FISTA is the FIRES Innovation Science & Technology Accelerator - By James Taylor and Albert Johnson Jr.
For more than 10 years, Lawton-Fort Sill has dreamed of having an Innovation Park that would be home to high-tech jobs and new, innovative industrial businesses. In fact, it was part of the plan for the 2nd Street revitalization back in 2008. The thought was, with Fort Sill being the home of the U.S. Army’s Field Artillery School and the Fires Center of Excellence (FCoE), there would be opportunities to bring industry, and high tech jobs, to Lawton-Fort Sill.
However, it wasn’t until the U.S. Army’s two Cross Functional Teams (CFTs) – Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) and Air and Missile Defense (AMD) – came to the FCoE that the plan for an innovation park became a reality. Army Futures Command, the higher headquarters based in Austin, TX for the CFTs, challenges the CFTs (and their communities and academic institutions for technical training and higher education) to grow research and development (R&D) and science and technology (S&T) outside the gates of their installations. For the city of Lawton and Fort Sill that was both a unique challenge and a significant opportunity.
Anyone who has followed the evolution of the Innovation Park knows that there are many steps that must take place to make this dream a reality. Certainly, the voters passing of the CIP was a move in the right direction.
When the City Council authorized the Lawton Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) to purchase The Fairmont Creamery as the home of the Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator (FISTA) that was another important step. How- ever, to get the FISTA up and running as the first peg in the ground at the Innovation Park, the community would have to rely on teamwork. It will take an initial amount of time to restore the creamery. Likewise, the other buildings in the park area that have been identified as candidates for upcoming projects will need work as well. Army Futures Command and its important mission to quickly modernize the Army cannot wait. To open the FISTA in real-time required the committed collaboration of Great Plains Technology Center (GPTC) and Cameron University.
Cameron University was quick to offer up its business development facilities, business incubator, office space and its subject matter experts as an additional resource. Moreover, Camer- on has committed high-speed fiber connectivity for the FISTA with faster speeds and great- er capacity through OneNet.
GPTC also stepped up in a big way. GPTC offered their new business development center, its offices and bays and its economic development team to help get it started. GPTC’s willingness to share their employees, until the LEDC had time to hire FISTA personnel, was the initial key to success. It was this decision that essentially opened the FISTA for business.
If you have had the opportunity to look at the FISTA brochure, you will see that there is a point of contact, email and phone number for the FISTA at GPTC. Establishing the point of contact in real-time was hugely important. Defense industry and innovative technology businesses were excited about the notion of supporting the CFTs in Lawton-Fort Sill. They wanted to know who to call and how to get dialogue and business alignment started as the FISTA has come into being.
Cameron University, GPTC and LEDC will continue to be important partners across the life of the FISTA and the Innovation Park; however, without their support upfront, this operation would not have gotten off the ground. Even in these difficult times, high tech jobs will begin to come to Lawton-Fort Sill this summer and fall. With the grace of God and deliverance from the pandemic, we will see great gains in the Innovation Park across 2021 and beyond. Despite our current challenges, the future looks bright for our Innovation Park and our future. With the dedicated support of community partners like GPTC and Cameron University, we will persevere to flourish.
James Taylor is the Small Business Management Coordinator at Great Plains Technology Center and the interim FISTA Manager. Albert Johnson Jr. is Vice President for University Advancement at Cameron University.