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Andrew Zimmern is a hard guy to get a hold of – but it seems Detroit has gotten a hold of him in many, many ways.

All of his Motown love will show tonight during the world premiere of “Bizarre Foods: America” featuring his Detroit visit, which happened last fall. Everyone who met him was wowed by his charm and unique sarcasm. It’s the reason we rabid fans love his work. And it sounds like our loyalty will be met with a great episode, which starts at 9 p.m. EST on The Travel Channel.

Check out what the man had to say about our city, our food and our people. Zimmern has been traveling non-stop for weeks now, and he took the time to answer the Hub’s questions. I totally dig his commitment to eating and helping a reporter on the fly!

The Travel Channel

Q: Detroiters called you sharp, witty and a good eater. What would you call them?
A: Vibrant, welcoming, with a lot of heart. The people there have picked up where society has let them down. There’s a self-sufficiency there that’s just incredible.

Q: What surprised you the most about what you ate here?
A: Detroit is one of the most culturally diverse cities I’ve visited in a long time. It definitely shows in the food. It’s home to the largest Arab-American population in the country, not to mention its thriving Polish, Mexican and Bengali communities. With that comes honest, authentic food. What’s more, people from all over the United States have relocated to Detroit. I’ve eaten some of the best soul food in the country here. I’d argue that this kind of cultural cross pollination defines America, and it’s the kind of thing Detroit is doing well, maybe even doing it better than any other city in the country. Out of an absurd challenge, has come a renaissance.

Q: They say Detroit has great audiences — but do we have great food? People here would like to get on the foodie radar.
A: Absolutely. There’s so much happening here on a micro level. Eastern Market is simply amazing, and peppered mostly with entrepreneurs who are bringing this city back in a big way. I could’ve done the entire show there– not because there are so many different foods, but because of the stories we found. We met a woman who was selling iced tea (Grandad’s Sweet Tea). It’s a bottled product. Three quarters of their family were unemployed so they started making iced tea. Now it’s sold in eight or nine states and they have 20 employees. This kind of story is everywhere in Detroit, and it think it’s the key to revitalizing the city. I was thrilled not only by how great the food scene is there, but by how it’s also bringing hope to the community.

Q: What does Detroit need that you did not see?
A: Detroit is one of the most culturally diverse cities I’ve visited in a long time – I can’t think of anything I would add.

Q: What one memory will stay with you about this city — given that you’ve seen so much of the world?
A: There’s a place called Love’s Custard Pie. It is the best pie I have ever eaten in my life. It’s worth going just for that … chess pie, sweet potato pie, blueberry pie, buttermilk custard pie.

Oh, and the salted, fermented fish pizza from a little mom-and-pop shop (Amar Pizza) run by a Pakistani family in Hamtramck. I liked it because I like anchovies on my pizza. They have 20 pizzas, and their best-seller is still tomato sauce and cheese, but their fellow countrymen and people from Bangladesh love that salted fish pizza. It’s the best part of the show.

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P.S. Here’s my favorite comment from Zimmern’s personal blog post about the show. Hip, hip, hooray!

If I was a betting man I would be taking Detroit and giving the points, even doubling down. Plenty of people gave Detroit up for dead, and maybe it was already dead and no one knew it, but this city is gaining traction in its neighborhoods and small enclaves of commitment and its thrilling to see. I can’t wait to get back there.

That’s some food for the soul.

P.P.S. If you want to watch with some of the local Mower Gang guys who were in the show, head out to Ferndale’s Emory tonight. Everyone is welcome and The Emory is donating a portion of the bar tab back to the Mower Gang’s gas, gatorade, and beer fund. The event, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will be held at 22700 Woodward Avenue in Fab Ferndale.

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Detroit made its presence known on Super Bowl Sunday in more ways than just the Chrysler commercial. Turns out it was a local company, Detroit Labs, that built out the hugely succssful Chevy Game Time app, which gave away free cars and skyrocketed into iPhone’s top 10 free apps list. Surrounded by the likes of Facebook and Instagram, this was no small accomplishment.

So now that the Super Bowl has come and gone, and things have calmed down a bit over at Detroit Labs, we sat down to talk to Henry Balanon, mobile director and one of the group’s co-founders.

Q: First off, congrats on the overwhelming success with Detroit Lab’s Chevy Game Time app! Were you expecting this kind of response?

A: Balanon: It was always in the back of our minds that we wanted that, but there were a lot of factors that we couldn’t control. There’s always that shadow of doubt: are there going to be enough people using this? For all intents and purposes, all of the expectations that we had and that GM had were far exceeded… in a positive way!

Q:Can you take me behind the creation of an app at Detroit Labs?

A: Balanon: Okay, so it starts off with a pitch to the client or whoever is funding the idea. Starts with a small feature set on paper of what people want to do, and usually those details are very fuzzy. It’s kind of a mash: this from this app, and that from that app, and it’s not quite fleshed out or a solid idea. So what ends up happening is that the creative lead takes the concept and starts making screen mock ups of what the app could look like. It’s a very integrative process, so then you would show that to the client and they’ll start to get ideas…Then all of a sudden 5 comps or mock-ups become 10. So the entire lay out gets fleshed out graphically first along with the feature set. Then that’s when the building starts and that’s when we take the mock-up and programming them into the device and adding any back end web service that might be needed. All the while we get demos out to clients and seeing what they think, then taking their feedback and making changes accordingly. It’s a big loop that keeps going and going and going, literally until game day when it’s time to submit.

Q: Being that this is an incredibly competitive field, what do you think factors into one app succeeding over another? What do you attribute your success to?

A: Balanon: There are a lot of aspects to getting an app adopted. The first is having a great product, which lot of people are able to do… so we did the best we could have done.  But then another piece is the marketing, and Chevy did a great job with marketing the app as well, running commercials during the Pro Bowl, during the NFC games and they put them in very strategic places. They headed marketing efforts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. There was a lot of work that everyone has done and because of that we were successful. There were a lot of people collaborating. It definitely made a splash.

Q: What initially attracted you to mobile app development?

A: Balanon: So I started with a company called Bickbot a few years ago. I started that because I loved using the iPhone and I wanted to make apps for it. It was a new industry. A wise man once told me “You have to get known for something, otherwise you’re going to get known for nothing.” So I really niched myself into that industry and a few years later cofounded Detroit Labs with three other guys there along with some support from Detroit Venture Partners. What I do here is similar to what I did at Vickbot, but at a larger scale. So what were doing with Chevy would have been impossible, but now that we have an entire team dedicated, I feel like we can do anything now.

