Innovation, entrepreneurship center dedicated at Southeast Missouri State University | Business

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KFVS) - The Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was dedicated on Friday.

The center was dedicated for Douglas C. Greene of Vancouver, Wash. and Rancho Mirage, Calf.

The ceremony was in the Wehking Alumni Center following official name approval by the University's Board of Regents in December.

The center offers several academic and outreach programs including: innovation development and research, entrepreneurship education, training and mentorship and business incubation and development services.

Dr. Gerald McDougall, dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business at Southeast, said, “Doug Greene’s support and encouragement have allowed the Harrison College of Business to establish an outstanding set of programs in entrepreneurship that reaches across campus, extending into our immediate community, our larger region, and across state lines."

Greene has been involved in the center and the annual Global Entrepreneurship week for several years. He and his wife have made a 10-year commitment that totals $200,000 to give scholarship support to students interested in entrepreneurship.

He has also established the Janet Paar Greene Endowed Scholarship through the university foundation in memory of his late first wife, a Southeast alumna.

In 2006 Greene worked with students in the Harrison College of Business as the teams developed marketing plans for a product he developed- a remote control for turning Christmas lights on and off to music with the touch of a button.

After graduating from Marietta College, Greene worked at Sears Roebuck and Company in the executive training program. While there he served as store manager, manager of a retailing operation in a New York City suburb and  was responsible for bringing the Radial tire and Diehard battery to the stores. He also worked at the Chicago headquarters as the national buyer of lighting fixtures and fireplace equipment.

After 13 years he left Sears to work for a company in Portland, Ore. that manufactured glass door firescreens and went on to manage several other firescreen companies before starting his own company that developed remote controls for gas fireplaces.

He sold that company in 2001 and founded Skytech Enterprises which specialized in the development of Infrared devices for pain management and skin care treatments.

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