Often inventors have good ideas, but they need a little help turning those ideas into reality. That’s where Tom Frey comes in. Frey is the founder and chief executive of the Da Vinci Institute in Louisville, which helps inventors bring their ideas to fruition. The Institute provides inventors with the mentors, knowledge, skills and funding they need to get their inventions off the ground. “We help steer them in the right direction and introduce them to the right people,” Frey says.

“And then we just encourage them a lot. Not all of the ideas are good ones.”

Frey, who was born and raised in South Dakota, launched the Da Vinci Institute in 1997 because he wanted to surround himself with bright, articulate people who wanted to make a difference in the world and to be an outlet for their ideas, he says. “People that are tortured by their ideas can’t sleep at night because a good idea is like an adrenaline rush,” Frey says. “It gives you a high. As soon as that idea starts to fade, you’re looking for the next one.When there are too many ideas, it’s difficult to separate the good ones from the bad ones.”

The Da Vinci Institute is a futurist think-tank whose motto is: “Unlocking your future, one idea, one invention, one business at a time.”

Frey is currently working to create a museum that will house future inventions from all over the world, he says. He’s in the process of meeting with officials from cities throughout the Front Range to find out if they’re interested in having their city host the museum. “This is not just our project,”he says.“This is something the community has to want to be involved in. It will essentially change the image of that city. It’s one of a kind. There’s nothing like it in the world.”

“To date, the museum has received nearly 600 submissions from 22 countries,” Frey says. The museum will have multiple pavilions, each with a different theme. Frey has been in contact with many of the world’s best artists, designers and model makers to do exhibits that will be interactive and stimulating. Eventually, the museum should also have 3-D models, holographics and display videos. It will kind of be “a cross between a museum, an education center and a theme park,” Frey says.

“The fundraising effort to generate the $50 million to $60 million it will take to get the museum up and running is underway,” says Jim Leonard, project manager for the De Vinci Institute.The first fundraising event was held last fall at Fiske Planetarium in Boulder. “We’re in the process of raising that money, but we’re not there yet,” Leonard says.

Frey also is in the process of bringing a division of the U.S. Patent Office to Denver. He’s created a task force that includes such people as Andrew Romanoff, Colorado Speaker of the House; Erin Minks, Community Liaison for US Senator Ken Salazar’s Office; Thomas Franklin, Patent Attorney at Townsend &Townsend & Crew; Dr. Lesley S. Craig, former Managing Partner at Townsend &Townsend &Crew; Preston Gibson, President and CEO of the Jefferson Economic Council; Christine Shapard, Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade; Drew Bolin of the Colorado Office of Economic Development &International Trade; and Jeffrey Divney, General Counsel, Intellectual Property at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “It’s quite an impressive list (of people),” he says.

Frey, who has been referred to by the Denver Post as the “Dean of the Future,” and Boulder Daily Camera as the “Father of Invention” is a leading expert on the process of launching new businesses and new technology. He gives talks around the country to everyone from government officials to executives of Fortune 100 companies, such as AT&T, First Date, Boeing, Ford and Hunter Douglas. Some of the topics he’s spoken about include the future of: money, libraries, innovation, transportation, and information. Other possibilities include the future of entertainment and the future of education.

Frey also is in charge of bringing in the Institute’s speakers and organizing its events. This year, the Institute expects to hold about 48 events, up from 43 last year, Frey says. The Institute uses classrooms in the De Vry Institute for events.

Frey writes the Institute’s newsletter entitled “News from the Future.”Additionally, he serves as editor of the Impact Lab, an online emerging tech blog that was recently rated by Popular Science Magazine as “one of the top five science blogs in the known universe.” He’s the author of the book “Inventions of Impact,” and has written numerous articles on a wide range of futuristic topics. He’s also a contributing writer for The Futurist magazine.

It’s not unusual for Frey to work 18-hour days, and he often works seven days a week. But he doesn’t mind the hours, because he loves what he does.“I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t fun,” he says. “This is the best job in the world.”

Frey is a very creative and innovative person whose mind is always running with ideas, according to his colleagues. Not long after he gets one good idea, another comes. “You put yourself in a creative environment, and the ideas start sparking,” he says.

“He loves what he does,” says Kevin Johansen, an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Da Vinci Institute, who has known Frey for four years and works with him every day. “It’s not unusual for people in the entrepreneur community to work long hours, but they do it because they love it. It’s a lot more fun to work with people who (like Tom) are enthusiastic about what they’re doing.He loves to help people bring their ideas to fruition. He’s as selfless as any business person I’ve ever worked with. Tom sees a problem from 360 degrees better than anybody I’ve ever worked with. There’s a difference between playing with ideas and working with ideas. Tom plays very well with ideas. When he’s done playing with an idea, the entrepreneur has a better understanding of how best to work with it.The first step they take after working with Tom is usually the right one. He’s collected a living, but he’s not in it for the money... He’s a pretty cool guy. My feet are more on the ground, whereas Tom is more the visionary, seeing how things are going to go. He’s a futurist. Even though he’s a visionary and I’m not, we’re always able to find common ground. The word driven really describes him. He works all the time. He helps a lot of people out without charging them anything. I admire him very much. He has a very loyal following of people. The people who know him like him. He inspires loyalty just because of how he is. I have never heard him once say anything bad about anybody. He’s a hard worker. He’s always working. He is the Da Vinci Institute. He’s very passionate about his work, the Institute, the members, everything the Institute stands for.”

“About 60 percent of the technology jobs that Colorado will have 10 years from now haven’t been created yet,” Frey says. He thinks Colorado’s tech future is bright.“We have some amazing talent here that is kind of flying under the radar,” he says, adding that “we need to do a better job of showcasing our talent, letting the world know we are here.”