Spreenkler forms nonprofit agency to energize business innovation

Milwaukee-based Spreenkler, LLC has launched Spreenkler Talent Labs, ltd, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to utilizing high school and college student talent to deliver fresh ideas to companies and accelerate regional business.
“We don’t want to be just an interactive agency, per se. Rather, an organization that leads innovative economic change by engaging talented young people with industry,” said Steve Glynn, founder of Spreenkler and Spreenkler Talent Labs. “We’re moving toward a model where our student-led interactive agency [Spreenkler Creative] is one piece, one idea within our talent development ecosystem.”
Spreenkler Creative is an interactive creative agency that traditionally hires college students to give them real-world experience and opportunities, Glynn said.
Students at Spreenkler are given the responsibility to lead and design marketing campaigns before they graduate from college.
“Originally it was a huge risk because I knew I’d be asking companies to trust that college kids can turn out quality ideas,” Glynn said. “Plus, I knew we’d have to be good because even though our employees are college students we charge real money for our services.”
During its first year, the team proved the model could work and Spreenkler’s clients included Fortune 500 companies, Glynn said.
“Spreenkler Creative is about engaging and developing young talent and integrating them within the industries in our community,” Glynn said. “It has always been a very deliberate hands-on method for making sure the talent we invest in gets disbursed to companies we need to keep in Milwaukee.”
According to Glynn, Spreenkler Talent Labs was launched as an avenue to expand on the ideas that Spreenkler Creative was already doing.
“We found that we had more ideas about how to (develop and expand the creative workforce),” Glynn said. “Ideas about how to reach young people and get them excited about the opportunities they have to build their career here.” 
Glynn is excited about the potential to expand the model and create a broad talent hub that supports long-standing and emerging industries in Southeastern Wisconsin.
For more information on how to get involved with Spreekler Talent Labs, visit www.spreenkler.com