News from the Ada Jobs Foundation
From the Court to the Sky: How Basketball Taught Two Brothers Entrepreneurial Success
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker Basketball is about more than just dribbling, shooting, and passing the ball. It teaches lessons that can be applied to all aspects of life, including entrepreneurship. Tyler and Gary Raney are an excellent example of this. Tyler, a junior at...
Newsletter 02.06.2024: Economic Development News for the Ada Area
Read the 02.06.2024 Newsletter HERE! Want to receive news from the Ada Jobs Foundation? Sign up HERE!
Empowering Ada’s Workforce: A Digital Skilling Initiative for Economic Growth
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker Workforce Development is crucial to economic development in a community. Businesses cannot function properly, and the possibility for growth is severely limited, without a skilled and robust workforce. This is one reason why Daniel Castañeda, the...
Newsletter 01.30.2024: Economic Development News for the Ada Area
Read the 01.30.2024 Newsletter HERE! Want to receive news from the Ada Jobs Foundation? Sign up HERE!
Hot Rodders of Tomorrow: Hands on Innovation at Pontotoc Technology Center
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker Five high school students stand behind a work bench, their hearts beating with anticipation. They wait for the signal and then spring into action. Working together like a well-oiled machine, they disassemble a Chevy small block 350 engine down to...
Newsletter 01.23.2024: Economic Development News for the Ada Area
Read the 01.23.2024 Newsletter HERE! Want to receive news from the Ada Jobs Foundation? Sign up HERE!
From Coding to Core Values: The Comprehensive World of Lego Robotics
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker When Emily Denney first started teaching at Homer Elementary, she never would have dreamed that her world would become immersed in robotics. Now, as the librarian at Byng Elementary, she, along with fourth-grade teacher and co-sponsor Hollie...
Newsletter 01.16.2024: Economic Development News for the Ada Area
Read the 01.16.2024 Newsletter HERE! Want to receive news from the Ada Jobs Foundation? Sign up HERE!
Building a Tech Ecosystem: Ada’s New Wave of Community-Driven Meetups
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker Technology work can be isolating, but it doesn’t have to be. While much of the work is done in solitary, spending hours at a computer building code, developing websites, or finding solutions to problems, it can also be helpful to be a part of a...
Newsletter 01.09.2024: Economic Development News for the Ada Area
Read the 01.09.2024 Newsletter HERE! Want to receive news from the Ada Jobs Foundation? Sign up HERE!
Building Dreams: Inside Ada’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker After serving in the Navy for ten years and then six years with the Chickasaw Nation, Matt Stephens decided to go back to school, pursuing a degree in business administration with a focus on entrepreneurship. When he began his studies, he aimed...
Ecosystem Building Revisited: Learning, Sharing, Connecting
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker “Entrepreneurship drives economies, but the success of entrepreneurs depends on those around them. That’s why we build ecosystems—or communities—for entrepreneurs. A thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem requires more than entrepreneurs…You and your...
Justin Berst’s Vision: Valor’s Pioneering AI-Driven Crime Prevention
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker “Hey, you in the blue shirt and ballcap! You’re trespassing and the police have been called!” The voice rings out in the night, seemingly out of nowhere, as the potential criminal looks around wildly, has second thoughts, and flees the...
Global Collaborations in Water Policy: Ada, Oklahoma, Bondo, Kenya, and the World Beyond
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker “There are many things that you can afford to go without, but the three things that we need for existence are water, food, and air,” Dr. Stephen Agong’ says pointedly. Agong’, a visiting professor at East Central University from the Jaramogi...
Cathlena Spencer: Technological Innovation Hiding in Plain Sight
By: Sunnie Dawn Baker Cathlena Spencer first became interested in camouflage when she was a little kid. She was eleven years old, and her father was stationed at Fort Bragg. Being surrounded by the military culture, her young mind would look at the patterns around her...