Aileron: A place to dream
> Photos of Aileron | Q&A with the founder
Monday, April 07, 2008
BETHEL TWP, Miami County — The first thing one notices about the new Aileron home is how long it takes to reach the front door.
No accident, that. The mile-long drive through a pastoral landscape helps visitors shift to a lower gear. The same idea lies behind the reflecting pool, waterfalls and gathering spaces.
Extras
Lee Skolnick, lead architect in designing the 71,740-square-foot business retreat, said he took the best he found in other centers and blended those in new ways.
"It invites you to relax, but then to think," Skolnick said Monday, April 7, the first time the center was opened to local media.
Aileron is the realization of a dream of founder Clay Mathile, a project that became a focus after selling pet food maker Iams to Procter & Gamble Co. in 1999.
The dream: Help fellow risk-takers realize their own dreams.
There's even a "dream room," suspended seemingly mid-air above the water.
"It's really designed to clear the clutter," said Joni Fedders, Aileron president.
Dave Sullivan, president of the Denver-Colo.-based Shamrock Group, said in a recent interview that he has worked with Mathile since 1992, when Mathile asked him to work with his senior people. Since then, Sullivan and his associates have written Aileron leadership courses and taught them, too.
Aileron presenters tend to be those who have spent time as top executives and business owners, Sullivan said. And much of their target audience are people like them — at or near the top.
"It's easier to work your way through the organization than up the organization," Sullivan said.
Since its 1996 founding as the Center for Entrepreneurial Education, decision-makers from some 1,000 organizations have taken advantage of Aileron courses, including twice that many owners and executives, Sullivan said. Those served include leaders from big and small companies, non-profits and local governments. If there's a common thread, Sullivan said, it's in serving private, not public, firms.
Aileron has served executives and leaders from Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. But no one misses the fact that Dayton is home.
Said Sullivan, "We're Miami Valley first."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Aileron
Purpose: Offer business leaders a place to "get away."
Located: 8860 Wildcat Road, Bethel Twp.
Campus: 114 acres.
Facility: 71,740 square feet.
Founder: Clay Mathile, former owner of Iams.
Investment: $30 million in the center, plus a $20 million endowment.
Employees: 11 full-time.
Web: www.aileron.net
Source: Aileron
