The Garage

The Garage: Nolan Family Center for Innovation

Amazon. Apple. Disney. Google. Mattel. Each started in a garage. Now it's your turn. 

The names mentioned above are just a few of the world's most innovative and successful companies, and they just so happened to be founded in garages. With the creation of a student-directed business incubator, Walsh University students have the opportunity to develop the enterprising skills they require to be ready for the entrepreneurial, global, dynamic workplace of tomorrow.

Our Story

logo for The Garage: Nolan Family Center for Innovation

In 2015, four students came up with an idea and wanted to start a business. They immediately went to the library to collaborate but quickly realized that the quiet environment was not suitable for innovation. Then they went to the cafeteria in hopes to have a more relaxed place to lash out idea but found that it was too loud to foster ideas. The dorm rooms were not suitable either, so these four students had to seek out a new place to operate. In the spirit of entrepreneurship, they built one. Josh Ippolito, Andrew Chwalik, Matt Strobelt, and Iagos Lucca found an old garage on campus and went to President Jusseaume, and the rest is history. The Garage is a student-run entrepreneurship program located on the campus of Walsh University. Our motto is "by students, for students" and that mantra is at the heart of everything we do. As an organization, we work with students who already have existing businesses and students who have ideas for startups. Our mission is to instill entrepreneurial and creative thinking in all Walsh University students who desire to sincerely pursue innovation while fostering a community of knowledge, imagination, and collaboration; to develop students into servant leaders who will have a lifelong commitment to social, economic, and personal growth through entrepreneurship.

Join the Garage!

 


Meet the Team

Tessa

Tessa White

President/ CEO

Katerina

Katerina Matthews

Vice President/ COO

Bailey

Bailey McGinnis

Treasurer / CFO

Hannah

Hannah Petersen

COE (Chief of Entrepreneurship)

Audrey

Audrey Dornisch

Director of 3-D Printing

Amelia

Amelia Freeman

Director of Outreach

What We Stand For

Inspiring Passion Through Curiosity

In the Garage, we focus on being supportive sounding boards for innovative ideas. We’re a group of friends, roommates, and everyday students (just like you) that pride ourselves on being unique. If you’re someone who thinks differently or sometimes feels like you’re a little “outside of the box…”

A Community of Innovators & Problem Solvers

At the heart of the Garage, we are a community of people seeking to innovate and problem solve. We see opportunities for innovation in our everyday lives and choose to help bring it to life. We believe that everything can be improved upon as long as the right people are in the right place, at the right time.

For the Students, By the Students

The Garage was founded on the backs of the club’s first few entrepreneurs. They believed that it was important to have a space on campus that was “for the students, by the students” so we developed a space where students are able to express themselves and develop their idea as well as be a part of a community of innovators on campus.