Silicon Prairie News interviews John Blazek of the Halo Institute. Look for snippets of the video interview to be released later this week. Photo by Danny Schreiber.
As part of a recent transformation of Halo Institute, the offices were moved to a new location on Creighton University’s campus to utilize available space and bring the nonprofit business incubator within close proximity to Creighton’s College of Business.
“Some have called it the relaunch of the Halo Institute,” said John Blazek, the new director of Halo.
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Halo, which was formerly located at 11th & Leavenworth Streets in Omaha’s Old Market district, provides up to five companies with basic services for no cost, including office space, utilities and internet access. Halo’s budget is limited and things like office supplies are typically donated. But Blazek believes the biggest asset of Halo is the learning environment and the new close proximity to the College of Business.
“What we provide for them is really the mentorship,” Blazek said. “What’s really been an asset here has been the close proximity to the faculty of the business college in terms of help with business plans, marketing among other things.”
The move is part of a revived Halo, a project that will continue into next year. The first step was the physical move. The next step, which will begin in 2011, is a collaboration with the faculty at the College of Business as well as a new wave of Halo tenant companies. Another goal for next year is to receive an endowment.
Also to note, when operating out of the previous space, the Halo Institute was a joint venture between the Creighton College of Business and Halo Creative Capital. However, that partnership has ended, and Nick Hudson of Halo Creative Capital, the individual who laid the groundwork for Blazek’s role as director, has taken up a board chair.
“In the early stages, they had Halo Creative Capital and it was going to be a joint venture between Creighton and Halo in funding,” Blazek said. “That model no longer exists. Basically, right now what we are as a sub-division of the college of business. Companies that come here are provided no charge, no cost to operate out of here. They’re under no obligation to pay us back. It strictly is an extension of the college of business.”
Blazek came on in late October as Halo’s new director and entrepreneur in residence. He believes his academic, entrepreneurial and corporate experiences give him the experience needed to direct Halo. It’s a part-time position and he isn’t compensated for his work. He comes to campus a couple times per week.
Blazek’s connection to the university goes back to his days as an undergrad and then a graduate at Creighton’s School of Pharmacy in the 1970s. He later retuned to the university to earn his MBA. Last year, when he received the Creighton University School of Pharmacy Alumni Merit Award, he was re-introduced into the Creighton community and became involved with Halo shortly after.
Blazek has always been an entrepreneur. He owns JMB Capital, a holding company for a variety of business investments, and at the same time Halo came up, he started as the owner and president of Corporate Ventures.
At the center of the new Halo Institute space is the shared conference room and meeting space. Photo by Danny Schreiber. (To see more photos of the new space, visit: First Look: Halo Institute’s new home at Creighton.)
As director, Blazek offers criticism and guidance to companies a part of the program. One of his main roles is being a key player in getting companies started. He suggests that new companies not only need an idea but they need to have an understanding of business plans and an idea of the potential customers. There are a series of checklist questions that he goes through with companies to see if the company could grow into a viable business.
In the short term, Blazek hopes companies in the space will grow to a point in which they can provide internship opportunities for Creighton students. Blazek said the University is getting a return on the investment by providing students with real-world experiences in entrepreneurship.
Looking forward, Blazek believes Halo will be successful. He said success could be measured in two ways. The first is the amount of companies that come through the doors and are viable. The second is taking ideas that were rejected by Halo and seeing how many companies are able to move forward with another idea.
Five years from now, Blazek hopes Creighton will have built a new College of Business building and that Halo will have a location inside this new building with front door access off of Cuming Street.
“What we’d like to have is really a fully integrated, more refined version of what we have now and have it be an integral adjunct part of the college of business,” Blazek said. “As far as size goes, bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes bigger is worse because you lose some of the intimacy.”
Halo itself is sort of a startup and like many startups, it may take a different path in five years. With most small businesses, they actually end up somewhere elsewhere they didn’t expect to go, Blazek said.
“If you don’t take those first couple steps and don’t have a well-thought out plan, you’re probably not going to be successful,” Blazek said. “What we do well here is find companies that have a business plan, have a good idea, have a good work ethic, we think we can increase the opportunities of a companies being successful.”
