1. U-M graduate students showcase sustainability ideas for Detroit small businesses

    The students met with Detroit entrepreneurs and energy experts to understand the most pressing energy needs in the city. Those meetings helped them create how-to guides on how Detroit business owners can make their business “greener” and obtain funding through the Inflation Reduction Act to make changes.

  2. U-M students create equitable business models for green energy businesses in Detroit

    To make sure their business solutions are targeted toward Detroit small business needs, community engagement will take a center role in the course like never before.

  3. U-M students put skills to work through summer internship program, helping Detroit communities 

    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.

  4. My summer learning valuable lessons at Sister Pie

    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.

  5. Two-directional learning helps small businesses and students thrive

    Lily Hamburger says that DNEP’s presence in Detroit has generated trust and new projects, such as the DNEP+Impact Studio for Local Business, which helps entrepreneurs pivot in the post-pandemic economy.

  6. Alum Jackie Victor bakes bread into a socially responsible business in Detroit

    Today, in developing Avalon’s footprint across Detroit and Ann Arbor, Jackie Victor says she has always wanted a community-minded place where people meet, eat and organize a better world. That may be why you never know who you’ll run into at Avalon from CEOs to small-business owners to everyday working people who are drawn to her energy and optimism. 

  7. Detroit’s passionate small businesses welcome Urban Entrepreneur students

    Every fall CFE lecturer David Tarver takes his ENTR 490.012, Urban Entrepreneurship Practicum, into the heart of Detroit to meet with local entrepreneurs and hear about the issues and opportunities…

  8. Detroit’s small business owners see summer boost through entrepreneurs project

    In 2021, the program evolved again with 31 students. They partnered with 19 Detroit-based businesses that wanted insights, information and execution on real projects that could help them not only survive this historical moment but find additional customers, develop new processes and develop long-lasting revenue.

  9. FIRST PERSON: Learning from Detroit businesses and fellow students

    “To maximize our impact, each team is focusing on one specific area of need so we can address that same problem in multiple companies and develop expertise in that area. As a result, we have eight teams: four focusing on marketing problems and four focusing on operations.”
    ~ Michael Willard