The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission sends this information as posted below:
Oklahoma City, OK – The Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) has been awarded nearly $6 million through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund to expand employer-driven workforce training programs across the state. The grant, part of a national $86 million initiative announced by the Department of Labor, will help Oklahoma strengthen domestic production and address critical workforce needs in high-demand industries.
The initiative will focus on training in aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing, and AI infrastructure and data centers—key sectors driving Oklahoma’s economic future. Through this funding, OESC will collaborate with the Oklahoma Workforce Commission, CareerTech, and higher education partners to develop new training pipelines aligned with employer needs.
OESC will partner with Guild, a workforce education provider, to create a regional training catalog that integrates CareerTech and college programs with Guild’s curated online offerings. Training will prioritize programs with strong completion and employment outcomes, including in-person options such as:
- CareerTech’s Mechatronics & Automation Production Certificate
- Oklahoma City Community College’s National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense
- Rose State College’s Tanenbaum Aerospace & Cybersecurity Center
“It feels great winning competitive grants that 43 other states applied for,” said Trae Rahill, CEO of OESC. “This means funders are confident the grant dollars will go farther here, where we have the best training programs in the country and agencies working together to grow and develop Oklahoma’s economy. This grant will help us horsepower that infrastructure with real employer demand, growing skills in our people and capacity in our companies.”
The Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund is part of the Department of Labor’s broader effort to accelerate innovation and expand access to good jobs in high-growth industries.
More information about the national initiative is available at dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20250930.
Stay tuned — more announcements and updates about this grant will be shared in the near future as details become available.
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