COMMERCE SECRETARY FEATURED SPEAKER AT LAUNCH OF OKMULGEE REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee issued the following news release:

Oklahoma's Commerce and Tourism Secretary Natalie Shirley helped launch a regional economic development initiative in east central Oklahoma that features the combined resources of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee and Okmulgee Area Development Corporation. Shirley was the featured speaker at a luncheon on the OSU-Okmulgee campus last week. Shirley is former president and chief executive officer of ICI Mutual Insurance Group in Washington, D.C., and was named to Governor Brad Henry's cabinet in February.

Luncheon guests met three recently appointed development officers who will serve as the vanguard of the initiative: Timothy Gibbs, Director of Economic and Workforce Development, OSU-Okmulgee; John Robertson, Director, Okmulgee Area Development Corporation (OADC); and Brett White, Director, Muscogee (Creek) Nation Trade and Commerce Authority.

Secretary Shirley said communities must be innovative to bring economic prosperity to rural Oklahoma. "We encourage leadership and foster investment through education - K12, CareerTech and higher education. The economic health and wealth of a community depends upon a well-educated workforce, and you must have workforce development to have economic development. Okmulgee is one of a very few mid-sized to small sized communities that has all of these components. Another vital key to economic development is partnership. Resources are both finite and limited and working together for the common good is critical to success."

Dr. Bob Klabenes, president of OSU-Okmulgee, told the group he feels Okmulgee has the potential for great changes. "The number one criterion that has to drive what we do as an institution - and is also what the Okmulgee area does - is to think more innovatively every day. The rest of the world is moving very fast - it's driven by innovation and creativity to gain a competitive advantage in a global economy."

Secretary Shirley urged the group to use the partnership to work for the greater good. "With the signing of this document, I think the Okmulgee region is saying 'we are committed to economic and workforce development, and we're going to succeed.' I applaud your dedication, your foresight and your sense of partnership."

Guests at the luncheon included Mike Carolina, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Center for Advancing Science & Technology; Dr. Jack Herron of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics; A.D. Ellis, Principal Chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Senator Roger Ballenger; Representative Jerry Shoemake; Danny Spurlock, Superintendent of Green Country Technology Center; Paul McGee, Superintendent of Okmulgee Public Schools; and Dr. Pete Coser, President of the College of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.