We received rave reviews for our happy hour featuring our guests from the Stillwater Public Library. Several members got signed up for library cards and learned about all the free services that the library offers.

WorkIT members showed up for their fellow member Pascha Franklin with POP TOP Ink and helped work through some new business ideas! Thanks to everyone who helped and be on the lookout for POP TOP Parties soon!

Morgan Robinson is a Stillwater native and a renowned artist. Robinson began his art career at the University of Central Oklahoma, where he earned his bachelor's degree in fine art. From there, he continued to expand his knowledge by working as a custom cabinet builder and traveling overseas to study centuries-old woodworking techniques. Robinson combines wood and metal in his art in unimaginable ways. His goal with his art pieces is to blend minimalism and sculptural form. Robinson's art has been featured in many places, including Oklahoma, New York, and even Japan. He currently has a studio and workshop located at 915 S. Lewis Street, around the corner from WorkIT, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Learn more and view his art here: www.morgan-robinson.com

Ben Tovar is an amazing contributing member here at WorkIT. Here's more about his company:

At Onesimus LLC, our "Helpers" aren't just ordinary IT geeks! We forge relationships with both commercial and residential clients, find out what their technology needs are, and promptly deliver efficient and cost-effective solutions.

Onesimus LLC was founded by Ben Tovar (pictured) in 2021 and is based in downtown Stillwater, OK. Ben has a long and varied background in Information Technology stretching back to 2001 when he started his first computer repair business serving residential clients.

We don't believe in problems; only challenges waiting to be met with solutions! Onesimus LLC serves clients in Stillwater, Guthrie, Edmond, Oklahoma City, and beyond. Struggling with a computer or technology challenge? Find your solution, here! www.onesimus.co

From the host Denise Swafford: I love where I'm from. I grew up in Small Town USA. During times of recession and not to mention a pandemic a lot of hometown communities took a very hard hit. Small towns have helped build our great nation and to be honest, where would we even be without our hometowns? I'm going to put a spotlight on these hometowns and encourage you to go and explore everything they have to offer. These amazing places you may have never seen are full of fun, history, shopping, amazing food, good times, and most of all incredible people! I will give you just a taste to encourage you to come to spend the day, the weekend, or even weeks traveling through the backbone of America. The TV Show “My Hometown America” is more than just a show, it's a passionate desire to keep our hometowns flourishing. Watch the preview and find out more about sponsorships and even being featured on the show! Myhometownamerica.com

Members - don't miss your chance for your business to be featured in our next newsletter.

Established in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 2013 by chef/owner Sarah Ramsay, Good Little Eater is a restaurant and catering business offering delicious, scratch-made meals for dine-in or takeout. Our menu changes monthly and we prepare a variety of cuisines, including Mexican, Italian, Indian, and Asian. Our pastries and desserts (cookies, brownies, pies, cakes, tarts, yeast breads, and more) are all made in-house and are what we love making the most! Orders for our casseroles and desserts are accepted throughout the week. We have an ever-changing selection of soups, casseroles, and desserts in our freezer available for purchase. Visit soon at 106 1/2 W. 10th Ave, just one block south and across the street from WorkIT!

We offer a complete catalog of landscaping services to choose from. If it involves making your yard look great, we’ve got the skills and tools to make it happen. Contact us today at 405-269-3435 or [email protected]

We are proud to provide our customers with our top-quality lawn care. We have several services to choose from, including lawn mowing and maintenance, landscaping, tree & shrub trimming, pruning/shaping, and flower beds.

Keep your sidewalks and driveways safe and accessible during the winter months. Send us a message and plan ahead, and we will ensure you aren't slowed down by any snow or ice.

Members - don't miss your chance for your business to be featured in our next newsletter.

Located caddy-corner to WorkIT at 9th and Main, Stillwater Martial Arts is Stillwater’s premier martial arts studio established in 2004.  The mission of Stillwater Martial Arts (SMA) is to help build leaders in the community by helping its students grow in physical fitness, self-defense, focus, and self-confidence. 

We work to improve the lives of those around us using our martial arts experience and exceptional customer service.  We are dedicated to making your experience with us positive and rewarding. Give us a call at (405) 372-5425 or stop in and see us!

100 Years Ago - How it all began at 901 S Main St
Coopers Harness Shop began operating out of the front of the building that is now operated by WorkIT Coworking Center. Take a stroll down memory lane and read the article featured in this image:

Rolling through the years
Charles H. Cooper has long history
in Stillwater's business scene
In 1907 Charles H. Cooper rode a bicycle to Stillwater from Stroud, carrying all his belongings with him. He got a job in a harness shop, where he met his future bride, Angela Greiner. Married in 1909, the young couple lived in two towns before returning to Stillwater.

