Small Businesses Find Success in Oklahoma Incubators

Sand Springs Home Trustee Erik Stuckey (left) shakes hands with former Sand Springs Chamber of Commerce President Kyle Smith outside The Link small business incubator in downtown Sand Springs.

Business incubators nurture the development of entrepreneurial companies, helping them survive and grow during the start-up period, when they are most vulnerable. These programs provide client companies with business support services and resources tailored to young firms. The most common goals of incubation programs are creating jobs in a community, enhancing a community’s entrepreneurial climate, retaining businesses in a community, building or accelerating growth in a local industry, and diversifying local economies.

The role of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce in the incubator process is to certify the incubators and to ensure the incubators meet certain standards of excellence.

Two core principles that characterize effective business incubation include:

1. The incubator aspires to have a positive impact on its community’s economic health by maximizing emerging companies’ successes.

2. The incubator itself is a dynamic model of a sustainable, efficient business operation.

These incubators provide:

• Flexible space and leases

• Access to office services and equipment

• An on-site incubator manager as a resource for business advice

Exposure to a network of outside business and technical consultants, often providing accounting, marketing, engineering and legal advice; and assistance with financing and marketing.

Currently, 31 certified small business incubators are operating in Oklahoma, with tenants ranging from small service companies to high-tech research and development operations and manufacturing entities.

During 2020, Oklahoma incubator managers were asked to complete a questionnaire to document their activities for the current reporting period. The following statistics are based on the information received from the responding incubator managers:

Currently 1,165 jobs are provided by 109 small business located in incubators.

More than 1,000 small businesses have located in a small business incubator throughout the life of Oklahoma’s Certified Small Business Incubator Program.

More than 500 of those have graduated from the program or relocated to a larger facility.

1,373 people are currently employed by 259 of the graduated businesses that remained in the state.

Here are just a few success stories from those business throughout 2020:

Aircraft Logistics Group, LLC Acorn Growth Companies Oklahoma City, Okla.

The success of Aircraft Logistics Group, LLC continues to be a compelling story for incubators. In 2017, the company completed the sale of a significant portion of its loan portfolio to a strategic buyer in the aerospace and defense sector that carried forward the mission of airborne intelligence missions in support of the global war on terror. The sale represented an 8x return on invested capital and a 46% gross internal rate of return.

Generation FSH Hemphill Create Tulsa, Okla.

Generation FSH is a new tenant of Hemphill Create, specializing in welding and fabrication service. The owners of the company saw an opportunity to start their family business at Hemphill in October 2020. The husband and wife duo wanted to leave the shuffle and control of the corporate grind and bet on themselves. Duane Grundy is a welder and fabricator, while his wife Shavonne Grundy handles corporate affairs. Gaining perspective from Hemphill’s successful family business has helped further the Grundy’s outlook on success and provided historical data and industry knowledge to add to their repertoire of talent.

Flexibility and support are key to success in these unprecedented times. Hemphill has offered companies a safe haven to grow and explore business strategy and growth in spite of the on-going global pandemic.

Mortgage Solutions Financial The LINK Sand Springs, Okla.

Mortgage Solutions Financial started at The LINK by occupying two private desk spaces. The company has flourished, doubling the initial number of employees. They have outgrown their work space three times and now occupy three office suites. Their growth and financial standing has far exceeded their expectations. They anticipate graduating from The LINK incubator soon.

Indigo Technology Group The Forge Tulsa, Okla.

Indigo Technology Group, a Tulsa based software company, uses their scalable technologies as a platform to launch other startups alongside industry veterans. As a technology platform, they become a multiplier when coupled with domain experts, cutting the costs and shortening ramp-up time to profitability. Indigo has successfully helped launch several growth-oriented companies and highlights their achievements through Indigo’s annual “Technology Showcase” each spring.

Commerce will be highlighting incubator business success stories in upcoming issues of the New Pioneer – signup for our E-Newsletter. Find out more about certified Incubators or locate an Incubator near you.

Sean Kuehn selected to serve on Oklahoma Student Advisory Council

Sean Kuehn (center) receives the August 2018 Sandite Spirit Award. Kuehn was recently selected to serve on the Oklahoma 2021 Student Advisory Council.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister has named 97 Oklahoma high school students to her 2021 Student Advisory Council, the sixth consecutive year the group has been convened to assist Hofmeister and the Oklahoma State Department of Education in matters of policy. 

“Students have a lot to say about their education, and it is critical that we listen to them. The direct insight we receive from our students is incredibly valuable, and each year I am encouraged by the thoughtful reflection and fearless vision of these brilliant young leaders,” Hofmeister said.  

The 2020 Student Advisory Council last met virtually in June, where students voiced their challenges about learning amid a global pandemic and how racism impacts the classroom experience. Other past discussion topics have included the importance of personal financial literacy, increased awareness of student mental health needs, and how trauma can impede student success. Feedback from the Council has been instrumental in state-level initiatives to provide teachers more professional development in trauma-informed instruction, replace end-of-course high school testing with the ACT or SAT, and pilot Individual Career Academic Planning (ICAP). 

Recommended by their district superintendents, the students hail from across Oklahoma and represent rural, urban and suburban schools of all sizes. Forty-four are returning members who have served on the council in previous years. 

The first virtual meeting of the Student Advisory Council is scheduled for Jan. 26. Sand Springs student Sean Kuehn was selected to serve on the council for the second-straight year.

Police Chief Mike Carter to transition to new role as City Manager

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SAND SPRINGS, OK - The City of Sand Springs is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Carter as the new City Manager. Carter has been the Chief of Police since 2015 and has been a Sand Springs Police Officer for almost 28 years.

Carter plans to take over the day-to-day operations from interim City Manager Daniel Bradley in March, after a transition period to keep stability within the Sand Springs Police Department. 

Of the hiring, Mayor James Spoon stated, “We are delighted to be able to promote someone from within our city organization. Mike has shown how much he cares for our community and he has the unanimous support of the City Council.” He also added, “I would like to thank my fellow city councilors for the effort that was put into the exhaustive search and that the opportunity presented itself to get such a worthy candidate.”

Carter was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a graduate of Tulsa Will Rogers High School.  He later was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah and has lived in Sand Springs for the past 26 years with his wife Deborah, and his son, Zachary and daughter, Emma.      

Carter is a graduate of the 221st session of the FBI National Academy. In 1995, he served at the scene of the Murrah Federal Building bomb attack in Oklahoma City and also directed the City of Sand Springs operations during the recovery from a devastating ice storm in 2007.   

Carter also has received numerous awards during his career with the Sand Springs Police Department, including the Medal of Valor, two Life-Saving awards, City of Sand Springs Employee of the Year, and twice named Officer of the Year. In October of 2018, Chief Carter represented his agency in receiving the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) /Cisco Leadership in Community Policing Award for developing the concept of a Policing Plan in his community. The City of Sand Springs has continued this concept for over five years.

While working as the Chief of Police, Carter also assisted the City of Sand Springs in economic development endeavors as well as helping with many other areas outside of the typical duties of a police chief, but equipping him with perspectives that will help him in his new role as the City Manager.

In speaking about his appointment, Carter said, “I am truly humbled by the level of support I have received; not only from the City Council, but from all of the City employees. I hope to carry on the good work our team has been doing and feel honored to be able to work with people I respect so much.”

The position of City Manager was last held by Elizabeth Gray, who left in May after six years of service and took a position with the City of Bethany.