Keeping Our Young People
I guess, I think, that if I want anyone to read this post, it’s the folks at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Something new is happening. Something I’ve not experienced before. In the past few weeks I’ve gotten not one, not two, not three but four emails out of the blue from people I don’t know, but who left Oklahoma to attend college in various fields related to development and planning. And they want to come back home.
Sure, the economy is bad out there. But when I look at their resumes, I see young men and women in their mid-20s whose accomplishments leave me humbled. I’m humbled because they say I’m the guy who has kept them hooked into what’s going on downtown – and, in some cases – I’ve inspired them.
I’m just the guy taking notes and reporting back. But thanks anyway. But as someone who remembers giants like Ray Ackerman and Lee Allen Smith dreaming of this sort of scenario, I’ve got to wonder. If our younger generation has truly fallen in love with their hometown – something that rarely happened when I was in college, what do we do to make sure there are opportunities for these folks?
For what it’s worth, my latest correspondent says he’s willing to intern for next to nothing – or even nothing – just to get a shot at becoming a part of the Oklahoma City dream.
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Comments
This is great! I really want to stick around here after school, too. Something about being able to participate in creating and shaping an emerging community and city really attracts me to OKC. I just hope that my interest in established cities where much of the work has already been done (Portland, Chicago, Dallas..) isn’t coupled with opportunities that force me to consider relocating! I want to stay and hope that the opportunities here in a couple years allow for that.
Agreed… Apparently these are qualified young people who want to come back to the OKC area, regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the local political climate, so that part of the argument is moot. The question I have to ask is will OKC’s low cost of living actually mean employers expect to be given a “hometown discount” when it comes to salaries and such. I’m in my late 20′s and I’ll admit I was disappointed in what I was earning when I first got out of college, but I love living in Oklahoma and I love the OKC area. Lucky my experience has been in line with the adage: find something you love to do and the money will come. I’m not sure what kind of incentives the city can offer to attract different types of businesses to OKC (or encourage startups) but it sure would be nice if we could diversify our economy. Way too many of my classmates bolted straight to DFW and Kansas City because their majors prepared them for careers not really available in OKC or that they perceived weren’t available in OKC.
I think the super conservatives and many of their attitudes end up keeping good people coming back to Oklahoma. Bright open minded people who have left Oklahoma for a a time have options. The Kern, Brogdon, tea parties and crazy legislation attracts and retains them.
Several years ago the Chamber of Commerce recognized the challenge of preventing the young, ‘creative’ culture from fleeing. In part, the planning focused to keep them here must be working!
…it continues to baffle me: Why are the ‘progressives’ (who promote & boast diversity and tolerance) unable to actually PRACTICE it… I don’t think OKC will miss the likes of David & Stinky.
The “ultra conservative keeping people away” argument does not hold water. Every state has a vocal fringe. Ours, like Texas, Utah, and Georgia happens to be on the right. California, New York, and Minnesota’s crazies are more on the left.
Extreme conservatives are not keeping people from Oklahoma. Much of that may have to do with what is happening in Oklahoma City. We have massive public works projects, are investing in mass transit, and have mostly fiscally responsible elected officials. Our state banned gay marriage, but if you consider that fringe then you must also consider California, Colorado, Florida, etc. fringe.
I fail to see how conservatism has hurt this state. This is still a center-right country.
Politics, politics…yawn. Getting past the red herring responses, I believe public/private initiatives, along with a modest amount of seed money would go along way in boosting in this effort. OKC does have a greater grads program, see here: http://www.greatergrads.com/
We should all be supportive of any efforts to expand its funding and make it more robust, in whatever way that can best be implemented.
Michael – The greater grad program was a great program. I went through it and as you can see…I’m still here.
BTW, sweet Web site you got up.
No doubt on the politics, boring. But a good way to change the politics is to keep more of the young creative types. “You see, it all starts with education…”
Thanks for the props on my site, Casey – likewise. I can’t think of a better endorsement of the the grad program’s value. This is the kind of stuff that really works…
I was driving through downtown on my way back to Norman the other day and I saw something I thought I would never see: there was a college aged woman walking her dog just south of automobile alley!
partisanship just doesn’t help here. it’s hard to think of okc leaders who love this city more than mark schwartz and mick cornett. while i’m at it, what about andy coats, clay bennet, and aubrey mcclendon? every one of these people have shown their love for this city, but they don’t all share the same politics.
what WON’T keep our young people here is acting like a dysfunctional family. no political party has a monopoly on virtue.
David, you’re right about Mark Schwartz. Not sure if know, however, that Mark passed away in late 2007. He loved this city and was miserable when he left it for a great job in D.C. He ended up becoming a good friend and I really miss him.
Steve yes the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber saw your blog and we completely agree that we need to attract and retain as many college graduates as possible. They can be from here or anyplace else. We not only work to grow the economy, improve the business climate and recruit and grow existing employers but we have a progam called Greater Grads focused on college studnets and recent graduates (mentioned by Micheal and Casey). Please pass the website and any other that are interested in coming home or tell them to contact us.
@steve, yes, i sadly knew about mark’s passing. i’ve actually either met or know the people i’ve mentioned above (except aubrey), and while it is a politically diverse group, all clearly share a love of okc.
I fall somewhere in the middle on the politics issue being discussed. I know plenty of young people who have left or want to leave because of the political climate. But obviously it’s not the Mick Cornetts and Aubrey McClendons that are the problem. It’s the Sally Kerns and the Randy Brogdons and the Steve Russells that stand up for things so right wing that it’s no wonder many young people want nothing to do with this state.
But I do agree the only way to change the political climate is for the progressives and liberals to stick around instead of bailing for “greener” pastures.
I think the backwards super conservatives and many of their attitudes end up keeping good people from coming back to Oklahoma. Bright open minded people who have left Oklahoma for a a time have options. The Kern, Brogdon, tea parties and crazy legislation repels them.