"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steer’d." Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene
For much of Oklahoma’s history, our economic development has been driven by a turn of nature – the existence of large bodies of oil and natural gas located beneath our soil. And the soil itself, providing food, grain, forage for cattle. Hard work was and is required to wrest value from the land, but fortune has helped us.
But everyone acknowledges that if we can diversify our state’s economy, we will be less susceptible to the vagaries of the price of oil – and entrepreneurship – growing our own businesses here in Oklahoma – is a great way to diversify.
Thus I am very excited that our March main speaker is the newly elected Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell. Matt runs a small business with his wife, Lisa, an entrepreneur and inventor, and we are delighted to have both top officials in Oklahoma - Governor Stitt and Lt. Governor Pinnell - as business owners.
Without making any claims about the effectiveness of running an elected office/administration as a business, it is clear that being an entrepreneur makes one more knowledgeable about what it takes to be an entrepreneur. That is why I really wanted to have our Lt. Governor speak to the Oklahoma Venture Forum.
One of our main goals of the organization is to increase the visibility and, hopefully, the success of our Oklahoma entrepreneurs. And that is made much easier when our government are themselves entrepreneurs. Please be ready to discuss with our Lt. Governor what can be done to improve the business startup environment across the state. The Lt. Governor also oversees our tourism and programs to make Oklahoma a great destination for our visitors.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this meeting as I have been invited to participate in a Southeast Asia Fellowship through our US Department of State to teach entrepreneurship in Thailand vocational schools. I look forward to filling you in on my experience and appreciate the support and growth that OVF has provided me.
We will also be using the remaining time for a short survey of OVF, our meetings, and what we can do to improve the organization. Please take the time to complete this survey.
I look forward to seeing you – and a guest! – at an upcoming OVF event. Remember that if you have someone you feel should attend one of our events, and you cannot afford to bring them as a guest, tell me and I will make it happen.
