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

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

Each summer many students scramble for the chance to gain work experience through an internship, happy to get even one company or business to bite. But for Samantha Lang, a junior in the Ford School of Public Policy, the summer was rich with opportunities. Through her involvement with The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project she worked with Detroit small businesses like Fit4Life, Sister Pie, Pink Poodle Dress Lounge and Bags to Butterflies, all the while supporting and strengthening the local community. 
The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project connects small businesses with University of Michigan students and staff to help solve the issues they …

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

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

Working through a pandemic has been stressful enough for Detroit’s small-business community.  Finding enough time, energy and talent to expand their companies through innovative programs, social media or new strategy has been doubly difficult. But a group of business owners got fresh insights into how to grow thanks to some uniquely talented University of Michigan student consultants. 
These students in the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, their advisors and community participants recently met on Zoom to outline the work seven student teams did for Detroit small businesses such as Ivy Kitchen + Cocktails, recapping problems Detroit business owners asked students to address …

First person: Learning from Detroit businesses and fellow students

First person: Learning from Detroit businesses and fellow students

This article was written by Michael Willard, BBA Ross School of Business/BA LSA ’23
This summer, I am one of 31 interns working in the University of Michigan Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project +Impact Studio for Local Business.
The interns come from the Ross School of Business, Ford School of Public Policy, Stamps School of Art & Design, and School of Information. The program began last year, with interns focused on creating tools for ecosystem-level problems in Detroit small businesses.
This year, we are working directly with small-business owners to solve the unique issues that affect multiple companies. To maximize our impact, each team is focusing on one …

Dispossessing Detroit: How the Law Takes Property

U-M helping Detroit’s small businesses locate, navigate coronavirus-related financial aid

The University of Michigan is working with Detroit’s small businesses to help them find sources of federal financial aid amid the COVID-19 pandemic and assist them in navigating the rules and regulations they will encounter in the application process.
The Ford School of Public Policy’s Center on Finance, Law and Policy, through its Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, has compiled resources business owners need to access the roughly $375 billion in grants and loans earmarked for small businesses in the $2 trillion stimulus package signed into law last month.
Justin Erickson, program manager for the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project said the resources respond …

Stamps students join Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project

Stamps students join Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project

Students from the University of Michigan’s Penny Stamps School of Art and Design spent a part of their summer in the city of Detroit, gaining valuable experience as interns in the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) + Impact Studio for Local Business internship program.
From May 4 to June 24, they joined forces with the Ford School, Ross School of Business, and the School of Information. Stamps Career Development contributed part of the internship costs, ensuring that students were compensated for their work with undercapitalized small businesses.
They formed interdisciplinary teams to provide free services and resources to Detroit small businesses and entrepreneurs. Their goal was to assist with the …

Detroit small businesses can better access free U-M resources through new CFLP website

Detroit small businesses can better access free U-M resources through new CFLP website

The University of Michigan’s Center on Finance, Law, and Policy (CFLP) is pleased to announce the launch of a new website specifically for the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP). The new site showcases the full breadth of programming DNEP offers year-round and aggregates a number of free digital resources for entrepreneurs. It better describes how small businesses and students can get involved in semester-long consulting courses, an internship program, free 1:1 accounting services, and free 1:1 technology training and support. 
“The Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project is the CFLP’s largest educational program,” CFLP assistant director Christie Baer said. “As our collaborations across …

Dispossessing Detroit: How the Law Takes Property

Ford School involvement highlighted among growing U-M Detroit partnerships

The University of Michigan ramped up its collaborations on a multitude of projects in the city of Detroit during the pandemic, including outreach to residents on issues ranging from unemployment to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Initiatives such as Poverty Solutions, which created an Economic Mobility Partnership with the city of Detroit, and a partnership with four community organizations to help lower utility bills for residents are among a host of endeavors that touch on education, cultural expression, business, health care and the arts.
“Faculty, students and staff from all three of our campuses work alongside Detroit partners to learn and serve in ways …

CFLP and School of Information lauded for Detroit Community Tech Worker project

CFLP and School of Information lauded for Detroit Community Tech Worker project

The Center on Finance, Law & Policy is partnering with U-M’s School of Information (SoI) to provide Detroit’s Jefferson East Inc. (JEI) neighborhood organization, in a tech program aimed at aiding small businesses. Crain’s Detroit Business quotes JEI Director of Neighborhood Resilience Lutalo Sanifu as saying that he hopes to involve 140 businesses in the year-long project. “Tech experience is important, but not nearly as important as people being able to work with small business owners in underserved communities,” he said.
“We’re hoping this is a sustainable model. We are trying to build on a ‘train the trainer’ idea where the …

DNEP cited as U-M is rated #8 in the country for "Best Undergrad Programs for Entrepreneurs"

DNEP cited as U-M is rated #8 in the country for “Best Undergrad Programs for Entrepreneurs”

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, …