Is the Motor City the Next Culinary Mecca?

As you’ve probably seen on popular cooking shows such as Kitchen Nightmares or Top Chef, running a restaurant kitchen is a tough job.
But for some food entrepreneurs, the real difficulty isn’t with rude wait staff or a missing ingredient. Rather, it’s simply finding the space to operate. That’s why a local food network group, FoodLab Detroit, is stepping in to act as that much-needed intermediary and acting as a matchmaker for businesses and kitchen space with its Detroit Kitchen Connect (DKC), which opened its doors last August.
Currently, DKC has working relationships with 10 different businesses and is operating two kitchens in the Motor City. The first —  called the Matrix Human Services — is located at the east side community center, while the second operates out of the St. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church in southwest Detroit. Both kitchens have between 1,200 and 1,600 square feet of cold and dry storage space as well as high-quality equipment including triple-stack conventional ovens, multiple burner stoves, preparation tables and a wide assortment of pots, pans and utensils.
So who uses these decked-out kitchens? Good Cakes and Bakes uses the space for prep work and baking, then moves their goods to their storefront to sell them. Working side-by-side with the bakers is the Michigan Pepper Company, producing its hot pepper sauce in the space.
Due to the wealth discrepancy of the area, the DKC charges different rates for their clients. For those businesses with financial difficulties, the fee is only $15 per hour. FoodLab members and vendors that sell their products at the local community markets, the charge is $18 per hour, where as businesses outside of Detroit pay the most at $30 an hour. The money saved has allowed the businesses to hire additional workers or invest in equipment, like delivery vans.
These businesses aren’t just paying for kitchen use, though. The DKC also provides a long list of additional services, including access to training workshops, peer mentoring, field trips teaching recycling and composting practices and a networking service through Keep Detroit Growing.
In less than a year, Devita Davison, the director of DKC, has seen how the group is benefiting the community: “We’re trying to create what we call an inclusive, equitable, and just local sustainable food economy,” she told Seedstock. “Detroit Kitchen Connect is really on the forefront of . . . using food as conduit to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Detroit neighborhoods.”
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Boots to Business Gives Entrepreneurial Veterans A Leg Up

The unemployment news among veterans isn’t all bad. But while jobless rates are improving, former soldiers still face a bigger struggle landing employment than non-veterans.
Case in point: a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found the unemployment rate to be 6.8 percent among younger veterans, compared to 5.7 percent for the nation as a whole. Fortunately, a lot of people are working to solve this problem.
The 2011 “Hire Our Heroes” act required government agencies to come up with classes to help military veterans transition to civilian careers. One program that grew out of this mandate is Boots to Business, a training program that guides veterans through the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Many are already benefiting from these classes, such as the more than 60 veterans hired by the MGM Grand Detroit (which has a Boots to Business program with the American Red Cross).
Rozell Blanks Sr., vice president of human resources at MGM Grand Detroit told Matthew Gryczan of Crain’s Detroit Business that when a company hires a veteran, “What you get is an individual who has high integrity, a high sense of honor and who wants to do their very best…I can’t think of a more difficult job than one that requires you to put your life on the line, and it’s not for a whole lot of money. So you’re talking about highly skilled, highly technical, well-disciplined individuals who tend to excel quickly in an organization.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families want to extend the program’s reach even further by offering Boots to Business: Reboot. Through it, free, two-day seminars will be held at dozens of sites across the country during July and August for veterans interested in starting their own businesses. Recently, a Reboot was held in Washington, D.C. in a very special building: the White House.
If they choose, vets can supplement the two-day Reboot program with eight weeks of online classes. At the end of those lessons, soldiers should know how to come up with a good idea for a small business, write a business plan, identify people and organizations that can help them and be able to launch the business.
Ray Toenniessen, Managing Director of Development and External Relations of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University said in a press release, “We know veterans make the best entrepreneurs and we know veterans hire veterans, that’s why IVMF and the SBA are so committed to training and educating veterans about entrepreneurship and small business ownership.”
According to the United States Census Bureau, veterans owned 2.4 million businesses in the U.S. in 2007 — that’s 9 percent of all the companies in the country. And those vet-owned businesses employed 5.8 million people, generating $1.2 trillion in receipts. With the downsizing of the military, now sounds like a great time to keep the veteran-owned small business trend rolling.
MORE: Meet The Business Owner Who Gives Vets The Skills They Need To Start Their Own Businesses
 

This Treehouse Is More Than Just an Outdoor Clubhouse

Metal sculptures, installations made of reclaimed materials and sprawling animal art murals adorn the grounds at the Lincoln Street Art Park in Detroit.
The park, located in a vacant lot behind local nonprofit recycling center Recycle Here! was not only meant to turn clutter into a community resource, but to create a space for local artists and children to appreciate the concept of green art.

