Thomas Tyrrell
Chairman
Mr. Tyrrell is Founder and Chairman of Great Lakes Biomimicry (GLBio), a collaborative of key, diverse NEO leaders "creating conditions for sustainable regional economic development, through place-based innovation inspired and tested by nature," specifically focusing on biomimetic education, sustainability, fresh water, NEO foundation funding sustainability, and the attraction, support, and growth of biomimetically inspired entrepreneurs and start-up companies. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Collaborx, an organization that identifies, facilitates and assists with the discovery, implementation, execution and support of not-for-profit (as well as for-profit) business collaborations, focusing on efficiently and effectively constructing enterprise solutions by reducing the number, and costs, of the multiplicity of redundant NEO organizations. Mr. Tyrrell is a Co-Founder and Chairman of Segmint, which analyzes and interprets private consumer spend data anonymously – through a secure technology-based proprietary process – enabling Financial Institutions and their marketing partners to exceed their clients' goals, needs and interests. He is a Co-Founder, Senior Advisor and a Director of Glengary LLC, which combines an unparalleled network of support services with investment capital. His prior thirty-three year career in the metals industry included significant turnaround, M&A and IPO experience, with responsibility for five start-ups, restarts or consolidations ranging from $250M-$1.5B in sales, partnering directly with investment firms which included Primus Venture Partners, PNC Equity Management, Warburg Pincus and The Blackstone Group. In 1988, he won Inc. Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) Award for NEO, and in 1989 was selected an EOY national finalist, for the restart and operation of American Steel & Wire; received an Esquire Magazine Register Award for Business and Industry in 1988; and, appeared in Who’s Who in America commencing 1992.
He was responsible for five start-ups, restarts or consolidations with sales ranging from $250M to $1.5B
Since moving to NEO in 1986, Mr. Tyrrell has spent much of his time engaged with the “three E’s” – Education, Environment and Entrepreneurism – all aimed at enhancing regional economic development. He has supported undergraduate and graduate-level entrepreneurial programs at Midwestern colleges and universities. Among these, he is a Trustee Emeritus for Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois, having been a board member from 1990-2011 and Board Chair from 2002-2007. He is a Trustee Emeritus for Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, having served as a board member from 1989-2010, and Chair of Academic Affairs Committee from 1993-2009. Mr. Tyrrell is a member of the Foundation Board of Lorain County Community College and serves as Vice-Chair of their GLIDE Innovation Fund. He is engaged with the University of Akron regarding their Research Foundation, the Akron ArchAngels and the Innovation Alliance, as well as a member of the Youngstown Business Incubator Board of Directors. Mr. Tyrrell serves on the NorTech Board of Trustees and is a member of the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative, both major NEO economic development efforts. He chairs the Trails Forever Legacy Leadership Campaign for the Conservancy of Cuyahoga Valley National Park and from 1988-1994 and 2000-2006 (Vice-Chair) was a trustee of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Association, the oversight board for the federally funded Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway. He is a trustee of the Cleveland Zoological Society Board and a member of the NEO Mayors’ and City Managers’ Association’s Regional Prosperity Initiative. Mr. Tyrrell has been involved with numerous other NEO philanthropic organizations, most notably as Founding Chairman of Business Volunteers Unlimited, was a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 1988 and, in 2010, was named one of 30 Difference Makers in Crain’s Cleveland Business 30TH Anniversary issue.
Mr. Tyrrell received a B.A. in Business Administration from Elmhurst College and an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Baldwin-Wallace College. He is married to Diane Montague Tyrrell, R.N., has three children – a veterinarian, teacher and librarian – and is an avid scuba diver, fisherman, XC skier, and runner.