This is your FISTA
We couldn’t have created FISTA without you, the people of the Lawton and Fort Sill area. This is your home for the future of innovation as well as ours, and because of that, we consider this your FISTA. As the innovation park grows, and by inviting the top defense contractors and supporting sub-contractors, high tech companies, academic institutions and innovators to make and sustain a home here, we’re creating previously unseen job opportunities for the bright and talented individuals in our community and the surrounding area.
Job Opportunities
With the entry of advanced technology companies making their home at the FISTA, we’re creating career opportunities for our students, talented professionals, and military families. Our FISTA diversifies the portfolio of Lawton’s job market through its channels for innovation, concept, and creation—giving contractors and tech companies greater incentive to stay in town and hire local talent. We also see it as a valuable career gateway for retired military members and their spouses, because the FISTA provides a way for our talented military members to foster their specialized skills in a way that benefits their professional growth and our community. We see endless opportunity for job development through the FISTA—careers in specialized technology concepts and prototyping, multi-levels of industrial development, and most importantly – future production and manufacturing.
As our FISTA continues to develop, it will serve as a catalyst to bring new vitality to the retail, dining, hospitality, and real estate industries in our area, and thus to provide even more jobs and economic growth for our community.
A Place for Students
The FISTA is a place not just for current contractors and professionals, but for the entire Lawton community. While certain office spaces are secure and therefore closed to the public, our STEM lab is open to students from third grade through high school who want to come and develop their skills. We’ve also partnered with Lawton’s AIM program to nurture and guide those students toward careers in the STEM fields—careers that they can now begin right in their hometown. Each of Lawton’s high schools is a designated NMSI school (National Math and Science Initiative), and our mission is to guide these students and help them develop those skills throughout their education in Lawton, then help them procure employment through one of our FISTA partners.
A Courteous Neighbor
Members of the FISTA will focus primarily on developing technology and equipment that serve the warfighter—and while you might be fairly used to the sound of artillery, we want to assure you that all energetics testing will take place outside of city limits, so you don’t have to worry about disruptive sounds in the downtown area.
We also wanted to create opportunities for other businesses to be part of the FISTA, which is why we created our Business Integration Center. This space allows other companies to collaborate with FISTA partners and take part in the growth happening in their community. Near the BIC, we’ll also have a small technology museum open to the public so families and students can come and witness some of the exciting innovations taking place at the FISTA.
Whether you’re a third-grade student or you have a PhD; whether you’re a civilian or in uniform—our FISTA is your FISTA.