Tenzer, DPU colleagues speak on initiatives in Greencastle

Thursday, December 5, 2019
Lee Tenzer speaks on the collaborative goals for the Tenzer Hub for Entrepreneurship during a reception Tuesday afternoon.
Courtesy Ken Owen

A little more than a year after the Tenzer Hub for Entrepreneurship was unveiled to the community, it is now close to being able to open up to greater potential.

To celebrate the recent completion of new offices, and looking to what may come in the future, Lee Tenzer and his colleagues at DePauw University held a reception in the space above Cricket’s Unique Boutique on South Indiana Street Tuesday afternoon.

After everyone in attendance enjoyed a lunch catered by Almost Home, Tenzer and his partners in this collaborative project spoke more on its vision in serving DePauw students, community leaders and business owners.

Steve Fouty

“I think going forward, this is going to be a pretty cool space,” Tenzer began. “This is especially since technology has become such an important component in entrepreneurship.”

Tenzer provided that the most popular major at the University of Chicago has become entrepreneurship. He hopes the hub will inspire a push to establish more entrepreneurial opportunities for both the DePauw and Putnam County communities.

Still, entrepreneurship being a focus of many at Chicago is owed in no small part to the opportunities provided by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which Tenzer said the annex is modeled after.

Vincent Aguirre

He added an interesting point which puts building up the annex into perspective for funding. He said that while the Tenzer Hub is now working on a limited budget, the Polsky Center is allotted around one billion dollars for its initiatives.

“Maybe this will be a start for something like that on campus,” said Tenzer, who earned his master’s degree from UChicago and has connections through his office located in the Windy City.

He also told the Banner Graphic before he spoke to the gathering that he and his partners are still figuring out how to maximize the budget.

Tenzer, a 1964 graduate of DePauw who has had a hand in the revitalization of Greencastle’s downtown, didn’t really blink, though, at the thought that improvements and more interest in the hub will take care of themselves.

“I don’t really have a plan, but I do have a vision,” he said. “I think that a lot of good things are going on in Greencastle, and I think this space will bring a positive influence to both Greencastle and DePauw.”

Tenzer believed a working effort between the Tenzer Technology Center and the McDermond Center for Management & Entrepreneurship was crucial to pique interest academics-wise. What could not get lost, though, was the benefit the hub could bring to community members outside the university.

“This is not really Step 1, but kind of a Step 2,” said Steve Fouty, who leads the McDermond Center. “This will be a great place to bring community together. It’s a good common ground, I think.”

Fouty added that while interest in the annex has been strong, there is an “ebb and flow” in how many people will use it during any one time. However, he was confident that more students might come in after the upcoming winter break.

Tenzer gave an overview of what he called the Tenzer Technology Initiative, which he said emphasizes two main components for promoting enterprise and technology know-how through DePauw.

The first objective would be to increase the “visibility” of practical technologies on campus. The Tenzer Center, which is located in the lower level of Roy O. West Library, is meant to be the focal point on campus for collaboration and creativity on this front.

The second is focused on DePauw students and them having the opportunity to improve their skills in using tech in general. Tenzer’s point here was for them to be prepared to enter into their careers with that knowledge in hand.

“I want DePauw students to be more knowledgeable about technology than our peer students,” he said. “And I think that it needs to start with courses taught at DePauw.

“We need to add more technology to the curriculum, and I believe all courses should have some technology integrated into them,” Tenzer added.

Vincent Aguirre, a 2012 DePauw alumnus and the owner of Distinct Web Design, has been working with Tenzer, Fouty and the Tenzer Center’s director Mike Boyles on promoting the hub as an inclusive community locus.

“What I’m passionate about is being able to get everyone together in one space,” he told the Banner Graphic. “We’re here to execute Lee’s vision as best as we can. The goal is make it a place for the community.”

Aguirre said he took inspiration from the work of Chicago-based entrepreneur Emile Cambry Jr. in reaching out to more rural communities. He has also drawn from what has been done by other co-working hubs like Launch Terre Haute and Launch Fishers.

The hub currently has 36 members using the space, but Aguirre believes the “sweet spot” would be to have between 50 and 75 members. He added that the space can see between five and 10 people on any given day.

Aguirre added that memberships would cost $50 for community members and between $10 - $25 for DePauw students, though these are still to be definitely set. He also said potential members will be screened to ensure the space will be used productively.

The open part to the left of the space was completed approximately four months ago. On the newer side of the hub, seven private office spaces have been worked in, with four of them having been recently furnished.

The “official” grand opening of the annex is anticipated for next February. However, the space was more or less opened up in October of last year.

Tenzer’s other influences he has developed in Greencastle were also touched on. Since Tenzer purchased Tiger Pointe Country Club (formerly Windy Hill Country Club) in April of 2018, membership has increased to 170 people. The majority of these members are students.

Mark McClain, who is the president of the Tenzer Family Office in Chicago, believed the country club would become a good asset for the Greencastle community, especially with the construction of a new clubhouse which will have an event center.

Tenzer is also the majority owner of Almost Home, as well as the owner of two rental properties in Greencastle.

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