Story provided by Meridian Technology Center
Brad Rickelman, Assistant Director of Business and Entrepreneurial Services at the Meridian Technology Center for Business Development, was recently sworn in as the Chair of the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) Board.
InBIA is a global non-profit with over 1,200 members that lead entrepreneurship support organizations in 30 countries. InBIA provides industry best practices through education while enabling collaboration, mentorship, peer-based learning, and the sharing of innovative ideas for entrepreneurs across the globe. The association is the largest member-based entrepreneur network in the world.
In his role at Meridian, Rickelman serves as a consultant and mentor to the clients housed in Meridian’s business incubators in Stillwater and Guthrie. He also facilitates the Startup Stillwater Accelerator program and educational programming, including a reoccurring “Starting a Business” series for district residents.
Rickelman is an InBI- Certified Incubator Manager and has been a member of InBIA for 15 years. He is past chairman of the Oklahoma Venture Forum, a statewide organization that champions small business ventures and economic development, and past president of the Oklahoma Business Incubator Association.
Rickelman is committed to fostering the entrepreneurial mindset throughout and beyond Oklahoma. He has worked with the Veteran’s Entrepreneurship Program at Oklahoma State University (VEP), the Dick Conner Corrections Center in Hominy, and with the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. In 2018, he served as a host with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative and in 2019 he traveled as a professional fellow to Thailand teaching advanced entrepreneurship training to community college faculty and administration.
Before working in entrepreneurship and business incubation, Rickelman’s background included work in product management and marketing as well as manufacturing and business-to-business software. Rickelman holds a bachelor’s in business management and a master’s in philosophy, both from Texas A&M University. In 1995 he participated in the Japanese Exchange in Teaching Program in Saitama Prefecture. He served as Grand Master of the Freemasons of Oklahoma in 2013. Rickelman lives in Stillwater with his wife, Dr. Jean Van Delinder.
Supporting the Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Meridian’s Business and Entrepreneurship Services division is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs through networking, education, consulting and business incubation services.
Team members offer programs and classes for entrepreneurs, ranging from classroom training to monthly programs to one-on-one consulting. The Business and Entrepreneurship Services division is home to two business incubators that provides office and manufacturing space for early-stage startups to help them accelerate through the most challenging phase of building a company. The Center for Business Development is located on Meridian’s Main Campus in Stillwater. The Peak is at the school’s South Campus in Guthrie.
For more information on Business and Entrepreneurship Services or new business support, contact the team at (405) 377-2220 or toll-free at (888) 607-2509 or visit meridiantech.edu/entrepreneurs.
Meridian Technology Center has been a driver of economic development since 1975. With a mission to educate, enrich lives and secure economic futures, Meridian offers full-time career training programs, short courses, workforce and economic development assistance and entrepreneurial support to residents from the Agra, Carney, Glencoe, Guthrie, Morrison, Mulhall-Orlando, Pawnee, Perkins-Tryon, Perry and Stillwater school districts. The school has locations in Stillwater and Guthrie. Meridian is one of 29 schools within Oklahoma’s CareerTech system.
