Students have a new place to study – and learn about business – thanks to a partnership between the Guelph Chamber of Commerce, Innovation Guelph and CME. Last month, the Chamber in cooperation with Innovation Guelph opened the third floor of their building at 111 Farquhar St. to CME students on Friday afternoons. The third floor is home to Innovation Guelph, which provides support to entrepreneurs and new businesses.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our students to connect with our local Chamber of Commerce and local business community,” says Sylvain Charlebois, associate dean (research and graduate studies) at CME. “To have our students physically engaged with key business partners in Guelph can only make us more relevant.”

The “Friday Afternoon Study Hall” was the brainchild of Anna Nguyen, front of house manager at Innovation Guelph, and Jenika McLean, a CME student who worked at the Chamber last summer. Nguyen and Kristel Manes, also of Innovation Guelph, were looking at ways of getting U of G students more involved in the business community. Further conversation led to the suggestion that CME students would benefit from using Innovation Guelph as their own study space. “It is the perfect gateway to bring students into a collaborative space to learn,” says Nguyen.

“We have lots of natural ties to the University of Guelph already,” says Lloyd Longfield, president and CAO of the Chamber, where CME already has office space. “Getting students on site using the space here seemed like a very natural step to take.”