Gov. Stitt Gets Firsthand Look At ‘Skills To Rebuild’ Program In Bartlesville

Governor Kevin Stitt toured Tri County Tech in Bartlesville Thursday, to get a firsthand look at the Skills to Rebuild program.

The program is designed to train people who are unemployed due to the pandemic.

This initiative was launched with federal money from the CARES Act last year and it's already helping hundreds of students at Tri County Tech.

It offers Oklahomans a flexible way to train, or re-train, for higher paying jobs across the state. This includes careers like nursing, computer repair, networking, and manufacturing.

Tri County Tech is one of 15 CareerTech centers in Oklahoma which are participating in the Skills to Rebuild program. It could impact nearly 12,000 students around the state.

Stitt met with students who've found success in the program and said this is a big way to get people out of unemployment.

"I wanted to kind of put my eyes on this program and meet the people that are benefiting and getting retrained in skills they may have lost their job for one reason or another,” Stitt said. “And they're reinvesting in themselves with the help of this great organization, they're getting new skills to go and get better jobs for their families and communities.”

State leaders said this program will help stimulate Oklahoma's economy with $350 million in payroll by next year.