Honoring a Denisonian’s Memory through Red Frame Lab

On December 7, 2021, Jim Rorimer ’07, a native Clevelander and a New Yorker at heart, passed away after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. A year later, Tyler Blair ’07, Daniel Whitlow ’07, Brett Masarky ’07, Mete Tuzcu ’07, and Michael McDonald ’09 established the James J. Rorimer ’07 Endowed Fund for Entrepreneurship in honor of their enterprising friend, whose life was cut short before any of his business ideas came to fruition.

The Rorimer Fund provides support for current students looking to start their own businesses through Denison’s entrepreneurship incubator, Red Frame Lab. Red Frame leverages students’ strong critical thinking skills to create entrepreneurial solutions and bring them to scale through the mentorship of experienced coaches and business-leaders across the region.

Red Start-up and Red Accelerate, offered through Red Frame, help students to either start or progress their businesses. Every spring, teams participate in an 8-week program where they learn to identify target markets, write business plans, and pursue funding sources.

After connecting at a Red Frame event, Charlie Kuchler ’26 and Truc Hoang ’26 saw a market for boba tea on campus and decided to meet that demand themselves. They joined the Red Startup program, which helped them develop their business from concept to prototype. Red Frame coaches guided them through the nitty-gritty details of starting a beverage business — from meeting with suppliers to passing food safety protocols to creating their own LLC. Since opening in March of 2023 in Slayter Hall’s Nest, TruCha has sold over 10,000 cups, expanded operations to three days a week, and created 20 part-time student jobs.

Although Jim Rorimer may not have been able to see his ideas flourish, his entrepreneurial legacy lives on in the impact he’s made on the businesses of Denison students, through the Red Frame Lab.