A12  Wednesday, July 10, 2019  THE OKLAHOMAN | OKLAHOMAN.
COM
Support for entrepreneurs
is a moon shot effort
Scott Meacham
T
his month we cel-
ebrate the 50th
anniversary of the
Apollo 11 moon land-
ing. It was President
John F. Kennedy’s idea.
In 1961, the president
challenged NASA and the
nation to land an astronaut
on the moon before the
decade was over. Russia
had taken the lead in the
race for space with the
Sputnik launch in 1957.
NASA was only 3 years old.
The United States was in
catch-up mode. The Cold
War was chilling the world.
I’ve always wondered if
President Kennedy imag-
ined at the time just how
much impact his “moon
shot” would have for
generations to come.
Perhaps, most impor-
tantly it gave all Americans
something to believe in
— a common goal to strive
toward. And then, there
is the enduring impact on
scientific discovery and
ground-breaking com-
mercial applications.
From freeze-dried food
to memory foam, from
joysticks to LEDs, from
Speedo swimsuits to invis-
ible braces, thousands of
space-spinout technologies
improve our daily lives.
President Kennedy’s idea
was brilliant. NASA and
the exploration of space
became the catalyst for
national pride and a prolific
force for federally funded
Virgin Galactic is shown before reaching space for the first time during its fourth powered flight from
Mojave, Calif., in 2018. [AP FILE PHOTO]
Space-tourism biz Virgin
Galactic is going public
By Danica Kirka
The Associated Press
LONDON — Richard
Branson’s space-tourism
venture, Virgin Galactic, is
planning to go public, cre-
ating the first listed human
spaceflight firm.
Virgin Galactic said
Tuesday it is merging with
Social Capital Hedosophia,
whose CEO, Chamath
Palihapitiya, will become
chairman of the com-
bined entity. The value of
the merger was put at $1.5
billion.
“We are at the dawn
of a new space age, with
huge potential to improve
and sustain life on Earth,”
Branson said. “I am
delighted that SCH has
decided to become such an
important part of our amaz-
ing journey. They share our
dreams and together we will
make them reality.”
The company intends to
offer “a unique, multiday
experience culminating in
a personal spaceflight that
includes out-of-seat grav-
ity and views of Earth from
research and development
— a path for discovery
and innovation for all the
decades that have followed.
In our work with
Oklahoma’s innovators
and entrepreneurs, we
see exciting new busi-
ness ideas every week.
Some of them may seem
as improbable as send-
ing a human to the moon
may have seemed 50 years
ago; other ideas are so
compelling and intui-
tive that we wonder why
on Earth someone hasn’t
thought of them before.
For all the good ideas and
passionate inventors and
entrepreneurs we meet,
the past six years in the
startup world have taught
me that only a small per-
centage of those ideas will
eventually be scalable to
high-growth companies.
Whether in Oklahoma,
Texas or the hotbeds of
venture capital on either
coast, there are relatively
few businesses that can be
national or international
in scope, employ hundreds
of people or be acquisi-
tion opportunities (at a
significant multiple) for
existing corporations.
Indeed, when we start
winnowing down the uni-
verse of ideas, there are a
lot of smaller market ideas
— promising technologies,
specialized equipment, or
processes that can success-
fully solve big problems
for small or niche markets
or targeted segments of
an industry — that can
be developed into really
good companies, firms
that could employ five, 15
or 25 people over time.
There are great
resources in Oklahoma
space.” It aims to complete
the merger this year before
listing on the New York
Stock Exchange.
The company believes it
is at an “inflection point” in
its development as it moves
toward launching commer-
cial operations, and said
it had overcome a number
of the technical hurdles
required to make the com-
pany profitable.
In December, Virgin
Galactic’s tourism space-
ship climbed 51 miles above
California’s Mojave Desert,
reaching for the first time
what the company consid-
ers the boundary of space.
The supersonic flight took
the company closer to its aim
of taking paying customers
on the six-passenger rocket,
which is about the size of an
executive jet.
During a second flight in
February, the spaceship,
VSS Unity, carried pilots
as well as a crewmember
who tested the passenger
experience. Virgin Galactic
also recently announced it
is moving more than 100
employees from Mojave,
and throughout the coun-
try to prove ideas and
validate solutions based
on advanced technolo-
gies that have tremendous
up-scale potential. We
have learned that with sup-
port and assistance, these
startups can morph into
“gazelles,” and when they
do the payback is huge.
However, there is less
support for great busi-
ness ideas that may not be
high-growth in the tradi-
tional sense but will allow
someone to start a great
company and make a good
living for their family or
even create generational
wealth within the family.
Oklahoma has been built
by these types of busi-
nesses and families with
names like Kilpatrick,
Gaylord, Zarrow, Warren
and, more recently, Love,
Rainbolt and Kaiser.
Oklahoma is a business-
friendly state. Whether it’s
through our best-in-class
vocational technology sys-
tem or with financing and
business guidance provided
by Oklahoma’s banks, or
some other way, we need
to improve our support for
“smaller” startup busi-
nesses in Oklahoma so
they, too, can reduce risk,
gain momentum and grow.
We’ll be better for it.
Scott Meacham is presi-
dent and CEO of i2E Inc.,
a nonprofit corporation
that mentors many of the
state’s technology-based
startup companies. i2E
receives state appropria-
tions from the Oklahoma
Center for the Advancement
of Science and Technology.
Contact Meacham at
i2E_Comments@i2E.org
California, to a spaceport
in New Mexico where they
plan to conduct commercial
operations.
It said that some $1 billion
had been invested in the
project since its inception
in 2004, and that people are
interested in taking part.
Virgin Galactic said it has
reservations from some
600 people in 60 countries,
with $80 million in deposits
and $120 million in potential
revenue.