Q: Do you have any general advice for people who would like to start building apps? What resources are out there for people who are interested but maybe inexperienced?

A: Balanon: If people don’t have experience within app building, I’d say books give a good sense of structure. I’d start with tutorials online too. It’s possible to teach yourself. I mean, I was a programmer before so it was easy for me to pick up, but the community is starting to get strong here around mobile development, so I encourage them to reach out to other mobile developers and learn from them.

Q: Are there any community meet ups geared specifically toward mobile development that you would recommend?

A:Balanon: Yes, there’s a conference a couple times a year called MobiDevDay and it’s all about developing apps. Cocoa Heads Detroit is geared specifically toward iPhones. The Droid Dev group is geared toward Android devices.

Q: How are you liking the Madison Building?

A: Balanon: You know a lot of people come through here, including a guy named Chuck Song, and he’s been to the Bay Area and New York and all over. He says that out of everywhere he’s been, this is one of the best startup spaces he’s seen. There’s great tech energy around here. We have a rooftop overlooking Comerica Park, and we moved here in October when it was very cold, and it’s still cold, but in the spring, the Comerica park crowd and energy will be there and that’s very exciting.

Q: So what can we expect to see in Detroit Lab’s future?

A: Balanon: Right now we’re working on our own apps that haven’t yet been released.  We’re continuing to do work for startups as well as fortune 500 companies, but we’re also introducing something called lab time where we’re creating and introducing our own projects. So we’re creating our own apps and hopefully in the next year you’ll all get to see some of it.

We sure hope so. For more on Detroit Labs, visit their website, or find them on Facebook or Twitter.

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Many things in life don’t come with an owner’s manual: Having a great marriage. Raising decent children. And how to start a business in Detroit.

Enter Tom Nardone. This week, he and the good folks at Ferndale’s Paper Street (a business incubator) hosted a “how to start your own company” class where cursing was allowed, drinking was encouraged and ideas at any level of development were supported.

Mentorship. Frank talk from a real entrepreneur. Advice on raising capital from a capitalist. If you think Detroit needs fresh ideas and a New Economy, here are the people making it happen. You wanna open a food truck, comic-book store, worm farm? Here is where your can-do spirit was not only appreciated, but it was lauded as well.

“You’ve gotta capture that dream. Because otherwise the dream gets lost in the frustrations of everyday life,” Nardone cautioned.

Now, don’t go thinking Nardone was easy on us. No way. This guy is a realist. He started his business, PriveCo Inc., with his own money borrowed from his own house. He created his company, which sells things people would rather buy in private in a safe, secure online environment, by reading books about web-site programming. So if you have a pie-in-the-sky idea, Nardone will hear you out. And then he’ll punch it so full of holes that you’ll look like SpongeBob and feel about as smart as Patrick Star. (Don’t understand my references? Go ask a 7-year-old boy.)

“Dreaming big is fun – when it’s on paper,” he added. “When you have to start writing checks, it gets scary.”

And the first day you don’t make payroll? That’s your last day in business. Yup.

Nearly two dozen people showed up for the class, which taught you how to write a business plan in eight not-so-easy steps. Well, Nardone made them seem easy for the most part. (“Six out of the eight are no-brainers,” he said to be exact.) He did a bang-up job of outlining each step, which include things like market analysis, operating plans and financial guesstimating. But actually writing a complete business plan and being honest about whether it has the potential for success is so very NOT easy. In fact, I think a lot of us left the first of the two-part course on Wednesday feeling pretty sick about the whole entrepreneur thing.

And that was the point to some degree. Being honest with yourself has to be one of the first steps in deciding to go out on your own. Let’s face it – it’s a lot easier to collect a paycheck from someone else. And it would be nice to lie to yourself that your idea for a bacon-themed pastry shop is a real winner. But that’s not what earns you any money. And, yes, despite your philanthropist intentions, is why you have a business in the first place. To make some damn money. After all, Nardone is a capitalist, through and through. And, yes, you Detroit do-gooders, you need to make some money somewhere along the way if you want to still be selling your single-brew coffee or horse dung or photography or what have you down the line.

“Ego isn’t going to get you anywhere,” especially when you fudge the number or your chance at success within such an important document as a business plan, Nardone told us. “You aren’t going to look back in 10 years and say, ‘Look at how confident I was!’”

But making us all wimps who never try anything new or daring clearly wasn’t Nardone’s intention either. Rather, he wanted to give participants an honest look at how difficult it is to get something new off the ground. It takes real guts – and an appetite for risk, failure and debt – to hang your own shingle, no matter what field you are in.

I’ll be honest. I’m a huge Tom Nardone fan. I love his business ideas (this guy owns the rights to and sell stuff at winners including Bachlorette.com and Vibrators.com. And, yes, that latter web site does get as much business as you think it would). I’m always amazed at his good deeds, especially as leader of the Mower Gang, while he still raises a family. I appreciate his humor and obvious intelligence. More importantly, I think he has the best of intentions. He really wants the people who come to his class or seek his advice in any form to get a business off the ground. And that, Dear Readers, is what Detroit needs.

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Another great space has popped up, so to speak, in the Sugar Hill Arts District. In the basement of 71 Pop, a collaborative pop up retail building, you’ll find the city’s newest clay and ceramics studio.

Sugar Hill Clay has been open a little less than a month now, but Director Rick Pruckler already feels settled in the neighborhood. “It feels very grounded,” he explains. “The Sugar Hill district already has this incredible past and art is popping up everywhere now.”

The past he’s talking about is in the heyday of the 40’s and 50’s, when the Sugar Hill district had its colony of world-class jazz musicians. In the recent years, this part of Midtown has been in the forefront of revival. The clay studio plopped itself down between some of Detroit’s essential art venues: Detroit Artists Market, the N’Namdi gallery, and MOCAD. “We’re trying to create an arts destination place. There’s a walkway being developed between N’Namdi and 71 Pop where people can meet and hang out… It’s really exciting to be tied to all this art,” Pruckler says.

Their historical ties aren’t just in location either. For their teen classes, they’re partnering with Detroit’s long-standing Pewabic Pottery. “I’ve been teaching at Pewabic since 1986,” Pruckler says. “They needed more space for their Saturday classes and the fit was natural. We’ll probably have more projects with Pewabic in the future,” he explains.

