According to Christie Baer, assistant executive director for the University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law and Policy, downtown businesses face a big decision as the pandemic continues.
“Businesses that thought that they just had to weather a short storm are suddenly realizing that it’s going to be like this for a long time,” she said. “It just becomes not as worth it to pay a higher cost of being downtown.”
The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP), which brings together small businesses with University of Michigan students, faculty and staff to solve business owners’ legal, financial, marketing, operational, and design challenges, was cited among other U-M programs in a Princeton Review-Entrepreneur magazine ranking of the “Top 50 Best Undergrad Programs for Entrepreneurs in 2022.” U-M ranked #8, and #2 in the Midwest, noting, “U-M’s entrepreneurship offerings include interdisciplinary courses, programs, student organizations, and events that incorporate partnerships with startups and innovative ventures. This approach pushes students to apply their learning outcomes to current real-world problems.”
DNEP, a program of the Ford School’s Center on Finance, Law & Policy, …
