April 18, 2025 • 9 mins
In this episode, we sit down with Louis King, President of OIC of America, to discuss their national impact, the urgency of diversifying the construction trades, and how the Pennsylvania Gas Tax plays a key role in funding opportunity. King breaks down who really benefits from the gas tax, the current diversity challenges within PennDOT’s workforce, and how community engagement can help drive solutions. We also preview OIC’s upcoming Town Hall Series, where community members can get informed and involved:
🔗 Website: oicofamerica.org
📸 Instagram: @oicofamerica
📘 Facebook: OIC of America
💼 LinkedIn: OIC of America, Inc.
- April 17 – Southwest Philadelphia
- April 24 – Chester
- May 1 – Norristown (Montgomery County)
- May 15 – North Philadelphia
🔗 Website: oicofamerica.org
📸 Instagram: @oicofamerica
📘 Facebook: OIC of America
💼 LinkedIn: OIC of America, Inc.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel. This is National re
Entry Month and we have two important interviews to share
this morning. I'll be speaking with Austa Thomas, executive director
of the Philadelphia Office of re Entry Partnerships, about events
happening this month to assist justice impacted individuals seeking support.
(00:22):
We'll also talk about the exciting premiere of Suave season two,
which follows the unique relationship between journalists Maria Ina Josa
and Suave Gonzalez, which follows one man's journey to freedom
after a life sentence at the age of sevent Once released,
he discovered that freedom was not so free, but first.
(00:42):
For over half a century, Oice of America has been
a national leader and workforce development, empowering underserved communities through education,
job training, and career placement. Under the leadership of President
Lewis King, the organization is now tackling disparities in the
construction trades, especially as Pennsylvania's gas tax revenue helps fund
(01:05):
major infrastructure projects. As OIC of America kicks off a
new town hall series on April seventeenth in Southwest Philadelphia,
we'll be talking about how to ensure black and brown
workers and businesses are part of this generational opportunity. So
thank you so much for joining us here today and
for those unfamiliar, give us an overview of OIC of
(01:27):
America's mission and the kind of work that you do
across the country and right here in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Certainly, and good morning and moing to the listening audience.
All I See was founded sixty one years ago at
Reverend Leon Sullivan in Philadelphia, and it was after taking
economic action and the selected buying campaign against a cy Cakes,
and when it was time for us to get the jobs,
we didn't have any skills. Solely a bought an abandoned
(01:54):
jail for a dollar and started the first OIC which
is now on Brown Street. They're just down the street
from Temple and Progress Plaza, which he founded the first
African American owned shopping mall in the nation. Today, we
operate thirty nine different training sites. Each of them is
on five oh one C three, but together we form
(02:15):
the OIC network and it ranges from Connecticut to California
and Washington State to Florida. We have four in the
Commonwealth in Philadelphia, Coltsville, Norristown, and Harrisburg. Well, so have
training partners with Tower Schools, Africa Town and Uplift Solutions.
So we are quite a footprint and our goal is
(02:37):
very simple, trained people to help them get access to
the middle class and nationally intend to grow enrollment one
hundred thousand by a year twenty thirty.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Fantastic. Well, let's talk about the PA gas tax. What
is it and how does it connect to the infrastructure
work that's happening across the state.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
All administrations brag about invest in infrastructure, roads and bridges. Primarily,
this is huge sums of money that we literally walk
on and drive over every day, and we never think
about who gets the money. In Pennsylvania, in order to
fund the road projects, they utilize a gas tax, meaning
(03:20):
every time you go to the pump, you're not just
paying for the gas, you're paying a state gas tax.
Pennsylvania gets seventy eight percent of its funding from the
gas tax. This is a huge amount of money. It's
more than all the surrounding states. It's the third highest
rate in the United States, and it hits poor people
(03:41):
hardest because when you don't have a lot of money,
if you're paying fifty seven cents in taxes. Well, gee wiz,
sixteen percent of your income goes to just pay the
gas tax. That's your household income. That's a lot of money.
Who gets the jobs from that money?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Who does benefit from the gas tax revenue? Right now?
And where are the gaps when it comes to including
minority workers and businesses?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
And you have to separate it too. The businesses received
a lot of attention but are not a lot of
progress their disparity, resport ports, et cetera. So the way
the state does business is to contract it out to
general contractors. So they'll get someone with the company. He
probably only have seven or eight of them in the
entire state that get all the work. Because the investment
(04:29):
takes get into that line. They contracted out to them.
They didn't hire subs. The subs hire workers primarily they
have equipment operators and laborer. This is where the opportunity
comes in. When you think about not spending thirty eight
billion dollars and you look at the percentage of that
that goes to labor. You understand that these are paychecks
(04:51):
that people want so they can take care of their families.
And you expect that these work opportunities will be distributed
so that everybody can benefit from them. Now, today there's
a problem, there's a shortage of workers. On one hand,
the white participat patient rate has declined from eighty six
(05:11):
percent to sixty two percent. So not a DEI question.
This is straight. We need people to go to work.
