About Denny

A product of Clark County with deep roots in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District, Denny Heck is a progressive entrepreneur with a proven track record of creating jobs and economic opportunity in the private sector and getting things done through public service.

Denny is perhaps best known for founding TVW in 1993, the nation’s preeminent statewide public affairs television network from which he retired in 2003. While at TVW, he hosted the award-winning public affairs program, Inside Olympia, and also won an Emmy™ for a documentary he wrote and produced.

The Washington Coalition of Open Government honored Heck with its 2009 "James Madison Award" for his role in co-founding the TVW Channel, which debuted in 1995. A Seattle Times editorial praised Heck's "strong fight to bring CSPAN-style coverage to state government" and "helping to make government more transparent. “Heck,” the Times wrote, “who brought government into people's living rooms...embod(ies) the principles of open government." And the Olympian editorial board wrote, “TVW provides an important public service by throwing open the doors of government and educating residents about the workings of elected and appointed officials.”

Born in Vancouver in 1952, Denny was raised in the Lake Shore area of Clark County, where he graduated from Columbia River High School before attending and graduating from The Evergreen State College in Olympia in 1973.

Denny was an original investor in Real Networks, the digital entertainment company that pioneered streaming media on the Internet. He co-founded Intrepid Learning Solutions, a Washington State-based worker-training and learning business-services company with offices in several states; today, Denny serves on the company’s board of directors. He is also the co-owner of Bruin Development and is the lead investor and chairs the Board of Directors of Digital Efficiency, a company that provides electronic medical records solutions to health care providers. Both companies are based in Thurston County.

Denny served as Chief of Staff for Governor Booth Gardner during his second term (1989-93). In 1976, at the age of 24, he was elected to the first of five terms in the State House of Representatives from the 17th district in Clark, Skamania and Klickitat Counties. While serving in the House, Denny was chosen by his colleagues as Majority Leader, the second-ranking position in the House. He also co-chaired the Education Committee and wrote the state’s historic Basic Education Act.

Denny’s public service commitments are strong. He is a board member of the Washington State History Museum and serves on the Board of Trustees of The Evergreen State College. He served on Governor Gregoire’s recent blue ribbon Washington Learns Commission, where he chaired the Higher Education Committee. In 2008, he and his wife, Paula, helped establish the Principals’ Emergency Checkbook Fund for low income children in the Olympia Schools. They also endowed a scholarship at Columbia River High School in Vancouver in his brother Bob’s memory; Bob Heck served as a Marine in Viet Nam and passed away in 1981 from complications due to exposure to Agent Orange.

Denny has been married for 34 years to Paula Fruci Heck, a retired educator who began her career as a teacher and later served as a vice principal in the Evergreen School District. She retired as the principal of Jefferson Middle School in Olympia. Together, they have two sons, Bob, 25, a development officer at Willamette University and Trey, 18, a recent high school graduate.

Denny has written two books, one a nonfiction essay on education policy and the other a novel entitled The Enemy You Know. In 2008, he also wrote and performed a one-man play, entitled Our Times, which generated $30,000 in ticket sales all of which he and his wife donated to local Washington State charities.