If you’ve attended college or visited someone in a hospital or even walked the halls of a public building, you’ll see the names. You may find the name emblazoned over the entrance to a building or hallway, or simply on a plaque in the lobby. In fact, you may pass the names daily, maybe pause once to wonder who that person was and walk on.
These are the names of the individuals and organizations whose generosity helped fund a project or innovation. Their donations are tangible votes of confidence, commitment and connection to both the institution and the ideas behind it.
There are many worthy entities, causes and ideas in need of financial support, but questions remain. Why this project and not another? How does this idea resonate? It’s the why behind the donation that tells the story.
The new SparkHaus startup hub has benefitted from the generosity of many who support building a community for local entrepreneurs. It’s a worthy cause for anyone interested in economic development, but several of the donors were attracted to the SparkHaus project because they themselves have taken the founder’s journey.
Anyone who has succeeded in that journey knows the value of this support, especially at the beginning — and SparkHaus donors are paying it forward, supporting the next generation and sharing their expertise.
Blue North, Northern Kentucky’s regional innovation hub, has been working in partnership with Kenton County, as well as state and regional economic development leaders on creating the entrepreneurship community in SparkHaus.
Executive Director Dave Knox said the new generation of entrepreneurs will be “standing on the shoulders of giants” in many ways. Blue North wants to acknowledge the value of that vital support and the connections between SparkHaus donors and the community of entrepreneurs they are helping to build.
This goes beyond adding a name to a wall. It’s important, he said, to share the why and the how of these connections. When speaking with donors, he said, he tells them “you are restocking the stream that you fished in” and this resonates with those who know the challenges and rewards first hand.
The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation
The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation honors the legacy of the Hailes, a banking family with deep roots in Covington. Carol Ann Haile was the daughter of Clifford Homan who ran the People’s Liberty Bank and Trust Company. Her husband Ralph joined the bank working alongside his father-in-law. He took over the reins upon Homan’s death in 1968 and served as CEO until the bank was acquired by First National Bank in 1988 (later becoming US Bank).
According to the foundation website, Haile became known as “the face of community banking, always on the lookout for the untapped opportunity.” He also was known for his energetic and enthusiastic support of Covington, even during some rough economic times.
“Mr. Haile specifically was a really big believer in Covington…There was a period where the future didn’t look so bright,” said Haile Foundation President and CEO Bernard McKay. “He never lost hope and believed in Covington and devoted a lot of his time and energy to projects to lift Covington. He was a force in developing the MainStrasse area, the Licking Riverside neighborhood, Old Town Plaza, and he helped many people.”
McKay noted Carol Ann Haile had a sharp mind and a college degree in mathematics. She was one of her husband’s closest advisors.
“It remains that Mrs. Haile not be overshadowed or forgotten. They are going to be honored in a portion of SparkHaus, and her picture is going to be there alongside Mr. Haile. That’s important,” said McKay. “They were a team.”
Together they grew the banking business, and together they contributed to many arts, cultural and philanthropic pursuits throughout the community.
The Hailes set up their family foundation to continue their legacy of support after their deaths. Carol Ann died in 2004, and Ralph died in 2006. The foundation that carries their name started on January 1, 2007.
Investment in regional economic initiatives, such as neighborhood revitalization, workforce development and entrepreneurship is a key part of the foundation’s mission.
Haile believed in people and gave them a chance, said McKay. “I can’t tell you how many times people have said, ‘I wouldn’t have been able to start my business if Mr. Haile hadn’t given me a loan,’ McKay said.
SparkHaus aligns well with the founders’ legacy of community support and of providing opportunities for growth, he said.
“We thought it would be a good fit for us,” he said. “Giving people the tools where they can scale, it’s exciting. I met some of these entrepreneurs that are getting started. They have a lot of good energy, and they’re positive, they’re forward thinkers. It’s inspiring.”
This fall, the Haile Foundation will physically return to its roots. After many years of operating from the Cincinnati side of the river, the foundation will relocate to Sixth and Madison streets in Covington in the very building that once housed the People’s Liberty Bank. In fact, Ralph Haile’s second floor office will become a part of the space leased by the Foundation.
The R.C. Durr Foundation
The R.C. Durr Foundation is known for its many charitable endeavors throughout Northern Kentucky. Named for entrepreneur and philanthropist R.C. Durr, the foundation carries on a legacy of compassionate giving that reflects Durr’s commitment to helping others throughout his life.
The Kenton County native grew up on a farm and carried a deep love of the land, according to the foundation’s website. An entrepreneur from the start, he used a $500 gift his aunt gave him for college to buy a truck instead and went straight to work. He started a highway construction business toward the end of WWII. With just one dump truck and one loader he won the bid for his first highway project in 1949.
Over the years, Durr worked on a number of large highway projects and built his business to become one of Kentucky’s most successful heavy construction and highway contractors. His company worked on large railroad, interstate and parkway projects throughout the state. He branched out into new areas of interest, purchasing an asphalt company in 1964 and adding a coal mining operation as well.
Durr also started the Boone State Bank, later purchased by Fifth Third, and helped found the Bank of Kentucky (now Truist).
It was evident throughout his career that R.C. Durr knew the importance of paying it forward.
In a 2003 interview he said, “I’ve had more luck than sense. So many people have been so good to me, and Lord knows I’ve needed a lot of help. I just try to be as good to my fellow man as I can and have love for other people. That’s something I do have.”
