Meet The Team

Lyle has served as the President of DAEDF since October 2006.  Duncan has a rich heritage in our state with the manufacturing of oil field equipment and the Chisholm Trail.  Our community is seen as a state leader in our creative economic development program.  Duncan has the economic development tools to compete on large projects that many communities simply don’t have the means or insight. 

Lyle and his wife Kim have four children, Audrey, Sean, Lauren, and Seth. Lyle was raised on a farm in Northern Oklahoma and in his spare time enjoys being outdoors and working with livestock.

Dream Project:  To continue constructing buildings that attract new primary sector jobs to the area.  To make a community announcement on winning a highly competitive project that has a huge capital investment and sizeable job impact.

Nicole is the Operations Manager and Duncan Center for Business Development Incubator Manager for DAEDF, in addition to being a 2001 Duncan High School graduate. Nicole and her husband, Justin, have a daughter named Madison. They enjoy traveling as well as  attending Madi’s dance competitions, soccer tournaments, and basketball games.

Nicole has been at DAEDF since 2011.  Nicole says, “I had no idea what DAEDF did until I started working for them.  I love what DAEDF does to help the community and am in awe of all they do behind the scenes to see new and existing businesses grow.” 

Dream Project: DAEDF building a new business incubator to assist more start-up companies in our area is my Dream Project.  A larger facility built specifically for an incubator would benefit the Duncan area by growing jobs, creating wealth, and giving entrepreneurs the much needed support they require when they are first starting out.

Henry Lehr is the Business & Industry Specialist for DAEDF. Lehr grew up in Texhoma, Oklahoma before going to college at East Central University where he earned a Business Administration Finance degree and Certification in Banking. Prior to coming to Duncan, Lehr worked as a small business advisor for the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in McAlester, advising existing and new entrepreneurs on how to start and operate small businesses. Lehr is a certified business generalist, International Trade certified at an intermediate level, and certified in Technology Commercialization, all of which were earned during his time with the SBDC.

“I am excited to be working with DAEDF and look forward to being a part of the efforts to encourage businesses to grow and invest in the area,” Henry Lehr said. “While I am new to Duncan, I can already appreciate how open and welcoming this community has been to me and my family.”

Henry and his wife Jessica, an 8^th grade math teacher at Duncan Middle school, have three year old twin boys named Daniel & Colton and a 1 year old boy named Zack.