Detroit entrepreneur KaToya Scott has witnessed the joy her truck's ice cream can bring people, but she never expected her community to respond with an outpouring of support to help her business survive COVID-19 setbacks. "You don’t think people care and here are people saying ‘hey we see you.’ "
It's taken many hands to grow the community garden space in Yorkshire Woods, but the team behind the outdoors space know how important it is, especially during COVID-19, and show no signs of slowing: “In the last five years what we have done is given the community a place to be peaceful."
Twelve years ago, a health scare prompted Harriet "Chef Bee" Brown to start "waging war with a fork" and launch a healthy catering company. She is just one of the entrepreneurs Detroit's nonprofit groups are working with to generate equitable opportunities through economic and workforce development in the city.
Toni Jones always believed her work was important, but a global pandemic has shown the Detroit entrepreneur just how vital her affirmation brand is to her clients. “Last year women were wearing it as another self-care accessory, but now it’s how women are surviving.”
With a focus on the city’s often-overlooked neighborhoods, a nonprofit collaboration is taking a personal approach to providing training, resources, and support for Detroit’s entrepreneurs, witnessing the ripple effect that investment creates.
In the past five years, Detroit has seen an 88% increase in women-owned businesses — the largest growth rate of metropolitan areas across the U.S. LaShonda Sims is part of that cohort, striking out with her daughter and cousins to launch a beauty company in 2017, and now, it's that family support that's helping them face down COVID setbacks.
Phil Knight might just be Detroit's last neighborhood mechanic. Since he opened his own auto shop in 1998, he has seen his share of changes in the community, but still wants to keep his business small and prices fair.
An innovative industrial engineer from Ghana is bringing West African-inspired prints to Detroit's fashion scene, despite COVID-19 creating roadblocks for her budding business.
Sandra Cavette is one of 1,048 homeowners in Detroit who have used a 0% interest home repair loan program to maintain historic properties throughout the city. Long-term residents like Cavette have seen the city through its ups and downs and are investing in its future through the program, which launched five years ago and has generated $10 million in funding.
Ally Vang opened Orchid Thai in downtown Detroit with the goal of being part of the area's revival. More than 15 years later, she credits the restaurant's longevity and ability to adapt as keys to its success in navigating two recessions and now a pandemic.
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