Tulsa-based tech company plans expansion

1.19.2011
GWACS Defense, Inc. (GDI), a Tulsa-based research and technology company specializing in sniper and gunshot detection systems for the military, announced today it has been accepted into Oklahoma’s 21st Century Quality Jobs Program, an incentive created to attract growth industries and sectors through a policy of rewarding businesses with a highly skilled, knowledge-based workforce.

“Our defense industries provide the critical research, development and production of new technologies that ensure our service men and women are the best equipped in the world,” said U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe. “I am proud of all our Oklahoma companies who provide for our national defense and praise GWACS for being only the second company in Oklahoma to be accepted into the 21st Century Quality Jobs Program and for providing life-saving technologies to our military.”

GDI opened in Tulsa four years ago. The company occupies the sixth floor of the Sunoco Building at East Ninth and Detroit and leases a live fire range near Claremore for data collection and testing.

“This is just the beginning,” said Jud Gudgel, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “And as we continue to grow and expand our customer base and product offerings, we will remain a Tulsa-based company dedicated to developing sensors that will play a critical role in protecting the lives of our men and women on the front lines anywhere in the world.”

GDI currently has 15 employees, primarily engineers. Through its participation in the Quality Jobs Program, the company anticipates creating up to 58 new jobs in the next two to five years. The 58 new jobs support an additional 166 indirect or induced jobs and an annual economic impact of $22.7 million in the Tulsa
region. As a 21st Century enrollee, GDI is eligible to receive a cash rebate of up to 10 percent of the new taxable payroll it adds to the state. For the company to qualify for the state incentive package, the average wage of the jobs created must be at least $94,418.

“Through the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s economic development plan, Tulsa’s Future, we are committed to assisting innovative companies like GWACS Defense in bringing impactful, high-wage jobs to our region,” said Mike Neal, the Chamber’s president and CEO. “We look forward to helping the company with further expansion and workforce attraction.”

U.S. Rep. John Sullivan is excited GDI chose to establish and grow in the Tulsa community.
“GWACS Defense, which creates jobs in Oklahoma and sells product and services outside Oklahoma, is the kind of company we need to grow here in Tulsa,” Sullivan said.

Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett is also pleased GDI made Tulsa its home.

“Tulsa is in a great position for job growth and we will continue to identify new business opportunities to cultivate business in Tulsa,” he said. “The acceptance of GWACS Defense in the Quality Jobs Program is a great example of Tulsa’s push to bring high-technology jobs to our city and sends the message that Tulsa is open for business.”

Currently GDI is securing a new contract with the Marine Corps for developing a lifesaving, man-wearable networked acoustical gunshot detection and location system. In addition, the company has several other opportunities with other agencies in the defense department.

“GWACS is the kind of corporation the 21st Century Quality Jobs incentive was created to attract,” said Sandy Pratt, deputy director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. “By creating these life-saving combat materials for American soldiers, GWACS will generate millions of dollars and add more than 40 engineering jobs in Oklahoma in the next year.”

GDI’s primary product, the GWACS (Ground Warfare Acoustical Combat System) unit, uses acoustic sensors to identify and track the source of hostile gunfire with a distributed processing technology; the system is able to triangulate positions and communicate those locations to friendly soldiers and command units a mile or more away – all within half a second.

Reed Oppenheimer, chief executive officer for GDI, is excited about the capabilities of the company’s products and what GDI’s success means to Tulsa.

“We have plans to ultimately put the GWACS unit on vehicles and to use it to protect forward operating bases,” Oppenheimer said. “We expect to penetrate multiple markets within the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and others. We also expect to be able to produce a lot of that right here in Oklahoma.”


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