“In a transforming world
of experiences and social
media, VG believes that
the market for exclusive,
experiential products will
continue to expand quickly
and represents a signifi-
cant opportunity for future
growth,” it said in the
merger announcement.
Branson isn’t alone in the
space tourism business: Jeff
Bezos’ Blue Origin is plan-
ning to take space tourists
on trips while SpaceX’s Elon
Musk recently announced
plans to take a wealthy
Japanese entrepreneur and
his friends on a trip around
the moon.
Q & A W I T H VA L E R I E A R D
New tax credit available
to some IT workers
Valerie Ard is a tax supervi-
sor at Arledge and Associates.
In May, Gov. Stitt signed
House Bill 2759 into law. What
does this new statute do?
HB 2759 created an
Oklahoma credit against
income taxes for cer-
tain qualified and certi-
fied employees involved
in the software or cyber-
security business.
How does an employee
qualify for this credit?
For a software or cyberse-
curity employee to qualify,
the employee must have
received an undergradu-
ate or graduate degree from
an institution that has an
accredited program from
the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology
(ABET) or completed a
technology center program
in cybersecurity, informa-
tion technology, computer
science and engineering or
software engineering that
has been accredited by the
Computing Accreditation
Commission, Engineering
Accreditation Commission or
ABET. Further, the accred-
ited program must require
the completion of more than
800 hours of class time.
What types of employers
qualify for this new credit?
A business should apply
to the Oklahoma Tax
Commission to become a
“qualified employer.” The
employer can operate as a
sole proprietor, general part-
nership, limited partnership,
limited liability company,
corporation or governmental
State companies
awarded for family
positive policies
Staff reports
The Potts Family
Foundation will recognize 32
Oklahoma businesses at the
second annual Family Positive
Workplace Awards Ceremony
on Aug. 7.
The ceremony is to rec-
ognize companies that have
implemented, though their
internal policies and pro-
cedures, family positive
policies that better support
their employee base. The
most common policy examples
include flexible leave and work
schedules, child care expense
assistance, and paid time off
for volunteer work.
The Family Positive
Workplace award  is one of
the Potts Family Foundation’s
programs that falls under the
OK25by25 Early Childhood
Coalition umbrella, and its
goal is to have Oklahoma be
among the top 25 states, by
2025, in key early childhood
metrics.
Oklahoma State Labor
Commissioner Leslie Osborn
will present the awards
along with Nextep CEO Brian
Fayak.
The event will take place at
the Central Oklahoma
Homebuilders Association,
420 E Britton Road in
IN BRIEF
Kohl’s will now return your
Amazon packages for free
Have a package you need
shipped back to Amazon? Kohl’s
will do it for you — for free.
The initiative is now available
in all its 1,150-plus stores across
the United States.
All customers have to do is
bring their eligible Amazon
returns to their local Kohl’s,
no box or label needed. The
Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based
retailer will pack it up and ship
it back, without cost.
This comes a week before
Amazon’s Prime Day, when
other retailers such as Target
and Walmart run their own deals
Valerie Ard is a
tax supervisor
at Arledge and
Associates, PC,
an Edmond-
based CPA firm.
entity but must have at least
15 full-time employees.
Additionally, the employer
must pay average annual-
ized wages which meet or
exceed 110% of the aver-
age county wage where
the employer has its pri-
mary Oklahoma address.
How much is the credit?
The credit is $2,200 for
a qualified employee who
has been awarded a bach-
elor’s or higher degree
from an accredited institu-
tion. The credit is $1,800
for a qualified employee
who has been awarded an
associate’s degree from
an accredited technology
center. This credit applies
strictly to Oklahoma taxable
income and does not apply
to federal income taxes.
When does this new
credit become effective?
The credit is for taxable
years beginning on or after
Jan. 1, and ending before
Jan. 1, 2030. The credit shall
not be used to reduce tax
liability to less than zero
and the credit may be used
for no longer than seven
years by any taxpayer. In
addition, the total available
credits authorized is not to
exceed $5 million per year.
Paula Burkes, Business writer
Oklahoma City.
Companies that will receive
awards are:
4RKids, Brief Media,
Camp Fire Green Country,
Cimarron Council Boy Scouts
of America, Citizens Bank
of Edmond, Compsource
Mutual Insurance Company,
Dal-Tile Muskogee, Explorer
Pipeline, Fractionation
Research Inc., Girl Scouts-
Western Oklahoma Inc., Jasco
Products LLC, Key Personnel,
La Luz Organization and
LawnAmerica.
Also, Leonardo’s Children’s
Museum, Matrix Service
Company, McClain-
Garvin County Youth and
Family Center Inc, MCSG
Technologies, MSCI Inc.
Oklahoma City Zoo, Oklahoma
Department of Labor,
Oklahoma Department of
Transportation and Palomar:
Oklahoma City’s Family
Justice Center.
And, ReMerge of Oklahoma
County Inc., Security National
Bank of Enid, Sunbeam
Family Services, Thayne A
Hedges Regional Speech &
Hearing Center, The Boeing
Company, The Denny Price
Family YMCA, Tulsa Airports
Improvement Trust, Tulsa
Community Foundation and
Youth At Heart.
at the same time and compete
for traffic. But Kohl’s is using
its brick-and-mortar base and
embracing Amazon in a unique
way. The retailer also already
carries Amazon products in at
least 200 of its locations, such
as the Echo, Echo Dot and Fire
tablets.
“Our top strategic priority is
driving traffic, and this trans-
formational program does just
that,” said Kohl’s chief execu-
tive, Michelle Gass, in a news
release. “It drives custom-
ers into our stores, and we are
expecting millions to benefit
from this service.”
From wire reports