The value of a Thomas More Education is center stage at Evening of Innovation event featuring Chuck Scheper ’74 and Garren Colvin ’86

Thomas More University’s President’s Giving Society and the Dr. Anthony ’65 & Geraldine ’66 Zembrodt Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ZCEI) presented the fourth Evening of Innovation as a panel conversation with two Thomas More alumni whose leadership is helping to shape the future of healthcare, life science research, and regional economic development. This spring event was sponsored by DBL Law.

Chuck Scheper ’74, Chairman of the Board for Bexion Pharmaceuticals, LLC and Garren Colvin ’86, President and CEO for St. Elizabeth Healthcare, headlined the event, held on May 7 at DBL Law in Covington. Through a panel discussion, moderated by ZCEI Director and Professor of Practice Jeni Al Bahrani ’05, Scheper and Colvin touched on a range of topics, including collaborative efforts to bring the OneNKY Center to Covington, how an innovative mindset has helped mobilize initiatives to drive the Northern Kentucky region forward, and the impact a Thomas More education has had on their careers and lives.

Scheper and Colvin conversed about their involvement in bringing the OneNKY Center to Covington. The facility, to be located at the foot of the Roebling Suspension Bridge, is poised to become a one-stop shop for businesses seeking to relocate to the Northern Kentucky region following its anticipated opening in summer 2025. The building, owned by the Northern Kentucky Port Authority, will include space for OneNKY Alliance, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, meetNKY, BE NKY Growth Partnership, the Catalytic Fund of Northern Kentucky, Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky, and the Northern Kentucky Bar Association. In 2023, Thomas More University also announced its Division of External Affairs would occupy space on the third floor of the building, deepening the University’s ties to its historic roots in Covington.

Colvin, past chair of OneNKY Alliance, shared how establishing space for a wet lab, led by Covington Life Sciences Partners, Inc. with Scheper as its co-chair, became a linchpin for securing support for the project.

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle for why organizations would want to relocate here,” Scheper said. He led an explanation of how wet labs are spaces where life sciences or medical technology companies can go to incubate their ideas. The new wet lab planned for a portion the OneNKY Center space would be a first for the region. “We were blessed that some of the leaders on the wet lab were part of the NKY Alliance,” Scheper said.

“It wouldn’t be possible without the giving of the community,” Colvin stated, crediting the overall success of the OneNKY Center to numerous organizations and leaders across the region who have been willing to work together as part of the collective effort.

Scheper and Colvin, who both studied accountancy at Thomas More, also reflected on how their education at a Catholic liberal arts university helped lay the foundation for their success as business leaders.

“What Thomas More provides with a liberal arts education is – you learn to think. That foundation – [studying] theology, philosophy – will prepare you for all the twists and turns your career will take,” Scheper said.

“Dream big,” Colvin said, “You never know what opportunities you’ll be presented with.”

The Evening of Innovation series was launched to provide a unique opportunity for the Thomas More community of alumni and friends to foster and strengthen relationships with entrepreneurs and innovators who shape the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region.

For more information on the OneNKY Center, visit https://nkyport.org/projects/onenkycenter/. For more information about the Dr. Anthony ’65 & Geraldine ’66 Zembrodt Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (ZCEI), please visit https://www.thomasmore.edu/zembrodt-center/. For more information on the President’s Giving Society, please contact the Office of Institutional Advancement at 859-344-3344 or email [email protected].