R.C. Durr Foundation President and CEO Wilbert Ziegler said he served as Durr’s attorney for 38 to 40 years.
“Mr. Durr was a very, very generous man…He didn’t just give to charities. He gave to many individuals as well,” Ziegler said.
Durr demonstrated an enterprising spirit throughout his life, not stopping with his construction business, but branching out into other areas that interested him. In addition to banking, he got into cattle farming and even into horse farms.
“All of those were ventures. When you start a bank, you have to put a chunk of money into it, and you don’t necessarily know that you’re going to be successful or not. He was successful, and from that point of view, he was quite an entrepreneur,” Ziegler said.
Since Durr’s death in 2007, his foundation has given away $40 million to a broad range of projects and causes, all with a focus on Northern Kentucky.
“The Durr Foundation doesn’t limit support to certain areas,” Ziegler said. “We have a wide range of interests, and one of them is improvement or development of our area… And, so SparkHaus is not out of the ordinary for us to do.”
Drees Homes Foundation
Ralph and Irma Drees established the Drees Homes Foundation in 2016 to provide an avenue for the home builder to give back to the Northern Kentucky community. The family owned and operated company, established in 1928 by German immigrant Theodore Drees, now includes a fourth generation of the Drees family.
Barbara Drees Jones, granddaughter of Theodore and daughter of Ralph Drees, is the vice president of marketing for the company and oversees the work of the foundation. She said the foundation sees the SparkHaus initiative as a good fit, because it will be “the home for entrepreneurs.”
While her grandfather built the family’s first home in Wilder and founded the company, it was her father Ralph Drees, she said, who expanded the company’s reach and scope. He had a vision that took the company into the future, and represents the entrepreneurial spirit. They plan to feature her father at SparkHaus.
“Ralph is the one that really grew the business. He grew from a local builder to a national builder. Obviously, both are important in our history, Theodore and Ralph, but we are doing a special little honor for Ralph at the SparkHaus itself.”
She explained, while her grandfather built about 12 houses a year on average, when her father joined the business, it really took off.
“My dad went to work for Theodore in the late 1950s. [Theodore] gave him his own neighborhood to start in Erlanger, and that was kind of his first big thing that he worked on…He definitely had a vision for the company. He not only expanded into Cincinnati, but he then expanded nationally in the early ‘80s,” Drees Jones said.
“Dallas, Texas, was the first other city we started, which was kind of a bold move, going from Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to Dallas…It had to do a lot with the economy at the time, and Dallas happened to be a good housing market…We are now in 11 different metro areas. It’s his vision, his ingenuity, that really emboldened the company to expand nationally,” she said.
In 2024 Drees Homes was listed as the 21st largest privately owned home building company in the country. Company wide they’ve closed on 2,300 homes with $1.7 billion in revenue. Drees is known as a “move-up builder” with national home prices at about $750,000 on average.
Drees Jones credits her father with the stability, longevity and success of the family-owned business. Her brother David Drees serves as CEO of the company and has brought the fourth generation on board with his children Alexa Drees Walker, who serves as Regional Design Center director, and Scott Drees, Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati Townhome Division president.
“SparkHaus is exactly the type of thing we do emphasize. We emphasize job training, skills, education and any kind of community-based endeavor,” she said.
To sustain economic growth and vibrancy in the community, you need entrepreneurs and new businesses coming in and staying in the local area, Drees Jones said. SparkHaus provides that home base.
Corporex
Bill Butler, the founder and chairman of Corporex, wrote a book about his start in business as an entrepreneur. In the beginning, Corporex was a true bootstrap operation, a tiny construction shop founded by a 22-year-old would-be architect with a few hundred dollars in his pocket and a dream to own his own business.
There were setbacks, but he didn’t give up. He started the company in 1965, and by the 1970s and early ‘80s, the company had gone from “a builder of buildings to a builder of businesses.” The company expanded its focus and broadened its vision to go beyond building structures to include hotel, office, residential and sports club projects. Today, Corporex has become one of the nation’s leading privately owned investment and development firms. The company is focused, not only on the development of physical spaces, but also the investment in the people and communities that bring them to life.
“I’m one of those guys who started without anything. I might have had $500, and I was 22 years old. But I had a terrible need to succeed and an equally terrible fear of failure. And somehow we made it through four major economic recession setbacks and one pandemic,” Butler said.
“I once read a definition of entrepreneurs,” he said, “and it was something like, it’s a person who’s willing to assume the risk of his ideas.”
Corporex has always had a strong emphasis on community building and philanthropy. The company has been in business for more than 60 years and, in that time, the family of companies contributed cash and in-kind donations of more than $60 million in community initiatives.
Butler leads Corporex, consistently pursuing high-impact investments focused on change and harnessing the team’s skills. He said he invested in SparkHaus because of its mission and goal to create a supportive community for local entrepreneurs.
“It’s about getting people started in business. I supported it because it takes that team approach. It’s obviously good for the community, a good way to try to help young, entrepreneurial, aspiring people,” he said.
In his book Make No Little Plans, he summed it up: “Corporex will always be committed at its core to contributions, both internally and in the wider community.
If SparkHaus brings entrepreneurs together and rallies successful business people around them, it will be a valuable asset, he said.
His advice to entrepreneurs: “Persevere beyond reason. Never give up. Never give up.”
SparkHaus is fortunate to have received support from a wide range of donors. Behind the names are people and organizations with strong connections, deep commitments and great stories. Their contributions are building on the past while looking to the future.
Visit the SparkHaus website to get involved and learn more.
