Workforce and Education

Leading Industries:

  • Energy - Cushing is the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World” for crude oil with approximately 100 million barrels of storage in the tank farms surrounding the community. Cushing is the delivery point for West Texas Intermediate, a blend of US light sweet crude oil streams traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange.  Cushing's strategic position as a major hub in oil supply led to WTI's development as a significant physical market price reference or benchmark for over three decades. Cushing is the most significant trading hub for crude oil in North America, connecting the Gulf Coast suppliers with northern consumers
  • Health care – Cushing has emerged as a regional referral center offering a wide range of comprehensive services with access to some of the finest groups of primary care and specialist physicians available in the region. Services offered include: orthopedics, general surgery, cardiology, ophthalmology, gynecology, radiology, urology as well as an expanded 24/7 emergency department, lab and educational programs.
  • Manufacturing – This broad category includes metals and machinery; building materials; food products; and medical devices and equipment.  The manufacturing sector represents approximately ten percent of Cushing’s total nonagricultural labor force.

Postsecondary schools in area:

  • Oklahoma State University (OSU) is a land-grant, sun-grant, coeducational public research university located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. OSU also has a multiple campuses in Tulsa, Ok.
  • Langston University (LU) is the only historically black college or university (HBCU) in the state of Oklahoma. Today the LU community of approximately 3,000 students on three unique campuses provides a robust education that prepares students for leadership in the career of their choosing with over forty degree programs. 
  • University of Tulsa (TU) is a private university located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The university offers programs in law, English, computer science, natural sciences, psychology, and engineering.

Workforce Training:

  • Career Technology Centers have a well-equipped and well-respected system of 29 technology centers that are accredited by the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technical Education. As part of that statewide system, CentralTech & Meridian serves the vocational training needs of high school and adult students within our county and the surrounding area.  Central Tech has solutions from software training, leadership & management development, to upgrade training for basic skills including:  truck driver training, crane & rigger, manufacturing, oil & gas, polyfusion, safety & OSHA, and small & agri-business.
  • Consistently ranked as one of the nation’s leading workforce training efforts, Oklahoma’s Training for Industry Program (TIP), a state sponsored CareerTech initiative, is a no-cost/low-cost way for new or growing companies to access a skilled, focused, and motivated workforce, and is administered locally through a nationally-acclaimed facility.
  • In addition, CentralTech’s Business and Industry Services Team can develop basic and advanced, customized training programs that can update and upgrade the skills of the existing workforce. These training sessions can be held at the business site or on campus.