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Meet Siobhan Barrett, DNEP's New Program & Business Development Manager

Dec 1, 2023

Siobhan Barrett has been hired as the new Program and Business Development Manager for Detroit Entrepreneurs Project announced. Joining DNEP from ProsperUs Detroit where Siobhan was a Loan Officer providing capital in the form of microloans to...

News

DNEP Classes Offered in Winter 2024: Learn More with Faculty Videos

Nov 9, 2023

As a small business owner, if you’ve ever wanted to get involved in a DNEP class or wondered how Detroit entrepreneurs work with students in University of Michigan classes, look no further! Just in time for course registration, University of...

Photo of summer interns around work table

News

Community Tech Worker Paper Wins Impact Award, Honorable Mention

Oct 29, 2023

In October, lead author Prof. Julie Hui from the School of Information presented the first published research paper with key learnings from DNEP's Community Tech Worker project with Jefferson East, Inc. at the 26th ACM Conference on...

News

Choosing the Right POS System for your Business (+2 free resources)

Sep 25, 2023

Choosing the right point of sale system (POS) for your business can be tricky and time consuming with so many options to choose from and oftentimes hidden fees. Over the summer, DNEP’s point of sale intern team created 2 resources to help business...

Customer inserting their credit card into a point of sale system

News

DNEP releases new legal, financial resources for small businesses

Aug 13, 2023

Looking to start a new venture or hire seasonal employees? Right in time for the holiday season, DNEP just added new resources to our existing library of 100+ free digital resources for small business owners (including our comprehensive DIY digital...

Man and woman having a meeting at a table, woman taking notes

News

DNEP +Impact Studio summer internship kicks off in May with 15 interns

Apr 28, 2023

In just two weeks, the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project’s +Impact Studio (DNEP+ISLB) summer internship will kickoff, bringing in 15 interns to consult for a select portfolio of Detroit small business owners. The internship will run from...

Photo of interns with Aaron Jackson and Chris Mueller during the 2022 Summer Internship at the ISLB

News

Client Spotlight: Riley's Way, overcoming hair discrimination & embracing natural hair

Apr 28, 2023

Crystal Dowe is the owner of Riley’s Way, an apparel company that specializes in clothing and merchandise that encourages young girls to embrace their natural hair. Growing up, Crystal Dowe was teased for her natural hair and chemically...

News

Client Spotlight: Black Girl MATHgic

Feb 27, 2023

Brittany is the owner of Black Girl MATHgic, a math subscription box company that aims to decrease math anxiety for girls and empower them to embrace their math abilities. Brittany founded Black Girl MATHgic in 2018 after witnessing math anxiety in...

News

U-M students create new how-to guides and equitable business models for green energy businesses to help Detroit entrepreneurs take advantage of new federal funding

Feb 24, 2023

“The Inflation Reduction Act sounds really boring,” says Michigan Ross professor Jerry Davis, “but it’s actually a big stack of money for green energy businesses. If you read through it, it’s easy to think of dozens of ways that this could benefit a...

Image of Ross's BA670 class: +Impact Studio Designing Equitable Enterprises

News

Konjo Me & Ice Cream Detroit Selected for DNEP Accelerator: Business+Law+Design

Feb 6, 2023

When most small businesses become clients in a Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project class, they get a basketball team’s worth of researchers, data analysts, thought partners, and cheerleaders. Helina Melaku of Konjo Me and Ysahai Honor-Marie...

Photo of Helina Melaku of Konjo Me and Ysahai Honor-Marie of Ice Creame Detroit

News

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

Sep 9, 2022

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...

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

News

Center on Finance, Law & Policy releases do-it-yourself digital resource guide for small businesses

Jun 8, 2022

This digital resource guide is filled with links to resources in most of the areas affecting micro-businesses. It begins with some resources to help business owners get access to the internet. From there, it moves in a progression one might follow...

Center on Finance, Law & Policy releases do-it-yourself digital resource guide for small businesses

News

DNEP +ISLB intern, Samantha Lang, shares experience

Jun 1, 2022

Throughout my life, I never thought of myself as a numbers person. Yet, with my goal being to pursue consulting after I receive my Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy from the Ford School, I knew I wanted (and needed) to improve that “not a numbers...

