John Hanak
Executive Director
(219) 644-3688
John is the director of Purdue University’s first remote technology incubator. He has held officer level positions at a Fortune 500 metals manufacturer, a middle-market machine-building company and a start-up technology firm. Additionally, he is co-founder of a consumer electronics and technology commercialization firm – North Riverside Partners; and a small investment partnership – CN Associates.
Prior to arriving at the Purdue Technology Center in 2005 and co-founding North Riverside Partners in 2003, John served as President, CEO and board member of Digital Innovations, a Chicago-based technology product development and marketing firm, where he led the implementation of a business strategy that successfully positioned proprietary consumer electronics accessory products in over 40,000 retail outlets worldwide. Concurrent to the CEO role, John also filled the CFO role in working with commercial and investment bankers, the audit firm, and the company’s investor community.
Before joining DI, John was Vice-President and General Counsel at Ispat Inland Steel, a $2.3 Billion subsidiary of Ispat International, NV, with responsibility for all administration and legal matters. John has extensive experience in virtually all areas of business organizations, with particular emphasis in strategic and business planning, organizational design, operations, human resources, labor relations, and corporate law.
John graduated from Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Science degree and graduated with distinction from the John Marshall Law School in Chicago with a juris doctor degree. He currently serves on a number of corporate and volunteer boards, including Shure, Inc., Time Pilot Corporation, Digital Business Processes Inc. and the College of Arts and Sciences at Valparaiso University.
Kathy DeGuilio-Fox
Business Development Manager
(219) 644-3683
Kathy DeGuilio-Fox coordinates business development services needed by firms in the incubator facility, including business plan preparation, target market assessment, and validation and valuation of associated technologies. She also assists companies in their search for sources of capital, technical resource acquisition, organizational development, and forecasting and structuring of financial aspects of new business ventures. DeGuilio-Fox also coordinates the incubator companies’ use of interns as well as their project collaboration with university faculty.
She has more than 20 years experience in project development, grant writing and fund raising, plus extensive relationships in business, economic development and governmental communities. In heading Partners in Contracting Corp., she helped small businesses secure government contracts and trained clients to work effectively with government agencies. She also developed marketing strategies to promote services, attracted grants, developed business partnerships, coordinated training seminars, and assisted in economic and job development initiatives. During her years as redevelopment commissioner for the Town of Highland she was an integral force in moving forward the downtown infrastructure renovations and the streetscape projects. This facelift was the jumpstart to renewed life and increased commercial traffic for Highland’s aging downtown.
DeGuilio-Fox is an Indiana University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree and masters level work completed at Valparaiso University. She currently serves on a number of boards including Leadership Northwest Indiana and the Lake County Community Development Committee as well as Purdue University Calumet’s Engineering Advisory Board and its Energy Efficiency & Reliability Center Advisory Board.
Karen Skinner
Executive Assistant
(219) 644-3681
Lynnette Cieslak
Customer Service Representative
(219) 644-3680
