap for Workforce Pell — taking into account any guidance or regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education — to:

• Establish a clear, rigorous process to determine whether a program meets the hiring needs of employers — and the quality standards and definitions that the new federal law empowers governors to implement, including related to wage outcomes.
• Generate updated labor market analyses and engage employers to ensure an actionable, specific understanding of: employer demand, talent supply, and critical gaps; specific roles, skills, and credentials employers are hiring for; and where there are current and forecasted gaps between those employer needs and the current supply of talent. 
• Provide transparency about program labor market outcomes, including which programs meet and exceed Workforce Pell outcomes, as well as transparency about which programs connect to longer certificate or degree pathways. The roadmap will also include recommendations for increasing the number of students who complete short-term credential programs and subsequently move into postsecondary certificate or degree programs that culminate in higher-wage jobs. 
• Recommend strategies for how philanthropy and other public funds can complement this strategy. Approaches may include uses of funds that incentivize quality and reward performance of short-term programs that result in meaningful attainment of good jobs and wage gains.  

For more information, please reach out to Special Assistant to the CEO, Kristy King-Pritzl at kristy@goodjobseconomy.org. 

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