The studio currently offers an array of classes: eating and drinking vessels, wheel throwing, tile, and intro to ceramics. 12-week courses are available, but drop-ins are always welcome too. Some classes cater specifically to one or another, but most of them are amenable to both seasoned veterans and those with no experience working with clay.

Tonya Lutz teaches Intro to Ceramics on Tuesdays. The class covers hand building, wheel throwing, glazing and firing, but it doubles as open studio time. “If you’re already advanced, you can go at your own pace,” she says. Even so, it helps to have instructors around. “There’s so much to learn and there are so many variables that it’s a really exciting field to get involved in,” Lutz says. “Different clay bodies react with different glazes, so there’s a lot going on. It’s mad scientist stuff.”

So while there is more than enough to keep busy between classes, workshops, and private parties, Pruckler has ambitious plans for the future: “It would be nice to get spaces for artists to rent for either working studios or sales,” he says, citing Chicago’s Lill Street as a model facility. “Detroit doesn’t have anything like this yet,” he notes, “but it’s needed.”

Sugar Hill Clay is also working out a proposal to the DMC about implementing a program to work with terminally ill children. “It would be mural work,” Pruckler says. “Each child would be making a piece that becomes part of a larger whole that would keep growing and evolving.”

For more on Sugar Hill Clay, or sign up for classes, visit their website and find them on Facebook.

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Click photo to hear Doyle Mosher speak about Challenge Detroit

A little over two years ago I got an e-mail from a friend telling me to check out The Collaborative in Birmingham. It was a good, trusted source so I called and met with its founder Doyle Mosher. He sat at a table made of Detroit relic shadow boxes designed and built by Detroit artist Scott Hocking.

I knew then this was going to be fun … I just didn’t know how much fun and how much The Collaborative would be contributing to Detroit’s transformation. Doyle exuberantly talked about this “little” plan he had to bring young talent to Detroit called Challenge Detroit

Now before we go any further I need to tell you The Collaborative Group is a non-profit dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship so either bringing talent to Detroit or keeping it here fits right into its agenda. The group also believes innovative, talented people both inside and outside Detroit want to be part of the city’s transformation. The question was how to either get them here or keep them here?

The answer: Challenge Detroit, which The Collaborative just launched. Deirdre Greene Groves, executive director of The Collaborative Group and Challenge Detroit, is championing the project.

Challenge Detroit will bring approximately 30 of the country’s best and brightest young people from every intellectual discipline, whether attorneys or artists, doctors or financiers, engineers or educators, either to the Detroit-area or keep them here. Here’s how it works.

Following a three-phase application process including written applications, video resumes, and in-person interviews, Challenge Detroit judges and partnering companies will determine final job placements. Each participant will work at one of 30 Challenge Detroit host companies, which include ePrize, Quicken Loans, Marketing Associates and Strategic Staffing Solutions.

“Challenge Detroit is founded on the belief that 30 of the best and brightest, passionate, hard- working and inventive leaders of tomorrow can make all the difference in the world, let alone a city,” says Groves. “We are working with top companies, non-profits and leaders from the greater Detroit area to develop this exciting social initiative that will positively impact the future of Detroit and the region.”

Those chosen will:

• Live in Detroit, supported by a $500/month housing stipend
• Receive a $30,000 salary to work at one of the top companies in the region
• Experience the city through organized social and cultural events
• Participate in monthly team challenges in partnership with area non-profits, designed to positively impact the city and region

Participants will also work with non-profits, including The Detroit Regional News Hub, Tech Town and the United Way for Southeastern Michigan on initiatives such as developing opportunities for social entrepreneurship, addressing urban issues pertaining to regional planning, transportation and education and distributing food to those in need.

During their year in Detroit, participants will gain new insights about the city and the greater Detroit region while sharing their story with the world through regular blogging, video logging and social media updates. “We believe, through their experiences with Challenge Detroit, these individuals will be intrigued to stay in Detroit, work in Detroit, bring new ideas to Detroit, even start their own business in Detroit, and by doing so, they will have a positive influence on our region today and in the future,” said Groves.

Challenge Detroit is accepting applications through March 16, 2012 and the year in Detroit will begin in August 2012. Those interested in participating, should visit www.ChallengeDetroit.org for more information and to begin the application process.

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This story is about a T-shirt slogan that got a little full of itself. That’s soooooooo Detroit Snob.

Don’t you love how those two words sound together? Detroit Snob. It feels so wrong it’s right. And it’s a slogan that fits in every sense of the word.

What began as an ironic statement has become iconic. It has evolved into a full-fledged philosophy for Desiree Cooper and Pat Williams Taitt Euseary. They are unofficial presidents of the Detroit Snob Club. It’s one of those hoity-toity, obnoxious, highfalutin types of Club – the only difference here is that pretty much anyone with attitude is welcome to join.

Those are the key words to the Detroit Snob: With Attitude. ‘Cause you cannot roll with such a bombastic bunch unless you’re willing to put yourself out there, take no guff, be fully present. In Detroit. For Detroit. Around Detroit.

In other words, the next time you’re in a Detroit funk, try talking to a Detroit Snob. They’ll set you straight.

“Any way you cut it, (Detroit Snob) gets dialog going in this town,” Cooper said. “Right now, this is a message that needs to be said.”

Cooper, the longtime writer and venerable columnist for The Detroit Free Press, started the Detroit Snob movement shortly after she and the paper split ways about three years ago. The idea had long floated in her head – a mixture of the youth culture she observed in the city and the concept that Detroit no longer needs to apologize for itself. Crime? Check. Scandal? Check. Endless abandonment? Check. That’s just the way it is – and it is so much more.

“I know these things are here. I don’t need to be reminded of it,” said Cooper this week during our interview. “We’re tired of apologizing for Detroit and we’re tired of explaining Detroit. And if you don’t get it, you’re just not in the Club.”

Who is the Club? Any like-minded person who follows the Detroit Snob credo. (And it doesn’t hurt if they own and wear a Detroit Snob shirt. More on those later.)

What is a Detroit Snob? A Detroit Snob is high-minded, but always down-to-earth. A Detroit Snob offers action, not excuses. A Detroit Snob is a serial optimist. A Detroit Snob finds art where others find scraps. A Detroit Snob plants green where others see gray. A Detroit Snob never offers apologies, only possibilities.

