September is Workforce Development Month, a time to recognize something that impacts every corner of our community: the strength of our workforce.
At Great Plains Technology Center, workforce development is more than training people for jobs. It is about creating opportunities, strengthening businesses, building career pathways, and helping individuals and industries grow together.
The word development means the process of growth, progress, or moving from a simpler condition into a more advanced, mature, or complex stage. That definition perfectly describes what we do, and what we exist to do.
Our Workforce Development team serves a diverse range of customers, from individuals looking for a new career or additional skills to employers seeking customized solutions for their workforce. Whether someone is entering the workforce, changing careers, earning an industry-recognized certification, or building upon existing skills, training can create a pathway forward.
Great Plains Technology Center offers valuable training opportunities across healthcare, skilled trades, business, industry, safety, leadership, and other high-demand areas. Many programs prepare participants for certifications and credentials that can strengthen employability, increase earning potential, and create opportunities for advancement.
But workforce development is not just about the employee.
Employers face an equally important challenge: finding, developing, and retaining employees with the skills needed to keep pace with changing industries. Workforce training helps close that skills gap. Through customized training and industry partnerships, we can work directly with employers to identify needs, strengthen employee skills, develop leaders, improve performance, and support long-term organizational growth.
When employees advance, businesses become stronger. When businesses thrive, communities benefit.
A strong community needs a thriving workforce that provides opportunity, stability, and a variety of career pathways. Not every successful career begins with the same education, follows the same route, or ends at the same destination. Workforce development recognizes that, and creates multiple pathways for people to succeed.
That is why I am passionate about this work. Training has the ability to change the trajectory of an individual, strengthen a family, solve a challenge for an employer, and contribute to the economic vitality of an entire community.
That passion aligns directly with the mission of Great Plains Technology Center: preparing individuals to succeed in work and life.
Growth starts somewhere… that’s why providing opportunities for our students during their career discovery stage is critical. On September 29 & 30, Great Plains Tech and Lawton Public Schools are partnering for a hands-on event, It’s OK To Trade: Student Workforce Expo, that brings local businesses into the shops to show 9th grade students how the skills learned within trade programs are used within industries. GPTC will move full steam ahead into National Manufacturing Day with our 5th Manufacturing Day Tours event on October 2 where GPTC trade students tour local manufacturing facilities to see firsthand what job opportunities are available right here in Southwest Oklahoma.
This September, as we celebrate Workforce Development Month, I encourage individuals and employers alike to consider what development could mean for them.
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Cassandra Vazquez is director of Workforce Development at Great Plains Technology Center.