Legends Express car wash opens in Broken Arrow
Legends Express Car Wash has opened its first location in Broken Arrow at 2300 W. Kenosha St.
Operating hours are from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
Legends Express Car Wash features an exterior express wash and dry for $5 with free vacuums.
Gold Star Referral Clubs expands out of state
Tulsa-based Gold Star Referral Clubs, a privately held marketing and business networking organization, has announced the opening of two new locations in the Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Minneapolis areas after opening in Nashville, Tenn., a few months ago.
Founded in 2007, Tulsa-based Gold Star Referral Clubs educates, trains and manages business meetings, events, webinars and workshops to help businesses increase sales with word-of-mouth and referral marketing.
Gold Star has expanded to 83 locations across 15 states.
MIDCON Data Services acquires Tulsa company
MIDCON Data services, an Oklahoma City provider of data management storage and document destruction services, acquired Tulsa-based Vault Management Inc.
Randy Allen, MIDCON's owner and CEO, said the purchase was part of an expansion initiative designed to meet increased demand.
"MIDCON and VMI have seen a surge in demand for our services from all types and sizes of businesses, especially as it relates to secured electronic record storage and retrieval over the past five years," he said.
VMI clients will now have access to MIDCON's line of services.
OSU honors two as Entrepreneurs of the Year
Oklahoma State University recently honored two alumni who are Tulsa residents as the 2012 Alumni Entrepreneurs of the Year at the annual Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises Banquet.
Bob Austin was selected as the Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year, and Kayvon Olomi was selected as the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.
The Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes a career of entrepreneurial accomplishments.
Austin, who graduated from OSU in 1976, worked for several years for NORDAM in airline and helicopter marketing. In 1981, he started Helicomb International, Inc. to repair helicopter bonded structures and grew it to more than $100 million in sales and captured 85 percent of the world market.
Along the way, Helicomb diversified into services for satellite space station structures, the Boeing C-17, the Lockheed Joint Strike Fighter and various projects for Northrop Grumman. Since selling Helicomb, Austin has been involved in a number of ventures, most recently helping to found Granite Mountain LLC in Tulsa.
The Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award is typically someone under 30 with notable entrepreneurial accomplishments and significant future promise.
Olomi graduated from Oklahoma State in 2008 and is the founder of AppTank, a website that matches professional app developers and premium app projects.
Olomi was recognized by Forbes Magazine in January 2012 as a Forbes 30 Under 30 Achiever. AppTank was also recognized as a 2012 Webby Award Honoree in the Web Services Category and has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, the Wall Street Journal and on MSNBC.
Cherokee Nation Industries honored
Cherokee Nation Industries, the manufacturing and distribution division of Cherokee Nation Businesses, has been named one of the most prestigious suppliers in the aerospace industry.
The company recently was awarded the Gold Supplier Certification from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., recognizing its best-in-class performance in quality, delivery, lean techniques and customer satisfaction in the manufacturing of main wiring harnesses for the MH-60S SEAHAWK and S-92 aircraft. CNI is only the 15th Sikorsky supplier to receive the award.
In the past year, CNI has been awarded three awards in the aerospace industry. In July 2011, Boeing recognized the company with a gold status rating for its outstanding work. In January 2012, Bell Helicopter recognized CNI as being in the top 10 percent of the company's suppliers.
Zambia to host StartUp Cup model competition
The African country of Zambia plans to hold an entrepreneurial competition based on a model developed for the Tulsa area.
Entrepreneurs who participate in the Zambia StartUp Cup Business Model Competition will develop a viable business model during a six-month coaching and mentoring process.
StartUp Cup is an international business model competition designed to provide community-based long-term support to participating local entrepreneurs during their early growth phase.
The StartUp Cup also has been in conversations with Egypt, Zambia, Paraguay, Ethiopia, Russia and Venezuela, said Sean Griffin, founder of the StartUp Cup.
Flintco recognized for zoo exhibit
The Associated Builders and Contractors has recognized Flintco LLC for its work on the Mary K. Chapman Giraffe Experience at the Tulsa Zoo.
Flintco earned an Eagle Award in the Other Construction-Less than $2 million category at the 22nd annual Excellence in Construction Awards.
Winning projects were selected and judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges overcome, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost.
The Mary K. Chapman Giraffe Experience deck is a 930-square-foot wooden platform designed to simulate an African hut. Tulsa Zoo guests can see wild and exotic giraffes up close in a safe manner.
The elevated platform is built on structural wooden supports simulating stilts. Trex Deck, a no maintenance material that is made out of recycled milk jugs, was used as a wood-decking replacement for the flooring to mitigate wear and maintenance concerns. Endureed, Capetown PVC Thatch Shingles were used on the roof, to provide a more durable roof structure while maintaining the native African look. The final project came in at $378,665, resulting in a 6.86 percent savings.
BBI founder makes magazine's top-10 ranking
Tulsa-based Beautiful Brands International announced its founder and CEO, David Rutkauskas, has been selected to Fast Casual Magazine's 2012 Top 20 "Movers and Shakers" list. He ranked in the top 10 among all fast-casual restaurant executives.
Fast Casual magazine, which reports on the emerging fast-casual restaurant industry, just released the ranking of the top fast-casual concepts, people, technology, menu and innovation trends that impacted the industry in 2011.
As CEO of Beautiful Brands, Rutkauskas is writing a book called "It's a Beautiful Thing," which is being published this year.
He also is launching a YouTube talk show this year called "Beautiful People with David Rutkauskas," created to capture the entrepreneurial spirit of those seeking the valuable insight of other entrepreneurs and artists. The channel will consist of six to eight video episodes a year and will feature inspiring conversations between Rutkauskas and creative artists and entrepreneurs around the country.
