George E. Hansen, III
President & CEO
Enterprise Center of Johnson County
Mr. Hansen has more than 40 years experience managing businesses in multiple industries in both North America and Europe. In addition to managing for growth, he has also been principally involved in a variety of transaction types, including acquisitions, de-mergers and exits in both the public and private markets. He currently serves as the CEO and President of the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, a venture development organization, serving the Greater Kansas City economy. In that role he also serves as the Exec. Director of Mid-America Angels, the largest angel investing organization in the Midwest. Previously, he served as CEO and President of Zave Networks, a digital commerce company, engineering its sale to Google, Inc. in September of 2011. Prior to Zave, Hansen was a director of TGP Investments, a Kansas City based private equity firm. Preceding that, he was the CEO and President of Corporate Lodging Consultants, Inc., a market leading BPO company serving Fortune 100 companies and the US government. He lead a successful exit for its investors in 2009. From 1999 to 2004, he was the CEO and President of CARSTAR, Inc. the nation’s largest collision repair aggregator. Hansen held senior positions at Thorn EMI, PLC from 1988 to 1998; where as Executive Vice President he helped lead the sale of Thorn Americas, Inc. Hansen began his career in food service, holding senior positions at Denny’s, Inc. and Wendy’s International. A graduate of the University of Maine he also holds a certificate in Management from Columbia University. Hansen serves on the boards of Baldwin, LLC, CrossFirst Bank Holdings and Matrix Measuring Systems. He also serves on a number of charitable boards including the Dean’s Board of Advisors at the KU School of Business.
