By Jay F. Marks
Copyright © 2012, The Oklahoma Publishing Company
Former Oklahoma Treasurer Scott Meacham has been named president and CEO of i2E Inc.
Meacham will be the fourth chief executive in the 14-year history of the nonprofit corporation that serves the state’s startup companies.
He succeeds Tom Walker, who resigned at the end of July to accept a similar position with TechColumbus in Ohio.
Meacham, who has been on i2E’s board since 2010, said he was drawn to the position because of the company’s leading role in building the state’s knowledge-based economy.
“My position on the i2E board of directors provided an insider’s view to witness the innovative ways this organization has worked to help build new companies that create jobs and wealth for the state,” said Meacham, a director with the Crowe & Dunlevy law firm in Oklahoma City.
i2E provides venture advisory services, access to more than $25 million in capital and entrepreneurial development through its Fellows program and management of the Don-ald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup, a statewide collegiate business plan competition.
Meacham was selected unanimously as i2E’s next chief executive after a nationwide search by its board, said Oklahoma State University-Tulsa and Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences President Howard Barnett Jr., who is the board’s chairman-elect.
“We considered applicants from across the nation, but it soon became apparent that Scott Meacham possessed all the qualities we sought in a person to lead this organization into the future,” Barnett said.
“He brings financial expertise to the role from deep experience as a former banker and state treasurer, as well as legal and business savvy from his current position as a practicing attorney with one of the state’s largest law firms.”
Meacham will lead an organization that has advised 550 companies and boasts a portfolio that has attracted more than $770 million of funding to Oklahoma including $489 million from private investment.
“I’ve served with Scott on the i2E board of directors for the past two years, so I know what he brings to the company as far as knowledge of its mission and its programs,” said Greater Oklahoma City Chamber President Roy Williams, who heads i2E’s board. “I’m excited that we have a man of such quality and expertise to take the reins of the organization and move it forward.”
Meacham, who starts his new job on Jan. 1, said his first priority will be to build i2E’s visibility and expand the scope of its services.
“I’m looking forward to helping i2E expand its role as one of the state’s most valuable resources for researchers and entrepreneurs who are striving to build successful businesses,” Meacham said. “I’m ready to go to work.”
