Oklahoma rancher is rewarded for helping ‘poorest’
Experience WorksOrganization helps older Americans find jobs
BY DEBBIE BLOSSOM
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Published: October 14, 2009
OKEMAH — Rancher and farmer Phillip Klutts isn’t financially strapped, and he’s never gone without work since graduating from the University of Oklahoma decades ago with a degree in petroleum engineering.
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A program for older job seekers
→Experience Works administers the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which pays older workers minimum wage while they train to enter the work force.
→The job assistance is for those 55 and older who meet certain low-income criteria. →Experience Works is the agent for 25 Oklahoma counties and portions of three others, and is also in 29 other states and Puerto Rico. →Through field agents, the agency finds training positions for clients in such places as libraries, hospitals, schools, senior centers and whatever is available in a given community. There is help with computer technology and resume writing, skills that older individuals have either lost touch with or never gained. →For more information about the program, or to check qualifications, call (866) 397-9759.
Forever committed
Klutts, who at 74 owns and farms on more than a 1,000 acres near his hometown of Okemah, has always held the concerns of rural Americans close to his heart.
Even with his career as an engineer for the private sector and then for 25 years at Tinker Air Force Base, Klutts made time to commit to working for farmers and ranchers, serving on the board of directors of the Farmers Union as well as the then-Green Thumb.
His interest in bringing water to rural farming areas outside of Okemah was behind his participation in the Oklahoma Rural Water Association, where he served as president, and the National Water Association, the Durant-based group that is the voice for 27,000 water systems nationwide.
He was also chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Farmers Union’s Mutual Insurance Co. for 10 years.
Klutts’ dedication to Experience Works’ mission made him a perfect honoree for the second Cy Carpenter award, said Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works.
The honor was named for Carpenter, who was involved on the agency’s board since its beginning. "It was timed to coincide with Cy’s resignation from the board,” Metzler said. "We were looking for a way to honor someone who had devoted their career to this.”
"Phillip stayed through (it all) as the world has changed, and as rural economies have changed,” she said. "That’s what this award is all about; it’s about helping people.”
Staying strong
As for receiving the award, "it makes me feel pretty special,” Klutts said. "If I can help someone get a job, that’s good enough for me.”
The jobs those older individuals qualify for tend to bring in just minimum wage, and most are part time, he said. "But in this day and age, and for people who are down and out, those jobs look pretty good to them.”
Klutts said although he accomplished a lot during his career, he has no plans to stop working.
"I like what I do,” he said. "I’m guess I’m here for the long haul.”
Related Topics:
Business, Company Activities and Information, Boards of Directors Changes, Personnel Changes
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