Employer insight fuels workforce initiatives in Kilgore, Texas

 Employer insight fuels workforce initiatives in Kilgore, Texas

 The employers and workers at the ground level have the surest sense for what strengthens their operations, builds their business and secures their success. When Kilgore Economic Development Corporation set out to refresh and refine its strategy last year, an Industry Workforce Think Tank made it clear what was needed.

 That late-2025 effort grew from the ground up to become a multifaceted outreach into the community in 2026, pulling in local students and educators, workers and employers.

 “Kilgore’s industrial community is strong,” said Kilgore EDC Executive Director Randy Seitz. “We can make it even stronger by listening first, acting with urgency and combining KEDC’s resources with the ingenuity of Kilgore companies.”

Randy Seitz

 Kilgore EDC paired the November 2025 Think Tank with an employer survey. Among the results, the local respondents helped the economic development initiative identify two key priorities for 2026: Strengthen the soft skills of both the current and future workforce and expand opportunities for educators and students to better understand real-world industry environments.

 The first task centered on collaboration through educational programs and training partners. The latter would specifically highlight the technical skills local employers need in the workforce pipeline.

 That feedback provided KEDC with a practical agenda for the coming year and, nine months in, there’s a line of milestones behind and more to come. Kilgore EDC is continuously working with local employers as well as Kilgore ISD faculty alongside other educational partners like Kilgore College, Texas State Technical College and LeTourneau University. With support from Workforce Solutions East Texas and grant funding, the EDC is connecting current and future workers with the skills and the knowledge base they need to help fuel progress for area industry.

 “Students cannot aspire to jobs and careers they know nothing about,” KEDC’s Katherine Kirkpatrick said ahead of the Jobs Y’all East Texas Career Exploration Fair in February, one of the year’s most successful workforce outreaches.

Jobs Y’all, photo courtesy James Wright

 Early in the year, more than 800 students from districts across the area had facetime with 50 employers at the grant-funded fair, exploring high-demand, high-wage careers available across East Texas. In partnership with Workforce Solutions and Texas Workforce Commission, Jobs Y’all gave high school juniors and seniors a chance to see the occupations, equipment and companies that are part of the bedrock of this area. They learned firsthand of the careers available to them and shook hands with industry leaders from Kilgore companies including C3, Camfil, CHEP, CPI, Orgill, Skeeter, SPL and more.

That career exploration event helped drive area students toward additional opportunities crafted for them by Kilgore EDC and stakeholder companies.

 Apex, Composite Piping Technologies, HOLT Manufacturing, HOLT CAT and Orgill hosted students for facility tours, extending the students’ exploration onto the plant floor and inside the day-to-day workings of local employers. The on-site visits underscored the lessons the soon-to-be-graduates were learning through the ever-evolving Career & Technical Education Program at Kilgore ISD – educators there are paying attention, ensuring local curriculum aligns with employers’ needs and provides students with all the necessities for their coming careers.

 “Something we hear all the time from businesses,” echoed Kilgore High School CTE Director Misty Lewis, “is this generation needs to work on their soft skills.”

 Kilgore EDC put CTE in the spotlight through an ongoing partnership with Kilgore Current, coordinating with the digital community news platform on a series of stories that not only explored the various facets of Kilgore ISD’s programs but also highlighted the employers, community leaders and post-secondary educators who are helping fuel and giving graduates career destinations.

Meanwhile, Kilgore High School launched its "Ready, Set, Go..." initiative to help the Class of 2026 prepare themselves for "The Game of Life." Working with Kilgore Economic Development Corporation and other sponsors, the KHS CTE program's effort built a career skills workshop for seniors with support from local employers like Skeeter.

 Amid those efforts, KEDC collaborated with Workforce Solutions East Texas on a teacher externship effort, bolstering the educators who are helping students develop their skills and guiding them as they choose and prepare for careers. HOLT Manufacturing, HOLT CAT, Orgill and Skeeter Products all helped launch the program ahead of Summer 2026 to give KISD employees firsthand exposure they could pass on about workplace expectations, career pathways and the skillsets local employers are seeking.

 Beyond building educational opportunities for students, KEDC supported Texas Workforce Commission’s Skills for Success initiative, providing local employers with access to grant-funded job-readiness and soft-skills training through Texas State Technical College. Ongoing support of Kilgore College’s Risk Management Institute ensured workers, students and a wide array of local individuals had the chance to upskill themselves – especially in courses specifically requested by KEDC’s partner employers.

 The year-long effort is drawing together all the key voices in the conversation, according to Kilgore College Workforce Dual Credit Coordinator Brian Kasper.

 “You get input from your business and industry people,” he said, “they come in and tell you what they need.”

The relationships work in all directions, ensuring the individuals in the growing workforce – whatever their age – have ready-access to the necessary training, soft skills or technical, that will bring prime employees through the pipeline.

 It’s keeping companies rooted in Kilgore, said Seitz, and they know Kilgore EDC is paying attention to their needs and their continuing success. “Together, we can ensure Kilgore remains one of Texas’ best places to invest, manufacture and grow.”