DePaul professors in the Driehaus College of Business are looking to bring their classwork to the real world through a new partnership with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The partnership began this quarter with MBA students taking part in projects to create economic opportunities along the Red Line Extension site.
The MBA class kicks off on the heels of the CTA securing nearly two billion dollars to support the Red Line Extension project. Once complete, the project will add four new stations to the CTA’s rail network, granting greater access to the city for Far South Side residents. The agency has been working on the project since 2016 and is set to begin construction by the end of the year. If all goes to plan, it will be completed by 2029. The partnership will help support the CTA’s goals to expand the Red Line while promoting economic development in the new rail corridor.
“By leveraging the talents of DePaul’s students, CTA aims to bring lasting growth and vitality to communities along the project footprint. In this way, the partnership ensures the RLE project delivers equitable opportunities for all,” a CTA media representative said in a statement to The DePaulia.
James Mourey, a marketing professor at DePaul and director of the MBA program, was among the people who met with the CTA to initiate the project.
“What we like to do at the Driehaus College of Business … is to connect to the city, ask that question, ‘what must be done,’ and look around in our community to see how we can engage and be of value to the community,” Mourey said.
While this is the program’s first quarter, Mourey hopes this will become a lasting partnership with the CTA.
“MBA students are currently working on their project with CTA,” Mourey said. “Spring is when the undergraduate class will start their project. From there, the vision (is) this goes well … and (becomes an) ongoing relationship”.
James Bort, entrepreneurship professor and another project leader, will lead the MBA section of the partnership.
“We’re still sort of in the early stages of figuring this out, but at the highest level, it’s about invigorating these communities,” Bort said.
Through the course, students will analyze the neighborhoods on the Far South Side, like Roseland and South Michigan. With this research, the CTA will have an idea of what businesses would thrive in the areas being connected by the Red Line Extension.
The CTA sees understanding the needs of these Far South Side communities and bringing mixed development to this underserved region as the “project’s most significant challenges,” the CTA representative said in a statement to The DePaulia.
“These programs reflect our mission to create equitable opportunities for small businesses and ensure that transit investments generate meaningful benefits for the neighborhoods we serve,” outgoing CTA president Dorval Carter said in a CTA press release.
While the MBA students focus on entrepreneurship, undergraduate students will have the chance to work with companies throughout Chicago, and help them become contenders to be CTA vendors — external businesses that provide services to the CTA — for projects like the Red Line Extension.
“Luis Castillo is working on a different project with students in his entrepreneurship class,” Mourey said. “It’s a really great opportunity for our undergraduate students to practice what they’re learning in class, to help those companies and to work with them to make sure that they have what it takes, essentially, to be a top contender for work for the CTA.”
Related Stories:
- BREAKING: CTA President Dorval Carter to retire
- Bring a gun on the CTA? AI might know
- Red Line project to end transit inequity on Far South Side
Stay informed with The DePaulia’s top stories,
delivered to your inbox every Monday.
