Meet Jason, Joseph, and Dan
The Coleman Center strives to provide valuable resources and assistance to entrepreneurs and business owners. Additionally there are DePaul alumni working at other entrepreneurship support organizations that share similar missions. Jason Jacobsohn of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, Joseph DeLaGarza of UIC’s Center for Urban Business, and Dan Buckenmeyer of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Notre Dame are all part of this industry - and people you should know.
Meet Jason
Jason Jacobsohn (MBA ‘02) is the Director of Client Services at the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, a nonprofit affiliate of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. The Coleman Center primarily targets early-growth stage businesses, and their services include sales and client-development, financing, strategic advisory programs, support resources, and community development.
Jason’s main focus at the Center is helping businesses raise money, specifically as they prepare to pitch to investors. He provides counseling and connects entrepreneurs with resources including contacts with investors and potential clients. In addition Jason manages several programs - Innovate Illinois, a six month program administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Coleman Center; and the Accelerator Seminar Series, a program that educates entrepreneurs on sales and finance. As stated on the program’s website, its goal is “to provide revenue-generating businesses throughout Illinois with the assistance and resources to help them take their innovations further and grow their businesses.”
Having been involved in entrepreneurial activities throughout his career, Jason knew a position at an entrepreneurship support organization was a good fit to compliment his analysis and consulting experience from working at several firms, including Vcapital. In this role, he learned what investors look for in businesses and how he could help entrepreneurs make their ideas more attractive to them. It also opened him to the opportunity of helping entrepreneurs and getting involved in the technology scene. These experiences, as well as earning an MBA from DePaul, all played a part in influencing Jason into his current role.
While attending DePaul Jason co-created the workshop Storytellers, a series of career networking events held by the DePaul MBA Association featuring business leaders and alumni who share their experiences and offer insight to MBA students. Additionally, he is the Co-Chair of the DePaul Alumni Board’s Outreach Committee, is involved with DePaul’s Sales Leadership Program, and is one of the founding members of the DePaul Entrepreneurs Network. Jason has served as a panelist and moderator for Coleman Center events and mentored students that participated in the DePaul New Venture Challenge.
Jason has always believed in helping people, and he enjoys building relationships throughout the community - a fundamental aspect of his job that he utilizes on a daily basis. “I get to meet a lot of different people and learn about a lot of different things, so it’s a pretty neat part of the job,” he said. These opportunities enable him to assist entrepreneurs when they are looking to make contacts and find resources.
Meet Joseph
Joseph DeLaGarza (COM ‘99) found himself working at an Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) six years ago after making a move from the corporate world. He knew he wanted a career change but did not initially expect to work for an entrepreneurship support organization. When he came across the opportunity, however, he jumped at the chance.
Joseph began his entrepreneurial venture when his cousin became interested in owning a franchise business and asked for help with his business plan. Not having much experience at the time, Joseph started attending workshops, interviewed other franchise owners, and learned what he could about business plan writing. After careful thought and consideration and with the information they gathered, the two cousins decided not to further pursue the opportunity.
A short while later, Joseph was laid off from his corporate job but found a position with the 18th Street Development Corporation in Pilsen as Director of the Illinois SBDC. Little did he realize that the time and energy spent into exploring a franchise business opportunity would soon pay off in his new role.
Now the Associate Director of the Illinois SBDC at UIC’s Center for Urban Business, Joseph provides individual consulting and seminar training to entrepreneurs and business owners. He also advises entrepreneurship consulting services provided by teams of UIC students. Overall, the Center’s main goal is to assist start-up companies and help existing businesses grow and find the resources they need to be successful.
Since joining the Center for Urban Business five years ago, Joseph continues to enjoy meeting new entrepreneurs and watching them grow into successful business owners - a personally fulfilling aspect of his job. “I feel like a paid humanitarian because I still receive a salary, but I offer free consulting advice to small business owners,” he said.
Joseph’s education has played a significant role in his career. He earned his bachelor’s degree from DePaul, and an MBA in International Business and Entrepreneurship from UIC. He was very involved with various DePaul student organizations including: the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs’ S.T.A.R.S. (Students Together Are Reaching Success) program, where he was an advisor/peer mentor; and Alpha Psi Lambda, a co-ed fraternity focusing on the interests of Latino university students. He remains involved with DePaul’s Alpha Psi Lambda chapter and currently serves as the Faculty Advisor for the UIC chapter. Joseph credits the organizations with giving him valuable and practical experience that he has been able to apply in the business world.
Additionally, Joseph served as President for the DePaul Hispanic Alumni Association in 2004, and remains involved with DePaul as much as he can. He’s been invited to speak at several entrepreneurship classes and other functions where he can share his experiences and offer advice to students and alumni.
Meet Dan
Dan Buckenmeyer (LAS ‘92) is the Associate Director at the University of Notre Dame’s Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The Gigot Center is responsible for Notre Dame’s entrepreneurship curriculum and for coordinating business competitions and programs reflective of traditional and social entrepreneurship. Dan and the Gigot Center staff manage and oversee these operations.
On the academic end, Dan helps manage the growth of the entrepreneurship program and its faculty. Entrepreneurship is offered as an undergraduate major, an MBA concentration, and in courses for non-business students. In addition to taking classes, a majority of students participate in study abroad programs which include teaching entrepreneurship to students at a university in Jamaica, and helping entrepreneurs and microentrepreneurs in South Africa and Guatemala.
The Center also coordinates business plan competitions, annual highlights of the Center, and a MicroVenturing Certificate Program - incorporating microventuring and social entrepreneurship that expands into communities around the world.
Prior to Dan’s current role, he earned his bachelor’s degree from DePaul, a Master of International Business Economics from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. He also has experience throughout his career working for start-ups and establishing his own entrepreneurial ventures. “I’ve always had this entrepreneurial bug,” he said.
One start-up Dan worked for is PalmTree, Inc., a software and consulting firm where he served as the Director of Sales & Marketing and was one of two key partners - the other being a friend he met at DePaul, Jack Flynn (MBA ‘01, COM ‘93). While Dan has since moved on from this position, the company’s ties to DePaul live on. “There’s still a lot of DePaul DNA in that organization today,” he said. Many other DePaul relationships have been part of his entrepreneurial ventures over the years, some becoming his closest friends.
Always knowing that someday he wanted to teach combined with a lifelong interest in entrepreneurship, Dan took advantage of the opportunity to work at the Gigot Center last year. He enjoys helping entrepreneurs make connections and find the resources they need to be successful, and being around the “electricity” and energy they exude makes his job exciting every day. “I can be an entrepreneur with no risk,” he said.
This energy, found throughout entrepreneurship support organizations, is likely the reason why people in this industry love what they do.