The University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business and Industry Labs team up to inspire national security manufacturing competitiveness in the region

The South Bend – Elkhart Region is full of manufacturing companies that are poised to grow, and Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at the University of Notre Dame are finding innovative ways to contribute to that growth.

Nick Berente, senior associate dean for academic programs and James H. Sweeny III and Alicia Sweeny Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations at the Mendoza College of Business, speaks to the room of participants at the Notre Dame – U.S. Competitiveness Initiative kickoff in January. (Photo: Christina Clark, Notre Dame Research)

Earlier this year, Notre Dame’s Industry Labs and the Mendoza College of Business joined together to kick off the Notre Dame – U.S. Competitiveness Initiative. This pilot program brings together the Notre Dame EMBA and MBA programs, Northern Indiana companies, and manufacturing in areas that are critical to government priorities and national security.

During the session, participants and professionals explored opportunities in entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) — purchasing an existing business and assuming its leadership — as well as in business development. The program leadership’s goal is to inspire Notre Dame graduate students to take a lead in regional manufacturing growth and ETA opportunities, which advances Notre Dame’s mission with strategic relationships built in the regional economy.

Nick Berente, senior associate dean for academic programs and James H. Sweeny III and Alicia Sweeny Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations at the Mendoza College of Business, and Maria Gibbs, executive director of Industry Labs, introduced the program for the day, welcoming a full room of EMBA, MBA and ESTEEM candidates and graduates, and regional company representatives.

“Northern Indiana is an area primed for continued economic growth. The University of Notre Dame is excited to encourage some of our best and brightest students to consider ways to support the onshoring of critical manufacturing to support the nation’s security needs, all while helping to ensure the continued professional and economic growth of the region,” said Berente. Because of Notre Dame’s history with the U.S. military and the large population of military veteran graduate students, the program participants and regional companies are primed to find opportunities in the national security supply chain.

Read more about the partnership here.