Westwin Elements appeared prominently in the March financial report that members of the Lawton Economic Development Authority reviewed Thursday afternoon.
Matthew Modeste with Hatch, Croke and Associates reported that as of March 31, LEDA had $12.6 million in total assets, including $8.117 million in current assets and $1.797 million in fixed assets (two lots in Town Center and 40 acres of land off Bishop Road near Southwest 112th Street where the Westwin pilot plant was built; LEDA leased that property to Westwin on Dec. 29, 2023.)
Assets also included $2.7 million in the Westwin Elements pilot refinery. That increased total assets to $12.614 million, a $218,000 increase from a year ago, Modeste related.
Current liabilities totaled $76,548 as of March 31.
Long-term liabilities totaled $30.34 million, which included $3 million owed to the Comanche County Industrial Development Authority and to the City of Lawton on the Westwin project.
It also included $20.745 million owed to Truist Financial for the refinance on the downtown redevelopment along 2nd Street. Tax increment finance revenue “is covering that,” LEDA Executive Director Richard Rogalski said.
The liabilities also included $4.1 million payable to Republic Paperboard; $729,078 payable to the Lawton-Fort Sill Economic Development Corporation and the City of Lawton for TIF incentives; and $1.77 million payable to beer distributor Fisher59 from a TIF.
March revenue totaled $463,121, which included $315,735 from property taxes, $52,698 from sales and use taxes, $70,693 in state matching funds, and $23,995 from the hotel/motel tax.
Operating expenses totaled almost $500,000 and included $299,478 in development assistance, $150,534 in interest costs, and $25,764 in legal fees. Interest income amounted to $12,880.
Cash on hand March 31 totaled $7.06 million.
In a redevelopment agreement dated Dec. 12, 2023, LEDA lent Westwin $2.7 million in “development financing” to support construction of the pilot plant. That funding included $1 million from the City of Lawton and a $2 million loan from the CCIDA to LEDA; however, $300,000 from that loan has been held in reserve, Rogalski said. The loan would have been “forgiven” if Westwin had developed a largescale refinery.
In February the Lawton City Council formally acknowledged Westwin’s confirmation that it does not intend to build in Lawton a commercial refinery of critical elements such as nickel. In a letter dated Sept. 4, 2025, a Lawton official noted Westwin’s confirmation on Aug. 26, 2025, that “it will not proceed with development of the large-scale commercial refinery in Lawton.”
A joint resolution acknowledging Westwin Elements’ “notice of its election not to proceed” with the large-scale plant was endorsed Jan. 13 by the City Council. LEDA approved the same resolution Dec. 18.
The primary reason why Westwin chose to abandon plans for a large-scale commercial nickel refinery in Lawton was attributed to logistics, “meaning the cost to truck (materials) to Lawton and out,” Rogalski told Southwest Ledger on Dec. 19. “They saw it as an insurmountable issue for Lawton.”
Despite scrapping its plans for a largescale refinery, Westwin “remains subject to all obligations under Part 1 of the Redevelopment Agreement.” Those include “continuous operations, employment maintenance, wage and employment certifications, and satisfaction of all obligations under the ground lease” and the loan agreement, records show.
Westwin’s ultimate obligations “come due” on May 31, Rogalski confirmed Thursday for the Ledger “Are they going to buy the plant and the land? We hope that will happen.”
If so, Westwin will repay LEDA $2.7 million and the City of Lawton $1 million, and will pay LEDA $400,000 for title to the property. Also, 4,000 shares of Westwin common stock issued to the LEDC will be returned to Westwin Elements.
If Westwin defaults on its obligations, their lease expires, the City of Lawton will own the Westwin building and the 40 acres will revert back to the CCIDA. In addition, Westwin will be obligated to repay the $2.7 million previously advanced by LEDA.
Westwin eyes Georgia; Oklahoma lawsuit set for January trial
Westwin’s plan to build a large-scale refinery in Georgia to process nickel for the electric vehicle sector stalled earlier this year because of concerns about health, the environment, and the company’s track record.
Because of widespread community backlash, the Development Authority of Bryan County, Georgia, voted Feb. 10 to formally end negotiations with Westwin Elements about the private company’s plans to build America’s only nickel refinery.
That appeared to shut the door on plans by Westwin to receive subsidized financing for construction of a refinery in Richmond Hill. Nevertheless, the four-year-old Oklahomabased company said they remained committed to buying a $35 million abandoned industrial property, which is located near public schools and homes.
“Westwin remains focused on progressing our project in Richmond Hill,” company founder and chief executive KaLeigh Long wrote in a statement.
Westwin hopes to acquire the private property and has been trying to negotiate tax incentives and government assistance to finance construction of the facility that Long said would, at capacity, create 800 jobs with an average salary of $90,000 per year.
The company has been negotiating with state and local development authority leaders about the possibility of building the refinery since the summer of 2022. Those talks ramped up after January 2024, when Caesarstone Technologies US closed its facility that made countertops in Belfast Commerce Park.
In a related matter, “The Current GA” reported that Westwin’s application to Georgia regulators for an air pollution permit was submitted under a separate name: Project Patriot. In the 100-page document filed Dec. 12, 2025, requesting an expedited permit process, the name “Westwin Elements” appears only once.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit that Westwin Elements filed in January 2025 against CVMR Corp. and its founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Kamran Khozan, is crawling through Oklahoma City’s Western District Federal Court. Each side has accused the other of deception and other sins.
Last week, all parties in the case asked District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti to approve a protective order.
“The parties have been and are currently engaged in written discovery. Certain documents and information have been requested … which one or both parties believe to contain confidential and/or proprietary information.” Accordingly, the parties agreed to protect” against disclosure of certain information “to certain persons outside of this case…” Westwin has been directed to file a final list of expert witnesses and serve expert reports, file a final list of witnesses, and file a final exhibit list, all by Sept. 19. CVMR and Khozan were instructed to file any objections to those witnesses, exhibits and reports within 14 days afterward. Discovery is to be completed by Nov. 4.
The case is set for a jury trial on the court’s Jan. 12, 2027, docket.
Mike W. Ray is a fifth-generation, awardwinning journalist who has more than 55 years’ experience covering municipal, county, state and federal government in Oklahoma and Texas. He can be reached at mike. ray@swoknews.com.