Journal Gazette Article

In 1791, Pierre L' Enfant laid out Washington, D.C. as a pattern of spokes radiating from the seats of power in the then-budding democracy.

That design is still profoundly stamped on the nation's capital and continues to shape that city's existence.

Don Willis expects to have the same effect on Fort Wayne. Or more.

He is chairman of a holding company formed in April to run three software companies and the head of an education foundation running a small Christian school - none of which would lead you to predict he will have history-making influence on northeast Indiana.

But Willis and his company, FourtWave, stand at the intersection of business and government, and influence power - not to mention ideas and money.

"I guess some people would say Tom (Teague) and I are dangerous," Willis said.

Teague is a FourthWave board member and the company's president and as a former state senator and former Chief of Staff to Mayor Graham Richard, he is just the beginning of the firm's connections.

Other board members include Michael Wartell, Chancellor of Indiana University and Purdue University Fort Wayne, and Tim Borne, the founder and chairman of the Asher Agency.

FourthWave is represented by lawyer and former mayor Paul Helmke, and recently hired away the city's Economic Development Director, Karen Goldner.

In October - six months after FourthWave came into existence-its subsidiary, SentryPoints, was drawing national attention for its homeland security software.

Movers and Shakers

In places where business and government relationships breed corruption, a company with a lineup like FouthWave's would have many looking for insider deals and conflicts of interest. FourthWave principals say connections-without-illegalities is the idea, because they want to ensure their ideas go somewhere.

Willis said the difference is that all of FourthWave's moves are made openly in the light of day - there are no deals for smoke-filled back rooms. The company is laid bare on its Web site at www.fourthwavellc.net , and officials volunteer information most business owners would keep secret for proprietary reasons.

"It's so important that it be visible everywhere, whatever we're doing," he said "Some people won't like it, but they won't have to discover what we're doing by sneaking. Besides, I'm allergic to cigar smoke."

FourthWaves's umbrella has such influential people under it because they believe in the company and what it wants to do for Fort Wayne, Willis said.

"We're collection up this little group of people that know enough about how things should work that they can explain how things should work," Willis said.

Willis has no shortage of ideas on how things should work: In addition to FourthWave's three subsidiaries, he's building a venture capital fund, designing downtown revitalization and creating an economic development plan for the region. He plans to turn opment plan for the region. He plans to turn Keystone School, currently in buildings on Homestead Road and Laverne Avenue, into a school system complete with a high school, middle schools, elementaries and pre-K programs, and is testing a wireless broadband network.

Like many entrepreneurs, Willis wants to do more than just create successful businesses. But his plans are far beyond the scope of most.

If he has his way, FourthWave will redevelop the OmniSource site on the St. Mary's River and change the face of downtown Fort Wayne, Willis envisions the OmniSource site as similar to San Diego's Balboa Park, combining museums, education and recreation. He wants a learning academy there and a Challenger Space Shuttle center.

Willis envisions FourthWave's venture capital fund as a magnet for start-up companies that will draw thinkers and creators to Fort Wayne the way computer techies were drawn to Silicon Valley, Calif.

His band of influential partners even wants to make Allen County and the City of Fort Wayne governments work together better.

"We have quarrelsome local governments, but we're going to fix that," Willis said. "We are lecturing and cajoling...we must be unified and improving and capturing the stuff we need in this area."

How will FourthWave pull it all off? It will take more than just a lineup of established movers and shakers-it will take a business that is wildly successful.

Perfect Timing

In 1989, Willis left Magnavox after 22 years and started Command System Inc., which developed software for the defense industry to let commanders and soldiers make battlefield decisions while the battle was being fought.

Willis sold Command System in August to General Dynamics for almost $100 million, but kept rights to the software for purposes other than defense.

Now, FourthWave and its technical partner, FourD Development, are using the technology for other uses, including homeland security.

Just as homeland security money is flowing like a river from federal coffers to state and local officials, those same officials are desperately trying to figure out what the security risks are and how to deal with them.

Enter SentryPoints, one of FourthWave's subsidiaries.

Its software package will let cities determine what threats and risks they have, so priorities can be set and addressed. SentryPoints' main software uses Command System's battlefield type command and control technology to manage incidents from terrorist attacks to natural disasters.

How successful will the system be? In October, FourthWave officials showed it off at the U.S. Conference of Mayors national convention in Miami, which has led to requests for demonstrations in Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta and Tampa Bay Fla.

SentryPoints already has two homeland security contracts with the state of Ohio to conduct threat and vulnerability assessments and compare the state's readiness with other jurisdictions.

Subsidiary VersiTech provides risk analysis and safety management software for colleges and universities, while MetroMetrics is developing a suite of project management software tools for local governments.

Mayor Graham Richard said no matter who is involved with FourthWave, the firm will have to follow the competitive bidding process like anyone else.

"Here is a dynamic entrepreneur who has been very successful and now is giving back to the community by starting a new business," Richard said. "I wish them every success."

A Fourth Wave

Author Alvin Toffler's books described the changes in society as waves with the first wave bringing the change from hunter/gather to a society based on farming. The second wave brought the Industrial Revolution, and the third wave is the Information Age.

Willis says the next wave will be a revolution in management style, one based on a philosophy expressed in 352 B.C. by Demosthenes, who said to stop doing what doesn't work.

"It sounds simple, but management can't do that," Willis said.

What doesn't work, Willis said is companies so large they cannot change, venture capital that will only pay for ideas already fully developed into salable products, economic development efforts that try to attract the same type of companies that are leaving, and schools that lower standards so everyone can meet them.

Those things aren't working, he said, so he's doing something different.

That approach is getting attention: A few weeks ago, FourthWave hosted a luncheon at IPFW for outgoing City Council members Rebecca Ravine and Tom Henry, and the guest list looked like a Who's Who of northeast Indiana.

Tim Borne said FourthWave's vision for the area is motivated by a desire to improve the city Willis loves.

"He's not taking his wealth and moving it to Florida," Borne said. " He's trying to make better schools, parks and the whole infrastructure of Fort Wayne and northeastern Indiana."