Sequoyah Technologies just held an Open House for their newly-renovated location in the old Pat’s Place building on Hobson.
Sequoyah—also known at SEQTEK—is probably the first of it’s kind in Sapulpa; a software shop that primarily works on backend software development, but will also build consumer-facing websites if the need arises. Some of their clients include YCS Group, Wellchecked Systems International, and GE Oil and Gas.
According to Director of Operations Brent Fields, the goal for the company is to become the largest agency in the midwest that operates by a philosophy they’ve coined “localshoring”.
Localshoring, Fields says, is a process that allows Sequoyah’s clients to minimize risk and increase productivity by doing away with some of the common pitfalls of hiring overseas. “Offshoring might be cheap, but it’s always more of a hassle. When you’re dealing with clients that are international, you have to be wary of the missteps that happen in terms of communication,” Fields says. Getting up at 4am to hop on a call with a client isn’t the way any of us really want to spend our time.
Fields points out that “In your average IT projects, 66% of projects go over budget, 83% of projects end up changing, and 31% end up getting cancelled altogether.” They believe that their localshoring philosophy will help accommodate their clients in ways that other software shops can’t.
While they do and will continue to have international clients, Fields says their focus going forward is to build up their regional base with clients in not only Tulsa but Austin, Dallas, Kansas City and other similar metropolitan areas.
For our part, Sapulpa has done a great job of welcoming them into the fold. Fields says they’ve been “overwhelmed” by the experience. “We’ve gotten flowers, we’ve gotten gift cards, we’ve just been overwhelmed by the support of Sapulpa,” he said.
Fields also pressed the need for more businesses to set up shop in Sapulpa “I’ve seen people saying ‘we need more restaurants. We need a steakhouse.’ I believe that what you need are more businesses, and not just retail; actual businesses that will come and eat at your restaurants during the day and shop at your stores.”
The rich history of our buildings, coupled with the relatively inexpensive price of acquiring a building is part of what drew them to Sapulpa from Tulsa, where’d they’ve been since the beginning.
“We were able to purchase and a renovate a building in Sapulpa for a price that wouldn’t have been possible in Tulsa or Owasso,” Fields said.
DC Bass handled the construction and it looks pristine. The lower-level has the brick wall on one side, relatively unscathed except for the tall windows that were placed into the brick. The other side is a combination of rock and brick, with a layer of concrete on top, and patches where the rock or brick shows through.
A conference room down the hall has “whiteboard walls” where engineers can sketch out ideas in realtime. Above the conference table hangs a sheet of tin tiles—a holdover from the days the facility served as a popular hangout for locals when it was Pat’s Place.
The upper level, which had been apartments, has been renovated to several office spaces for the software developers to collaborate on projects. The office as a whole, looks like any one of the dozens of agencies you’ll find in downtown Tulsa.
Fields says that the history of the town is what separates Sapulpa from any of the other viable options around Tulsa. “There’s so much history in these buildings, with a little renovation, you can turn them into something really cool,” he says.
Fields says that bringing in the businesses will attract the people. “Everyone goes to Tulsa to work and comes home to Sapulpa. If we could begin to shift some of that where people were working in Sapulpa, I believe the next 3-5 years could really be exciting for this town.”
