Story provided by Meridian Technology Center
Brad Rickelman, Assistant Director of Entrepreneurial Services at the Meridian Technology Center for Business Development, was recently elected to serve on the board of directors for the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA).
InBIA is a worldwide non-profit organization that provides support, continuing education and best practices for entrepreneurs. The association is the largest member-based entrepreneur network in the world. Rickelman’s appointment on the board will last three years.
In his role at Meridian, Rickelman serves as a consultant and mentor to the 14 clients housed in Meridian’s business incubator as well as the Center’s two virtual tenants. He also facilitates the Startup Stillwater Accelerator program that is co-sponsored by the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce. In partnership with the Stillwater Public Library, Rickelman also leads a reoccurring “Starting a Business” series for district residents.
Rickelman is an InBIA Certified Incubator Manager and has been a member of the association for 12 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. He currently serves as chair on the city of Stillwater Planning Commission.
Rickelman is committed to fostering the entrepreneurial mindset beyond Oklahoma. He has worked with the Veteran’s Entrepreneurship Program at Oklahoma State University and with the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders to strengthen entrepreneurship in developing countries. In 2018, he served as a host with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative and this past spring, he served 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 Freemasons of Oklahoma in 2013. Rickelman lives in Stillwater with his wife, Dr. Jean Van Delinder.
Supporting Stillwater’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Meridian’s Center for Business Development is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs through networking, education, consulting and business incubation services. The Center provides office and manufacturing space for early-stage startups to help them accelerate through the most challenging phase of building a company. The Center is one of 29 certified business incubators in the state. The Center was recently named the top Business Incubator in Oklahoma by The Journal Record.
The Center offers programs and classes for entrepreneurs, ranging from classroom training to monthly programs to one-on-one consulting. As a crucial part of Stillwater’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, the Center’s built-in support services allow entrepreneurs to focus their efforts on growing their business by providing a full suite of amenities and consultation that entrepreneurs need to launch their company.
For more information, contact the Center for Business Development 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. Meridian is one of 29 schools within Oklahoma’s CareerTech system.
