Former NFL player opens Englewood small business incubator to encourage South and West Side youths

From screen printing to drone courses, a new small business incubator from former NFL player Walter Mendenhall is hoping to provide the space and resources young people on the city’s South and West sides need to succeed.

Co-LLAB launched Thursday at the Ada S. McKinley Community Services building in Englewood with Mendenhall and other community partners and supporters to mark the occasion. The multipurpose space is meant to be used by youths to further their businesses or ideas for endeavors in arts, entertainment and retail.

The incubator is aimed at young people ages 14 to 24. The membership-based program starting at $20 per month opens up access to experts in relevant fields, machinery to print and manufacture products, networking opportunities, career and trade workshops and more.

Co-LLAB is another branch of the Male Mogul Initiative, which was founded by Mendenhall in 2017. The nonprofit seeks to shape young men through leadership, entrepreneurship and workforce development and has helped over 3,000 people since its inception, according to the organization.

Mendenhall, a former NFL running back and teacher who went into entrepreneurship and nonprofit administration, said he wants Co-LLAB to be “an economic catalyst” in Chicago.

“This is the place where people will come to give their visions and businesses birth, and we’ll be creating jobs for young people and helping to solve the violence problem and the joblessness problem,” he said.

A Chicago native, Mendenhall was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals between 2009 and 2010. He also played college football for the University of Illinois and Illinois State University, and grew up in Skokie, playing for Niles West High School.

Mendenhall also runs a for-profit space in Bronzeville where young people in the community sell clothing, artwork, books and other accessories they’ve often produced themselves. Called Boxville, the cluster of businesses started in 2017 to help the revitalization of the historic neighborhood.

Imani Cobb is a 24-year-old event planner and cheerleading coach. She started her business because she found event planning to be “the perfect mix of being organized and creative.”

She said Co-LLAB will not only help her with networking opportunities but also provide space to help run her business. She hopes young people see her work in their communities and get inspired to become their own boss, especially as someone who has lived on the South Side of Chicago her whole life.

“I’ve grown up here and you’ve always been told that you have to go far to experience these things,” Cobb said. “It’s extremely important because people think they have to dream small because they don’t see places or opportunities like this where they are.”

“Now, there’s a place close to home, you can see it, you don’t have to go far to dream big,” she said. “You have resources on the South Side that you can get to and see people that look like you.”

Jaurice Winston, 22, is one of the executive directors and operating managers at the incubator. He started with Male Mogul when he was 15, he said, and was a “first-generation student.”

Winston said he grew up on the West Side of Chicago and got his associate degree from Harold Washington College in 2022. He started his clothing business at age 16, got into real estate in 2023 and hopes to continue to grow his brand while overseeing Co-LLAB.

“I want my younger peers to realize the potential they have and maximize the opportunities in front of them as much as they can,” Winston said. “While they’re here, we’re going to provide every resource, every piece of knowledge and anything we can to help and basically develop the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

Co-LLAB received $150,000 in funding for its launch from the Builders Initiative, IFF, KeHe Cares Foundation, MIGMIR and His Fund.