That’s the philosophy behind this city Snobbery. “It sets me afire. And that fire is contagious,” Cooper said.

The Cooper family started the t-shirt company. That was the idea at least. Then, the grown children who needed a job actually found jobs. That left Cooper, Taitt Euseary and their tribe of helpful and supportive retailers to sell the shirts. And, sometimes, it’s been a bit of a hard sell.

Ask Rachel Lutz. The owner of The Peacock Room at 15 E. Kirby has about a dozen of the shirts in stock. And she fields the standard quizzical look that people have when they first see the slogan. “I like the shirt, and I like Detroit,” Lutz says, doing her best imitation, “But I don’t want to be known as a snob. That’s not very nice.”

Au contraire, mon frère. A Detroit Snob is nice indeed. Besides the befuddled, there are two other typical reactions, Cooper said. One goes like this: “Ah, no, thanks.” The other sounds a little like this: “Exactly. Yes. What sizes do you have?”

Speaking of fire, that’s one reason Detroit Snob has grown beyond the t-shirts, although they’re mighty pretty and be-dazzled (love the one that has the Spirit of Detroit sparkle!). In December, the grandmother of one of Cooper’s friends and fellow journos lost her house in a fire. Within days, the Snob community via Facebook and the Snob blog rallied, gathered bag upon bag of clothing and supplies for the family. Seeing people step up – especially during a time and season when most things feel so financially tight – convinced Cooper that this Snob thing was turning out to be far more than she anticipated.

Now, it’s not going to become an Snob-occupy Detroit thing by any stretch. It’s just that this little phrase has some standing power – something to rally behind, perhaps.

“I do feel it is bigger than a label. It’s about dignifying a life that Detroiters have cut out for themselves,” Cooper said. “We’re not going to back away from the city; we’re going to embrace it. We might be high-minded, but we’re also caring. We’re a roll-up-your-sleeves kind of metro area.”

Speaking of sleeves, the shirts also are available at Flo Boutique, Spectacles, The Lido Gallery and Savvy Chic in Eastern Market and Franklin. Not that you have to buy one. A Snob is a Snob even without the cool uniform. But it would be a nice one to round out a Detroit t-shirt collection. Just sayin’.

Oh, and you don’t have to live in the city limits. Nope, Cooper isn’t going to stand for that nonsense. She herself after living in Detroit for two decades has embraced regionalism and moved to the suburbs. So just focus on being an ambassador, would ya? Don’t worry about borders, about leaving, about staying, about arriving. Just care. A regional mindset is about letting all boats rise, allrighty?

“My feeling is if you’re willing to put that t-shirt on you’ve earned that authority. You don’t give up that commitment because you don’t live within the city,” Cooper said. “We’re all part of this dysfunctional relationship – we love it no matter how much we’re abused.”

She knows. Cooper has told “the Detroit story” for decades as well. She always was impressed with Detroit from the moment her worldly feet touched ground here. Here’s what Detroit has that other cities don’t have because of its failures, she notes. We have a sense of what it’s like to be on the other side: to be rich, to be poor, to be hungry, to be full. Being a part of the community is expected. To help the fellow or lady across the road is necessary. We are connected through assumption – the assumption that you have to help everyone if you have any means at all.

“Detroit is great at reinventing reinvention,” she added. And when you’re tired of serving in the trenches, that youth comes powering in to give it their try. That new energy – those new Snobs – come in and give you reason to hope again.

“It’s contagious,” Cooper said.

Note: I’ve just got to add that Cooper’s Snobbery got me thinking. And then acting. So I dropped my wah-wah-wahing about the kids’ stuff to do in Detroit. Instead of moaning about what there isn’t to do, the kid and I ate lunch at the Russell Street Deli, got some ice cream at the Moo-town ice-cream shop and checked out The Peacock Room. It was a slow start to seeing new things. But it’s nice to have new energy and a reason to stretch beyond the norm. Hopefully, my need to rant will take a much-needed break for a while. Thanks, No. 1 Snob!

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Contrary to popular opinion the internet and cell phones have not relegated libraries to “relic” status. Instead, this modern technology can give them a new lease on life … a new mission for those who choose to accept it, if you will.

“Our neighborhoods have a passion for the libraries,” she says, emphasizing that no one wanted to close the libraries and that the Detroit Public Library is doing all in its power to fill the gap.

Here’s how the program would work.

If you’re old enough to remember ordering books from the Scholastic Magazine and then waiting excitedly for a few weeks to get them her plan will ring a bell. Students will be able use the computers at their schools to borrow books from the Detroit Public Library. The library will send the books to the schools and the schools will send them back. Or, if the student has an iPad, iPhone or Kindle, the books could be downloaded. Books can be checked out for three weeks. Yes, Virginia, there will be still fines if the books are late.

“Kids want to learn,” Mondowney says. “They get excited when a new book arrives. They have a basic desire and excitement to learn.”

The Detroit Public Library has a lot to choose from. It is the 20^th largest library in the nation with just under 7.3 million volumes.

There is a catch. They have to work out how many licenses the library has for each book before the program could into effect. Mondowney is on it and is working with organizations such as Random House to find a solution. “We need to work it out like Apple did with streaming music … or like Amazon did,” she says” Amazon was an early adapter for books on line.

“We can promote reading like never before,” she says.”We cannot do things the old way. We must look at how things are packaged for this generation.”

The idea comes from a similar program called Limitless Libraries in Nashville. When the program was fully implemented in all district high schools there circulation increased by 125 percent during the 2010-2011 school year, making an extensive collection of 1.5 million items and all the resources of the Nashville Public Library available to faculty and students.

“As a child, if the library by me would have closed my life would be been diminished. I was introduced to such heroines as Anne Frank,” she says. “The library is the biggest treasure we have. It is like winning the lottery.”

As Lady Bird Johnson once said “Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.”  Detroit’s neighborhoods have that interest.

Photos by Karpov the Wrecked Train

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There are terrific things happening at the corner of Trumbull and Grand River. Kids from the Woodbridge neighborhood and others close by are learning to become entrepreneurs … do their homework and become good global citizens.

The place is the Barnabas Youth Opportunities Center where between 25 and 35 children, ages 7-17, come after school for the Worldwide Youth Entrepreneurship Program. The first words they hear when they walk in the door are “Do you have homework? Go sit down and get it done. Do you need help?” I was a witness. These kids head right for a table and get out the books.

