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November 10, 2006
Featuring Wednesday, December 6, 2006 Agenda 10:00 a.m.: Oklahoma’s New Leadership 11:30 a.m.: Meet the Tie-Breaker Noon: Congressional Changes - A Divided America? “The Political Landscape: 2007-2008” To register for this event go to www.okstatechamber.com or call
Oklahoma Voters Buck National Trend – The Democratic tide that swept the country on the national level resulted in nine state legislatures switching from Republican to Democrat on Tuesday. Oklahoma bucked that trend however, with Republicans gaining a 24-24 tie in the State Senate and maintaining their hold on the House of Representatives. For the first time in state history, the Oklahoma State Senate will not be under Democratic control. Democrats, however, still feel as if they will maintain some control with the election of House Democratic Leader Jari Askins as lieutenant governor. As president of the Senate, she would break any tie votes that might occur. Oklahoma’s House of Representatives remains firmly in control of Republicans as they lost only one seat (net), despite the defeat of two incumbents, Representatives Thad Balkman and Mark Liotta. If a challenge in District 25, where Republican Todd Thompson lost to Democrat Darrell Nemecek by two votes goes their way, Republicans would end up maintaining their numbers in the House from the previous two years. Results indicate that nearly all statewide elective offices will be held by Democrats the next four years. Only the three Corporation Commissioners, Denise Bode, Jeff Cloud and Bob Anthony remain as banner carriers for the GOP. Anthony won a resounding victory over former commissioner Cody Graves on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to dominate Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, with three Republican Congressmen, John Sullivan, Tom Cole and Frank Lucas putting up big re-election numbers, and sitting Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin winning a landslide victory over Democrat Dr. David Hunter to become the new congresswoman from the 5th District. Fallin becomes only the second congresswoman to serve from Oklahoma. Second District Congressman Dan Boren, the state delegation’s sole Democrat, ran away from his opponent in his first re-election bid, garnering 72.73 percent of the vote. Boren’s presence becomes particularly important in light of the Democratic take-over of the congress. He is a prominent member of the House “Blue Dogs”, a coalition of conservative Democrats that currently numbers 37 members, but is expected to grow by eight to 10 more when the final election results are in. As we enter our Centennial Year as a state, Oklahomans should be proud of their political leadership...regardless of party.
Survey Of U.S. Employers Shows Gaps In Employable Skills Among American Workers – According to a survey of more than 400 American employers, “the future workforce is here and…woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today’s (and tomorrow’s) workplace.” The survey interviewed employers on the skill-sets of recently hired high school, two-year college and four-year college graduates. Employers cited professionalism and work ethic, ability to collaborate and critical thinking and problem solving as the most important determinants of workforce success. Two-and-four-year college graduates are adequately prepared to enter the workforce, but high school graduates lag far behind. Forty-two percent of employers rated the “work-readiness” of high school graduates as deficient. The majority of employers rated two-year-and-four-year college graduates as adequately prepared to enter the workforce, but very few employers said these recent hires exhibited excellent work readiness skills. The report Are They Really Ready To Work is available by clicking here. Good News Brings Challenges The headline reads: Oklahoma Outpaces Nation And Region In Employment Growth as stated in the October 27 issue of CEO to CEO Briefing. According to the Oklahoma Employment Briefing just released by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oklahoma outpaced both the nation and the region in employment growth the past two months. The state’s economy created 3,100 jobs over the past two months, a 0.2 percent monthly growth rate. Further, Oklahoma’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 4.0 percent in September. The state’s unemployment rate has remained the lowest in the seven-state region for 35 consecutive months. This is great news for Oklahoma, but it presents some challenges for employers. How do you establish a competitive wage and salary structure and position your business to attract and retain the skilled workers required to meet customer and business demands? There are two answers: First, The State Chamber has just released the 2006 Oklahoma Compensation & Benefits Survey for purchase. This comprehensive survey reports compensation data from 125 companies for 200 jobs across the State. Click here to check out the survey. Second, plan on attending one of two 2006 Basic Compensation Workshops being planned for Tulsa on November 29 and Oklahoma City on November 30. This workshop will guide you through the Survey and provide detailed instruction on how to structure your company’s compensation plan to meet the market demand and administer a performance based salary budget. Click here to register for the workshop of your choice.
Technology Council To Meet Wednesday, November 15th At INNOTECH At The Cox Convention Center – You are invited to the next meeting of The State Chamber’s Technology Council which will be held from 1:30 - 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, November 15th at the Cox Convention Center in Room 12. Presentations will be made by three Oklahoma Technology Companies: MedEncentive (which uses advanced technology to help patients and physicians cut costs, improve health care, and save money), Martin Bionics (which is on the cutting edge of sensor technology with prosthetics and who recently qualified for the Small Employer Quality Jobs Incentive), and Weather Decision Technologies, Inc. (which is the “behind-the-scenes” technology for most of today’s weather forecasts). They lead the world in the 0-4 hour hazardous weather prediction and sell weather services around the world. State Chamber’s REEP Project Provides Entrepreneurial Training Classes – The Rural Enterprise Education Project (REEP) is providing Entrepreneurial Training Classes for 14 Oklahoma counties as a part of a USDA Rural Development Grant. Jim Mason and Cynthia Revels are conducting the entrepreneurial training programs which are specifically designed for individuals interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Workshops in November include: Okmulgee (Okmulgee Community Center) and Ottawa (Miami Civic Center), both on November 14th; Mayes County (Northeast Technology Center in Pryor) on November 16th; and in Adair County (Indian Capital Technology Center in Stilwell) on November 27th. Additional training will take place on November 28th in Cherokee County (Army Municipal Center in Tahlequah) and in Okfuskee County (Brick Street Cafe in Okemah); and on November 30th the training will be in Harmon County (Great Plains National Bank in Hollis). In December, training will be held in Woods County (Northwest Technology Center in Alva) on December 4th and in Choctaw County (Kiamichi Technology Center in Hugo) on December 5th. A resource booklet is developed specifically for each county to provide local, area and state contacts for an assortment of agencies that are willing to help plan, educate and provide additional resources for potential entrepreneurs. There is no cost to attend the workshops, each of which is from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. |
CHAMPION INVESTORS Platinum Gold Silver Bronze Granite Advisor Investor
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Election 2006 
Workforce
Technology