But when you look at twenty thousand workers that pin
Dot's contractors used about nine hundred and fifty of them,
I believe, or back about four percent. So certainly there's
room to grow that pool and to be more transparent
(05:34):
about how you're doing business and be accountable for it
so that opportunity reaches all communities. And that's what we're
all about. The people have to pay the gas. Next,
can they get some of the jobs.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
We talk about the lack of diversity in pen Doot's
construction workforce. Can you tell us more about what steps
oh I see of America is taking to address this
imbalance and what solutions do you see to open these
trades up to more people of color.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Penna has done a great job, in our opinion, penetrating
the Latino community. We're saying that there's room for others
in the game as well, and now are three things
that we would like to see. First is transparency, publish
the information on your website. Second, accountability, be accountable to
the legislation to the public. And third is investment in
(06:25):
marketing so that people know about the jobs and training
so that people have the skills to get the jobs.
We want to see those three things. Now, what we're
doing is educating the public, organizing them, and mobilizing them
so that they will support our elected officials in their
quest to bring these three measures about. And so we're
(06:47):
hosting these town hall meetings around the region in Norristown
and Coachville, Harrisburg, as well as Southwest and North Philadelphia
and Chester to bring people attention to fact.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
The first town hall kicked off on the seventeenth. There's
one on the twenty fourth at Chestertown Hall. May first,
It's at Montgomery County Norristown Town Hall May first. North
Philly Town Hall is happening May fifteenth, and give us
a little more details about the goal of this campaign
and how people can get involved and be a part
of the movement Great Again.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
This is about strengthening the workforce so that we keep
the commonwealth strong and ensuring that economic opportunity. It's all communities.
If you want more information, you can go to the
OIC of America dot org website. And the whole purpose
here is to get you engaged in the process. You
(07:41):
want your community to get better, you want the young
boys to get out the drug game and get jobs.
Here's a tangible way of doing that. We don't give
you names and numbers of elected officials the writ and
call and offer you opportunities to come out and express
yourself as we support them and their efforts to ensure
or that their communities get the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
And all this information is on your website, OIC of
America dot org. Yes, great, any final words before we close.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I think that you know we have to stand up
in our community and ensure that all people get opportunities.
We need everybody to be economically strong.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well, that's a beautiful message to send President Lewis King,
who is the president of OIC of America, which is
holding a series of town hall meetings talking about the
lack of diversity in pen Dot's construction workforce and encouraging
us to do something about it. Thank you so much
for joining us. We'll have more insight after these messages.
(08:55):
Did you know that overdoses are now the leading cause
of preventable for black adults in the United States. The
good news is that most people experiencing a sudden overdose
are with someone. If you are with someone who's experiencing
an overdose, you can save their life if you have
in the lockzone. The lockzone is an easy to use
no spray that's harmless and it can reverse an overdose
(09:18):
on the spot. You can get in the lock zone free,
no questions asked, right in your community. Go to you
can Save lives dot org.
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel. This is National re
Entry Month and we have two important interviews to share
this morning. I'll be speaking with Austa Thomas, executive director
of the Philadelphia Office of re Entry Partnerships, about events
happening this month to assist justice impacted individuals seeking support.
(00:22):
We'll also talk about the exciting premiere of Suave season two,
which follows the unique relationship between journalists Maria Ina Josa
and Suave Gonzalez, which follows one man's journey to freedom
after a life sentence at the age of sevent Once released,
he discovered that freedom was not so free, but first.
(00:42):
For over half a century, Oice of America has been
a national leader and workforce development, empowering underserved communities through education,
job training, and career placement. Under the leadership of President
Lewis King, the organization is now tackling disparities in the
construction trades, especially as Pennsylvania's gas tax revenue helps fund
(01:05):
major infrastructure projects. As OIC of America kicks off a
new town hall series on April seventeenth in Southwest Philadelphia,
we'll be talking about how to ensure black and brown
workers and businesses are part of this generational opportunity. So
thank you so much for joining us here today and
for those unfamiliar, give us an overview of OIC of
(01:27):
America's mission and the kind of work that you do
across the country and right here in Philadelphia.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Certainly, and good morning and moing to the listening audience.
All I See was founded sixty one years ago at
Reverend Leon Sullivan in Philadelphia, and it was after taking
economic action and the selected buying campaign against a cy Cakes,
and when it was time for us to get the jobs,
we didn't have any skills. Solely a bought an abandoned
(01:54):
jail for a dollar and started the first OIC which
is now on Brown Street. They're just down the street
from Temple and Progress Plaza, which he founded the first
African American owned shopping mall in the nation. Today, we
operate thirty nine different training sites. Each of them is
on five oh one C three, but together we form
(02:15):
the OIC network and it ranges from Connecticut to California
and Washington State to Florida. We have four in the
Commonwealth in Philadelphia, Coltsville, Norristown, and Harrisburg. Well, so have
training partners with Tower Schools, Africa Town and Uplift Solutions.
