Applications for D:hive's BUILD program triple number of spots

Demand for D:hive's BUILD program is outstripping supply for the entrepreneurial education course.

BUILD is a weekly class that teaches the basics about business building and project management for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to stake a claim in Detroit. The 2-year-old program hosts four of these classes annually. Its most recent class received applications for triple the number of spots available, and has a waiting list of more than 100 people. That's up 20 percent from the last round of applications.

"The amount of applications is continuously growing," says April Jones-Boyle, director of small business initiatives for D:hive.

D:hive also recently launched a socially entrepreneurial-version of BUILD called BUILD Social, which focuses on double- and triple-bottom-line entrepreneurship. It's most recent class of 12 people are in the early stages of the nine-week program.

D:hive's Pilot program, which focuses on giving aspiring retailers a place to open a pop-up shop in downtown Detroit, is also welcoming its latest winner, Trish's Garage, a fashion startup. The owner has applied for the spot several times.

"She is a very driven, passionate person," Jones-Boyle says. "It just made sense."

Source: April Boyle, director of small business initiatives for D:hive
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.