History

After completing his undergraduate years at Notre Dame, Jeff Riney stumbled upon the Innovation Lab and immediately found himself at home. An even greater influence came in the form of his soon-to-be academic advisor Dr. Matthew Leevy, a serial entrepreneur and Director of the Innovation Lab. With his guidance, Jeff founded Expressive Woodworks, a passion project that provided custom woodworks for the dorms on campus.

At the same time, Matt and his business partner, Dr. Sean Kassen, were operating a company called Benefactory, which focused on producing customized gift items for Notre Dame stakeholders, primarily ND Benefactors. Matt, Jeff and Sean quickly realized that both companies could be merged and synchronized to bring awesome wooden products to the full Notre Dame community.  In the summer of 2020, Irish Woodworks was born and has been making news ever since!

 

Since then, the growth has been explosive. Irish Woodworks is making an impact everywhere we go, from the South and North Lodge tents on campus in the Winter and Spring of 2021, to giant gameday displays to the recently completed Band, Athletics, and TheShirt walls at LaFortune. Just ask any current student about us, we guarantee you they will have a personal IW story to tell.

 

Made at ND, for ND, to Support ND.

Irish Woodworks continues to call Innovation Park its home, with all products being produced on equipment in the Notre Dame Innovation Lab.  Thus, all products are Made at ND, with a comprehensive focus on items that bring enjoyment to Students, Alumni, and Fans alike, and embody the pride and tradition of the University.  Approximately 25% of the cost of each item goes to support the Innovation Lab, with another 17% going to licensing fees. The University of Notre Dame owns 10% of this company. Irish Woodworks also pays rent at Innovation Park, and routinely hires ND Graduate and Undergraduate students for Design and Production work. Further, funds derived from Irish Woodworks help support the next generations of "Jeff Rineys" that come to the Innovation Lab with an idea in their head that they wish to Design, Prototype, and Launch.

 

Contact:

Email: irishwoodworks.nd@gmail.com

Address: 1400 East Angela Blvd, South Bend, IN 46617

Go Irish!