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

Tulsa the next Silicon Valley?

Get in Touch

Vision proposal aims at Tulsa being the next Silicon Valley
By Jarrel Wade
Copyright © 2015 BH Media Group Holdings, Inc.

The next industrial revolution is called the “maker movement,” and Scott Phillips, founder of Civic Ninjas, wants Tulsa to be ahead of everyone.

On Tuesday, Phillips plans to pitch his proposal for Vision 2025 renewal funding to build a “globally unique innovation space” that puts modern manufacturing tools and technology — like 3-D printers — into the hands of the community on a large scale.

“The key in my mind is the ability to match the technology community with traditional manufacturing in Tulsa and the broader community,” Phillips said. “Mixing those elements in one area and in one facility would be game changing to Tulsa. And game changing to the maker movement globally.”

Given a large enough space and funding, Phillips hopes to construct a place where builders can make just about anything they want.

Other locations would be considered, but Phillips has his eye on the wide-open space inside the Evans-Fintube industrial complex northeast of downtown, which has long been sought for redevelopment by the city.

Beyond the building, Phillips has designs for the space to be a community-event hub, pulling people together for more than just computers and manufacturing.

Phillips’ proposal is for $24 million, which would purchase or build a structure that would be outfitted with modern, special technology for engineering and manufacturing that would be available to everyone.

He calls the area “innovation space,” “raw space” and “maker space,” interchangeably.

In fact, it’s hard to nail down succinctly what it does.

The maker movement is all about linking software and programming to hardware and manufacturing, Phillips said.

“When you start having to import those ingredients, we’re building the mixing bowl that brings those ingredients together,” Phillips said.

The proposal for an industrial-size maker space is to encourage broad collaboration among various industries by having access to special tools all under one roof, Phillips said.

Tulsa has already done that on a smaller scale at Fab Lab Tulsa, which is one of more than 300 MIT-chartered Fab Labs and the first in the region, according to the organization’s website.

Since 2011, Fab Lab Tulsa has provided open access to advanced manufacturing and digital fabrication tools for the Tulsa community.

As Fab Lab Tulsa has grown and the Fab Lab concept has expanded into more communities, Phillips said Tulsa can create something unique on a much larger scale that would attract people in the maker movement from all across the world.

In Phillips’ vision, oil-industry engineers, aviation-industry engineers, Web programmers and students would all be working near one another and collaborating freely on ideas.

Some of the ideas born in Tulsa could create companies and shape the business landscape of the future, Phillips said.

Phillips points toward quadcopter drones. In recent years, remote-controlled helicopters have become a booming commercial enterprise by applying various computer programming fields to existing technology.

“It started as a hobby, but it’s quickly evolving into multiple commercial applications,” Phillips said. “Most of the evolution of that stuff can be linked to the maker movement.”

Innovations in thermostats, which have not evolved much in the past century, yielded a new billion-dollar e-thermostat industry once someone thought to connect them to the Internet, Phillips said.

“I think it’s a top-down pull and a bottom-up push,” Phillips said about the maker movement. “The opportunity to amplify all the great momentum locally aligns with the excitement and global interest.”

Read the story at Tulsa World

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