LAWTON – A bipartisan, bicameral legislative committee has recommended a $20 million appropriation to the Lawton Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator that would “help develop our future workforce,” FISTA Director James Taylor said.
The appropriation was endorsed by the joint legislative committee on pandemic relief funding via the American Rescue Plan Act. The FISTA allocation will be among 64 projects appearing on the agenda when the state House of Representatives and Senate reconvene in special session this week at the State Capitol.
FISTA is “an effort to convert the former Sears building in Lawton’s former Central Mall downtown into an incubation center for high-tech jobs,” Taylor said, via development of a state-of-the-art, high-tech, advanced technology center in direct support of U.S. Army Futures Command Cross-Functional Teams and the Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems University.
“Our goal is to create opportunities for individuals and students who are disadvantaged socially and economically, and whose learning has suffered because of COVID-19,” said Clarence Fortney, superintendent of Great Plains Technology Center and chairman of the FISTA Development Trust authority. “We can take advantage of subject-matter experts in STEM education and connect our students to the bright minds who will be working inside FISTA.”
Fortney noted that Lawton Public Schools is introducing kindergarten students to STEM education [science, technology, engineering and mathematics].
“All of their teachers have gone through training to support this,” he said.
“We want to provide our graduates with gainful employment in high-paying jobs,” Fortney said.
“We will have engineers and mathematicians who can serve as mentors, and military veterans will help support FISTA,” Taylor said.
FISTA is still in phase 1, Taylor said. Remodeling is under way and is projected to be completed by the end of November, after which contractors will begin moving into their classified work spaces.
One defense contractor will be moving into FISTA quarters in December, Taylor said; the official announcement will be issued soon, he indicated.
The ARPA funding from the Legislature “is part of an ecosystem to help develop our future workforce,” Taylor said. “We are building bridges to the future.”