Entrepreneurship
Spears School of Business organizes program
in Moscow for entrepreneurship educators
Michael Morris
The demand for entrepreneurship education is a global phenomenon that Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business is helping solve.
In an effort to address the need for faculty who can teach entrepreneurship, the Spears School’s Michael Morris, Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship, recently helped deliver a program called the Dynamic Entrepreneurship Classroom (DEC) in Moscow, Russia. DEC is an intensive seminar exposing faculty members from across the Russian Federation to best practices in entrepreneurship education.
The seminar is a partnership offered jointly by OSU, Texas Christian University and Syracuse University, among three of the top entrepreneurship programs in the United States.
The program was offered at Moscow State University, the leading institution of higher learning in Russia. Forty-two faculty members attended the three-day program. They were exposed to perspectives on the content, innovative pedagogy, course and curriculum design, and experiential learning tools and approaches.
OSU’s entrepreneurship program receives
U.S. News & World Report top-25 ranking
The School of Entrepreneurship and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship have placed Oklahoma State University’s program on the map in recent years. OSU’s program recently received another prestigious honor when it was named one of the top 25 business schools for entrepreneurship by U.S. News and World Report.
The OSU entrepreneurship program tied for No. 22 in the 2014 rankings of the nation’s best schools to help students channel their creativity, participate in business plan competitions, earn an MBA, and launch a business.
“Earning this distinction in the U.S. News and World Report rankings is a tremendous achievement for the entrepreneurship program, and is a reflection of the quality of the School of Entrepreneurship’s faculty and curriculum,” said Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School. “The students, faculty and staff associated with the School of Entrepreneurship should be proud of this outstanding achievement.”
OSU students capture fourth place at TCU’s Values and Ventures competition
OSU students Nick Cain and Flint Holbrook are congratulated by O. Homer Erekson, John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of Business, after capturing fourth place against students from 27 other universities from around the world during TCU’s business plan competition.
Virtue and Veneration, a two-man team of Oklahoma State University students Nick Cain and Flint Holbrook, placed fourth against 27 other universities last weekend at the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures™ Business Plan Competition at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.
Cain, a mechanical engineering major, and Holbrook, a biosystems engineering major, presented Virtue and Veneration, a service providing comfort to grieving United States military veterans and their families. Cain and Holbrook have been working on their new business venture for the past year in the Cowboy Idea Hatchery, a student business incubator that is part of the Riata Center of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business.
School of Entrepreneurship students, teams
win more than $27,000 at Governor’s Cup
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (center) recognizes the R2R Technologies team members, from left, Carlo Branca, Aravind Seshadri, Pedro Velasco and Prabhakar Pagilla, professor of engineering.
A number of Oklahoma State University students and several teams from the Stillwater campus were among the winners during the 2013 Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Competition.
The OSU students and teams won more than $27,000 in cash awards and scholarships. In addition, the R2R Technologies group of students qualified to travel to Las Vegas next month for the Tri-State Competition by placing second-place in the Graduate Division competition.
R2R is the first team since the inception of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship to qualify for the Tri-State Competition, scheduled May 20-22 in Las Vegas where the team will have an opportunity to win an additional $25,000 to advance their venture.
OSU’s Online Master’s in Entrepreneurship receives recognition as No. 1 in the nation
The Online Master’s in Entrepreneurship program offered by the School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business is the best in the United States, according to rankings published this week.
Oklahoma State University’s Master’s in Entrepreneurship online program is No. 1 in the nation in the rankings of the 10 Best Online MBA Entrepreneurship Programs as named by TheBestSchools.org, a website devoted to empowering students with information to assist them in selecting the best school and degree programs.
“The (Oklahoma State) online Master in Entrepreneurship program covers the nature of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial process. The program combines core content with a strong commitment to experimental learning. It enhances student competencies in areas such as risk management, opportunity recognition, resource leveraging, business planning, and innovation,” according to TheBestSchools.org release in describing why OSU’s program was selected No. 1.
Three Spears School programs recognized
in Best Masters Worldwide Rankings
Three programs within Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business were recently recognized in the Eduniversal Rankings as among the best master’s programs in the world.
The Spears School’s Master of Science in Management Information Systems program was ranked No. 22, the MBA Concentration in Global Business was ranked No. 38, and the school’s Masters in Entrepreneurship program was ranked No. 89 in North America in the Top 200 Best Masters and MBA Programs Worldwide rankings for 2012.
