Western University gets $5.5 million to expand programs for young entrepreneurs

A $5.5-million gift from an alumnus is aimed at fostering entrepreneurs from different faculties as they develop their ideas at Western University beyond those in the Ivey School of Business.

The gift from the Pierre L. Morrissette Family Foundation will create the Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship to expand current programs for entrepreneurs within the Ivey School of Business and make them more accessible to students in all programs.

“Entrepreneurship has been very successful at Ivey,” said Pierre Morrissette, Ivey MBA graduate and executive chairman of Pelmorex Corp.

“Now we’re going to take that energy and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship across all faculties, providing an opportunity for students in engineering, in health sciences, in music, to create businesses, to commercialize knowledge and to convert that energy into realizable success.”

Western University said the money will be used to create a single leadership structure and brand across the university, under a single advisory board.

In addition to the $5.5 million, Western is contributing an additional $2.5 million to the initiative to help develop research, programming and education, bringing the total investment to $8 million.

“Providing opportunities for all our students to develop their entrepreneurial skills, regardless of their academic discipline, is a priority for Western,” president Alan Shepard said.

“This investment builds our capacity to offer an entrepreneurial experience for any student who wants one. We are deeply grateful for Pierre’s vision and generosity—he is a terrific champion for Ivey, Western and Canada.”

CEO, co-founder of Marlow and Ivey School of Business graduate Simone Godbout was at the announcement to talk about how her company was founded during her final year at school.

Marlow, a feminine care product company, has developed a tampon that’s more comfortable to insert while also working to break the stigma of talking about mensuration.

“The programs, people and support during our time there were pivotal at setting us up with a strong foundation.”

Godbout said both the support and multiple resources she was able to access while in school and support after graduation have helped her develop her company.

Godbout went on to say it’s exciting to see how the resources she was able to access while at Ivey School of Business will be expanded to help students from a variety of faculties look into starting their own businesses.

Morrissette, an entrepreneur himself, has now donated over $10 million to Western over the years in support of developing young entrepreneurs, as well mentoring students interested in entrepreneurship.

The founding co-chair of the Western Entrepreneurship Board, Morrissette has also served as a chair of the Ivey Advisory Board.

The director of the Morrissette Institute said it will be focused on helping students beyond the startup phase.

“What sets us apart is that we’re focused on more than just the startup,” said Eric Morse.

“We help entrepreneurs grow and achieve their goals at every stage of their entrepreneurship journey, however, they define success.”

While a student in her third year of kinesiology, Gurveer Bahai said she was inspirited by a professor to look at how to use her skills in science to start her own business after graduation.

Co-founder of ARISE N’GO and a recent Western graduate, Bahai talked about how the entrepreneurial resources already at the school helped her use her degree in kinesiology to start her own healthy snacks business.

“As a science student with no prior background in business, you can imagine I felt like the odd one out,” Bahia said.

Bahai talked about how this new funding will help students in different faculties and backgrounds explore starting their own business.