“The act of recycling is for the generation behind you,” said Recycle Here! founder Matthew Naimi. “For kids, recycling is an answer for cleaning up their city. They see the litter and dumping all around them, and they don’t like it.”

And now, the recycling center is teaming up with educational nonprofit Green Living Science (GLS) to attract even more city kids to the local art park by turning a shipping container into a giant treehouse and learning lab. “Activi-Tree,” a large treehouse with the shipping container at the base, would be a year-round classroom for field trips and programs at the Lincoln Street Art Park, according to MLive.com.

The groups are aiming to raise $8,000 for the project, commissioning artists, welders, and designers to help create the outdoor classroom that will teach STEM-focused courses and environmental science while promoting the “three R’s” of recycling: reduce, reuse and recycle. The giant treehouse will use solar-powered LED lights, which will also light up the park, according to GLS.

Both organizations have extensively worked with city schools to teach children recycling through school assemblies, professional development programs, and in-class presentations. This year alone, the two organizations have implemented programs in 25 schools. With the addition of a treehouse learning lab, Lincoln Street Art Park could be the perfect backdrop to inspire the next generation of urban planners.

Want to donate? Check out Green Living Science’s donation page here.

MORE: From Trash to Transit: Detroit’s Innovative Uses for Demolished Homes

The Washington PAC Fighting to Save Detroit

We all have a bit of pride when it comes to our hometown. But a group of Detroit natives are proving their allegiance runs beyond local sports teams and are using the power of politics to show their loyalty.
Two Washington, D.C. residents have launched Detroit XPAC, a political action committee funded by donations from the Motor City’s expatriates across the country. The goal is to tap the influence of Michigan’s professional youth that have left the state but still have a vested interest in rebuilding its fledging city.

“We are just a bunch of people from Michigan, from Detroit, who really love this city and want to see it doing well,” Farber said. “It can be amazing. And it’s getting there again.”

Registered at both state and federal levels, the PAC uses contributions to support candidates who have progressive ideas about rebuilding Detroit through economic and sustainable environmental policies, according to the National Journal.
Though the group is still small, it operates a national advisory board as well as a Capitol advisory board to assist with reaching lawmakers on the hill. Most of its members are volunteers who work in urban design or on environmental issues.
The PAC is currently focusing on four or five state, local and federal races, but hasn’t made any endorsements just yet. This year’s pilot run is a precursor to 2016, when the PAC hopes to use its influence for the larger election.
Farber is hoping to reshape the city that shaped her by helping decide who will lead Detroit out of decline. While some current residents may find outside influence on elections a bit disconcerting, Farber argues the PAC’s interest is genuine.

“Part of the reason we thought we should tap into the expats is because it’s a community that isn’t being focused on, and yet we’re all over the country,” she said. “We wanted to prove that the borders of Michigan don’t stop people’s love for the state or where they grew up.”

The group bills itself as nonpartisan but Farber confesses the group leans toward Democratic candidates, who tend to have more progressive ideas. For now, the PAC is readying questionnaires to send out to candidates to hear more about their ideas in the races it plans to endorse.

The PAC is also aiming to create similar advisor boards for New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles.

“There are people on the wrong side of the aisle who think you can defund Detroit, you can cut off its resources, you can ignore it, you can pretend it doesn’t exist,” Dorsey said. “We believe that we must have people who are thinking through how to deliver for the economy in the best interests of citizens of Detroit and to protect the environment.”

Clearly, just because those citizens don’t live within Michigan state limits doesn’t mean they care any less about its long-term success.

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Detroit’s Newest Parking Garage Becomes An Unlikely Canvas

Several years ago, the only words that came to mind when someone mentioned Detroit were American car companies, urban decay, and vacant houses.
But now, Detroit is quickly becoming a hotbed for turning public places into art spaces, and one of its newest commercial developments is no exception.
“The Z” is a 535,00 square foot building, named for its zigzag shape stretching from the corner of Broadway and East Grand River to the corner of Gratiot and Library streets. But unlike any other nearby structures, the 10-story space houses 1,300 parking spots set against a backdrop of vibrant murals commissioned from more than 27 artists across the world. Bedrock Real Estate teamed up with the garage owner and art gallery Library Street Collective for the project, which opened in January.
The featured artists include Maya Hayuk, Interesni Kazki, Cyrcle, Sam Friedman, Augustine Kofie, Dabs Myla, Smash 137, Gaia, Pose and Revok, according to the gallery, and all come from a street or contemporary background.