The rankings are based on three main criteria: 1) reputation of the program; 2) salary of the first employment of the graduates, and 3) satisfaction of the students. More than 12,000 master’s programs were reviewed and 100,000 graduates participated in the Eduniversal survey. The satisfaction of the students is the most important aspect of the rankings as they evaluate the program of their study, according to a press release from Eduniversal. Continue Reading
New Center for Health Systems Innovation
to address challenges in health care industry
From left, Rubin Pillay, interim executive director of the Center for Health Systems Innovation; Burns Hargis, Oklahoma State University President; Neal Patterson, founder and CEO at Cerner Corporation; Kayse Shrum, Provost, OSU Center for Health Sciences, and Larry Crosby, Dean of the Spears School of Business, participate in Wednesday’s opening of the OSU Center for Health Systems Innovation (CHSI) at 1020 N. Boomer Road. The CHSI, a collaborative effort of the Spears School of Business and the OSU Center for Health Sciences, will focus on creating a comprehensive and coherent vision for health care problem solving.
Oklahoma State University’s new Center for Health Systems Innovation is the first in the nation dedicated to harnessing entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation to improve health and health care systemically. Health care visionaries from some of the world’s top organizations were in Stillwater last week to celebrate the opening of the Center.
The new Center for Health Systems Innovation (CHSI), a collaborative effort of the Spears School of Business and the OSU Center for Health Sciences, will focus on creating a comprehensive and coherent vision for health care problem solving through market-based solutions.
“Could there be a more important issue in America today, and certainly in our state, than health care? It is pretty clear that we cannot attempt to solve it with just money. It’s going to have to be solved with creativity and innovation, and that is precisely what this Center is all about,” said OSU President Burns Hargis.
Former U.S. Representative J.C. Watts to speak at 2013 VEP Gala Celebration
J.C. Watts
Former U.S. Representative J.C. Watts will be the featured speaker at the 2013 VEP Gala Celebration, honoring the group of military personnel participating in the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program presented each year by the Riata Center of Entrepreneurship and School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business.
The 2013 VEP Gala Celebration will be at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, at Gaillardia Country Club in Oklahoma City.
“We are pleased that J.C. Watts will be addressing the 2013 graduates of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program,” said Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School. “His insights on inspiring the student in everyone to dream big, stretch their leadership potential, transform organizations and make a difference in the world will be beneficial as they embark on this new challenge in their lives.”
CleanNG, company founded by OSU graduates,
recognized as a best, brightest new startup
A company founded by three recent Oklahoma State University graduates was selected last month as one of 50 businesses to be recognized as the “GEW 50,” the best and brightest new startups around the world.
CleanNG, which began as a project in the Riata Center of Entrepreneurship’s Cowboy Idea Hatchery student incubator in the Spears School of Business, was one of 50 finalists competing for the grand prize in the 2012 Startup Open, a competition for startups with high-growth potential featured as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2012.
Also, CleanNG was one of the 28 finalists from the Startup Open to be featured in a story of titled “The World’s Most Promising Companies,” on the CNBC.com website in early November. Although only one startup is awarded the grand prize, and CleanNG was not selected for that honor, the company is taking advantage of its newfound notoriety.
Wake Up & Dream project to host
advocate of ecovillages across the world
Daniel Greenberg, who has spent more than 20 years visiting ecovillages across the world, will be the featured speaker during Oklahoma State University’s Wake Up & Dream project Oct. 25-26 on the Stillwater campus.
Greenberg, who develops ecovillage-based education programs that promote sustainability as the founder and executive director of Living Routes in Amherst, Mass., will be the featured speaker during a series of events during his two-day visit to Oklahoma State.
He will address “Bridging the Gap between Academia and Ecovillages: Using Ecovillages to Teach any Subject,” while on campus. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend when he speaks at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Donald W. Reynolds School of Architecture Building on the Stillwater campus. Earlier that morning he is scheduled to host a workshop with faculty and doctoral students (registration is required).
The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship
honored with NASDAQ Excellence Award
Nola Miyasaki, center, accepts the NASDAQ award.
The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business continues to receive national recognition. The Oklahoma State University entrepreneurship outreach program received one of its most prestigious honors when it was selected to receive the NASDAQ Center of Entrepreneurship Excellence Award this past weekend.
The award has been presented annually since 2000 by NASDAQ in association with the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC). GCEC is the premier organization for university and collegiate entrepreneurship centers with close to 300 members attending it national conference each year. The NASDAQ award recognizes the unique achievements and outstanding efforts of top entrepreneurship centers across the world.
Nola Miyasaki, director of OSU’s Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, accepted the award during the GCEC annual conference this past weekend in Washington, D.C.
