OKLAHOMA BUSINESS BRIEFS
Investors conference scheduled OKLAHOMA CITY
The inaugural Oklahoma Investors Conference is scheduled for Nov. 7 at the Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City. The conference is designed to connect institutional investors, fund managers and prominent public figures worldwide in a full day of panel discussions, keynote presentations and networking opportunities.
Scheduled speakers include former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett; Dan Boren, president of corporate development for the Chickasaw Nation; and Clay Risen, New York Times editor and renowned whiskey expert.
“Financial services conferences are important for the development of the economy. They allow key-players in our industry to spend time together in the same room, which lays the groundwork for immense growth across multiple sectors,” Vikasa Capital CEO and Founder Roshan Pujari said. “Vikasa is excited to support this endeavor and act as a catalyst for growth in our state and across the region.”
The conference is an invitation-only event, but a limited number of invitations may be requested at invite@oklahomainvestors.org.
SPP approves upgrades
The Southwest Power Pool's directors have authorized 44 new projects that will add 166 miles of 345-kilovolt transmission line to the regional transmission organization's grid, organization officials said.
They said the upgrades will boost the grid's reliability in delivering lower-cost energy to the system, adding they expect them also to reduce the system's wholesale energy congestion costs, providing an estimated future net savings of up to 23 cents on the average monthly residential bill for electricity customers.
“We collaborated extensively with our stakeholders to determine an optimized portfolio of projects we need to enable the future electric grid. We projected considerable wind and solar growth, conventional generation retirements and impacts of new electrification technologies over the next 10 years,” said Lanny Nickell, SPP's senior vice president of engineering. “SPP members are proactively building infrastructure to ensure our region's power grid remains reliable and affordable during a time of tremendous change in the electric utility industry.”
The SPP manages the electric grid and wholesale energy market serving all or parts of 14 states in the Great Plains from Oklahoma to the U.S.-Canadian borders.
Manufacturer launches joint venture in China
ATC Drivetrain, an Oklahoma City-based remanufacturer of automotive drive train components, has launched a joint venture with Luwote (Zhangj ia gang) Power Remanufacturing Technology Co. Ltd .(“Luwote”) in Zhangjiagang, China.
Officials said the joint venture will focus on providing a local remanufacturing of automotive engines and transmissions for ATC's existing global customer base in China and will provide local automobile manufacturers with remanufactured engines and transmissions in the Chinese market.
Officials said ATC, which has more than 80 years of remanufacturing experience, is the majority partner in the joint venture.
“The team sat ATC and our private equity sponsor, Crestview Partners, have been relentlessly focused on expanding our global presence and product offerings in support of our customers' evolving needs,” ATC CEO Greg Heald said.
Warwick obtains certification
Oklahoma City-based Warwick Group announced Wednesday it has been certified as a Women's Business Enterprise.
Officials said the certification was given by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, the largest certifier of women-owned businesses in the U.S. and a leading advocate for women business owners and entrepreneurs.
They said the cert ifi cation highlights the leading role Warwick, which has about $2 billion in managed assets and more than 1,000 transactions under its belt, takes in promoting diversity in the private equity investment space.