Ben Koller

How long have you lived in Milwaukee and why did you choose to move here?
I was born & raised in the central city of Milwaukee not really by choice, but more like birthright. I am a proud product of MPS and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee, yet unfortunately I was one of those “Grass is Greener” types and when I got my chance to leave Milwaukee I did it quick. Later I realized that other places around the world may seem more glamorous and full of opportunity, but there is no place like home.

What about Milwaukee makes a place you want to work and play?
Milwaukee is a city that is big enough to do great things and small enough to get them done. We are dealing with a new frontier, where anything is possible and we all have the unique opportunity to build the city the we’ve always dreamed of living in.

What is your favorite Milwaukee event?
Court side center court at a Milwaukee Bucks playoff game. It’s a luxury to have an NBA team in your city no matter how good they are.

What is one thing about Milwaukee you’d like to see change?
Our inferiority complex as a city. We aren’t LA, NYC or Chicago…Thank God! So let’s stop comparing our apples to their oranges, we can create our own identity that is unique and authentic for us.

What do you do?
Great question…how long do you have and how many words do I get? I was told by a friend recently that when describing what “Ben does” to someone he had to pause and think for a moment. He responded with: “Ben is the A to B guy, he brings the pieces of the puzzle together for big ideas to happen.” (Flattered). Really I’m an entrepreneur that is highly interested in projects & ideas that add extreme value to the world while enhancing the human experience. Most recently, we have created Our MECCA Group which is a company that fuses creative art & conscious commerce to inspire & entertain through music, film, fashion & literature with the MECCA Floor Project (which seeks to show painter Robert Indiana’s world’s largest pop art painting, the former basketball floor of the  MECCA Arena, to the country and then bring it home for Milwaukeeans to see once again) being our inaugural endeavor.