Kurt Metzger started Data Driven Detroit with the idea of running a small nonprofit with a handful of people who crunch a lot of numbers. That was 2009. Today the downtown-based data agencies is much bigger and more important that its initial ambitions.
Data Driven Detroit today employs 15 people (six full-time and nine part-time) and is at the end of its initial $1.8 million in seed money, provided by the likes of the Skillman and Kresge foundations. Its original plans of making more information accessible has now moved to integrating silos of information that will bring people together to fund solutions faster.
"We want to bring together information for more informed decision making," says Metzger, director of
Data Driven Detroit. "That from the corporate level to the neighborhood block captain."
Data Driven Detroit's staff is currently working on Internet-based mapping functions for everything from crime to population statistics. Metzger hopes these tools will serve as a national example of how best to solve problems based on the best numbers available.
The non-profit is also working toward establishing itself as its own independent 501c3 non-profit. Metzger has a goal of creating a $1 million annual budget and bringing another 5-10 people on to handle the increased workload. He is also looking for bigger offices to accommodate the growth.
"We see the sky as the limit," Metzger says. "How big do we want to get?"
Source: Kurt Metzger, director of Data Driven Detroit
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at
SEMichiganStartup.com.
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