“The project pretty much encapsulates the building that we’re in,” said Anthony Curis, of the Library Street Collectiv, on the gallery’s website. “It’s a very nontraditional space, but Detroit is a very nontraditional city.”

As drivers wind through each floor, they’ll find expansive murals, which are highlighted in a documentary displayed on a television screen near the lot’s first floor elevators. Making it all the way to the top not only gives those behind the wheel a glimpse of the whole project, but a 360-view of downtown Detroit as well.

Since its inception, “The Z” is now home to a gastro-pub and recently announced the forthcoming additions of a collectible sneaker store, Nojo Kicks; a farm-to-fork eatery, 7 Greens; and yoga studio Citizen Yoga, according to mlive.com.

Though it may only be a parking lot, “The Z” art project gives Detroit residents one more reason to love their city — and a new idea of how other American cities can innovate when it comes to public space.

MORE: From Trash to Transit: Detroit’s Innovative Uses for Demolished Homes

Southwest Airlines Sets Its Sight on Cities, Not Skies

Southwest Airlines is taking its services on the ground, giving cities a boost with urban design.
The national airline has partnered with New York-based nonprofit Project for Public Spaces to launch a three-year initiative — the Heart of the Community grant program — working with cities to revitalize urban areas through construction of new or redesigned public spaces or funding new or ongoing programs.
Southwest has already completed three pilot projects in Detroit, San Antonio and Providence, Rhode Island. Up next? The company will turn its attention to Baltimore, where they’ll work with the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore to rehab the city’s Pratt and Light Plaza.
“We’re in the business of taking people from place to place,” said Marilee McInnis, Southwest’s senior manager of communications, “so we want to support and create and revitalize these places.”
The Pratt and Light area, which the Downtown Partnership’s vice president of communications Michael Evitts described as a “glorified, huge sidewalk,” was built in the 1960s to connect two interstate highways, according to Fast Company. The vast empty, concrete space is currently used to house a farmer’s market. But the city has long sought to revamp the area and the funding from Southwest will give the initiative new interest and fresh ideas from community members.
MORE: 5 European Urban Renewal Projects That Could Help America
The Downtown Partnership will host community workshops to welcome local ideas and hopes to finalize a plan by the fall.

“A lot of what downtown Baltimore is trying to do is undo the best thinking of the previous generation,” Evitts said. “Urban planning in the ’60s was very dictatorial. There was a lot of concrete; people were an afterthought.” Now, it’s more about “encouraging those human moments within urban design.”

The Heart of the Community program is currently accepting applications for 2015 and plans to announce grants for two or three additional communities by the year’s end. Each city will receive funding depending on the project, but the company has not disclosed how much it plans to donate over the next three years.

Have an idea to give your city a facelift? Submit your application by September 15. The only parameter? Your community must fall within one of the 95 urban regions served by Southwest.

When His City’s Transit Service Stalled, One Man Built His Own Bus Company

In 2012, Andy Didorosi bought a few buses on a whim. He owned an asset management company at the time and didn’t know exactly how he was going to use them. But the following year, the Skillman Foundation, a Detroit-based education nonprofit, approached him with funding and a need: help kids get to much-needed after-school programs in neighborhoods with very few public transit options. “I launched the Detroit Bus Company to work on transit gaps in the city of Detroit,” Didorosi says. “It’s like an insurmountable issue that we’re working to hopefully solve.” Today his company picks up hundreds of kids in six underserved neighborhoods across the city and takes them to their activities.

