Rob:  Well new ideas and finding new ways of doing things have helped make the Oklahoma heartland what it is today.  Which is why, we’re here at the Entrepreneur’s Conference put on by Oklahoma’s Department of Commerce.  Today, we’re going to show you what it takes to start up your own business, and it all begins with a great idea.  Our Keith Smith takes us to the annual Wes Watkins New Products and Process Fair, an event that brings some of the state’s brightest and most innovative thinkers together to find what’s on the horizon for tomorrow.
Keith:  Ambition knows no age in the Weckler household.
Susan Weckler:  We usually just pick out a product that we want to work on for a day.
Karen Weckler:  I think the hardest part is just finding time when we can, like, just put together lots of kits.
(sewing machine sounds)
Keith:  Susan…
(buttons pouring out sounds)
Keith:  …and Karen are sisters. They’re also business partners.  Mom helped piece together the idea.
Stephanie Weckler:  Seeing that kids weren’t sewing that much anymore, we feel like maybe it skipped a generation or two.
Susan Weckler:  The more we thought about it, we thought that maybe selling kits would be good.
Stephanie Weckler:  We made 24 kits and took them to a sale.  They sold 22 of them.  We got a call a few months later from someone who had purchased one of the kits, and said we would like to order some more.  We thought, oh my.
It’s one of our “First Steps Kit,” and then these are the “Fancy Fabric Friends.”
Keith:  They have started “Sewing Kits for Kids,” never mind that they are still just kids themselves.  The kits are designed to teach simple sewing skills and sell for a couple dollars a piece.
Susan Weckler:  Different kits teach different things.  We need to measure stuff and mark stuff, and get it all ready to be put in the bags to be packaged.
Keith:  Inventing 101 continues to be a work in progress.
Stephanie Weckler:  There’s strife at times; just, even, artistic differences.
(sewing machine sounds)
Do you think these two would look good together?
I’m not sure.
Stephanie Weckler:  It’s grown more than we ever thought that it would.
Keith:  Today, the Wecklers are at the New Product and Process Fair, to show off their sewing kits.
Stephanie Weckler:  Well this could qualify for something there.
Keith:  And to look at all the other inventions.
You put it in, and you bring the safety straps through.
Stephanie Weckler:  They were very encouraged just be meeting other inventors.
Wes Watkins:  I knew that everything started with an idea.
Keith:  With that in mind, former congressman, Wes Watkins, began a movement to find the next movers and shakers.
Watkins:  I started talking to educators, mainly; and Kiamichi CareerTech in the beginning in southeast Oklahoma.
Keith:  A quarter of a century later the fair continues to recognize innovation around the state.
Watkins:  What this actually means is taking, lots of times, very simple problems and come up with a product that can end up being a business and that business could end up producing a few jobs.
Keith:  And he says he still gets inspired walking by each and every exhibit to hear about their products.
Watkins:  When I start listening, I look them in the face, I look them in the eyes, and their eyes will start sparkling up, because they’re talking about their creativity.  It’s their self esteem that’s coming out.  A lot of them are very low tech.
There will be a color palate here; they will generate colors for you.
Watkins:  But then there’s some of them that get pretty technical.
It all also has a carbon monoxide detection system.
(system beeping 3 times)
Keith:  The Weckler’s have done well enough to take home a top prize in 750 dollars.
Stephanie Weckler:  I think more than anything, it gave them, just, an encouragement.  It really helped them see that somebody saw value.
Watkins:  I truly believe we could change the culture in Oklahoma.  You know, not saying woe is on us, we’ve got all kinds of problems, economic problems and all, to one that says, hey, we can.
Karen Weckler:  You can do it.  If, just, if you have someone that supports you and is really encouraging, that, you can do it. 
Keith:  Two young inventors full of ideas, learning business lessons which they hope are the first seeds of economic prosperity.  And while there may not be a kit that can make you a success.  
What do you think of these two together?
Those look good together.
Yeah.
Keith:  The Weckler sisters are convinced they’ve found one.
Karen Weckler:  (Laughs.)  Yes, I think we did.