Inaugural “Paulsen Scholarship” Awards Presented at Don Reynold’s Competition
Timothy Harlin from Oklahoma City University and, Nicholas Harrison from the University of Oklahoma are the recipients of the first annual “Paulsen Scholarships” presented at the 2009 Don Reynold’s Governor’s Cup business plan awards ceremony on April 14.
The $5,000 scholarships are named for Don Paulsen, longtime President of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable. Paulsen received special recognition in front of an audience of over 500 at the annual gala in Oklahoma City.
 “We are pleased to award these two outstanding young entrepreneurs with this scholarship, named after one of their greatest boosters, Don Paulsen,” said Tom Maxwell, incoming chairman of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable.
Both students will make presentations to Roundtable members at the June membership meeting in Tulsa.
Our judges have been so impressed with the individuals as well as the business plans and the products they were presenting that this year the Roundtable expanded from one to two scholarships,” says Don Paulsen, president of the Oklahoma Business Roundtable. “The increased interest in the scholarships and the students that are coming forward with very interesting projects and business plans are very exciting to our Roundtable members.”
 Both of these recipients placed as winners in the Governor’s Cup competition.
Harlin was a part of Hexakit from OCU who won the $20,000 first-place cash award in the graduate division for a business plan that proposed to commercialize a generic version of a heart imaging drug used to investigate damage caused by heart attack.
Harrison was team leader for Bio-Oil Extraction Technologies who won $5000 as the third place winner in the graduate division for a business plan that will bring advanced biomass oil extraction technologies to market.
June 16 Meeting to Feature AT&T Chairman/Oklahoma Native
Randall Stephenson, Chairman, CEO and President of AT&T will be the guest speaker at the Roundtable Membership meeting on June 16, 2009 at Southern Hills in Tulsa. The meeting will begin at 4:30 followed by a reception and dinner. Governor Henry, Lt. Governor Askins and Commerce Secretary Natalie Shirley will also make remarks.
 About Randall L. Stephenson
Randall L. Stephenson is chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of AT&T Inc. He was appointed to the position in June 2007.
Before being named chairman, CEO and president, Mr. Stephenson served as chief operating officer and was responsible for all wireless and wireline operations. He was named chief operating officer for SBC Communications Inc. in April 2004 and continued as COO after the acquisitions of AT&T Corp. in November 2005 and BellSouth in December 2006.
During his tenure as COO, the company outperformed its peers in nearly every category. Today, AT&T leads the industry in wireless, business, broadband, voice and directory and is gaining momentum in the TV market.
Commerce Business Development Update
Wind Commerce 2009 Conference Set for June in Norman
Wind Commerce 2009: the Future is Now, which will be hosted by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce June 23 & 24th at the Embassy Suites, Norman.
The conference will focus on the many opportunities to create jobs and generate wealth across the state as Oklahoma fully develops its wind industry. The two-day conference is targeted to Oklahoma businesses, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, communities, legislators, local workforce and economic development professionals, and educational institutions. Several national and internationally recognized wind energy experts, wind power project developers, and wind industry OEMs are expected to attend.
For details, contact the Roundtable Office at 405-235-3787.
Oklahoma Aerospace Summit is June 15-18 in Tulsa
Aerospace industry leaders from across Oklahoma and the nation will convene in Tulsa June 15-18 for the 8th annual Oklahoma Aerospace Summit & Expo.
The Business Roundtable is a key partner with the summit, providing funds to help host the special Aerospace Education and Training Day, which will be held June 18, 2009, at the Tulsa Technology Center-Riverside Campus.
This is a focused effort to build partnerships with Oklahoma teachers and counselors to:
- Promote employment opportunities for students in the aerospace industry, and
- Encourage the growth of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education with aerospace applications
Commerce Recruitment Update
European Wind Energy Conference (EWEC)
A special Oklahoma business recruitment team, led by the Commerce Department, met with global turbine and component manufacturing executives at this April show held in France.
The Oklahoma EWEC team targeted 73 companies: 15 turbine manufacturers, 42 component manufacturers and 16 consultants/developers/associations. The target companies are located in: UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Denmark, US, Spain and Japan.
The strategy: Demonstrate Oklahoma’s intent on being recognized as “the location” in attracting wind energy manufacturing facilities to supply the North American market in the development of Wind Energy projects.
Turkey Hunt Venue Attracts Site Consultants
Hosted by Lt. Governor Jari Askins, the annual hunts were held in Alva, Okemah, Woodward, Duncan and Hugo. The Commerce Business Location team provided support. Seventy-five hunters (site consultants) came to Oklahoma for the hunt from various states including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas.
CoreNet Global Real Estate Conference
In conjunction with the Governor’s Economic Development Team, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce held a reception for hundreds of corporate real estate executives at this bi-annual conference on April 26 in Dallas. Featured attraction was Lauren Nelson, Miss Oklahoma 2006 and Miss America 2007.
GOOD NEWS ABOUT OKLAHOMA
- Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Jenks – Top 100 Places to Live
RelocateAmerica.com’s annual list of the top 100 places to live is out and topping this year’s list is Tulsa at No. 1. Oklahoma City is No. 10. While Jenks finished in the Top 100.
Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Jenks scored highly for having strong economies and a stable housing market.
The top 100 places were identified based on interviews with local leaders and residents, as well as environmental, education, crime, employment and housing data for the past year.
Other Top Ten cities included: Dallas, TX; Ft. Worth, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; Durham, NC; Raleigh, NC; Huntsville, Al.; and Houston,TX.
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