Iona College’s Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has a new and modern space to serve as an incubator of economic innovation and leadership.
The institute’s new home is a glass-enclosed, 3,800 square-foot space added to the front of Spellman Hall, which is located in the center of Iona’s suburban campus in New Rochelle. The Hynes Institute’s new building, which opened on September 12, celebrates the second anniversary of the Institute’s founding and the educational strides its students continue to make to innovate the global economy.
Anne Marie Hynes co-founded the institute in 2017 with a $15 million gift to Iona with her husband, James ’69, ’01H. Hynes was part of the design team that toured the country to learn from other entrepreneurship programs.
“This process positively impacted the state-of-the-art design that is so integral to the new home of the Hynes Institute, as well as assisted the development of myriad academic offerings for Iona students,” Hynes says. “To recognize the culmination of our efforts with a ribbon-cutting ceremony officially opening the space is a very special moment.”
A few of the academic opportunities the institute offers to students are a new academic minor and graduate certificate in entrepreneurship and innovation, access to start-up funding, and co-curricular programming like student clubs.
One such student who will reap the benefits of the new space is Lisbeth Baez ’20, president of the Entrepreneurship Club at Iona, who is majoring in management with a minor in entrepreneurship. “The Hynes Institute is bringing limitless opportunities to our campus,” she says.
“I firmly believe that our new space will inspire, motivate, and challenge my peers and me to develop sustainable, innovative, and entrepreneurial solutions to continue to impact our surrounding communities and the world.”
