“Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together.” Paul Ryan

During a recent conversation with a friend living on the East Coast, it occurred to me that if you aren’t living in Detroit, you may not be aware of its burgeoning start-up culture. This realization happens to me frequently even after living here just over a year, that living in Detroit and how living in Detroit is perceived are actually still quite different.

One of the most exciting things that struck me upon moving here was the innumerable resources for startups and small businesses. Even beyond development programs and funding, the events, incubators, and entities cohesively foster an optimistic, inviting and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Programs

• Build Institute – what began as an entrepreneurship education workshop has expanded into a comprehensive resource and support network for aspiring and experienced entrepreneurs. In addition to classes, they offer networking events, mentorship, connections to resources and a nurturing community. One of my personal favorites to attend is Build’s Open City, a monthly panel of speakers discussing relevant small business topics such as funding, knowing when to quit your day job, and transitioning to brick and mortar. Location: Southwest

• Techtown – business accelerator and incubator located in New Center and founded specifically to develop and grow tech businesses. In addition to their tech based programs they offer place-based programs to help entrepreneurs transform underserved neighborhoods into vibrant dense communities. One such program, SWOT city, supports local brick and mortar shops in Detroit’s neighborhoods using a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats analysis. Techtown also sponsors Detroit Technology Exchange (DTX) Launch Detroit, an intensive 10-week summer accelerator for college students aspiring to launch a technology startup.

• Goldman Sachs also chose Detroit as one of the cities for its 10,000 Small Businesses program, which helps business owners gain skills in negotiating, marketing and managing employees.

Funding

• Launch Detroit – offers a combination of free business training, loans up to $2,500, assigned business mentors and networking opportunities for candidates that have a business product or service that will enable them to repay their loan within one year in regular installments.

• Hatch – an annual storefront retail competition that awards $50,000 in start-up capital and services to winning retail business plans. The non-profit focuses on supporting, funding and developing independent storefronts to promote vibrant and diverse retail in Detroit’s neighborhoods.

• Kiva – a partner of Build Institute, provides a 0% interest crowdfunded micro loan focused on character rather than credit, that provides entrepreneurs access to capital to grow their business.

• Michigan Corps—a group working to “connect, develop and fund” social entrepreneurs throughout the state. They established a Kiva funding model, enabling individuals to grant micro-loans in Michigan.

• Michigan Women’s Foundation provides micro loans to women entrepreneurs and small business owners designed to meet the need of newly formed, but promising businesses encountering difficulty obtaining financing.

• REVOLVE Detroit is a collaborative program of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) that partners with local leaders, building owners, entrepreneurs, and artists to activate vacant storefronts with transformational businesses and art installations. The goal of the program is to foster the evolution and vibrancy of Detroit’s neighborhood business districts.

• Motor City Match, another DEGC program, connects new and expanding businesses with Detroit’s quality real estate opportunities, providing them with funding of $500,000 in grants each quarter to support local small businesses and startups.

Co-working Spaces & Incubators

• Junction440 is Techtown’s co-working space in New Center, offering a flexible, active work environment and modern meeting and event space. In addition to housing cool start-ups like Civilla and Challenge Detroit, it also functions as community space for various organizations such as Detroit Young Professionals’ committee meetings, pop-up coffee shop Drifter, and the occasional yoga class.

• Bamboo Detroit – “A place for freelancers, place for doers.” Bamboo Detroit began as a collaboration among four local entrepreneurs, serving a basic need for more affordable office space for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

• Ponyride – provides social capital to a diverse group of artists, creative entrepreneurs and makers that are committed to working together to make our communities in Detroit sustainable. They provide inexpensive space for socially-conscious artists and entrepreneurs to work and share knowledge, resources and networks.

• The Green Garage in Midtown is a business enterprise and community of people dedicated to Detroit’s sustainable future. Green Garage prides itself on hosting and supporting local startups like Detroit Food Academy, whose core mission is the improvement of the city.

Detroit’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is gaining so much traction that last month “The Detroit Story” was featured at Silicon Valley’s Global Entrepreneurship Summit, where entrepreneurs engaged directly in Detroit’s social, food and mobility sectors spoke directly about their experiences and answered “Why Detroit?”

Just last month Fortune magazine reported “Detroit is Having a Total Entrepreneurial Moment This Month” when Detroit hosted three major startup events — Detroit Entrepreneur Week, Detroit Techweek, and Startup Week.

One of Detroit’s longtime and well-known entrepreneurs explained that “the upside to people having ignored Detroit for so long is that it resulted in the growth and strength of incredible small businesses.” It seems that appreciation is now widely shared and there is a communal enthusiasm and recognition of the need to support this ecosystem.