Norman — Bart McDonough likes the synergy between the University of Oklahoma students, faculty and private businesses. He likes the pool of skilled workers that set the bar high on serving customers. But deep down, he likes Oklahoman’s “stickiness.”
The 33-year-old founder of Agio Technology - headquartered in Norman with offices in New York, London and Hong Kong - outlined his reasons for locating here Tuesday before more than 100 university and state officials and community partners inside the Stephenson Research & Technology Center.
The company, with offices in nearby Three Partners Place on OU’s Research Park south campus, began in January and has 26 employees. They expect to employ 40 by year’s end.
Their first client was McDonough’s former employer, SAC Capital Management. They’ve signed up two more clients in recent weeks.
McDonough discovered the “stickiness” factor while visiting with Riskmetrics, another Norman company that works in the financial services sector. He said workers are loyal to their employers and their communities.
“They (Oklahomans) have a passion to provide great services and a great product,” he said. “There’s something about the state of Oklahoma that’s sticky. There’s something about Oklahoma that makes people want to stay.”
An Edmond native, McDonough attended the University of Oklahoma and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut. He called OU a good “draft pool” from which to hire talent for his company. He also got a signed football delivered by OU football coach Bob Stoops.
Two thirds of the 130 job candidates interviewed to date have OU connections.
OU President David L. Boren joined others in welcoming McDonough and Agio to Norman. The two had met 16 hears ago when McDonough was part of a U.S. Senate youth program.
Boren reminded the audience that the South Campus was nothing more than abandoned Navy base structures and open fields only a few years ago.
“We talked then about creating the future. We said we were creating a metaphor about what the future of the world should look like,” Boren said, noting the university has helped start 40 new businesses in the state.
Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce Natalie Shirley said companies like Agio Technology will help transition Oklahoma into a knowledge based economy. “We can’t just do more of what we’ve been doing,” she said.
Mayor Cindy Rosenthal and Dr. Lee Williams, dean of OU’s graduate college and chairman of the Norman Economic Development Coalition, also welcomed the new company to Norman. Rosenthal said Norman was progressive and citizens take great pride in living here.
“I hope we as a city can live up to your expectations of customer service,” she said.
Chamber of Commerce president Cindy Nashert called the decision “fantastic” and said the company could have located anywhere. “But they wanted to come here. It’s great to see our name on their business cards.”
Agio plans continued expansion throughout 2010, including opening additional sales and support offices throughout the financial capitals of the world.
Key employees:
Suzy Hurt, CAO, formerly vice president of business operations for Astellas Pharma Technologies.
Miten J. Marvania, CIO and Managing Director, spent nine years developing, integrating and maintaining complex technology solutions for companies in the financial services sector.
Garvin McKee, vice president of sales, was with Hewlett-Packard for 20- years.