“It’s even more rewarding when peers across the nation select your program as the best,” said Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School of Business, acknowledging that nominations for the award are submitted by previous recipients, and judging is done by a panel of NASDAQ winners and NASDAQ executives.
WE Inspire Conference receives honor,
selected as Program Making a Difference
The Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference, presented annually by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business, will be recognized during the 32nd annual Journal Record Woman of the Year awards gala Oct. 4 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
The WE Inspire Conference will be honored during the gala as one of the Programs Making a Difference, a prestigious honor affiliated with the Woman of the Year program.
“It’s truly an honor for the Women Entrepreneurs INSPIRE Conference to be named as one of the 2012 Programs Making a Difference by the Journal Record,” said Nola Miyasaki, director of the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship.
Spears School hosts entrepreneurship faculty
from 29 states, 17 countries and 65 universities
There has been an explosion in entrepreneurship education across the globe. Universities have created majors, minors, concentrations, certificates and graduate degrees. A big challenge concerns the development of faculty to teach the courses and deliver the programs. To address this need, the Spears School of Business offers the Experiential Classroom, an intensive three-day program on best practices in entrepreneurship education.
Each year, 75 delegates are accepted into the program. For the 2012 program, they represented 29 states, 17 countries and 65 universities. These delegates include new faculty, seasoned educators who are retooling their curricula, and entrepreneurs entering the classroom for the first time to teach their trade. A wide variety of disciplines are represented, and this year 13 Coleman Fellows attended. These fellows are faculty from disciplines outside a business school who have received recognition from the Coleman Foundation.
OSU School of Entrepreneurship programs
receive top ranking from Princeton Review
For the second year in a row, Oklahoma State University’s School of Entrepreneurship is one of only a handful of schools to have both its undergraduate and graduate programs recognized as being among the best in the United States, according to the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine.
The School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business is ranked No. 14 in the graduate program rankings of the nation’s top schools, and its undergraduate program achieved a No. 22 ranking. More than 2,000 programs were reviewed in the 10th annual survey that ranks the top entrepreneurship programs in the nation.
“Being recognized for the second consecutive year is truly an honor that everyone associated with the School of Entrepreneurship and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship should take great pride,” said Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School of Business.
Oklahoma seed fund to invest in four state startup companies
This article originally appeared in the NewsOK. Read the original article.
OSU partners with Tennessee-Chattanooga
on Veterans Entrepreneurship Program
Michael Morris
Oklahoma State University is partnering with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to help disabled veterans launch and grow their own businesses. Michael Morris, who founded and directs OSU’s Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, taught several sessions during the first few days of the program.
The Veterans Entrepreneurship Program (VEP) is an entrepreneurial training program designed to empower veterans by providing them critical resources to turn their business ideas into workable business models, helping them create companies and sustainable ventures.
The VEP is presented each year by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship and School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. VEP is offered entirely free to qualified, disabled veterans who have been accepted into the program. The UTC program will engage 16 veterans in its eight-day, on-campus boot camp and 10-month mentoring program.
OSU seeks applicants for Veterans Entrepreneurship Program
This article originally appeared in the Edmond Sun. Read the original article.
School of Entrepreneurship’s Chris Pryor
to receive national Student Paper Award
Chris Pryor
Chris Pryor, a School of Entrepreneurship doctoral student in the Spears School of Business, will be recognized with one of the top awards at the Academy of Management’s annual meeting in Boston next month. The Oklahoma State University Ph.D. student will be honored with one of the outstanding Student Paper Awards for 2012.
Pryor’s submission entitled “Conceptualizing Opportunity, Risk and Innovation in Institutional Entrepreneurship,” impressed the selection committee.
“I’m happily surprised and honored to have been selected for this award,” said Pryor. “But while it will be my name on the certificate, we should all recognize that I am just a product of the high expectations and culture of excellence that imbues the School of Entrepreneurship.”
OSU now accepting applications for
2013 Veterans Entrepreneurship Program
Oklahoma State University is now accepting applications for its annual program helping disabled veterans launch and grow their own businesses.
The Veterans with Disabilities Entrepreneurship Program, or VEP, is an entrepreneurial training program designed to empower veterans by providing them critical resources to turn their business ideas into workable business models, helping them create companies and sustainable ventures.
“The VEP targets disabled vets who we know have more difficulty in accessing resources and networks when starting ventures, creating higher barriers to success. Yet, they succeed at a higher rate. We also make the program available to service distinguished veterans as a way to say thanks for all they have done,” said Michael Morris, OSU professor and N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship, who founded and directs the VEP. Continue Reading
OSU helps foster entrepreneurship in Haiti
Created within a student incubator at Oklahoma State University and managed by OSU alumnus Rock Andre, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership (CEDEL Haiti) is a social enterprise focused on empowering entrepreneurs across Haiti. The venture was officially launched in late May with the kick off featuring a series of presentations by Andre and Michael Morris, professor and the N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship at OSU.
