Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell Discusses Goals For Oklahoma In 2024

Following some big success stories in 2023, including the release of the movie "Killers of the Flower Moon," state leaders hope 2024 is a big year for Oklahoma.

Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma Matt Pinnell sits down with Dave Davis to share his goals for 2024.

What are some the key moments from 2023 that you think Oklahoma can build on?

"Well we had a number of companies relocate to the state. You know, a lot of above the fold headlines for the state, over 70 businesses, over 6,000 new jobs from those businesses, and a $3 billion economic impact to the state of Oklahoma beat our 2022 numbers. This migration to the middle of the country is happening. It's real. And Oklahoma's taking advantage of it," Pinnell said.

What do you see as the future of film in Oklahoma?

"'Killers of the Flower' (is the) largest production in state history last year, and really the previous year as well, you know, during one of those COVID years. Our film and music industry and television history is on the rise, over $23 billion worth of content is filmed just on the streaming services alone last year. So that is billions of dollars worth of content that has to be filmed somewhere. We want that to be filmed in Oklahoma," Pinnell said.

"And in our Native American tribes, I mean, the Cherokee Nation in particular, what they are doing for the film industry, they're creating the Cherokee Film Institute to really train kind of that next generation of folks in front of and behind the cameras that we need. So it's a really great partnership between the state and our sovereign nations, and in particular the Cherokee Nation. Over the next decade, we're gonna see huge growth there," Pinnell continued.

What are some big events coming to Oklahoma that you're excited for?

"Those events help us show off the state, you know. We're gonna bring thousands of people to the state of Oklahoma for the Bassmaster Classic; biggest fishing tournament in the world right here in Oklahoma, one of the best lakes in the country, Grand Lake.

And so that gives us the opportunity to show the world that Oklahoma is the best place to live, work and raise a family. So one of the best tools in our toolbox are those events, our tourism industry, Route 66.

I believe we're gonna continue to see a lot of investment as we lead up to that centennial. So Oklahoma, it's a tourism state in a big way, third largest industry in the state of Oklahoma. That helps us do all the rest of the economic development that we want," Pinnell said.

Are there job growth or economic benchmarks you think Oklahoma will hit, and how will that happen?

"We haven't been able to say this for a long time, but we actually attracted more Texans to moving to the state of Oklahoma than Texas attracted from Oklahoma, between June of 2022 to June, July of 2023. Over a year long period, we attracted more people from Texas than Texas attracted from Oklahoma. That's a big deal. Texas is full in a lot of those cities. And it's looking at Oklahoma today, because of the job growth, because of the workforce that we have here now.

We were number nine in the country overall in net migration growth over that same time period. So again, as I said, that migration to the middle of the country is happening. And people are looking at Oklahoma for the very first time. We just have to be ready to deliver on that from affordable housing, to child care services, to making sure that we're keeping our young talent here to stay into the workforce. So that these companies that are looking to relocate, have people that they can hire. Our higher education facilities, our career tech system is world class. So we have a lot of advantages. We need to double down on it," Pinnell said.

What would you like to see in the upcoming legislative session?

"I mean, a lot of the above the fold headlines are the Panasonic's, or the Volkswagen stories. Most of our time is spent on existing businesses in the state, small businesses that have already chosen to raise their families here, have businesses here. We want to help them. And again, a lot of that are, how do we make sure that we have the best working environment, the best economic environment that we possibly can. So that you can hire one more employee. One hundred more employees would be great too. But we're really focused on existing businesses in the state.

Certainly our aerospace and aviation industry is really going to lead the way we believe, along with our oil and gas industry. We should not forget that that is the number one industry in the state for a reason. And the world needs natural gas today more than it ever has before. We just had one of the largest merger in the oil and gas space. It's going to create the largest natural gas company in the country in (the) Oklahoma City area. So oil and gas and aerospace are going to lead the way in this state over the next decade," Pinnell said.