Detroit neighborhood businesses blooming after tapping U-M expertise

October 24, 2019

Collaborations between Detroit entrepreneurs and U-M faculty, staff, and students are featured in a news story written for the University by Karen Dybis.

The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) pairs Detroit business owners with faculty, staff, and students from the Ford School, Law School, Ross School of Business, and Stamps School of Art & Design, says Justin Erickson, DNEP program manager at the Ford School in U-M Detroit’s article, “Detroit Neighborhood Businesses Blooming after Tapping U-M Expertise”.

The author interviews entrepreneurs looking to build businesses in fashion, food, personal hygiene, jewelry, and more--and describes some of the support they’ve gotten from DNEP partnerships in market research, branding, and accounting.

Since its creation in 2016, DNEP has provided more than 3,500 hours of free services to 120 entrepreneurs in the Detroit community. Of these entrepreneurs, 85 percent are minority owned and 70 percent are female owned, according to Erickson.

Read the full U-M Detroit article here.