Detroit-based entrepreneurs Josh Linkner and Torya Blanchard were honored by the The White House last week, serving as the latest example that Detroit's entrepreneurial hype machine is starting to gain traction nationally.
The Obama Administration recognized the two Detroiters as "Champions of Change," a series honoring young entrepreneurs across the country. Linkner is the CEO & managing partner of Detroit Venture Partners, a downtown-based venture capital firm. Blanchard founded Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes and owns/is starting a handful of other establishments in Detroit, Hamtramck and Grosse Pointe. Both saw last week's event in Washington, D.C., as an opportunity to spread the word about the opportunity to start a business in the Motor City.
"It's about building small businesses," Blanchard says. "I had a national platform talk about building small businesses in Detroit."
This is the latest story in a line of steady good news about business in Detroit that has been picked up nationally. Some of those recent headlines include Detroit Venture Partners bringing on Earvin "Magic" Johnson as an investor, Whole Foods deciding to set up shop in Midtown and the emerging IT on-shoring cluster growing in downtown.
It all is demonstrating that local business leaders are starting to master the hype game in ways that places like Silicon Valley have done for years now. Most of that hype is about how there is a unique opportunity to start a business in Detroit because of a number of low barrier of entries. It's also hype that is starting to grow on itself and become a reality by attracting more people to take advantage of the Motor City's entrepreneurial opportunities.
Writer: Jon Zemke
Source: Torya Blanchard, owner of Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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