News Detail
LA Tank Program Strides into Second Year
During his senior year at Loyola, Sam J. Serio ’16 hatched Loyola Academy’s LA Tank program to inspire students to explore entrepreneurship while building relationships between Loyola students and alumni. His vision was to bring students and alumni together in a dynamic career program that encouraged Ramblers to embrace innovation and think differently about their future career paths.
Students are grouped into teams and tasked with identifying an existing problem to solve with a new product or idea. At regular check points throughout the product development phase, alumni speakers deliver workshop-style presentations to the teams of students.
“It’s a program modeled on Jesuit ingenuity,” says Assistant Principal Heintz. “While exposing our students to real-world business concepts, we’re also encouraging them to use the gifts and talents that God has given them to create new business models, solve problems and improve lives.”
What started as a simple idea to give students a jumpstart on their career paths has evolved into a type of thought-laboratory where students can navigate complex life and work environments under the guidance of alumni experts in their fields.
Now in its second year, the LA Tank program is in full swing. On January 19, 75 students arrived at the first meeting with a business idea in mind. Students met in small groups to share and improve their ideas together. The night ended with the formation of seventeen teams, each having an a unique idea to work with. Examples include: Scholarship Scout, a database that students can use to match their information to available scholarships through a mobile app; Cashless Caf, an ID scanning app that allows for cashless transactions and food ordering online; and Marco, a social media app that helps friends find each other in large crowds.
Accompanying each team is a Loyola Academy alumnus or alumna who will mentor the group along the way. Mary Kate Casey ’05 recently opened a physical therapy clinic after three years of developing her own business plan. “Because of this experience, I am excited to pass down the education I received in this endeavor to a new generation of young entrepreneurs,” she says. “Ideas like this are exciting to come across, and I am thrilled to assist students on their entrepreneurial journeys.”
Before the second workshop, each team tackled a list of tasks. They hosted a team meeting, conducted research, completed problem/solution sheets and assigned roles and responsibilities to team members.
Before the second workshop, each team tackled a list of tasks. They hosted a team meeting, conducted research, completed problem/solution sheets and assigned roles and responsibilities to team members.
Then, on February 15, LA Tank students met with entrepreneurial couple Erin Casey Wolf '98, co-franchiser of Bella Bridesmaids, and Five Guys franchisee Chris Wolf '97. Erin and Chris shared their entrepreneurial journeys with current students. The presentations provided guidance and inspiration on topics such as how to build a successful business plan. Students also benefited from ample time to ask questions and seek out important business tips related to their specific projects.
A finale event will occur in April and feature the top ten teams. Teams will present their business proposals in a format inspired by the reality show Shark Tank, which gives contestants an opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of business leaders.
For more information, contact Dennis R. Stonequist ’90 at 847.920.2443 or dstonequist@loy.org.
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