As the pandemic extends into its second year, downtown Detroit industries are serving the diverse needs of their workers in different ways: “I think what we’ve all learned during this era is that the old way of doing things is no longer working. You need to provide a level of flexibility for your employees or team members that really works for them."
Meet Jennyfer Crawford, the "solopreneur" behind Ask Jennyfer and All Things Detroit – a small business convention that has helped some small business owners earn more revenue in a single day than they had in two years in business. Now she's teaming up with Bre Mills for her next venture.
Chevelle Brown wants to share her love of chess with others, and not just because it's fun. "I recognized the benefits of chess for myself and wanted it for my son, and later his friends,” she says. Now, the Detroit entrepreneur runs I Teach Chess, and is helping students develop critical thinking skills through the strategic game.
After a delay because of flooding, an interactive math exhibition will open this month at the Michigan Science Center, designed to help fill a gap in student's knowledge after disrupted learning during COVID-19. “We felt that this effect, now known as the COVID slide, could derail thousands of students, particularly those that were already performing below grade level," says Dr. Christian Greer, president and CEO of MiSci. "We were determined to do something about it."
Drawing inspiration from her family’s background in the trucking industry, Detroit entrepreneur Cherie Styles built Cheetah Logistics from the ground up, and she’s not about to let the COVID-19 pandemic stand in her way.
COVID-19 isn't the first crisis Felicia Williams-Patrick has seen her business through. The Detroit boutique owner has weathered the city's ups and downs, and knows a thing or two about what it takes for a retail store to survive.
When COVID-19 hit Michigan this year, the Detroit Innovation Fellowship cohort were well placed to support the communities hit hardest. The 23 social innovators involved in the talent development program are proving that their focus on creating sustainable, accessible resources builds the kind of resilience that see communities through a crisis.
In Detroit communities hit hardest by COVID-19, solar power projects provided some relief and continuity of service this year. For engineers and entrepreneurs Ali Dirul and Karanja Famodou, renewable energy is not just about the sustaining the environment, it's about sustaining equity.
It's not just a design hub that Tanya Saldivar-Ali and her husband, Luis, are building on 18th Street — the Detroit couple is developing a construction pipeline to connect residents with sustainable careers. But it's the cutting-edge technology they are using to tell residents' stories that is capturing international attention.
Juan Carlos Dueweke-Perez has come a long way from selling cheesecakes door-to-door in Southwest Detroit as a kid. Now the co-founder of Southwest Detroit Restaurant Week owns his own marketing agency and works toward bringing equity to minority- and immigrant-owned businesses: "I want to continue a legacy that doesn’t start or end with me.”
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