Students and entrepreneurs collaborate to strengthen local businesses

Notre Dame senior Caitlin Dineen consults with Ronnie Jackson, founder of the youth nonprofit Reach One, Teach One and LaQuisha Jackson, founder of Soulful Kitchen, inside Notre Dame’s Collaboration Hub in South Bend.

This summer, Notre Dame senior Caitlin Dineen helped South Bend entrepreneurs troubleshoot the everyday challenges of running their ventures. Inside a brick storefront just west of downtown on Lincoln Way West, she met with small business owners, listened to their needs and provided guidance on everything from business planning to digital marketing.

Dineen interned at the University’s Collaboration Hub, which opened its doors a year ago. Since then, the hub has quickly become a go-to resource for local entrepreneurs and an experiential learning opportunity for area college students, including Notre Dame students in the University’s College of Arts and Letters and Mendoza College of Business.

“Seeing entrepreneurs’ passion and drive was really inspiring, and I appreciated the opportunity to support their work,” said Dineen, a psychology and business economics major who plans to work as a human resources consultant after graduation. “For me, this was also an opportunity to get hands-on experience with the various aspects of running a business.”

Read the full story at Keough.nd.edu/news-and-events.