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Glazer Helps Develop an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem to Promote Innovations
By: Tom Hodson
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For this special series of “Innovation Conversations”, WOUB’s Tom Hodson welcomes John Glazer, director of TechGROWTH Ohio at Ohio University, to Studio B for a discussion on innovation in Southeast Ohio.
Glazer has a wealth of entrepreneurial experience. He has been the founder and CEO of five startup companies, including Little Professor Book Centers and an international company.
He also has instigated and advised numerous technology/economic development projects in the Detroit area and nearby impoverished portions of Michigan.
He is recognized by many to be an expert in technology-focused entrepreneurialism. He has dedicated much of his career to building economic development opportunities in underdeveloped regions of the United States and overseas.
So, Glazer saw his move in 2008 from a depressed urban area to a historically depressed Appalachian rural area as a challenge. His goal has been to make economic strides here using some of the same techniques that he successfully used in urban settings. To date, his theories have worked
He is a believer in encouraging high-tech innovation which transcends geographical limitations. In short, he thinks creative technological innovations can be successful whether launched in an urban or rural area.
Glazer talks with WOUB’s Tom Hodson about his efforts at TechGrowth Ohio to provide a “multidisciplinary ecosystem” dedicated to providing innovation and leadership along with shared resources, networking and consultancy to aspiring entrepreneurs.
Besides his role with TechGROWTH Ohio, Glazer is the president of New Work Enterprises and acts as a director for Lift Africa Technologies in South Africa.
He has a master’s degree from and took doctoral courses at the University of Michigan where he taught Philosophy, English, and Anthropology.
He also worked with the Honors College there.