It’s been almost a year since I began my gig at the Detroit Regional Chamber but the city had long been a second home, workspace, and oft-times playground for me. I naively thought I knew a lot about the local businesses and entrepreneurs that inhabited the city and surrounding communities. I had even been an entrepreneur myself in a previous but recent life, starting a local magazine in my hometown and bucking the overwhelming sentiment that print media was a dying business. Diving into the vast and still very fragmented entrepreneurial community of Detroit was my task from day one at the Chamber and I was eager to get in the sandbox and see where we could be more useful. It quickly occurred to me that strongest entrepreneurial activity and innovation was being done at a handful of co-working spaces, incubators, non-profits, and institutions; places like Techtown, Bamboo Detroit, Ponyride, and Build Institute to name a few. These were the connecting points and gathering places I needed to help further my continuous goal of understanding what the Detroit Regional Chamber and the business community as whole can do to help startups and entrepreneurs grow and thrive in Detroit. So I held events and meetings at some of these places and spoke to as many members and staff as could, trying to gather intel and feedback on the best way to serve the entrepreneurial community. From these initial events several themes and issues began to separate themselves:
Advocacy- entrepreneurs and small business owners want to feel like they have a voice in the greater business community. They too often feel marginalized or not taken seriously when it comes to the big issues and how it affects them, they want a seat at the table.
Mentorship- one of the most valuable resources for an entrepreneur is being able to talk to people who have successfully navigated that path before. Almost every successful business started off as one or two individuals with a big idea, and hearing directly from them about their initial failures, pitfalls and ultimate success can be an invaluable motivator and guiding tool for entrepreneurs.
Interaction and Collaboration- there are a lot of people trying to do a lot of great things, but too often they’re not making the right connection and not meeting the person or organization they need to. It deserves noting that on this issue places like the Detroit Regional Chamber have been taking a more active approach.
Shine/Spotlight/Exposure- whatever you choose to call it, there is a sense that not everyone’s story is getting told and not every startup or new business is getting the media attention or publicity they should or could be. Local media entities and outlets certainly can and should do more to help with this in the coming months

Now this is certainly not an all-encompassing list of issues but I believe it can serve as a starting point and ongoing foundation to build off of. The aforementioned issues have yet to be fleshed out and answered but the time has come for them to be addressed on a larger scale and actionable steps taken towards rectifying them.

talking with entrepreneurs at The Build Institute