Originally Posted by
hoya
The state needs to make a significant investment in OU. Boren did a great job, but we need to build momentum and keep making improvements. It needs to become a top technical school and start churning out a bunch of science and math graduates. With Tinker being what it is, perhaps OU should really push their aerospace engineering program. More graduates in that area could lead to more aerospace companies moving jobs here.
OKC also needs to work with OU to set up some sort of "tech business incubator" system around the HSC. The Innovation District isn't gonna work without OU's cooperation. They seem to like their manicured lawns, but if the school felt like it was intimately involved with the project and that there was a direct benefit to students (i.e., something to boost their profile with potential students), they might get on board. Perhaps a residential tower for med students, with an attached office building that could lease space to startup companies founded by recent graduates. Even have faculty advisers set up to teach them how to set up a business like that. Maybe even have a degree program specifically for people who want to start their own tech business -- a combination of business and engineering. Maybe graduate programs where you can get your MBA along with a Masters in computer science or something.
And if we could build a better connection between the Oklahoma School of Science and Math, that may help too. Funnel really smart high school kids directly into an OU program, and from there they've got a clear path to starting their own business. Most of the startups won't be successful, but some of them might be. Now these kinds of developments would take some time to pay off -- a kid going into OSSM wouldn't be starting a company for about a decade, but we'd have a lot of potential in the pipeline, and this seems like the natural way to encourage this. While we're at it, let's increase the size of the OSSM. It's a great school, and I think we need to get more students there as long as we can maintain the same level of quality.
MAPS needs to continue, with roughly a 50/50 mix of quality of life improvements and economic development. Convention centers are needed, but so are parks and museums and things like that. When people visit OKC they need to think that we've got a lot of fun things to do. This will make companies more willing to consider a move here.
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