Michael Morris professor and the N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship at OSU and Rock Andre, OSU alumnus
Haiti has been ravaged by decades of poverty, crime, corruption and unemployment. These problems, combined with weak institutions and underdevelopment infrastructure, were made markedly worse with the devastating earthquake of 2010. Even two years later, only limited progress has been made in the rebuilding the country.
Part of the solution lies with the creation of new, start-up ventures together with assistance to help existing small businesses survive and grow.
“In Haiti we do not have enough of a culture of entrepreneurship, and even many small business owners do not consider themselves entrepreneurs,” said Andre. “Our goal is to help encourage an entrepreneurial mindset, and to give individuals the tools to create a new Haiti through their own ventures.” Continue Reading
Three student businesses named VentureSpur Finalists
Three businesses started by students and recent graduates from Oklahoma State University were recently selected as 2012 VentureSpur Finalists. The three businesses are among 10 finalists chosen from all applicants and will now be given the chance to pitch to the Oklahoma City accelerator’s investors for an opportunity to win one of three program openings.
The MaxQ team members Saravan Kumar Shanmugavelayudam, Venkat Gidda, Balaji Jayakumar, and Jessica Shelton pictured with Michael Morris, fourth from left, of OSU School of Entrepreneurship.
The three OSU businesses – CleanNG, MaxQ and MesoBio – will be vying for a spot in the 12-week accelerator program, beginning on Aug. 6, that includes seed funding, office space, intensive mentorship from successful entrepreneurs, hands-on workshops, free business services. The program culminates in Pitch Day on Nov. 7.
“We are proud of these young entrepreneurs who have worked hard to develop their businesses and have shown they can compete successfully against entrepreneurial start-ups from across Oklahoma and other states,” said Nola Miyasaki, director of the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in OSU’s Spears School of Business. “Their success is a tribute to their perseverance and passion, as well as to the faculty advisors, entrepreneurs and mentors who have supported them in launching their businesses from Oklahoma State University.” Continue Reading
OSU recognizes Bob Austin, Kayvon Olomi
as 2012 Alumni Entrepreneurs of the Year
Bob Austin was selected as Oklahoma State University’s 2012 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year.
Entrepreneurs are difference makers, and Oklahoma State University recently recognized two of its alumni for their outstanding entrepreneurial contributions. The 2012 Alumni Entrepreneurs of the Year were honored at the annual Entrepreneurship & Emerging Enterprises Banquet held on campus April 21.
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 Tulsa, Okla., 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.
Creativity Challenge contest award winners
receive more than $6,000 in prize money
The Fourth Annual Creativity Challenge was a huge success.
The Institute for Creativity and Innovation (ICI) proudly announced the winners of the Fourth Annual Creativity Challenge. The festival, held earlier in April, asked students, faculty, and staff to answer the question, “What legacy will your creativity leave for future generations?” More than $6,000 was awarded to the Creativity Challenge and festival booth contest winners for their creativity and innovation.
“We were really pleased with the level of campus engagement with the question. OSU has a lot of really bright, talented people who want to make a difference in their communities,” said Melanie C. Page, director of the ICI. “The creativity of the OSU community is coming up with ways to solve problems and enhance lives. It is truly amazing, and we are happy to provide a showcase for all the hard work people do every single day.”
Riata Business Plan Competition
awards over $43,000 in prize money
MesoBio was awarded a $25,000 check after winning first place in the Fourth Annual Riata Business Plan Competition. Michael Morris, second from left, head of OSU School of Entrepreneurship, presents the check to MesoBio team members Jose Fulgencio, Jamie Solberg and Xiao Xiao. Shoaib Shaikh, the fourth member of MesoBio, is not pictured.
The Fourth Annual Riata Business Plan Competition awarded more than $43,000 in prize money on Saturday to help winning student teams finance their plans and turn them into viable business ventures.
MesoBio, a business providing highly differentiated miRNA vectors to facilitate researchers’ development of therapeutics for diseases, received top honors and the $25,000 for capturing first place. MesoBio team members are OSU students Jamie Solberg, Jose Fulgencio, Xiao Xiao and Shoaib Shaikh.
The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business launched the campus-wide competition in December with 90 teams of OSU students competing. The top 16 teams presented business plans to a group of successful venture investors from Oklahoma, New York, Chicago, Texas and Washington, D.C., on Friday, April 20, and four teams were selected to advance to Saturday’s finals.
