Good News - FlightSafety International broke ground this week on a new $42 million Broken Arrow plant. They expect to create 325 jobs with the new plant;  The Port of Muskogee announced Eagle Claw Fabrication, a wind tower manufacturer, will build a new plant and add 150 new jobs; The Lansing Trade Group announced the formation of a natural gas liquid company in Tulsa with 18 new jobs averaging $94,418 in salaries; Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores announced expansions totaling 26 new locations; Ardmore celebrated the opening of its $60 million Mercy Hospital; The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center were ranked in the top 10 places to work in academia; and, finally, 489 new companies incorporated last week, with 12,746 new companies total this year.
Contact Kris Rush.

Chamber Blue Health Insurance Plan Continues To Grow – The State Chamber’s endorsed health insurance plan, offered by Blue Cross/Blue Shield and called Oklahoma Chamber Blue, continues to be very well received by the rural small business community.  Offered to businesses with 2-50 employees in the 62 rural counties of the state, this extremely successful program offers a variety of PPO and HMO products, with no medical underwriting and optional copayments. All plans are also available for the state’s InsureOklahoma! premium assistance program which provides premium payment support for qualified employees. In order to find out more about Oklahoma Chamber Blue, click here. To find out more about the state’s InsureOklahoma! premium assistance program, click here. 
Contact Matt Robison.

Oklahoma Joins Effort For Federal Common Education Student Assessment Grant – The Oklahoma Department of Education has joined two consortiums of states in an effort to secure federal grant funds.  Such funds are designed to help determine an assessment system intended to increase the number of common education graduates to be better prepared for college or careers.  In order for states to secure federal Race to the Top grant funds, a state must participate in such a consortium. The U.S. Department of Education intends to allot $350 million to a consortium of states for the development of such a system aligned to common standards for what students should learn at each grade level.  For more information about the Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Careers, (led by the State of Florida), click here.  For more information about the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, (led by the State of Washington), click here.
Contact Matt Robison.

The National Association Of Manufacturers (NAM) Releases Strategic Plan For American Manufacturing – This week, the NAM released a Manufacturing Strategy for Jobs and a Competitive America, a new document that lays out manufacturers’ priorities in the face of unprecedented global competition. In the strategy release, the NAM calls on Congress to think and act strategically when working on economic policies.

Specifically, the Strategy sets out the following goals:

• The United States will be the best country in the world to headquarter a company.
• The United States will be the best country in the world to innovate, performing the bulk of a company’s global research and development.
• The United States will be a great place to manufacture, both to meet the needs of the American market and serve as an export platform for the world.

To access the full document, click here.  We will also post this study on The State Chamber’s website under the “Oklahoma Manufacturers’ Association” web page.
Contact Mike Seney.

Report Projects Job And Education Requirements Through 2018 – A new, highly detailed forecast shows that as the economy struggles to recover, and jobs slowly return, there will be a growing disconnect between the types of jobs employers need to fill and numbers of Americans who have the education and training to fill those jobs. The report, Help Wanted: Projecting Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018, by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, forecasts that by 2018, 63 percent of all jobs will require at least some postsecondary education. Employers will need 22 million new workers with postsecondary degrees—and the report shows that we will fall short by three million workers without a dramatic change in course. In addition to national projections, the report also includes state-by-state analyses.  To see a copy of the report, click here.
Contact Matt Robison.

U.S. Chamber Says That U.S. Is Missing Out On Opportunities To Boost Trade & Jobs – To show the benefits of America's trade agreements for U.S. workers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce commissioned a study entitled Opening Markets, Creating Jobs: Estimated U.S. Employment Effects of Trade with FTA Partners.  To access the report, click here.
Contact Mike Seney.

WTO Finds EU Governments In Violation On Airbus Subsidization – This week, the World Trade Organization (WTO) found that European governments have provided Airbus more than 15 billion euros (face value) in launch aid – subsidizing every model of aircraft ever produced by Airbus in the last 40 years.  The dispute settlement panel at the WTO ruled in favor of the United States on a case claiming that launch aid and other subsidies provided by European countries to the Airbus aircraft company over the last four decades caused adverse effects to the interests of U.S. businesses and workers.  To access the documents related to the ruling, plus a news release from The Boeing Co., click here.
Contact Mike Seney.

Register Now For the Girl Scouts Leadership Conference - Oklahomans understand the role that girls and women play to create a healthy and prosperous Oklahoma, and how Girl Scouts are the key to making that happen; so we would like to invite you and your members to the Leadership Summit 2010!   This event will be held on July 23rd and 24th at the NCED/Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Norman, OK. Your participation will help Oklahoma set a new course of leadership!  Attendees will meet other key leaders in their communities, and help make a difference in reversing some of the negative statistics of Oklahoma.  Begin the dialog that will truly make a change for women and girls in our state. Click here for registration information.

2010 Washington D.C. Fly-In To Be September 13th & 14th  – The State Chamber’s 2010 Washington Fly-In is set for September 13th & 14th, with the Liaison Capitol Hill as the headquarters hotel.  Reservations can be made by calling 202/638-1616 or 866/233-4642.  Be sure to tell them that you are with the Oklahoma State Chamber Annual Fly-In group to guarantee the special group rate of $230. The cut-off date for reservations is Monday, August 16th!  The State Chamber’s Congressional Activities Committee met recently to begin planning the program for this year’s Fly-In.  Events include the popular Congressional Breakfast, Congressional Reception and meetings with Oklahoma’s U.S. senators and representatives.  More details coming soon!
Contact Ronn Cupp.

Congratulations To The 2010 Nano Grant Award Winners - The Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST) announced the 2010 Oklahoma Nanotechnology Applications Project (ONAP) Award winners who are: SouthWest NanoTechnologies Inc. (SWeNT) in Norman (advanced cathode materials for next generation batteries used in electric vehicles); Frontier Electronic Systems of Stillwater (development and commercialization of a lithium battery system); Charlesson LLC of Oklahoma City (nano-emulsion-based formulation of anti-glaucoma drug for improved topical administration); A. Kann Kalkan of OSU (hybrid plasmon damping nanosensor); Bijhem Scientific Inc. of Norman (genetically modifiable biomimetic nanocatalyst for environment applications). Click here for more information.
Contact Jim Mason.