The building at the southeast comer of Ninth and Main was where Cooper opened his harness shop in 1922, having traded his farm in Hennessey for a half interest in the Greiner Brothers Harness shop. In Hennessey, he was also the chief of the volunteer fire department. When he moved to Stillwater, he was also active in the fire department. He particularly wanted to settle in Stillwater to give his children a chance to attend college. As a boy, Cooper, along with his brothers Joe and George, soaked harness leather and learned to lay out harnesses on the floor piece by piece to repair. He admitted that he wouldn't have known how to put the harness on a horse. They watched the old men congregate around the checker table in the back by the wood-burning stove. The boys would climb the outside stairs of the Ninth Street building to launch paper and balsa wood airplanes. Sometimes, the planes would sail all the way to Seventh Street, where the Katz store stood. The phone number of Cooper's Harness Shop was simply 233, and a live operator answered.

In 1929, as a 13-year-old schoolboy, Charles ran a paper route, finally saving enough money to buy a bicycle for $15. Later, he was offered a similar bicycle for $7, so he bought it to ride, putting the other one up for sale. As customers came into the harness shop. they saw it and asked if he could do bicycle repair, which was when he was allowed by his father to take one counter at the back of the store for his bicycle business. That was the real start of Cooper's Bicycle Center. As the Depression deepened, his father's health failed and he was forced to close the harness shop, which had begun selling automotive tires and accessories. Since his father was no longer able to work (he died in 1938) Charles operated his bicycle shop from a building located behind the family home on 620 S. West, across the street from the St. Francis Xavier rectory. Serving in the Army Air Force during World War II, Charles relied on his mother and three sisters to rent bicycles to the servicemen and women who were stationed in Stillwater. Since the commanding officers restricted the service personnel to the area of the campus at times, Charles modified a 1928 Dodge Sedan, cutting the body to make it an improvised pickup to deliver bicycles. He said he would like to find that old vehicle today. Western Union delivery boys also used bicycles from Cooper's to deliver their messages.

Five years after the end of World War II, using a G.I. loan, Cooper built the building at 220 S. Main that still houses the bicycle business. Novelty bicycles were a pet hobby of Cooper, who designed and built several. Some of them are in use today. There is one that is a companion bicycle, where the riders sit side by side. Another is called the Kangaroo because it has an offset wheel, which makes it bump up and down as it is ridden. He built a tiny bicycle for his children which two of the eight learned to ride before they were 3 years old. The others were around 5 years old when they mastered the balance of two-wheelers. Cooper and his brothers all rode unicycles, as do some of the adult children and grandchildren. The truing stand, which is the motif of the bicycle store, is shown in catalogs in 1902. Cooper did not realize he was using a genuine antique daily until he saw an identical one featured at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Over the years, Cooper has seen great changes in the bicycle business. From the early days when balloon-tired bicycles were new, to 10-speeds, from the great bicycle shortage in the 1970s when gasoline prices skyrocketed, when he ordered 10-speed bicycles by the railroad box car load, to the BMX craze, which son, Guy, promoted, to the mountain bikes, which all the Cooper boys, Jim, Chuck, and Ralph enjoy today. Grandsons enjoy the freestyle stunts, especially enjoying the Schwinn Stunt Team which put on an exhibition in Stillwater in 1998. Retired now, his daughter, Mary Ann Cash, son-in-law, Wes Cash, and grandson, Dennis Hotson, are busy at the bicycle center, in addition to Brad Rogers and Scott Campbell. Cooper enjoys traveling to bicycle swap meets and Wheelmen meetings, where he can admire vintage bicycles from the turn of the century. He has a bicycle collection that he maintains and a small museum. Charles H. Cooper leaning against the counter at Cooper's Harness Shop. 901 S. Main St., in 1923. Cooper rode his bike into Stillwater in 1907 carrying his belongings with him. Cooper opened his harness shop at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Main Street in 1922.

Payne County Tree Service was founded by Rick and Kristen Hadley in 1990. We provide tree pruning, trimming and removals, stump grinding, brush chipping and removal, woodchips, and our most popular product this time of year - firewood. We take pride in the beautification of our customers' properties. Be sure to let us know if there is anything tree related that we can help you out with! www.pctsi.com

Members - don't miss your chance for your business to be featured in our next newsletter.