High school friends Ryan Wyche, 25, and Byron Parks, 24, started the program to help transform the lives of at risk children in some of Detroit’s challenged areas by showing them positive role models, teaching them to be innovative and creative thinkers and giving them a sense of purpose in themselves and in their neighborhoods.

“Woodbridge is one of the hurting communities,” says Ryan. “Lots of families are barely making it. We want to help teach these young people to succeed in the world and learn the value of the global marketplace.”

Homework comes first

The stats are overwhelming. In the area they targeted there are about 3,300 children between the ages of 0-19, according to zipskinny.com. Furthermore, 10 percent of the adults are unemployed, 30 percent live at or near the poverty level and 1,954 households are single parent homes. These kids need a boost up. Ryan and Byron wanted to give it to them but needed a place to house their program.

Enter Stanley Edwards, co-founder and executive director of the Barnabas Center, who opened that building to them. Their vision fit perfectly with the Center’s … “encourage and promote development of youth … create positive, meaningful work, learning and recreational opportunities … provide a positive image and service, which leads to the development of strong social and individual responsibility as a deterrent and alternative to crime, substance abuse and destructive behavior.”

Their focus on education and homework is already paying off. In one case their mentoring helped a student jump from second grade reading to fifth grade reading capability since last September. Besides increasing their learning skills these children are part of the Worldwide Youth Entrepreneurship Program. It’s like a mini-Junior Achievement or 4-H program. In the back shop they build make wooden book cases, work benches, signs and typewriter desks with an optional computer cabinet, which may be ordered. All are for sale. Their work is outstanding.

Ryan and Byron are driven by a passion for volunteering. Ryan told me in his case it was instilled as a child. At seven his mom took him with her to work at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen … he’s never stopped volunteering. He went to Eastern Michigan University to study to be an entertainment lawyer … a career that offers big bucks … but as he worked toward that goal he realized his calling was to be in the community, giving back.

“I am changing 40 kids’ lives every day,” he says. “I want to make sure each and everyone goes on to college.”

Dominic Lane, a well-spoken 15-year-old, says he’s been coming to the Center “all my life.” His mom is a friend of Stanley’s and he was one of the first students. He wants to pursue a career in culinary arts. Lakia Torbert, 11, comes to the Center with her brother and two sisters. She wants to be a chef or a writer but first she’d like to learn to dance. Her dream is to have a dance studio at the Center.

There’s a place for that. The building has a wonderful upstairs. It just needs a little renovation. Stanley, Ryan and Byron have been working on it with other volunteers.

Ryan is keen on making sure the students he is mentoring have the same commitment.  This past Christmas they launched their first annual Christmas Wishes for Kids fundraising event to help fulfill the wishes of children whose parents cannot make those wishes come true. They wrapped 250 donated gifts for 57 families.

“Kids need to see what it means to give back,” Ryan says. “I want to plant that seed just like my mom did.”

They do all this all on a shoestring … without federal dollars. Everything is done through fundraisers or donations from computers to food to games and so on. The games and computers are getting old. They also need a van. About 15 kids want to be part of the program but they don’t have transportation. If you have something you’d like to donate please reach out to Ryan at 313-831-4488. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter@WorldwideYouth.

Pictures by Karpov the Wrecked Train

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As you might guess Hybrid Moments in Ferndale has a little bit of everything. Part record store, part consignment shop and part live music venue to boot … it might seem puzzling until you realize the whole thing is an umbrella to support Detroit’s community of artists, musicians and crafters.

“We’re pretty much open to be a local space … enough so anyone can utilize us,” owner Johnny Weeks says. The shop hosts live music every weekend. CD release parties and art openings come around, too.

The whole point was to get as many local artists involved as possible. “We wanted to grow through the community instead of a top down corporate structure,” says Weeks. Knowing it’s hard for an artist to get his or her stuff out there, he felt compelled to make a space for that to happen. The shop is totally community-based and sustained and has a wonderfully eclectic mix of records, CDs, vintage clothing, posters, art and more.

“The funny thing is I never thought about the consignment idea until I moved to Detroit,” admits Weeks, who came back here after living in California for seven years. “But so many people around here are so involved in the handmade movement and screen printing and everything.”

On top of being blown away by the handmade movement and music scene around Detroit, part of what inspired the opening of Hybrid Moments was … surprisingly … Michigan’s economic climate. “I was super motivated to start this back in Michigan because the economy gives us small guys a chance,” Weeks explains. “Ten years ago, this place was four times the rent I pay now … The economy gives you opportunities.”

He has some advice for other young people looking to open businesses. “Do it and don’t think twice,” he says. “There needs to be a lot more businesses owned by younger people. It’s important in growing our communities. I see businesses throwing money to the city, but that’s not enough. Most youthful business owners are going toward it now knowing that in order to grow you need to give back and involve people.”

“Learn as you go along. Go and find out how much it might cost to rent a place per month. You never know,” he says. “If anything, I’d be stoked on the idea of this spawning copy cats. Anyone can do it. You just have to do it.”

He and his vendors are certainly stoked about Hybrid Moments. There has been a core group of vendors making up the shop’s contents since the beginning. Those behind Millie Bea’s, who call themselves “second-hand radicals,” sell vintage clothing, accessories, natural body products, and handmade jewelry. Wolf Pack Clothing, and Badnews Boards added skateboards and skate wear to the mix.

Weeks met a lot of his current vendors when they walked in the shop. Shawn Knight, a screen printing artist, was one such peddler. His psychedelic posters line the south wall of the shop. “The big reason we’re such a supporter of him is because he’s a local Ferndale resident and he’s made such a big name for himself,” Weeks says. Alongside posters for local bands, like Child Bite and Zoos of Berlin, he’s gone on to design for national acts like the Black Keys and Girl Talk.

There’s been no problem in finding the wealth of trappings that now make up Hybrid Moments. Alongside the veterans, Weeks also keeps a rotating door open for other artists, crafters, and musicians to sell their work.

“That was the coolest thing. As soon as we opened the doors we were getting more and more consignment stuff in. We actually had to expand the store to make room for everything,” Weeks says as he motions to a garage door that used to separate the back half of the store. It’s filled with fabulous 70s menswear, used books and pretty vintage dresses.

