Scholarship launches businessman into diverse career in Denver

04 Apr Scholarship launches businessman into diverse career in Denver

Jack Pottle, a 1973 Boettcher Scholar, has helped shape some of Colorado’s top industries — from working in cable to providing homes for some of Denver’s trendiest new restaurants.

And though Jack has called Colorado home for his entire life, he likely would not still be here without the Boettcher Scholarship.

A Denver native, Jack Pottle attended Kennedy High school. Like many Boettcher Scholars, he originally planned to attend college out of state, setting his sights on a liberal arts college in California.

Jack Pottle, 1973 Boettcher Scholar

“I hadn’t even applied to Colorado College, but after receiving the scholarship, it turned out that CC was an extraordinary place to go to school,” Jack said.

Being a liberal arts major, Jack jokes that he could not decide what to do, which has led him to have five distinct careers. After graduating from CC, Jack began his career in the research and consulting business. Soon after, he began a career in cable, at the time when the growing industry made Denver the “cable capital of the world”, by joining Rifkin Communications as vice president of operations.

He continued his tenure in cable as the president and chief operating officer of Fanch Communications. After selling the company in 1999, Jack joined the competitive telephone business, an industry he considers both very challenging and very rewarding. After selling that company in 2006, Jack became a managing partner at Viridian Investment Partners, a firm specializing in private equity.

Currently, in his fifth career, Jack works to redevelop and repurpose old, historic buildings in North Denver. Recently, he helped to transform one of Denver’s historic brothels into Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox restaurant in the LoDo neighborhood, as well as redeveloping Cobbler’s Corner in the Sunnyside neighborhood.

And still, Jack prioritizes community service and the spirit of giving back. “I think the fact that I am still in Colorado now is because of receiving the scholarship, and I think it also instilled in me a desire to give back.”

Jack Pottle competing in a local marathon.

His community involvement has primarily focused on education. He has served on the boards of the Young Americans National Bank, Colorado College, and now Escuela de Guadalupe — a dual language school in Denver, whose mission is to develop its students into compassionate leaders.

“I came from a family of educators, which taught me the importance of education and that there is no ‘magic ticket’ in life, but that receiving an education is as close to one as it gets,” Jack said.

It is that idea that fueled him during his own education, and has inspired him to help shape education in Colorado.