The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center hosted a welcome reception on Sept. 28 to celebrate DePaul’s new membership at 2112, the music tech business incubator.
DePaul students, faculty and staff attended the DePaul Welcome Reception at 2112 this fall. From left to right: Misty Johanson, business college interim dean; Patrick Murphy, professor of management and entrepreneurship; and Abigail Ingram, assistant director at the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center. 
Business undergraduate student Keyante Aytch, who is currently working on his own design label of dress wear accessories , says the incubator offers resources he finds personally beneficial. "For me, being at 2112 is like being a kid in a candy store," he says. 
Based in Chicago’s Northwest Side Portage Park neighborhood, 2112 offers year-round programing which includes workshops on a variety of
topics, from copyright law 101 to virtual reality storytelling.
As part of the
membership, alumni, students and faculty can use DePaul’s dedicated office
space, mingle with other entrepreneurs and participate in 2112’s programming.
Coleman Entrepreneurship Center Executive Director Bruce Leech hopes DePaul's membership inspires more collaboration. "We think it’s really imperative to give our students that experiential opportunity to work on their own business or idea," he says. The Coleman Entrepreneurship Center hosted a welcome
reception this fall to celebrate DePaul’s new membership at 2112, Chicago’s
first business incubator focused on music, film and creative technologies
The Coleman Center’s membership is a combined effort with the School of Music, College of Law and the College of Computing and Digital Media. As part of the membership, alumni, students and faculty can use DePaul’s dedicated office space, mingle with other entrepreneurs and participate in 2112’s programming.
Bruce
Leech, executive director of the Coleman Center, says the membership gives
resources to students who are interested in building creative businesses. Over
a year ago, DePaul
joined 1871, Chicago’s digital startup incubator, giving students opportunities to participate
in business pitch competitions, collaborative events and more.
“I’m hoping our membership creates more diversity in the
type of teams that come together to start businesses,” Leech says. “If you
stick four finance students in a room together, the odds of them coming out
with a creative idea are probably rather limited, but when you spice it up with
students from different backgrounds – ethnically or educationally – that’s when
the magic starts to happen.”
The two-year-old facility – named after an album by the rock band Rush – is
based in Chicago’s Northwest Side Portage Park neighborhood and is part of Fort
Knox Studios. The incubator’s year-round programming includes workshops on a
variety of topics, such as virtual reality storytelling, copyright law 101,
building an app and motivation for getting a business started.
Business undergraduate student Keyante Aytch spent his summer interning at 2112.Keyante Aytch, an undergraduate management major studying entrepreneurship,
spent his summer as an intern at 2112 as part
of the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center’s Startup Internship Program. The
program places students with startup businesses to work closely with founders
on specific projects. In addition to administrative responsibilities, Aytch
worked with startups at 2112 on beta testing and building a music library for a
budding entertainment company.
“For me, being at 2112 is like being a kid in a candy store,” Aytch says. “I really just have a genuine interest in businesses and business ideas, so I was able to be in touch with startup founders all day. It was a great experience learning about different companies, and being hands-on with them here and there was a lot of fun.”
Aytch also stays involved with the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center by serving
as a peer advisor for DePaul students who are developing business ideas. He
actively participates in the center’s year-round events and workshops, too. His
own interest in starting a business began during his senior year of high school
when he took courses in economics and entrepreneurship, and became fascinated
with the process of building a business.
For Aytch, 2112 is especially beneficial. He’s currently working on his own
startup—a design label of dress wear accessories.
“As someone who is in fashion like myself, I may come across someone (at 2112)
who is in film looking for special pieces for a costume set, so there may be a
partnership there,” he says. “Those are the types of connections that are
extremely possible just from being in that space and being able to network
there as well.”
The Coleman Center’s 2112 membership also sends a message that entrepreneurship
is not just for business students and alumni, Leech says.
“There’s a very fine line between creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation,”
he says, adding that DePaul’s Center for Innovation recently merged with the
Coleman Center. “Whether you’re going to start your own business, there’s a
chance that in your career you’re going to end up working for yourself or
freelancing. We think it’s really imperative to give our students that
experiential opportunity to work on their own business or idea.”
Learn more about:
DePaul's entrepreneurship business major
DePaul MBA entrepreneurship concentration
Master of Science in Entrepreneurship