You can find work from local visual artists ranging from paintings to screen prints to mixed media.  The shop supports crafters, too. You’ll find hand-knit hats, journals and pins from vendors such as Comfortably Lovely. “Basically anything in the constraints of handmade and local,” Weeks says.

Hybrid also carries new and used records. “It’s an eclectic mix of everything but definitely all underground music. Nothing corporate labeled.  We’re heavier on rock stuff, but we do include everything and we mix the local stuff in … Why segregate the locals?” he asks. “It’s weird.”

If all goes well, Weeks has some super fun plans for the future. “I’d love to get a vending machine and have it full of local foods,” he says “and I’d love to put on a Hybrid Moments festival to really showcase the community involved.”

If you want to see a show, stop by Friday or Saturday nights from 9:00 pm to midnight. Cover rates are between $3 and $5.

“We support the Detroit music scene, which makes our stuff garage, punk, and indie,” Weeks says. “But we definitely include everything. We’ve had folk and hip hop shows here, too.”

Hybrid Moments is open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 8:00 pm and Sunday noon to 5:00 pm. For more information and for upcoming show dates, check out their blog and add them on Facebook.

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Generally, I like when people create things. Art? Like it. Music? I’ll take it. A new technology? Some for me, please. Innovative event that showcases Michigan? Hey – now you’re onto something.

If you aren’t already one of his nearly 2,500 friends (no, I’m not exaggerating), then let me introduce you to Jason Brown. This snappy young man is the founder and principal of PublicCity PR. He also is one of the creators of the Great Lakes Showcase, an event that aims to partner Detroit-area media with businesses looking for some publicity.

Yes, this is a profit-making enterprise for both sides – Jason and the business that contract to attend the Jan. 16 event. The media gets lots of great story fodder, some finger foods and probably swag to take home. Another typical day at the office, right?

Well, I’d like to argue the other side. I think the idea has some serious potential and needs to be exploited on a much grander scale. I think Michigan itself – its people, its businesses, even its PR people – need to take a long, hard look at how this event could shape perception about our fine state. We need someone to take a long, hard look at us. We need attention. We need some action – and the only way this squeaky state is going to get some is through some serious SHOUTING from the rooftops.

Now, granted, Jason will be talking quietly and respectfully from the Southfield Westin Hotel. But he is moving forward rapidly with this idea, taking from inspiration to fulfillment within a matter of months. There was no such thing as the Showcase before this inaugural event. He created something out of nothing. And I’ve got to say that all of Michigan needs to learn something from the good Mr. Brown.

(Background on Jason: He started PublicCity PR in October 2008. It was, he argues, the worst economy in Michigan’s history. He and co-worker Monica Luoma have been spreading the word throughout the land ever since. The business went from zero clients to today when the firm has about 20 retainer/hourly clients.)

The inspiration for the Showcase? Jason said it was going to a similar show in New York City. That was an annual “gift guide” go-see-them thingie…you know, where reporters get scads of free stuff so they’ll write about it. And that gave him the inspiration to take this event into the Midwest…

“I can’t tell you how many times companies have said to me that they have been sending Press Releases out to media contacts and have never been able to get a story about their product/services. Sound familiar?” Jason told me this week.

His NYC trip was with a client, who showed off their product to more than 150 members of the media over six hours. Here’s the part that stands out for me – more than 150 members of the press showed up for this thing! Yes, we all love a freebie. But they also got the news out about their businesses to the general public.

This is a key message for the state and its denizens – you have to get out there to be seen and heard. I don’t know how many companies I’ve written about for the past decade or more that got coverage just because someone – a mother, someone’s cousin, an ex-girlfriend – got the bright idea to write a reporter. A simple letter. An email. A message got through the various gatekeepers. And, just like that, a sensation…or at least a decent small-business profile…is born.

“After attending this event, I truly thought that I could create a similar event in Michigan and bring some great Michigan success stories (clients/non-clients) in one room to meet media from across the state and engage them to potentially do a story about these companies/products/services or use them as a subject matter expert in the new year,” Jason wrote me. “Once I had the basics down, I called my friend Sherrie Handrinos of Boost 1 Marketing to garner the space needed, help manage the event logistics and leverage her contacts for exhibitors. It’s been a nice partnership thus far.”

So far, there are about 25 companies registered to date along with another 10 local non-profits. “Our goal is 50 companies and non-profits, so about 15 spaces remain with a month to go,” Jason said.

Lots of big companies have PR department that help spread the word about them. But lots of smaller ones – the ones that hire your mom, dad or sister and give us all a living wage – cannot afford such practices. The Showcase is a novel way for them to get their stories out, Jason said.

“For example, Urban Ashes, heard about the Showcase from the “Buy Michigan Now” organization. Urban Ashes is a collection of home furnishings made with Michigan urban wood salvaged from trees that grew on streets, in yards, in parks and in urban areas,” Jason wrote. “The founder Paul Hickman was excited when he heard about the showcase because he wanted media awareness about his company, but didn’t really have a PR budget and thought this was a good investment for his budget.”

I’ll let Jason have the last word. (In real life, this never happens….HA! Just kidding.) But I feel he has summed up my whole argument here. And it’s about time the PR guy actually gets to be heard rather than just acting as a ghost in the machine.

“Over the last few years, we have definitely seen Detroit get its 15 minutes of fame on the national stage, in a positive and negative light. We just need to continue focusing on the positive. I believe media and many other people across the country are rooting for Detroit to have a renaissance and want to help make that dream a reality. But we still can’t slow down and must continue to do things that will catch the eye of local and national media, so that story never gets overlooked.”

Ditto, my friend.

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You’re probably used to hearing the zap, zing, zoop of the latest video game after the presents are opened on Christmas morning. Still, no matter how much technology we bring into this world, a kid … and many adults … still want a brand new bike under that tree.

If you shop in Downtown Detroit it’s easy to get that bike. Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop owners Karen Gage and Kelli Kavanaugh have opened a Downtown pop-up shop at the Compuware Building, across from Campus Martius. It’ll be open straight through to Christmas Eve.

The store carries bikes from Kona, Origin8 and Sun – including hybrids, cruisers, folding bikes and adult tricycles – and bike accessories ranging from stocking stuffers like bells to more substantial gifts like a messenger bag or a rack for a car. You’ll find quality brands like Bell, Giro, Planet Bike, Dimension, Kryptonite, Jandd, Timbuk2, Topeak, Saris, Park, Continental and Michelin. Local hand-made goods include basket-liners and t-shirts from Wound, Bikes & Murder and Detroit Bicycle Company.