DNEP +ISLB intern, Samantha Lang, shares experience

News

Clients wanted to work with interdisciplinary teams of U-M students this summer

Apr 28, 2022

Beginning May 4, the University of Michigan’s Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) will offer free services to Detroit small businesses and non-profits through its DNEP +Impact Studio for Local Business 2022 (DNEP +ISLB) internship...

Clients wanted to work with interdisciplinary teams of U-M students this summer

News

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

Dec 7, 2021

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...

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

News

U-M awarded grant to support Detroit entrepreneurs in bridging digital divide

Sep 7, 2021

An interdisciplinary team from the University of Michigan was awarded $300,000 from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to train local residents and U-M students to provide one-on-one technology support to Detroit entrepreneurs. The project aims to...

U-M awarded grant to support Detroit entrepreneurs in bridging digital divide

News

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

Aug 22, 2021

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...

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

News

First person: Learning from Detroit businesses and fellow students

Aug 12, 2021

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...

First person: Learning from Detroit businesses and fellow students

News

Applying academic skills to real-world business challenges

Jun 29, 2021

Small businesses in Detroit, as across the country, have had to make major adjustments to survive the COVID-19 pandemic economic downturn. A cadre of students from U-M have been able to work with many of these businesses through an internship...

News

Ford School involvement highlighted among growing U-M Detroit partnerships

Mar 8, 2021

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...

Dispossessing Detroit: How the Law Takes Property

News

Michigan Ross and Ford Students Work with the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project

Jul 15, 2020

COVID-19 changed everything for small businesses in Detroit. Now business owners have dozens of new issues to think through as they pivot business models, weigh costs & benefits, and figure out when and how to re-open. Thanks to the Ralph C. Wilson...

News

Ford students assist Detroit small business owners with re-opening challenges

Jun 29, 2020

The economic havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially disruptive to small businesses, which often depend on foot traffic and operate on smaller profit margins than their larger counterparts. As Michigan prepares to reopen its...

Ford students assist Detroit small business owners with re-opening challenges

News

Dean Barr on the need to do more for communities and small businesses

Apr 23, 2020

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been allocated to help small businesses and individuals in response to the COVID-19 financial crisis. Yet for low-income households and small businesses, accessing those funds has proved to be a challenge,...

Dean Barr on the need to do more for communities and small businesses

News

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

Apr 15, 2020

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...

News

Entrepreneur Resource for COV-ID: Update Your Business Hours

Apr 1, 2020

With a statewide shelter in place order in effect in Michigan, small businesses in Michigan are being forced to pivot or seek emergency/disaster funding to survive. In support of the University of Michigan's Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs...

News

Detroit neighborhood businesses blooming after tapping U-M expertise

Oct 18, 2019

Nawal Denard knows the quality of the hand-crafted clothing, jewelry and shoes from her native Ghana in West Africa, and she is proud to sell these dynamic textiles through her Detroit-based business, House of African Prints. What she didn’t...

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Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project Student Teams Present Their Work to Clients, Faculty, and Students

Dec 18, 2018

On December 18, Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) interdisciplinary student teams from the Ross School of Business, Law School, and Stamps School of Art and Design presented their final summaries and recommendations to their Detroit...

News

We asked Detroit entrepreneurs: What do you hate about accounting?

Oct 12, 2018

In a partnership between the University of Michigan's Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project and Business + Impact at the Ross School of Business, accounting students provide free accounting assistance and advice every Friday at the U-M Detroit...

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Meet one of the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project clients

Apr 4, 2018

The University of Michigan's Center on Finance, Law, and Policy thanks MCubed for producing this fantastic video featuring Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP) client Detroit Sip. Detroit Sip is now open for business! DNEP is supported...

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Ross accounting students offer free office hours on Fridays, expand Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project

Mar 31, 2018

Solid financials are the backbone of any small business, but getting a business’ books in order is no small task. Since March 9, accounting students from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, working under faculty supervision, have...