FYI: Business
BY LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer
Sunday, December 09, 2012
12/09/12 at 3:13 AM
Scholarship program seeks high school entrepreneurs
The Scholarships to Success program aims to award 10 $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors from Tulsa Public Schools who have started their own successful small businesses.
The Oklahoma office of the National Federation of Independent Business recently announced the creation of the scholarship program presented by NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation and the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.
Deadline to apply for a 2013 scholarship is Dec. 17. An independent selection committee will review all applications and select semifinalists, who will be notified by mid-January.
More information is available at tulsaworld.com/smallbizscholarships
The program was organized by Larry Mocha, president of APSCO Inc.; Lynda Wingo, executive director of Miss Helen's Private School, and Jerry Holder of Winter Fabrication. The group is known collectively as OK2Grow.
Mocha, Wingo and Holder worked together to organize the 2011 Governor's Conference on Small Business, which generated enough revenue to cover expenses and a surplus of $50,000.
The organizers agreed to use this surplus as the foundation for an ongoing scholarship program, with $5,000 grants from APSCO and the Lobeck Taylor Family Foundation.
The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is committed to educating young people about the critical role of small business and the American free enterprise system. Since 2003, the foundation has awarded 2,300 scholarships to graduating high school seniors totaling more than $2.5 million.
Video Gaming Technologies of Tulsa wins award
Video Gaming Technologies of Tulsa recently was one of three Oklahoma businesses to win the Oklahoma Quality Award at a conference hosted by the Oklahoma Quality Foundation.
Video Gaming Technologies along with INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City won the Oklahoma Quality Award for Achievement, while OU Medicine in Oklahoma City received the Oklahoma Quality Award for Commitment.
Oklahoma Quality Awards are based on criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce,
The Oklahoma Quality Foundation mission is to help Oklahoma organizations improve results and become more competitive through performance excellence.
Tulsa couple acquires Environmental Resources
Patrick and Tabitha Taylor announced the acquisition of Tulsa-based Environmental Resources.
Environmental Resources offers filtration systems and supplies to improve water quality and purity for commercial and residential customers. The business, founded in 1997, delivers, installs and maintains products ranging from point of use filters to systems for entire facilities.
Tabitha Taylor, a certified nutrition and wellness coach, pursued acquisition of Environmental Resources from its founder, Lynley Elliott, as a natural extension of a professional commitment to healthy choices in nutrition.
Environmental Resources will continue to expand in the Tulsa market, with plans on hiring sales reps and install technicians in 2013.
John C. Johnson with Tulsa-based BluestemUSA advised and facilitated the transaction for the parties.
Center to increase technology-based ventures
University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University has joined with Cowboy Technologies LLC and i2E, Inc. to create the Oklahoma Proof of Concept Center.
The new center will increase the number of technologies spun out of universities and into marketplace and accelerate the number of technology-based ventures in Oklahoma.
The center will identify compelling technologies discovered on OU and OSU campuses and help successfully spin them out into startup or existing companies.
The virtual center unifies the expertise of all the parties into a focused effort that will answer critical questions that challenge any technology-based startup. Products are accelerated to the marketplace through coordinating efforts to validate markets, developing customer driven prototypes, obtaining guidance and feedback from industry mentors and providing access to capital necessary.
i2E and Cowboy Technologies contribute expertise in business development and market research, as well as expanded access to sources of capital.
Legends Bicycles & Accessories holds grand opening
Legends Bicycles & Accessories recently held a grand opening at 10846 S. Memorial Drive.
The store offers a full line of clothing and accessories in addition to a wide range of bikes from beginner to top of the line Scott, Fuji and Cannondale racing bicycles.
It also offers a full repair shop, servicing all makes and models from department store bikes to upper-end racing bicycles.
Starting in January, Legends Bicycles & Accessories will offer spin classes several times a week. The store will also provide Cycling 101 classes on how to shift, air tires, fix a flat, lube a chain, etc.
The store is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. Sundays
Forty local students shadow AT&T employees
Twenty Webster High School and 20 Memorial High School students recently teamed up with AT&T employees to participate in the AT&T/JA Worldwide Job Shadow Initiative, a five-year effort to increase high school retention and workforce readiness.
In its third year, the initiative has reached more than 50,000 students, more than half of the program's total goal to impact the lives of 100,000 students across the United States.
The $5.5 million initiative, which started in 2008, enables students in certain grades to shadow AT&T employees to see firsthand the educational background and skills they will need to succeed on the job.
The AT&T/JA Worldwide Job Shadow Initiative is part of AT&T Aspire, a $100 million philanthropic commitment that was launched in April 2008 to address high school success and workforce readiness.
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