Jackson Drysdale Center
Located in Newark, NJ and accessible through all modes of public transportation, the Jackson Drysdale Center offers clients with employment training from corporate leaders, as well as an incubator to help grow their small businesses.
Small Business Incubator
Our Small Business Incubator provides shared space for entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses. In addition to space, we also provide them with various services and materials to help them succeed, including: computers, desks, conference room space, marketing materials, business cards, support with accounting, bookkeeping, website development, and legal compliance. Also part of our program is our EQUALprenuership Initiative, which welcomes entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds into our incubator to take advantage of services aimed at helping minority businesses grow and succeed.
If you are an entrepreneur looking to become part of our incubator, complete our online application today. Contact us at 866-389-4446 with any additional questions.
GarmaGuard, one of our Center's small businesses, pitching their company on ABC's Shark Tank.
EQUALpreneurship Initiative
Across the United States, women, minorities, and people with disabilities remain significantly underrepresented among small business owners. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2021 Annual Business Survey, minority-owned employer businesses accounted for just 19.3% of all U.S. employer firms, despite minority communities representing more than 40% of the total population.
To address this directly, GI Go Fund launched the EQUALpreneurship Initiative, committing to ensure that at least 50% of the small business owners we serve come from underrepresented communities. To date, we have served over 200 small business owners with training on topics ranging from business formation and financial literacy to succession planning and AI integration — available both in person and online through our expanding course library.
Through partnerships with Prudential, the Amazin' Mets Foundation, EY, Citizens Bank, OceanFirst Bank, and the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, we deliver high-quality programming that equips entrepreneurs from all backgrounds with the skills to build lasting businesses.
Training Center
Our Center also offers training using state-of-the-art equipment donated by Panasonic. Experts from the corporate and educational fields will train veterans and their family members in a myriad of business skills of varying degrees of difficulty in order to prepare them for most corporate positions offered today in the marketplace. These trainings are available live in-person, as well as simulcast online and through our training library.
In additon, the center offers veterans the opportunity to be mentored by corporate leaders and successful veterans from Veteran Employee Resource Groups from major companies throughout the New York/New Jersey region, including Pansonic, PSEG, and Prudential. Moreover, we host VetTalk events that engage top level executives at major corporations and successful veterans to speak to an audience about their life experiences and what it took for them to accomplish their goals.
Partners and Awards
Thanks to terrific partners at Prudential, Panasonic, PSEG, Kessler Foundation and JobPaths, GI Go has opened this incredible space in honor of Jackson Drysdale, the late son of PSEG President of Power Ventures Diana Drysdale and GI Go volunteer whose passion for supporting veterans lives on every day in our organization. In his honor, we are offering the first space in the state of New Jersey dedicated to helping veterans with employment and entrepreneurship.
Our Center has garnered significant praise since its opening. Most notably, we were the top prize winner of the 2020 Newman’s Own Award, presented in partnership with Fisher House Foundation, Newman’s Own, and Military Times! We have also been awarded the Champion in Action award by Citizens, and are a top prize from Great Nonprofits from 2020 to 2024!
Our Partners