So we are quite a footprint and our goal is
(02:37):
very simple, trained people to help them get access to
the middle class and nationally intend to grow enrollment one
hundred thousand by a year twenty thirty.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Fantastic. Well, let's talk about the PA gas tax. What
is it and how does it connect to the infrastructure
work that's happening across the state.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
All administrations brag about invest in infrastructure, roads and bridges. Primarily,
this is huge sums of money that we literally walk
on and drive over every day, and we never think
about who gets the money. In Pennsylvania, in order to
fund the road projects, they utilize a gas tax, meaning
(03:20):
every time you go to the pump, you're not just
paying for the gas, you're paying a state gas tax.
Pennsylvania gets seventy eight percent of its funding from the
gas tax. This is a huge amount of money. It's
more than all the surrounding states. It's the third highest
rate in the United States, and it hits poor people
(03:41):
hardest because when you don't have a lot of money,
if you're paying fifty seven cents in taxes. Well, gee wiz,
sixteen percent of your income goes to just pay the
gas tax. That's your household income. That's a lot of money.
Who gets the jobs from that money?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Who does benefit from the gas tax revenue? Right now?
And where are the gaps when it comes to including
minority workers and businesses?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
And you have to separate it too. The businesses received
a lot of attention but are not a lot of
progress their disparity, resport ports, et cetera. So the way
the state does business is to contract it out to
general contractors. So they'll get someone with the company. He
probably only have seven or eight of them in the
entire state that get all the work. Because the investment
(04:29):
takes get into that line. They contracted out to them.
They didn't hire subs. The subs hire workers primarily they
have equipment operators and laborer. This is where the opportunity
comes in. When you think about not spending thirty eight
billion dollars and you look at the percentage of that
that goes to labor. You understand that these are paychecks
(04:51):
that people want so they can take care of their families.
And you expect that these work opportunities will be distributed
so that everybody can benefit from them. Now, today there's
a problem, there's a shortage of workers. On one hand,
the white participat patient rate has declined from eighty six
(05:11):
percent to sixty two percent. So not a DEI question.
This is straight. We need people to go to work.
But when you look at twenty thousand workers that pin
Dot's contractors used about nine hundred and fifty of them,
I believe, or back about four percent. So certainly there's
room to grow that pool and to be more transparent
(05:34):
about how you're doing business and be accountable for it
so that opportunity reaches all communities. And that's what we're
all about. The people have to pay the gas. Next,
can they get some of the jobs.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
We talk about the lack of diversity in pen Doot's
construction workforce. Can you tell us more about what steps
oh I see of America is taking to address this
imbalance and what solutions do you see to open these
trades up to more people of color.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Penna has done a great job, in our opinion, penetrating
the Latino community. We're saying that there's room for others
in the game as well, and now are three things
that we would like to see. First is transparency, publish
the information on your website. Second, accountability, be accountable to
the legislation to the public. And third is investment in
(06:25):
marketing so that people know about the jobs and training
so that people have the skills to get the jobs.
We want to see those three things. Now, what we're
doing is educating the public, organizing them, and mobilizing them
so that they will support our elected officials in their
quest to bring these three measures about. And so we're
(06:47):
hosting these town hall meetings around the region in Norristown
and Coachville, Harrisburg, as well as Southwest and North Philadelphia
and Chester to bring people attention to fact.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
The first town hall kicked off on the seventeenth. There's
one on the twenty fourth at Chestertown Hall. May first,
It's at Montgomery County Norristown Town Hall May first. North
Philly Town Hall is happening May fifteenth, and give us
a little more details about the goal of this campaign
and how people can get involved and be a part
of the movement Great Again.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
This is about strengthening the workforce so that we keep
the commonwealth strong and ensuring that economic opportunity. It's all communities.
If you want more information, you can go to the
OIC of America dot org website. And the whole purpose
here is to get you engaged in the process. You
(07:41):
want your community to get better, you want the young
boys to get out the drug game and get jobs.
Here's a tangible way of doing that. We don't give
you names and numbers of elected officials the writ and
call and offer you opportunities to come out and express
yourself as we support them and their efforts to ensure
or that their communities get the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
And all this information is on your website, OIC of
America dot org. Yes, great, any final words before we close.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
I think that you know we have to stand up
in our community and ensure that all people get opportunities.
We need everybody to be economically strong.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Well, that's a beautiful message to send President Lewis King,
who is the president of OIC of America, which is
holding a series of town hall meetings talking about the
lack of diversity in pen Dot's construction workforce and encouraging
us to do something about it. Thank you so much
for joining us. We'll have more insight after these messages.
(08:55):
Did you know that overdoses are now the leading cause
of preventable for black adults in the United States. The
good news is that most people experiencing a sudden overdose
are with someone. If you are with someone who's experiencing
an overdose, you can save their life if you have
in the lockzone. The lockzone is an easy to use
no spray that's harmless and it can reverse an overdose
(09:18):
on the spot. You can get in the lock zone free,
no questions asked, right in your community. Go to you
can Save lives dot org.
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