Every entrepreneur’s story begins with a good idea. For Timothy Keenan, his good idea became High Performance Technologies Inc. Keenan co-founded the IT consulting firm in 1991, which provided many high-profile solutions to the federal government before its successful sale in 2011.
When asked to reflect on his career at HPTi, Keenan noted the teamwork as being one of the aspects he misses most.
“Working with teams of amazing, dedicated people was the best part of my career at HPTi,” Keenan said. “My favorite HPTi core value was that we work with bright, driven and creative people. At HPTi, we made that core value a living, actionable thing and it was inspiring every day.”
These days, the high-energy Keenan devotes his attention to Keenan & Associates, where he is CEO, as well as the Keenan Family Foundation where he serves as vice president and treasurer.
Keenan & Associates’ mission is guiding small to mid-sized firms past barriers to success through strategic planning and firm development advice.
“I help them navigate the technology firm growth market to move from one maturity stage to the next,” Keenan explained. “I find it very rewarding when these firms succeed and I can see another entrepreneur move forward.”
Growing a business is not for the faint of heart, much like the sport of lacrosse. Players must be agile, strategic and willing to take a hit when necessary. An entrepreneur possesses those same skills but uses them to innovate and execute plans that deliver results.
It’s widely known Keenan is an entrepreneur, but some may be surprised to learn he played lacrosse at Ohio State University and is very passionate about the game.
“I played at Ohio State University, have coached youth lacrosse for many years, my foundation supports a number of youth endeavors, and we provide funding to Ohio State and LeMoyne College men’s and women’s programs for leadership and life development training,” explained Keenan.
His foundation, The Keenan Family Foundation, was established for the support and advancement of youth in entrepreneurial pursuits. The foundation supports endeavors such as entrepreneurial education in addition to productive development activities such as orchestra, dance, sports and even counseling entities that assist youth through the many challenges they face.
Keenan considers the establishment of this private family foundation to be one of his proudest achievements.
“The establishment of the Keenan Family Foundation has enabled the establishment of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Ohio State University, and the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at Le Moyne College in upstate New York,” he said.
Both regions, he explained, were hard hit during the national recessions. At Ohio State, the entrepreneurial center facilitates entrepreneurial and innovation-based learning with the goal of impacting the global economy while at Le Moyne College the center for entrepreneurship’s focus is on supporting upstate New York’s small business community.
The change of Keenan’s career may require the same amount of working hours but it allows for him to engage in things he is passionate about all day.
So what’s next for Timothy Keenan?
On any given Sunday, he may be found watching OSU Buckeyes football, other days he could be involved in any number of activities.
“I currently am on a number of boards of advisers, where I assist small firms in growing to the next phase, I also just gave the keynote speech for the Upstate Venture Association to provide a vision for Upstate New York entrepreneurs,” Keenan said. “My wife and I are also looking into a number of colleges/universities to establish another Center for Entrepreneurship in an economic region that needs our help.”
Bob Kipps of KippsDeSanto said, “With or without his Diet Mountain Dew, I am not all surprised that Tim’s kept busy. While not how he originally intended to use his post-HPTI time, many GovCon business owners/leaders are much better off after enduring a session of Tim’s tough love on how to build a valuable GovCon technology business.”
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