According to an article on the Quinlan School of Business website, Loyola University Chicago and 1871, a co-working space for digital and tech entrepreneurs located in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart building, have partnered up. Referred to as “the Silicon Valley of Chicago,” 1871 connects startup ideas with mentors, educational resources, potential investors, and a community of like-minded individuals and companies.
A partnership with a leading Metro-area business school makes a lot of sense for the both the university and the cooperative space. Now Loyola students, faculty, and staff will now have access to a small space at 1871 that will allow six student-entrepreneurs to work and network together.
“It’s a place you can go and dream about something,” Fernando Russo said in that article but Anna Gaynor. Russo is a recent Quinlan MBA alumni. “It’s great, but they also tell you that dreams without work mean nothing.”
Russo added:
“Everybody that you see there working either at the community tables or in their private tables, you know what they’re doing. You don’t know exactly what they’re doing, but you know what they’re after. So if they’re believing it and they’re doing it, I can do it with my team and my people.”
For entrepreneurs, 1871 provides resources to help launch their startups. Now Loyola students will have access to those same benefits.
“Entrepreneurs have to wear a lot of hats,” Ugur Uygur, a PhD, an assistant professor at the Quinlan School of Business, said. “Our partnership with 1871 provides a great opportunity for our students to learn how to wear all those hats, increase their knowledge across all disciplines, and connect with some of the brightest minds in Chicago.”