Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education Existing Industry Training program: Economic impact, return on investment, and customer satisfaction

Scope and method of study. The purpose of this study was to describe the return on investment (ROI), the economic impact, and the customer satisfaction with training completed under the Existing Industry Training program by CareerTech technology centers for Oklahoma businesses and individual Oklahomans. Participants in the study included 59 Oklahoma businesses who participated in an Existing Industry Training program. Each participant completed a questionnaire that provided data about the economic impact, return on investment (ROI), and customer satisfaction as a result of having participated in an Existing Industry Training program. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabs, and chi-square were used to analyze the data. Stakeholder input from a focus group was analyzed qualitatively.;Findings and conclusions. The participants indicated by their responses that the Existing Industry Training program had a positive economic impact on those local businesses that took part in the training program. The research revealed that the Existing Industry Training program had a positive return on investment for those Oklahoma businesses represented in the sample. For each dollar spent by the ODCTE on the Existing Industry Training program, Oklahoma businesses realized a return on this investment of nearly 400%. The Existing Industry Training program is seen as being a positive program that provides needed training at a very high level of satisfaction to Oklahoma businesses. The overall mean of the five satisfaction questions equaled 4.72 on a 5-point Likert scale. The limited size of the sample (n = 59) versus the size of the population for the study (N = 552) indicates to the researcher that there exist barriers and more generally a lack of understanding of the positive impact that ROI data can have on Oklahoma businesses. There appears to be a low level of understanding by technology center BIS staff members as to the positive impact that ROI data can have on Oklahoma businesses and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education.