Applications Open For 2021's Oklahoma Innovation Expansion Program

On Tuesday, businesses in Oklahoma can apply for grant money that can help them fund new innovations.

The Oklahoma Innovation Expansion Program will make a total of $10 million available to qualifying companies across the state.

Brent Kisling is the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, and he thinks the program can help keep Oklahomans employed.

“It matters because these are the folks that provide our paychecks for our citizens in our state, and we want to make sure we have more of that,” he said.

Companies have 10 days to apply. Applications close at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 7.

The new projects must be innovative projects that expand capabilities of an existing company, lead to supply chain resiliency, or designed to target new markets.

To be eligible, a company must have a minimum annual payroll of $625,000 with a minimum capital investment of $50,000.

Kisling said one example is a company out of Durant. It was able to begin making a part in Oklahoma at their factory that they had previously been ordering from China.

The program helps these companies diversify their operations by lowering the overall cost of the project and improving their return on investment.

“It is mainly because we have made sure that businesses have a seat at the table, and we have done everything we can to assist our legacy companies in Oklahoma,” Kisling said.

The state is hoping to support about 100 companies through this initiative. Another major goal of the program is to expand the region's economy.

“This program is not about attracting other businesses. It is about taking care of our own but other people want to be a part of that, and because of that, our pipeline projects in Oklahoma are as full as they have ever been,” Kisling said.

Another goal for the program is to create more job opportunities.

“We are very fortunate right now. We are sitting at a 4.3% unemployment rate. That is 2 full percentage points below the national average, so our legacy employers are keeping our citizens employed, and we want to make sure we have more of that," said Kisling.

Kisling said as of now, they plan to do this promotion every year for the foreseeable future.

Click here to apply.