I asked Kelli what opening this pop-up means to her business, which is open on the RiverFront during biking season. “Being open year-round is our ultimate goal,” she says. “A holiday pop-up shop at least helps us carry on some of the momentum we build up during the peak season. It also lets Downtown workers see what we have to offer in terms of variety, quality and prices. Hopefully, they’ll patronize our RiverFront location next year.”

Opening this business in the Compuware Building helps realize the city’s ultimate goal to bring more retail Downtown.

“The more retail the better for Downtown — and all of Detroit,” she says. “The more options, the more we can re-evolve into a shopping destination. The city’s come a long way residentially and recreationally — now there needs to be a focus on retail.”

Why did they choose the Compuware Building?

“A couple of reasons,” Kavanaugh says. “First off, we were familiar with the location because we participated in a group pop-up there last year. It is Class A, lots of traffic, and everyone there is really helpful and supportive. We looked at numerous locations in Midtown and Downtown, and the Compuware team was ultimately the most responsive, and the space was accessible and affordable.

“There might be a lot of vacant retail spaces Downtown, but property owners do not always act eager to fill them. It’s really too bad that there is not more creative thinking about the value of filling a space, even temporarily, as a value enhancer to a vacant property,” she says.

So get in gear and head to the pop-up Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop.

Location: Compuware Building, 1 Campus Martius
Hours: Open Thanksgiving Day through Christmas Eve, Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. & Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Products: Full range of bicycle retail, including major brands such as Kryptonite, Pedro, Planet Bike, Park, Lazer, Bell, Giro, Timbuk2, Master, Topeak, Wald, Knog, and much more. New bikes from Kona, Origin8 and Sun, including cruisers, single speeds, folding, adult trikes and hybrids, starting at just $250

Gift certificates are available at the shop and on-line.

More information is available at Wheelhouse’s website and Facebook page. Contact Wheelhouse at info@wheelhousedetroit.com.

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Last Friday morning I received an email that went…

Dear Valued Member,

You’ve been selected to participate in a member satisfaction survey for Lake Trust Credit Union.  As a member owned financial services institution, it’s extremely important to us to obtain feedback from you on your recent interaction. Your input will help us identify where we excel and where we can make improvements.

Image from EMSI

Oh the irony. Because as my friends, family and coworkers have by now heard on Thursday I had a very bad experience with my credit union.

The bottom line is that I left feeling anything but valued and I found myself feeling discriminated against. Because I am a member of the 1099 economy I am technically not on anyone’s payroll and thus do not receive a traditional paycheck.  I am also deeply disappointed that a lovely nearly 20 year relationship had soured so badly.

I used to be a raving fan of my credit union. Now I am just raving mad.

I had 30 minutes before my acupuncture appointment so I decided to stop by to make a deposit – thank you Nora at Detroit Community Acupuncture for being so understanding and for listening to my tale of woe upon my very tardy arrival!

My daughter was buying her very first new car, a Chevy Cruze, and I needed to deposit my paycheck (the check I receive every two weeks for work I do albeit on contract) so that I could transfer some money right away to help her out a bit with some of the extra fees.

After parking my car, holding the door for a very pleasant fellow Lake Trust member, I smiled at the others in line and waited patiently for my turn.  A couple other times this branch had held this check because it was not a “payroll” check. After the last go round that ended pleasantly enough, I did not think it would be an issue again. Same issuing bank account deposited by the same person more than 20 times this year to the same account I have had for nearly 20 years.

A very courteous teller took my ID and check. The snag occurred when she said that the money would be available to me in two days.  I asked her very nicely to please check with a manager and note that this is a check that I deposit at pretty regular two week intervals, that in fact it is my version of a paycheck and two days would cause a hardship.

She went away. Came back and said that because this check was deposited the last two times at the Credit Union Family Service Center instead of this branch, they had to hold the check.

I said that answer did not make sense to me since it should matter who issues the check and whether the check cleared, not where it was deposited that determined the hold. I asked her to please look to see how many times I have deposited a similar check and see how it has cleared each time. She went away again. Came back and said they had to hold the check because they had never heard of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, to which I said that too shouldn’t matter and then added that we must not being doing our job very well if she had not heard of it since this branch is right in downtown Detroit. I then politely asked to speak to a manager.

I waited for more than 15 minutes – feeling guilty as the line grew and one less teller was available as this young lady went looking high and low for a manager.

Finally nearly 20 minutes later I was led into an office by a manager. His attitude while controlled and soft spoken was supercilious. Usually I can find some common ground, some point of humor to help make my point and my complaint.

The bottom line?

He told me he had the power to hold any check he wanted to and that he had no clue what the Downtown Detroit Partnership was nor cared to and that he did not know me — so much for being a valued member.

I asked him why the reason for holding my check kept changing. He said it was their policy and that I should get direct deposit or checks that say payroll (maybe I should have run the check through my printer to put that on it?).  To which I asked doesn’t this seem like an out of date policy in an increasingly 1099 economy? And furthermore, since this is a member owned institution and I am nearly a 20 year member, that I was going to not only blog about my experience, I was going to work very hard to get this policy changed.

What I really wanted was an apology for the inconvenience and assurance that two weeks from now when a similar check gets deposited I won’t go through this same exercise again.

The final rub?  After making a scrawl on the check and stopping me from actually exiting the building in my by now flustered state, he mentioned to a teller that there should be no hold and then showed me to the back of the line where I waited again to deposit my check.

What do you think?  Have you had similar experiences? Do you feel discriminated against because you file a 1099 rather than a W2?

Thank you for letting me rant Detroit Unspun friends. Now that my blog is written and survey filled out, my next step is to contact the board and find out how to change the policy at this credit union that values me so highly not.

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Ever since Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group called Detroit a food desert in a 2007 report, the moniker has stuck with the city.

Since then, organizations like Peaches and Greens have sprung up to meet the needs of their community. Researchers like Robert Linn have come up with different conclusions about the existence of food deserts. The city has worked to help stores like Whole Foods and Meijer build stores within the city limits.

Often ignored in discussions of Detroit’s food desert are the independent grocers that exist within the city, which offends James Hooks, the owner of Metro Foodland. His store has been providing fresh groceries to the Grandmont Sub and Rosedale Park neighborhoods in Detroit since the 1960s.

