Stitt also stressed that transportation infrastructure plays a huge role if Oklahoma is going to achieve top- ten status nationally, specifically the completion of ACCESS (Advancing and Connecting Communities and Economies Safely Statewide) Oklahoma, the 15- year, $5 billion plan to develop a highly effective and viable state turnpike system. The plan includes widening Turner Turnpike to six lanes all the way from Oklahoma City to Tulsa as well as constructing various outer loops around the Oklahoma City metro. Under the ACCESS Oklahoma Plan, Stitt said, Oklahoma should have 100 miles of reconstructed roads and 53 miles of new roads by 2037. “The big picture here is staying ahead of the curve and making sure our commute times are a competitive advantage for Oklahoma versus the 45-minute
commute times that you have in Dallas-Fort Worth right now,” he said. During the later discussions, focused on workforce development, Kisling said his agency has been working on a talent attraction campaign over the last two years that would include renting billboard space in Orange County, Calif. and in the Bay Area of northern California, as well as in Chicago and Washington state, the biggest states currently for net migration into Oklahoma. “We asked for $20 million this year for the campaign. Ten million of that would be for us to go tell our story. The other $10 million would be a partnership with businesses across the state to help offset relocation expenses for a legacy company here in the state to try and bring in that new CFO or that new senior engineer from another state,” Kisling said.
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