From Trash to Transit: Detroit’s Innovative Uses for Demolished Homes

Revitalizing Detroit is no small feat, but perhaps it’s some of the smaller efforts that will help inject some dignity and positive attitude back into the city’s fractured community.
That’s what a group of artists, designers and residents are hoping to accomplish through “Door Stops,” a social project focused on filling the stretches of vacant lots and empty bus stops with mobile furniture—namely bus shelters and benches.
Using recycled doors recovered from demolished or salvaged homes, the group installs bus shelters bespeckled with colorful murals at transportation stops lacking seating for commuters to rest. The goal, according to the Detroit Design Center’s Craig Wilkins, is to change the perception of public transportation and, in simplest terms, brighten up an otherwise dreary landscape. As Wilkins told DesignPRWire’s Frank Scott:
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“A stop that looks dirty or neglected, or whose waiting passengers look hot, cold, wet, confused or vulnerable sends a devastating message: you’re lucky you don’t have to ride the bus. The use of public transportation is typically read as being without means; that the people, place and service of public transportation are at best, secondary considerations in the economic and environmental operations of the city. We wanted to change that.”
Since its inception, “Door Stops,” which is a play on the term “bus stops,” has gained recognition from the A’Design Award & Competition, where it received a silver medal in “Social Design.”
But the project is not meant to be permanent. Wilkins explains the mobile aspect means it’s up to commuters and city residents to determine where the furniture is most needed, which can change as the city evolves.
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Sometimes that means not at all where they intended on placing the shelters. Wilkins notes that the biggest challenge so far is some of the first installations have disappeared, possibly by scrappers looking for metal. But he’s not discouraged, and insists the project is a gift to Detroit residents.
“If they find that they’re more useful to take them scrap them and put food on someone’s table, it’s not really our place to say no, that’s supposed to be a bus stop,” Wilkins told Fast Company.
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The group has installed around 12 shelters since last September and intends to place about 25 in total by the year’s end. If funding is made available, “Door Stops” plans to include solar panels and GPS markers in the next round of units. 
And while Wilkins admits it’s a small part of a larger push to get Detroit locals back on their feet, he contends it is an important part of addressing one of the community’s many concerns. 
It begins small, but has the ability to aggregate into a larger, cumulative impact,” he said. 

Can an Influx of Immigrants Bolster Michigan’s Economy?

Why are people so resistant to immigrants? After all, studies have shown that immigrants stabilize neighborhoods, and their presence correlates with a reduction of crime. Additionally, they are more than twice as likely to start their own business as people born in the United States, according to a study by the University of North Carolina. And a study in Michigan by the Immigration Policy Center suggested immigrants are six times more likely to start high-tech companies than native-born people are.
All of this is why Michigan’s governor Rick Snyder believes that an influx of talented immigrants could help reinvigorate his state. So he asked the federal government if Michigan could create its own visa program for immigrants who have the means to invest $500,000 to $1 million in starting job-creating businesses.
In April, the federal government approved the plan. Snyder told of Gary Heinlein of the Detroit News that the move is “an important step in helping harness top talent and international direct investment into the state to continue and accelerate Michigan’s comeback. Our state needs outstanding talent to help drive the new economy. Immigrants are net job creators.”
Michigan will open a regional center for EB-5 visas, an “immigrant investor” program that was implemented with the 1990 immigration act. Those who have a plan for a business that will employ 10 or more people in Michigan can apply for permanent residence. (Their family can also apply.) Projects that target areas with high unemployment will be have priority, and given that there 433 neighborhoods in the state with an unemployment rate one-and-a-half times greater than the national average, there are plenty of communities to choose from.
Snyder is putting a lot of energy behind his plan to welcome immigrants to Michigan to help his state economically. He’s also created a Michigan Office for New Americans, plus he delivered two other immigrant-related proposals during his State of the State speech in January. He’s hoping these new Americans will bring renewed energy and ideas that can return Michigan’s economy to its former powerhouse status. 
MORE: Meet the CEO Who Wants to Bring 50,000 Immigrants to Detroit 
 

What’s the Most Generous City in America?

We’ve always been a bit wary of reports that rank cities based on which is “The Most” or “The Best” in some particular way. But a new study published by CreditDonkey.com attempts to discover the 10 most generous cities in the U.S. If you live in one of them, permission granted to be proud.
The study focused on generosity both in terms of time and money. To examine time, the researchers studied 2012 data from the Corporation for National and Community Service. Minneapolis had the highest rate, with 36.7 percent of citizens volunteering.
To examine financial generosity, the site used recent IRS data to show which states’ citizens reported the most charitable contributions. On total dollar contributions, New York won.
In an attempt to weed out what they refer to as a “high lack of generosity,” the researchers used FBI data to look at cities where theft was most rampant. Topping this (unwanted) list?  Hammond, Louisiana.
Obviously, this study focused on a narrow form of measurable generosity — after all, community service logs don’t account for daily kindnesses paid to strangers or political activism that results in better working conditions. And tax-reported charitable contributions certainly aren’t the only way to show financial generosity. Even high rates of theft don’t necessarily indicate low generosity; they might simply indicate high rates of poverty.
That said, according to the final rankings, New York City is the most generous of all the American cities. The Big Apple has the highest per capita financial donation rate, and the Food Bank for New York City is the largest anti-hunger charity in the United States. Detroit also made the list, with an average $474 donation per person. Other cities that CreditDonkey lists as generous are Atlanta, Denver, and Dallas.
The next time you’re planning a vacation, perhaps it’s worth checking out one of these generous communities.