Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor owner, Tony Moravec, to speak at Cook Institute next month

BLOOMINGTON – Ivy Tech Community College’s Bloomington campus is hosting its eighth annual Cook Institute for Entrepreneurship luncheon on Wednesday, October 18 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tony Moravec, owner of the historic Indiana landmark, Zaharakos and president and CEO of Blairex in Columbus, Ind., will speak at the luncheon. The event is hosted by Ivy Tech Bloomington’s Gayle and Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship.

“Part of the mission of the Gayle and Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship is to foster entrepreneurship in the region,” said Chancellor Jennie Vaughan. “Welcoming our keynote speaker, Mr. Moravec, to Ivy Tech Bloomington for this annual business event is an example of how the Cook Center engages the public, businesses, and others who might be interested in moving their entrepreneurial ideas forward.”

Moravec is the president and chief executive officer of Blairex Laboratories, Inc., founded in 1976, that provides products for health care facilities, doctors, and families, including sterile saline solutions, sleep aids, and other over-the-counter products. He is co-founder of Applied Laboratories, Inc., founded in 1984, which manufactures trade, store brand, over-the-counter, non-prescription, prescription pharmaceutical products, and medical devices. Moravec is also owner of Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum in Columbus, Ind. and a principal in the Upland Brewing Company of Bloomington, Ind.

Individual tickets for the Cook Institute are $75 each. A table of eight is $600. Sponsorships are available at $1,000 for event sponsor and $2,000 for presenting sponsor. Proceeds support programs and scholarships at the Cook Center, and portions of tickets and sponsorships are tax deductible.

To purchase seats for the Cook Institute, log on ivytech.edu/cookinstitute.