When it comes to small businesses, the community is more than just a customer base. They are neighbors and friends, and many of these businesses prioritize giving back to their communities in some way. And in the reverse, the community supports these businesses through difficult times.

Participants toured locations such as the Detroit Riverfront with Professor Maria Arquero, the Packard Plant with Professor Robert Adams, and Historic Fort Wayne with Detroit Historical Society curator Jeremy Dimmick.

A jointly sponsored UM-Dearborn – UM-Flint Collaborative Research Funding Program awarded up to $160,000 for four collaborative research projects.

Roshanak Mehdipanah, who has lived in major cities including Tehran, Barcelona and Toronto, has always been fascinated by the urban landscape. It is, in fact, what brought her to the University of Michigan in 2015. 

“We hope it  is an experience of wonder and joy and delight. Just being out there on the water, enjoying the bounty, the beauty of the river, can have a lastingly powerful effect in itself on people’s sense of connection with their place in the world.”

~ David Porter, U-M English professor

The city of Detroit, Enterprise Community Partners, and University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions co-authored and published the buyer guide. The guide includes information, do-it-yourself checklists, and guidance on risks for before signing, at signing, after signing, and after paying the land contract in full. The guide and additional resources, including materials in Spanish, are available.

“I did a lot of guest consulting at a lot of suburban schools. And I noticed that when I crossed Eight Mile, I didn’t see kids with instrument cases walking down the street. At that time, most of the schools in Detroit did not have music programs. So I decided to start Crescendo to make sure students had the opportunity to be in music.”

~ Damien Crutcher

“Lawmakers can stop unjust evictions if they act urgently to enforce existing laws, make pandemic-era changes permanent and strengthen tenant protections.”

~ Alexa Eisenberg

Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneur’s Project +Impact Studio for Local Business is an interdisciplinary summer internship where undergraduate students from the Ross School of Business and several other schools and colleges at the University of Michigan partner with a portfolio of Detroit entrepreneurs to help expand their businesses.