Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

108-year-old Mills Machine Co. embraces technology changes

Get in Touch

108-year-old Mills Machine Co. embraces technology changes
By Jim Stafford
Copyright © 2016, The Oklahoma Publishing Company

SHAWNEE — The first impression you get of 108-year-old Mills Machine Co. as you approach the manufacturing complex here in Shawnee is that this place hasn’t changed in 50 years.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mills Machine Co. produces specialty earth-boring tools and accessories for the water, mining, construction, utility and environmental industries. It sells to end users and distributors across the U.S. and in 70 international markets.

“We work to stay two or three years ahead of our competition and let them continue to chase us,” said Chuck Mills, the third-generation leader of the multimillion dollar business that employs 20 people.  “We are always thinking and listening to customers and what is needed out there.”

Mills Machine was founded in 1908 by Chuck Mills’ grandfather, W.H. Homer Mills, as a repair shop in the central Oklahoma community that was a railway crossroads with a growing industrial base. W.H.’s son, David, acquired the company in the early 1970s, with Chuck purchasing it in the 1980s.

A graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma, Chuck Mills owns a U.S. patent and four international patents for an innovative Milclaw drilling bit. And he has led the company’s substantial expansion into global markets. 

A mix of old-school, manually operated milling equipment and high-tech machines dominate the landscape of the Mills Machine production floor. Skilled craftsmen make custom tools using the manual milling machines to fit customer specifications.

“Mills Machine Co. sets a great example for all Oklahoma businesses by incorporating advanced technology into production processes that had been unchanged for decades,” said Michael Carolina, executive director of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology. “And its global marketing vision is helping the state’s economy by bringing revenue into Oklahoma.”

However, it’s not just the machinery or markets that have evolved at Mills Machine Co. Chuck Mills himself has embraced a personal agenda with a much broader horizon than his own company’s market and products.

Mills is on a mission to grow Oklahoma by engaging business with education to prepare our kids for a successful career and future.

He’s also pushing the state’s small and rural businesses to develop international markets for their goods.

A former Shawnee mayor, Mills serves on more than a dozen boards and organizations, including the Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development, Oklahoma Works, Governor’s International Team, the State Chamber of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Business Roundtable and the Globalize Oklahoma Initiative.

“This goes back full circle,” Mills said of his workforce and global business agendas. “I’m focusing on the supply and demand side. The demand is ‘let’s grow our businesses to need more people by exporting products globally.’ Then let’s help educate our kids to be employees in those businesses that are expanding.”

On the day that I rolled into Shawnee along with a pair of colleagues from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Mills had just returned from an elementary school speaking engagement. There, he pitched the value of entrepreneurship and operating a business to a group of students who are running their own mini-ventures through a program called Economic City.

“Whether you are ever going to be an entrepreneur or own your own business or not, you need to understand how business works,” Mills said. “Some of these kids really got it. I was like ‘wow.’ I told them when I was in the fifth grade I had no idea.”

It’s a message the educators need to hear, as well, he said. 

“Educators understand what they are doing is not working,” Mills said. “It’s not their fault and the business community must step up to help them. Students are just being dumped out at the end — if they don’t drop out — and they are not ready. Many of them lack the proper skills or certifications. Businesses can bring resources that schools desperately need right now.”

Just as Mills Machine Co. has embraced high-tech machinery and international markets, Chuck Mills is working to create a better equipped workforce while opening new markets for all Oklahoma businesses.

“My job is to go out and open doors and inspire others to come join me and be a part of the solution to help us all grow,” Mills said. I’m just trying to do my part.”

Read the story at The Oklahoman. (Requires subscription)

Jim Stafford writes about Oklahoma innovation and research and development topics on behalf of the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science & Technology (OCAST).

More News

Loading...
Blog, Featured, News
06.25.25

i2E Showcases Startup Innovation at Bridge2 Cohort 3 Demo Day

Read more
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.25.25

Oklahoma Collegiate Entrepreneurs Take Home Over $167K at Entrepreneur’s Cup

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
12.16.24

MidAmerica and i2E Announce Award Winners

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
11.21.24

i2E & Plains Ventures Surpasses $100M Milestone in Total Investments

Read more
Blog
09.30.24

i2E Receives 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Award from IEDC

Read more
Blog
06.18.24

Bridge2 Demo Day Returns, Highlighting Promising Oklahoma Startups

Read more
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
05.13.24

Student Entrepreneurs Triumph at 20th Anniversary Entrepreneur’s Cup, Winning $158,000 in Prizes

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.24.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Jessica Kinsey

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Nathan Fountain

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Srijita Ghosh

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.18.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – MaxQ

Read more
Blog, i2E
01.30.24

i2E Celebrates Success of Inaugural Bridge2 Demo Day

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

201 Robert S Kerr Ave, Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

12 N. Cheyenne Ave, Suite 112
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Funding
  • Venture Advisory

© 2025 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Linkedin Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube

Programs

  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E