Two trustees of Northwestern University (NU) are donating $4 million to build an incubator space for student entrepreneurs. Michael Ferro Jr and Pat Ryan Jr each committed $2 million for the construction of the Garage, according to The Daily Northwestern.
Ryan explained the concept of the Garage: "Places like the Garage aren't necessarily for when you start your company," Ryan said. "They're really for a stage where you're working on an idea with a group of other students and you think it could be a business or you've done a project in a class that you think could be a business and the class has ended. It's really that space before you become a company but after you've already worked on it as a concept or a project, and so it's more of a formalized way of developing projects and ideas for the next stage."
According to Peter Barris, another NU trustee, the Garage was conceptualized to encourage students to pursue business and innovation. The structure, which will feature movable walls, will be designed by architecture firm Gensler. The incubator space will be located in a real garage near the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion, the report detailed.
Ryan is the head of the Garage trustee committee. Barris, on the other hand, is the head of NU's innovation and entrepreneurship committee, The Daily Northwestern added.
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