School of Entrepreneurship helps re-position
East Central as entrepreneurship magnet school
East Central High School students paired up with OSU students to consult entrepreneurs at the 2011 Cowboy Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs.
A partnership between the School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University and East Central High School in Tulsa, Okla., is reaching new heights this spring. Formed in May 2011, the partnership fosters collaborations between OSU and the Tulsa high school around creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship.
East Central is an urban school that boasts greater student diversity than any high school in the Tulsa area. Of the 1,170 students, 31 percent are Hispanic, 29 percent are African American, 27 percent are Caucasian, 9 percent are American Indian, and 5 percent are Asian. The school suffers from low graduation and attendance rates, and low performance on core educational outcomes. Of those students graduating, few attend college.
Re-positioning the school as an entrepreneurship magnet school is the vision behind this partnership with OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business.
Sweet 16 advance to semifinals
in Riata Business Plan Competition
The 2012 Riata Business Plan Competition field has been narrowed to the Sweet 16 from the initial pool of 90 teams that entered in December. The final 16 teams now advance to the semifinals and the finals on April 20-21, when a group of entrepreneurs and venture investors will serve as judges of the final two rounds.
The 16 teams are competing for more than $40,000 in prize money.
The teams will present their business plans in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday, April 20, in Business Building Rooms 123, 124, 234 and 235 of the Spears School of Business. The top four teams will then advance to the finals at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 21, in Business Building Room 018. The public is invited to attend the semifinals and finals.
Spears School of Business teams win $5,000
at Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup
The PristineCal team won first place in the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Healthcare Award competition.
Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business was well represented recently at the first Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Interviews. Two groups of students representing the Spears School were on winning teams at the Governor’s Cup Interviews.
OSU students comprised two of the five winning teams in the competition, with each team earning $5,000 for placing first in their respective categories.
The PristineCal group of School of Entrepreneurship graduate students Stacey Brandhorst (leader), Rachel Mui, Jay Omanson and Cory Perkins won first place in the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Healthcare Award competition.
Student entrepreneurs capture awards
during Spring Elevator Pitch Competition
Elevator Pitch Competition winners were, from left, David Walker (Nanga Equipment), Stacey Brandhorst (PristineCal) and Jacob Crawley (Clean NG).
Three members of the Entrepreneurship Club at Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business were recognized for their outstanding presentations during the Spring Elevator Pitch Competition earlier in March.
Stacey Brandhorst captured first place and was awarded $500 for her presenation “PristineCal.” Second place and $300 was given to David Walker for “Nanga Equipment,” and Jacob Crawley won third place and $200 for “Clean NG.”
“This semester’s Elevator Pitch Competition was amazing,” said Fash Fadaei, president of the Entrepreneurship Club. A record 27 contestants with backgrounds ranging from business to engineering, health care, agriculture and IT competed. Judges consisted of entrepreneurs from across the state, OSU faculty, and financial professionals.
“This competition was an excellent opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs not only to win cash, but also to get valuable feedback on their ideas, and network with successful entrepreneurs who could serve as mentors, partners, or even investors for them as well. This event proves that the American dream is alive and well among college students, and that this generation is up to the challenge to solve the problems that are facing our world,” said Fadaei, who thanked sponsor ISNetworld for providing the prize money.
Riata Center, NAWBO seeking nominations
for Women Entrepreneur of the Year awards
In conjunction with the Women Entrepreneurs (WE Inspire) Conference on April 4 in Oklahoma City, the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business and the National Association of Women Business Owners are partnering to honor outstanding women entrepreneurs.
Nominations are now being accepted for the INSPIRE/NAWBO Distinguished Women Entrepreneur Awards, to be presented to outstanding Oklahoma women entrepreneurs in the following categories:
- Distinguished Entrepreneur Award (Small Business): A woman entrepreneur who has founded a small business with a local customer base, generally fewer than 20 employees and less than $1 million in annual revenues, and has distinguished herself through contributions to our community;
- Distinguished Entrepreneur Award (High Growth): A woman entrepreneur who has created a growth business with over $1 million in annual revenues; created substantial employment for others with more than 20 employees, contractors or franchisees; has an international, national or regional customer base; and has distinguished herself through contribution and giving back to the community;
- Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year: Recognizes an early stage woman entrepreneur who has had a business for two years or less with annual revenues of under $250,000, and has demonstrated a commitment to growing her venture;
- Legacy Award: Recognizing contribution and support for women entrepreneurs by an individual in the Oklahoma community.