COWIB's YouTube Video's
Workforce Alumni Celebration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmax9iq25EA&feature=youtu.be
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Central WIA Economic Profile Highlights
Central WIA Economic Profile Highlights
Oklahoma County Commissioner Ray Vaughn Earns National Recognition for Innovative Governance.
Oklahoma County Commissioner Ray Vaughn earns national recognition for innovative governance
PORTLAND, ORE. – The National Association of Counties (NACo) has recognized Oklahoma County Commissioner Ray Vaughn with the association’s prestigious 2011 County Courthouse Award for Innovative Governance.
Vaughn was selected from over fifty entries as the Urban Category winner by an independent panel of judges. He was recognized for his dedication to improving the lives of Oklahoma County’s residents, including his leadership in the county’s acquisition of a shuttered General Motors manufacturing plant. The county leased the facility to the area’s largest single-site employer, Tinker Air Force Base. By doing this, nearly all of the 2,400 jobs lost as a result of the plant closure are on track to be replaced.
“On behalf of the nation’s counties, I commend Commissioner Vaughn for his bold leadership in turning a devastating economic hit on the community into economic boom,” said NACo President Glen Whitley, county judge, Tarrant County, Texas. “He was the driving force behind the public/private partnership which led to passage of the $55 million bond issue to purchase the GM plant and lease it to Tinker Air Force Base, keeping nearly 2,000 jobs in the area.”
This year’s winners were honored at NACo’s 76th Annual Conference and Exposition in Portland/Multnomah County, Ore.
Established in 2001, County Courthouse Awards recognize elected county officials who demonstrate innovative and effective leadership to improve the quality of life of their residents. One County Courthouse Award is presented each year in three categories: Rural County, Suburban County, and Urban County. The Rural County winner was Sheriff Scott Story of Waldo County, Maine. The Suburban County winner was Sheriff Steve Waugh of Yavapai County, Arizona. Each winner receives a $5,000 college scholarship to present to a local student.
The County Courthouse Awards are sponsored by Siemens and presented by NACo’s Large Urban County Caucus and Rural Action Caucus. More information is available at www.naco.org.
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The National Association of Counties (NACo) is the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States. Founded in 1935, NACo provides essential services to the nation’s 3,068 counties. NACo advances issues with a unified voice before the federal government, improves the public's understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers money. For more information about NACo, visit www.naco.org.
COWIB 2011 Strategic Plan
June, 2011 - Regional Innovation Plan
COWIB recently completed a regional strategic plan focused on the workforce development assets of a 10-county area in Central Oklahoma. A copy of the 23-page plan is available here. Excerpt: "After reviewing all of the data, input and discussion, we believe there are four major priorities to focus on....
“1. Creating a highly effective education and career guidance system;
“2. Better integrating the public workforce system and the business community;
“3. Creating a strong, vibrant community;
“4. Capitalizing on technological advances to enhance our competitive position as a state."
Introduction
This document contains a strategic plan for the 10-county Oklahoma region in and around Oklahoma City including Canadian, Cleveland, Grady, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, McClain, Oklahoma, Payne and Pottawatomie counties. During our process of preparing for this project we were fortunate that several key items fell into place for us to undertaking this challenge. First and foremost was the foresight by the Central Oklahoma Workforce Investment Board (COWIB) in understanding that our workforce investment area was impacted by and influenced a much broader area than our four counties. This was proven as we studied data supplied by the U.S. Department of Census and the U.S. Department of Labor both on the number and relationship of workers that commuted in a larger area. After reviewing the data and visiting with many of our economic developers, we understood that we live and work in a ten county region that is inter-dependent on the workforce living in each of the ten counties. We were also most fortunate that the U.S. Department of Labor was incentivizing regions to come to work together by issuing Regional Innovation Grants. We of course were already aware that the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce had pulled economic representatives from the ten counties and created the Oklahoma City Partnership which focused on sharing information about development opportunities that were becoming available in the region. The other Local Workforce Boards, East Central, South Central and North Central, all agreed that we shared some commonality and should work together on creating a strategic plan for the region.
We met with the Oklahoma City Partnership and the other LWIBs involved and they all agreed on submitting a grant proposal and collaborating to ensure its success. During the initial meeting with the OKC Partnership, a leadership team of Eddie Foreman, CEO of COWIB, Drew Dugan, Oklahoma City Chamber, Janet Yowell, Chair of the Partnership and Director of Edmond Economic Development, Richard Clements and Alba Weaver, both members of the Partnership and economic developers of OGE was created. In order to create a strategic plan for the region, all felt it was necessary to create an asset map of the resources available in the ten county area. The leadership team worked to draft an RFP for creating such a map along with a web based system that would be accessible for everyone to have access to the information we gathered. We received several bids and the leadership team selected the Center for Spatial Analysis (CSA) of the University of Oklahoma. During the next several months we met with team members from CSA and had them interact with a wide variety of economic developers and business and leaders from the region. All the time helping to design a GIS web based site that would provide the information needed for planning purposes. To see the entire document CLICK HERE.
