LA Tank Wraps Successful Second Year

4/28/2017

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 Charles 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.

January 19 began the second season of LA Tank, and 75 students arrived at the first meeting with business ideas in mind. Students met in small groups to share and improve their ideas together. The night ended with the formation of 17 teams, each having a unique idea to work with. Examples included: 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 mentors 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 that 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.

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 occurred on April 9 and featured the top 10 teams: Night Nurse, mentored by Bridget Bredeman ’08; The Scantron Pen, mentored by Conor Mitchell ’07; Boomerang Bike, mentored by Alan Devey ’07; Techsoles, mentored by Mary Kate Casey ’05; Miracle Mat, mentored by Erin Mueller ’08; Scholarship Scout, mentored by Dan Kearns ’07; Bumper Bags, mentored by Savy Sebastian ’04; Simple Study Time, mentored by Charlie Shaw ’09; Park LA, mentored Michael Bufalino ’02; and Cashless Caf, mentored by Will Forsyth ’10.

The teams presented 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 and field a series of questions.

“Each group had three minutes to explain how their business model was unique and viable, who their target audience was and how they planned to make money,” explains Alumni Relations Coordinator Ashley Sanks ’10. “Following the pitches, our judges had the opportunity to ask questions.”

Judges included Daniel Gardner ’13, CEO and cofounder of Mesh++; John J. Hirschle ’91, sales director at Twitter; current parent Mary “Katie” Lawler, senior vice president and chief HR officer at ITW; and Stephen A. Sanger ’92, consultant at EatStreet.

Each business proposal was judged on five criteria: innovation, differentiation, business plan, viability and presentation.

Team Boomerang Bike, which proposed the development of a tracking device built into the frame of a bicycle, took first place. The team consisted of Morgan Banks ’18, project manager; Peri Ehlman ’17; and Emmet Wills ’18. Banks, Ehlman and Wills will receive a paid, weeklong internship at some of Chicago’s most innovative businesses. The experience will include visits to Google, hosted by Kristin MacGregor ’98 and current parent Karen Sauder; Twitter, hosted by John J. Hirschle ’91; Groupon, hosted by Margaret Hermes ’01; and 1871, hosted by Jim O’Connor ’85 and Kevin Willer ’92. The students will be assigned tasks, participate in meetings and be given resources to expand their business idea.

In second place was Simple Study Time, an app that enables students to collaborate with a chat room feature and digital whiteboard. Team Scholarship Scout came in third place, offering an app that efficiently pairs students with their ideal scholarship.

The remaining unranked teams in the top ten showed impressive innovation and entrepreneurship:

Night Nurse: an app that helps parents monitor a baby’s temperature through a special sensory crib mat

The Scantron Pen: a unique pen made of liquified graphite that reduces the time it takes for a student to fill the bubbles on a scantron test

Techsoles: a shoe insert that enhances a runner’s technique through advice given via Bluetooth technology

Miracle Mat: a safety device placed outside a bathtub that cae alert emergency services if an individual was to experience a fall

Bumper Bags: air bags placed on the bumper of a car that deploy seconds before detecting a rear end collision

Park LA: a parking service that pair student drivers with driveway parking around Loyola

Cashless Caf: an app that allows students to order online and pay for their meals, eliminating long lines and enabling students more time to enjoy their lunch

Receiving honorable mentions were teams HandiMan, an app that connects user to plumbers, electricians and more mentored by Brendan Egan ’07; Happy Box, a monthly subscription of products to help individuals de-stress mentored by Mary Dwyer ’06; Marco, an app that enables friends the ease and convenience of finding one another in large crowds mentored by Brian Doyle ’07; Med Mentor, an app that matches symptoms with possible disorders or ailments mentored by Kelly Orf ’07; Rise, a fitness app that allows friends to challenge each other with workouts and other activities mentored by Saly Sebastian ’06; and Save-a-Spot, an app that allows students to view and reserve open seats in the library and other high volume places mentored by Kara Bufalino ’06.

Notably, Matthew Kadus ’17 from team Save-a-Spot was awarded the inaugural Willer Family Accelerator Award, which recognizes the commitment of a student to the program. Kadus was chosen for his superior demonstration of the entrepreneurial spirit.

“This year’s finale was a tremendous display of the creativity and innovation by our current Ramblers, cultivated by alumni experts and entrepreneurs,” says Sanks ’10. “The bar has been raised very high, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s season.”

For more information, contact Dennis R. Stonequist ’90 at 847.920.2443 or dstonequist@loy.org.

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