"Oh, the places we will go, Tulsa," Tulsa Regional Chamber 2019 Board Chair David Stratton said early on in his inaugural address on Thursday.
Stratton, BOK Financial Corporation's Executive Vice President of Tulsa Corporate Banking, laid out in his speech the chamber's priorities for 2019: boosting degree completion rates, developing Tulsa's workforce, downtown development, securing more direct flights and increasing workplace diversity.
Brightly colored scenes similar to illustrations in the Dr. Seuss book played on video screens as Stratton spoke at the chamber's annual meeting at the Cox Business Center. He said each of those five priorities is aimed at getting Tulsa kids to call the city home after graduating from high school, technical school or college.
The chamber will continue pressing state lawmakers to adequately fund education. Stratton called teacher pay raises passed last year were a "first step." Stratton said teachers still aren’t paid enough, classes are still too large and higher education is still underfunded, and fixing those things would prepare Oklahoma kids for in-demand jobs.
"How about this for a workforce development strategy? Educate them, graduate them, and then retain them," Stratton said.
Besides education funding, Stratton said the chamber will work with universities to get more students to graduation and with companies to establish more public-private workforce development programs.
Stratton said if downtown development is to continue, people will need to be there for more than work.
"It must be a place where we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner; where we entertain ourselves; and where we spend time with our friends and family. This will lead to greater success of our existing downtown businesses, which, in turn, will help create the business case for more development in the future," Stratton said.
The chamber began pursuing more direct flights under 2018 Board Chair Steve Bradshaw, and nonstop service on American to Los Angeles will begin in April. Stratton said Tulsa needs to prove the route is sustainable and said he will keep up Bradshaw's call for businesses to implement travel policies that encourage employees to fly out of Tulsa.
Stratton's speech ended on diversity. He said a good reason to make diverse workplaces is a majority of Millennials seek them out, and they’ll soon make up 75 percent of the workforce.
"The results are also evidenced in companies’ bottom lines. According to a recent Harvard Business Review study, companies with more diversity made between 18 and 69 percent more in terms of operating revenue and net income," Stratton said.
