The Lawton-Fort Sill Economic Development Corporation pursued more than two dozen prospective “leads” in Fiscal Year 2023-24. In fact, LEDC President Brad Cooksey huddled behind closed doors with the Lawton City Council last Tuesday to discuss an “ongoing industrial development proposal.”
One of the LEDC’s success stories is Westwin Elements, which has constructed a nickel refinery on Southwest Bishop Road.
“We responded to 29 of 30 projects” between July 2023 and June 2024, Cooksey told the council on Aug. 13. Of those 30 prospects, 19 were manufacturers and 11 were identified simply as “other.”
Collectively, those projects “had the po tential to create 13,525 jobs and more than $5 billion in capital investment,” Cooksey said. Their property needs ranged from 1 acre to 1,000 acres, and their building needs ranged from 3,500 to 970,000 square feet, he said.
The LEDC hosted 11 site visits in FY24, taking prospective clients “on a tour around town,” Cooksey said.
Lawton’s labor force education level is nearly the national average, research indicates. The average years of schooling for a typical American worker is 13.57 years. The average years of schooling for a worker in the Lawton Metropolitan Statistical Area is 13.34 years, Cooksey reported.
Lawton also has a high rate of export activity, Cooksey said, pointing to tires manufactured by Goodyear, food produced by Bar-S, and plastic pipe supplied by IPEX.
“We believe the Westwin Elements project provides a game-changing opportunity…, creating more than 700 jobs with an average salary of more than $100,000 per year, and building on our community’s reputation as a leading destination for America’s defense and national security industries,” Cooksey wrote in a column posted on the LEDC website.
“It’s no secret that Lawton’s median household income trails the Oklahoma state average — by at least $10,000 annually, according to most recent statistics,” Cooksey continued. “Closing that critical income gap is what motivates those of us who serve on the Lawton- Fort Sill Economic Development Corporation and is why we are focusing on attracting large projects like Westwin Elements to our community.”
The LEDC was actively involved in attracting Westwin to Lawton. “We came across the project and recruited them,” Cooksey told Southwest Ledger. “Two and a half years ago I got a lead about the project from a consultant, and we immediately hopped on a Zoom call. That Friday morning is where it got started.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday marked the opening of the 5,000 squa re-foot refinery, which will produce “high purity” nickel powder using a process that involves cobalt and other elements.
Cobalt and nickel are used in computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices.
Nickel is used in bat teries, including rechargeable nickel- cadmium batteries and nickel- metal hydride batteries used in hybrid vehicles.
Nickel resists corrosion and is used to plate other metals to protect them. It is, however, used primarily in making alloys such as stainless steel. Nichrome, an alloy of nickel and chromium with small amounts of silicon, manganese and iron, resists corrosion, even when red hot, which is why it is used in toasters and electric ovens. Nickel steel is used for armor plating. Other alloys of nickel are used in boat propeller shafts and turbine blades.
Nickel also has a long history of being used in coins. The U.S. 5-cent piece (known as a ‘nickel’) is 25% nickel and 75% copper.
Cobalt is a metal used in numerous diverse commercial, industrial, and military applications, many of which are strategic and critical.
Globally, the leading use of cobalt is in rechargeable battery electrodes. Superalloys, which are used to make parts for gas turbine engines, are another major use for cobalt. Cobalt also is used to make airbags in automobiles; steel-belted radial tires; and magnets.
Westwin Elements signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Cameron University. The partnership “aims to enhance educational experiences and professional development opportunities for students in the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Engineering” at the Lawton school.
Key features of the partnership include mentorship programs, internship opportunities for classroom credit, and program development to support career paths in carbonyl refining.