Stillwater technology, research park staff expects slow growth

Philip Jankowski

The goals for the eventual build out of the Oklahoma Technology and Research Park are quite lofty.

Board members and staff hope the site will eventually have one million square feet of office and research space. Oklahoma State University officials think the site is suited to house more than 3,000 researchers.

But, at present, those goals have been revised. Officials had at first hoped the build out would take 15 years. Those have now been revised to about 35 years.

“It’s a slower process than what original planners thought it would be,” OTRP Marketing Manager Josh McKim said.

McKim, who also is Stillwater Chamber of Commerce’s economic development director, was recently named to the unpaid position by the park’s board. He and two other representatives from OSU and the neighboring Meridian Technology Center make up the park’s unpaid staff.

Their selection as staff members for the park were natural, McKim said. They represent the three partners who pay for the park’s maintenance and operations and already were intricately tied to OTRP because of their roles as economic developers.

OSU, Meridian Technology Center and the city of Stillwater each contribute about $20,000 a year to the facility.

Max Kunisch, director of OSU’s Center for Innovation and Economic Development, acts as the park’s operations manager. Meridian Technology Center’s Director of its Center for Business Development Ron Duggins was selected to be the facility’s director.

So far about 100,000 square feet of office space have been constructed and filled at the facility. Tenants include research firms, scientific laboratories, a homeland security research and development company and a licensing company which specializes on radioactive facilities.

Duggins said the research park offers a one-of-a-kind location for the creation and success of startup technology companies. New business owners can hone business plans at the neighboring Meridian Technology Center’s business incubator.

Meridian helps start ups get past the first five years, the most volatile time for a new company, Duggins said. Then the research park comes in to play.

“We envision that is when the tech park comes into play, the next level of service, the next level of high growth activity,” he said.

OTRP is one of two technology parks in Oklahoma, McKim said. It offers more than just a place for companies to build. The proximity of high-value research university like OSU, the amenities and culture of Stillwater and potential for ongoing training make the park second to none, he said.

“You have this tremendous marriage of the three entities, which is really unique,” McKim said.

It is a natural place for companies to spin out of OSU, Duggins said. The facility houses OSU research at its Venture I facility, McKim said, and at least one firm is run by an OSU alum.