Plans are coming together for our Washington D.C. Fly-In. Packets will be in the mail next week. We are still looking for corporate or individual sponsors.
Contact Ronn Cupp or Karen Cagle.

Area Code 918 To Change August 7th – The Oklahoma Corporation Commission announces the approval of a plan to prevent “number exhaust” in the region served by the 918 area code, while at the same time allowing current residents, businesses, schools and local governments to keep their existing numbers.  Click here to read the full explanation, schedule and frequently asked questions.
Contact Matt Skinner.

Oklahoma Compensation To Increase 3% In The Midst Of Economic Turmoil - Sounds crazy in the current environment?! Quorum Compensation Group, Inc. conducted its 2010 Compensation & Employment Outlook in January and the response for all Oklahoma participants indicated more than one-third of respondents had a planned compensation budget increase of 2.5 to 3.5% with some moving up as much as 5%.  What is currently happening in Oklahoma? The most effective way to find out is participation in the 2010 Oklahoma Compensation & Benefits Survey™. Click here, for more information.
Contact Linda Story.

TODAY Is Runoff Voter Registration Deadline – Oklahomans who complete voter registration forms postmarked today will be eligible to vote in any runoffs in their district August 24th.  Click here for application forms.
Contact Kris Rush.

Runoff And General Election Voter’s Guides Ready Tuesday – Updated Prosperity Project Guides will be online by end of day Tuesday, August 3rd along with Primary Election results.
Contact Kris Rush.

Good News In Today’s Prosperity Report – Check out our daily report on company expansions, rankings, and news from Oklahoma businesses with great economic news to share.  This week’s entries cover energy, health care, aviation, technology, commercial growth, retail and R&D.  Plus 479 new companies incorporated in Oklahoma last week!
Contact Kris Rush.

Prosperity Project Gets TV Time – The Oklahoma City affiliate of the Trinity Broadcast Network interviewed Mike Seney of our staff a few weeks ago regarding the Oklahoma Prosperity Project.  The interview was almost fifteen minutes in length and gives a great overview of the project and The State Chamber’s push for an informed electorate. Click viewer to watch the video.

Reid Adds Language On Hydrofracking To Spill Bill - (From Politico - 7/29, Davenport) reports, "The fight over the Senate offshore drilling "spill bill" shifted Wednesday from the Gulf of Mexico to the mountains of western Pennsylvania, as Republicans slammed the last-minute inclusion of language to regulate a controversial technique to extract onshore natural gas." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "added the language" to page "404 of the 409-page spill response bill" that he "wants the Senate to take up before the recess." The provision, not included in the House bill, would require "natural gas drillers to disclose the chemicals they pump into the ground as part of the hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking, process."  Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said the new requirements could effectively end onshore natural gas production. He noted that some states already have hydrofracking safety and disclosure regulations but that making the requirements national would freeze the industry.
Contact Ronn Cupp.

Oklahoma Misses Cut On Race To The Top Grant Dollars – U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan picked 18 states and the District of Columbia to advance to the final round of Race to the Top, where 10 to 15 federal grants totaling $3.4 billion will be awarded in September. Together, these states asked for $6.2 billion, nearly twice the amount that's left in the available Race to the Top funds. The scores for the finalists improved by an average of 26 points, according to the Education Department. Scores and the peer reviewers' comments will be released once the winners are announced. Despite passing significant education reform legislation this session that should have helped Oklahoma’s chances, the state was not a Round 2 finalist.  However, the reforms, found in our Legislative Wrap-Up, will help move our state forward in developing a stronger workforce in the future!
Contact Matt Robison.

Study Finds Drilling Ban Could Kill 8,000 Jobs In Gulf Region, 12,000 Nationwide – (From AFP Article 7/27/10) – President Barack Obama's 'reckless' moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is suffocating small businesses and destroying livelihoods, lawmakers and residents said Tuesday. Speaking to the Senate's Small Business panel, which she chairs, Sen. Mary Landrieu said, "The decision to stop energy exploration in the Gulf of Mexico appears to have been made in an uninformed manner that borders recklessness.... It must be reversed now."

AFP notes that a study by Louisiana State University finance professor Joseph Mason estimates the six-month moratorium, which ends in late November, would cost more than 8,000 jobs in Gulf states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Moreover, at least 12,000 jobs could be lost nationwide, and with them would go around 200 million dollars in federal tax revenues.  Click here to read the full article.
Contact Ronn Cupp.

New Study Indicates U.S. Businesses Will Need More Workforce With College Experience Or Degrees – The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce recently released a report titled, "Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018 ."  Their research found that by 2018, 63% of job openings - equaling 29.5 million jobs - will require some college education. One-third of those jobs (16 million) will require a bachelor's degree or higher. This information comes as no shock to the business community, which is already struggling to find enough skilled workers to sustain or expand their operations during one of the highest periods of unemployment since the Great Depression.
Contact Matt Robison.

Tulsa & Oklahoma City Rank Among Top 100 In Exports – (From The Oklahoman 7/28/10).  According to a report issued by the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, Tulsa ranks 52nd ($5.5 billion) and Oklahoma City 63rd ($3.9 billion) in exports for 2008. "Export Nation: How U.S. Metros Lead National Export Growth and Boost Competitiveness” is a comprehensive analysis of the export of goods and services produced in the nation's 100 largest metro areas.

Oklahoma’s Race For Governor Will MAKE HISTORY! – The State Chamber’s Fall Forum Luncheon, sponsored by our Small Business Council, will be a Gubernatorial Candidate Forum and is scheduled for Tuesday, October 26th (exactly ONE WEEK before the election!) and will feature Oklahoma’s Gubernatorial Candidates: Congresswoman Mary Fallin and Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins.  The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City and will be moderated by Dick Pryor, host of the Oklahoma Forum on OETA-TV.  For the first time in our state’s history, a woman will become our state’s chief executive.  Registration coming soon…You will WANT to be there!
Contact Matt Robison.