Press Release: Duncan 2025 OIEP Awardees

June 18, 2025

Duncan Area Businesses Awarded Over $300,000 for Growth and Development

 Duncan, Oklahoma - For the fifth year in a row, Oklahoma is investing in local businesses and communities with $15 million awarded through the Oklahoma Investment Expansion Program (OIEP). The Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation (DAEDF) proudly shares that Stephens County's 2025 recipients are Valco, Sensia, and Southern Machine Works, Inc., collectively receiving $302,000 in OIEP funds. 

This vital financial support helps companies grow and offset the cost of capital expenditures incurred through business expansion investments in Oklahoma. Local business owners, such as Roger Valdez of Valco Manufacturing, have touted the program's benefits, which “keeps money in the state of Oklahoma, while giving us the ability to employ more people.”

As outlined by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce (Commerce), the OIEP program targets high-impact new capital investments across various industries, fostering economic diversification and propelling product development or capacity expansion within Oklahoma's existing businesses.

Commerce, in partnership with the Oklahoma Finance Authorities, approved projects at 201 companies this year, which will create 967 jobs and generate $52 million in new payroll over the next 12 months.

Businesses that participated in the 2024 round of OIEP have already created 551 new jobs and generated more than $250 million in new sales.

Senator Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, serves as Co-Chair of the Legislative Evaluation and Development (LEAD) Committee, which provides oversight of economic development investments made by the state. “This is exactly the kind of return taxpayers deserve,” said Thompson. “The Innovation Expansion Program is a model of what smart, results-driven economic development should look like.”

In addition to encouraging new capital investment, these awards support existing jobs and the creation of new jobs. Lyle Roggow, President and CEO of the Duncan Area Economic Development Foundation (DAEDF), asserts, “Recruiting new companies to the state is important; however, we must take care of what we currently have, too. Existing industry is where our biggest growth comes from. Through the OIEP program, we’re strengthening existing industry and the economy to be able to navigate the ups and downs of the market.”

Learn more about OIEP and which companies received awards at www.okcommerce.gov.

###