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Creative Oklahoma Announces Selection of Ten New Entrepreneurs for the OKEMP Mentoring Program
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OKLAHOMA CITY (September 7th, 2021) — Creative Oklahoma is proud to announce Oklahoma Entrepreneur Mentoring Program (OKEMP)’s third cohort and the addition of ten dynamic, unique and industry-pushing entrepreneurs to its mentoring program. OKEMP is licensed from and modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Venture Mentoring Service (MIT VMS).
OKEMP is a non-profit program providing free in-person mentoring and business coaching to emerging entrepreneurs for the entirety of their entrepreneurial journey. Each entrepreneur is matched with a core team of senior-level, seasoned Oklahoma business leaders who volunteer their time and talents as mentors. OKEMP’s team mentoring approach is founded on the premise that when an entrepreneur is connected with a team of highly-qualified volunteer mentors for objective, un-conflicted advice—the entrepreneur and their business is more likely to succeed. OKEMP provides the entrepreneurs with direct, actionable, and pragmatic advice informed by the mentors knowledge and real-world experience.
Before this year, the program concentrated its selected candidates from the Oklahoma City metro area but is now expanded to other areas within the state of Oklahoma like Tulsa and Langston. The ten entrepreneurs selected for participation are:
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Jon Hunnell | Levity | Norman, OK
Levity will be a neighborhood cafe celebrating my family’s Portland roots while highlighting our Norman, OK flavor. Levity seeks to create meaningful employment opportunities and dialogue around the journey back to believing in ourselves, a path we all must walk. Starting this cafe fulfills a family dream, and it is our hope that this space will serve as a launchpad for our employees to pursue their career dreams. Great Ideas Begin With Breakfast.
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Lily Jiang | FlasHORL | Oklahoma City, OK
FlasHOLR is web-app based pickup delivery and road assistance on demand business. We connect people who need hauling, with drivers who own cargo vehicles, and connect people who get stranded need refuel or battery jumping with drivers who have the tools to help. Most drivers are able to provide both services. We integrate online local market for people to search, buy, sell or trade furniture, appliances, or other items; do transactions, checkout and payment, optional pickup delivery with FlasHOLR, all in FlasHOLR platform.
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Houston Johnson | GetCaddie | Oklahoma City, OK
It's a fact... Golf is better with a caddie. But, the VAST majority of golfers have never played with a caddie. Why is that? At GetCaddie, we have the answer and a solution. Our team is creating a marketplace where golfers of all abilities can match with local caddies to elevate the golfing experience.
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Jahari Johnson | Lion’s Mane Beauty Supply | Langston, OK
Lion's Mane Beauty Supply is located in the historically black town of Langston, Oklahoma. Lion's Mane was established in 2020 and our mission is to serve the community by providing ethnic hair care products and quality customer service.
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Naresh Juneja | BreathifyUSA | Ada, OK
BreathifyUSA has been set up with the objective of manufacturing affordable, reliable and effective Air Purifiers in the USA. The company has established a Smart Micro Factory in Ada, Oklahoma and intends to expand here with a full manufacturing setup. Our Aim is to build the blueprint to re-energize and establish manufacturing excellence in our rural communities.
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Lawrence Kincheloe & Daniel Ashcraft | Juniper Garden | Oklahoma City, OK
Juniper Garden provides affordable, high quality, open source IoT devices for hobbyists and cultivators alike. Our customers own their own data and devices; and our obsession is forward looking design.
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Bryan Meador | Plant Seads | Afton, OK
Plant Seads makes sustainable products that empower people to live well in a changing environment. We do this by creating adaptive solutions that mitigate the effects of climate change in simple and practical ways. Our designs are manufactured in the USA from sustainable materials and offered at a price point that is accessible to everyone.
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Valerie Riley | Fokes | Oklahoma City, OK
Fokes is an app that solves the communication barrier between families and in home care takers. We are creating a 3 way communication tool that can be used in both home care agencies, the families that engage those services and their loved ones.
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Luke Simkins & Grant DeLozier | AnnoLab | Oklahoma City, OK
AnnoLab is a software platform that uses machine learning to create structured data from documents. Subject matter experts can automate their data extraction work and train their own ai, no programming required. AnnoLab’s software is presently being developed for aircraft title and will soon move into other industries.
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Mitchell Sims | Nesso Services Inc. DBA PigTracks | Tulsa, OK
A SaaS platform connecting remote pipeline assets to the cloud, in real-time, so pipeline service teams can be more effective and efficient while executing pipeline integrity projects.
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Launched in early 2019, OKEMP has now more than 15 entrepreneurs in industries as varied as health & human services, gun death prevention technologies, wound care nanotechnology, and nonprofit. “One of the most important ways we can foster a vibrant innovation-based economy is by helping our Oklahoma entrepreneurs grow and stay right here in our state,” said Meloyde Blancett, Creative Oklahoma’s Executive Director. “That’s our mission and we are anxious to be growing the mentoring effort.”
Douglas Sorocco, director with the technology and creative rights law firm Dunlap Codding and, OKEMP’s volunteer Chair Director, said he is very confident that OKEMP’s newest group of entrepreneurs will find the program fulfilling and instrumental to the growth of their venture. “Every entrepreneur is on a wild and exhilarating journey and OKEMP is like the trusted road map or ranger that can illuminate the path to success. Now that we’ve selected our newest entrepreneurs, the match-making begins--ensuring that each entrepreneur’s team of guides is a perfect fit”, said Sorocco. “While the road ahead is unknown, our mentors are world-class business executives and are uniquely qualified - coupling their expertise with unyielding enthusiasm to see each entrepreneur succeed.”
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ABOUT OKEMP
The OKEMP program is a sister program to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Venture Mentoring Service (MIT VMS) considered by the prestigious Kauffman Foundation as the "Gold Standard" of entrepreneur mentoring programs. OKEMP was launched in February 2019 and has been helping an initial round of entrepreneurs with senior mentoring support. The OKEMP program gives the entrepreneurs the opportunity to work directly with seasoned, volunteer business executives in an unbiased, structured, long term and confidential team-mentoring approach. OKEMP steering committee members are: Douglas J. Sorocco (Volunteer Chair Director), Dunlap Codding; Justin Hazzard, Center of Business Development, Meridian Technology Center; Susan Moring, Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth, University of Oklahoma; Rex Smitherman, i2E; Thomas Wavering, Tom Love Innovation Hub and Price College Entrepreneurship, University of Oklahoma.OKEMP is generously supported by the Oklahoma Business Roundtable, Bank of the West - BNP Paribas and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
ABOUT CREATIVE OKLAHOMA
Creative Oklahoma is a statewide non-profit organization advancing Oklahoma’s economy through programs, projects and collaborative ventures in education, commerce and culture that help develop a more innovation-based entrepreneurial economy and an improved quality of life for all Oklahomans. For more information – www.creativeoklahoma.org.
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