Very interesting and I think a fantastic idea!


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Project Boomerang aims to bring former Oklahomans back to state

by Brian Brus
The Journal Record July 28, 2008


OKLAHOMA CITY – In an effort to bring former Oklahomans back to the state to bolster key industries, the Commerce Department has developed Project Boomerang, one of the first four projects recognized under the Oklahoma Creativity Project.

Sheri Stickley, deputy director for strategic planning and initiatives for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, stands in her office Friday holding an object symbolic of her new project. (Photo by Chris Albers)

Finding a way to connect employers with potential returnees – college graduates, working professionals and senior entrepreneurs – is the heart of Boomerang, Commerce Department Strategic Initiatives Deputy Director Sheri Stickley said.

The nonprofit Oklahoma Creativity Project was established shortly after the state celebrated its centennial, as Gov. Brad Henry designated 2008 as the Year of Creativity. Project Executive Director Phil Moss said the agency’s goal is to promote a culture of positive change and innovation in the state for the next 100 years. Partners such as the Commerce Department are working toward those goals through ideas such as Boomerang.

The other officially certified Creative Oklahoma Inc. projects so far, dubbed “Great Inspirations,” are the Oklahoma Cultural Heritage Trust, which aims to protect many of the state’s historic collections; the Documentary Twelve, a DVD movie exploration of teenage addictions; and the second annual Oklahoma City Halloween Parade through Bricktown.

In the case of Boomerang, Stickley said, part of the department’s purpose is to attract and develop a highly skilled work force. With a tightening national economy and Oklahoma’s aging pool of workers, the department must approach that task with a new attitude appropriate for the Oklahoma Creativity Project.

“We’re looking to attract highly skilled professionals with Oklahoma ties back to Oklahoma to fill high-quality, knowledge-based jobs,” she said.

“We’re going to have to use a variety of tools to find these folks.”

Almost anyone with any former connection to the Sooner State is a potential target, she said, because research has shown that they are the most likely to be lured even if their experience was as simple as a few years at college, a corporate relocation or a family member in the area.

Boomerang will seek out people in two groups, defined by age: 25- to 45-year-olds, young professionals often referred to as Millennials and Gen-Xers; and 46- to 60-year-olds, baby boomers who are likely to have extensive executive experience and are now looking at second careers as entrepreneurs.

Stickley said Boomerang will find those people through higher education alumni lists and online social networking sites such as Facebook. Stickley’s division will establish a Web portal of its own to provide links to potential employers.

She said success benchmarks are still being decided, but will involve corporate feedback from job placements. Boomerang has a small budget within the Commerce Department, she said, and will likely be supplemented with additional resources as the program develops.

“One of the things that looks like it’s going to work very well here is the concept of partnering, with universities and their alumni associations, with employers who have positions open, with recruiting firms who are looking for folks. … We can kind of leverage our resources because everybody is pitching in and figuring out what they can do to help.”