Mindy Stitt, Executive Director at OERB, spoke about the organization's structure and mission. Additionally, Rotary inducted a new member.The Rotary Club of Chickasha met April 27, 2023. Rotarian Mitch Williams led the club in singing "Dirty Jobs".
At the start of the meeting, Rotarian Gerron Smith delivered an update on the Rotary Run fundraiser:
- At the time of the meeting, there were 72 runners registered.
- Sponsorships were being finalized.
- The night before the run (May 5), a Pasta Party will be held at the Flower Shop Winery & Pizzeria, 117 W Chickasha, from 5:30-7:00. Cost for a meal is $15. RSVP by contacting Jim Cowan.
Curtis Awbrey was inducted as a member. Curtis, who is from Chickasha, has a background in community news and presently works for Hilliary Media Group.
From left: Curtis Awbrey, sponsor Gerron Smith, and President Lewis Knisley as Curtis is inducted as a member.
Rotarian of the Day David Sikes introduced the speaker, Mindy Stitt. Stitt is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB). OERB was founded in 1994. It is funded by a voluntary assessment on oil and gas businesses in the state. OERB more generally represents the industry as a whole within the state, usually under the "Oklahoma Oil & Natural Gas" branding.
OERB is mandated to spend at least 50% of its budget on land restoration—that is, restoring abandoned well sites, usually ones built in the 1910s to 1960s. At any given time, Stitt said, OERB is working on 400 to 600 sites. Each restoration project is competitively bid and awarded to local contractors. OERB has overseen restoration of over 19,400 sites to date.
The OERB is not a regulatory board. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission must first refer an abandoned site to OERB, and only does so when there is no operator to be held responsible for cleanup.
The other side of OERB's work is in primary education. They produce a curriculum that teaches a variety of subjects in the context of the energy industry, that spans from kindergarten to high school. OERB also holds training for teachers who will be using the curriculum, as well as providing equipment and supplies, all at no cost to the teacher or district.
The oil and gas industry was responsible for $64.9 billion of the state's gross domestic product in 2022—27% of the total. This generated $2.5 billion in total taxes, which is pre-allocated to specific uses (e.g. education) in the state budget. In Grady County in 2022, there were 45 companies operating in the industry, which accounted for 737 jobs and $63 million in employment earnings.
Lunch was provided by Chicken Express.