“We don’t like the idea that if you’re not a chain store, you’re not a legitimate grocery provider for the community,” says Hooks. “We want to be appreciated by the people who claim that Detroit is a food desert.”

That’s why AFPD (formerly Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers) decided to pull together a map plotting the location of the 86 full service grocery stores located in Detroit. Auday Arabo, president and CEO of AFPD, says he was surprised a map like the one his organization revealed had been produced.

“Let’s put together a map with all 86 full service grocery stores that offer meat, produce and the like and let’s show people. And if after they look at this map, if they still think there is a food desert in their mind, then we will have that discussion,” says Arabo.

He also points out many of these independent grocers have taken over locations vacated by chain stores in the past, serving and employing people in the community. In fact, three new independent grocery stores have opened this year.

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Detroit is lighting up … in a very green kind of way.

The Downtown Detroit Partnership, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, the Detroit Downtown Development Authority and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan have teamed up to install 1,077 new high-efficiency LED street lights in key areas of Downtown Detroit. The program will replace nearly half of the lights Downtown.

These new lights will save 40% in electricity costs and create a more attractive environment. Here’s where they’ll go:

• Woodward Ave. from I-75 to Jefferson Ave.
• Cadillac Square from Campus Martius to Randolph St.
• Griswold St. from Fort St. to Jefferson Ave.
• Congress St. from Beaubien St. to First St.
• Larned St. from Beaubien St. to Washington Blvd.
• The streets near Comerica Park and Ford Field
• The Paradise Valley area (formerly known as Harmonie Park)
• An area bounded by I-375, Larned St., Beaubien St., and Congress St., adjacent to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan campus
• Jefferson Ave. from Cobo Convention Center to I-375
• Certain sections of Moncalm St., Randolph St., and Park Ave.

“This project has a double benefit,” said Mayor Dave Bing. “It creates a more comfortable environment for downtown workers, residents and visitors, and the high-efficiency lamps will immediately start saving money. I look forward to creating more of these opportunities through collaborations in other business districts and neighborhoods.”

The light fixtures are energy-efficient and fit in with the streetscapes. They will save money three ways:

• Each new LED lamp draws an average of 240 watts of power compared to the 400 watts needed by the existing lamps, yet the light output is the same. The energy cost savings by replacing more than 1,000 lamps is almost $57,000 per year.
• Since the bulbs last about 10 years, compared to the three-year lifespan of the existing lamps, the City will also save substantially on the cost of bulbs and the labor to replace them.
• By reducing the overall load on the downtown street lighting system, Detroit Public Lighting Department officials expect significantly fewer costly power outages from overloads.

The project costs $1.3 million. The Detroit Downtown Development Authority identified $1.22 million from its own funds and U.S. Department of Energy grants, and the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) contribution of $87,500 was made possible by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation is managing the project.

One of the distributors of the light fixtures, Hercules and Hercules, Inc. is a Detroit-based business.

The new lighting will upgrade the area surrounding the Blues’ campus bordered by Congress, Lafayette and Beaubien. “Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is delighted to partner with the City of Detroit, DDP and the DEGC in an initiative that makes Detroit a safer and more energy efficient place to work, live and play,” said BCBSM President and CEO Daniel J. Loepp.

Employees walked from Lafayette to the new Renaissance Center entrance waving rally towels. They were led by Loepp; Tricia Keith, vice president, Corporate Secretary and Services, and Rick Morrone, vice president, UAW and auto accounts, whose employees are moving to Renaissance Center Monday (November 21)  Dan Cole, general manager, Tom’s Oyster joined the walkers as they passed his restaurant.

The renovations are the latest step in the Blues consolidation of employees to its Detroit campus. Since May, nearly 3,000 Blues employees have moved from Southfield to renovated offices in the Renaissance Center. When the moves are complete in 2012, 6,000 Blues employees will work in Detroit, making the health insurer the largest employer in the central business district.

The new lights and street-level improvements come just in time for the launch of the annual Detroit Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at Campus Martius Park later in the day.

There are more lights going in as well. The City Council approved Mayor Bing’s proposal to get 5,000 lights back on over the next three months. The focus is on repairing lights in the residential areas where the majority of Detroit’s population lives. The city has also contracted with DTE to replace 3,000 lamps in dense areas and the Public Lighting Department staff is focusing on fixing the grid that supplies an additional 2,000 lights across the city.

Photo credit: Karpov the Wrecked Train

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For entrepreneurs looking to get business support in Oakland County, Oakland University’s OU INCubator could be your answer. It’s a place for technology-based and life sciences businesses to let their ideas take root.

What sets this incubator apart from its peers is the formation of the Ideas 2 Business (I2B) lab.  Here current students, alumni and faculty of Oakland University and Cooley Law School can find the resources they need to help their business survive. It is also a place for students from the School of Business Administration and the School of Engineering and Computer Sciences to get hands-on experience in starting a business.

Dr. Gary Russi

In order to support the development of ideas needed to create unique businesses, the incubator is also home to the Clean Energy Research Center.

“One of the hallmarks of learning in the School of Business at Oakland is experiential learning … the ability to learn not just the concepts in the classroom … we have programs that help the students actually apply what they learn in the classroom in a real world setting,” says Dr. Balaji Rajagopalan, associate dean of the School of Business Administration.

Regardless of the success or failure of a venture, the process of forming a business is what Rajagopalan finds to be the most valuable for students.  It is a way for them to see how ideas can be transformed into businesses. That leads to greater innovation regardless of who students call their employer.

“Even if a venture is not successful, it is not a failed venture.  It is a very successful venture because they have learned so much about how to ideate, how to go through the process of venture formation,” he says.

Executive Director of OU INCubator Amy Butler

In a state struggling to improve economically, an incubator like I2B is critical for the nascent economic recovery.

“It’s very important that as we move Michigan’s economy forward. Institutions such as Oakland University realize their place in the broader picture of the community and helping to revive Michigan’s economy,” says Arnold Weinfeld, director of strategic initiatives and federal affairs for the Michigan Municipal League. “We think the I2B program here is a perfect example of that.”

The open house introducing I2B at Oakland’s Shotwell-Gustafson Pavilion came on the heels of Bloomberg announcing Michigan is number two in overall economic health in the country.  That prompted Cynthia Grubbs, business development manager for the MEDC, to conclude, “It’s a great time to be a Michigander, a great time to start a business and a wonderful time to open a facility such as this.”

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