TechTown Detroit

Detroit Elevate: Learn & Scale Summit
2026-06-08 09:00 - 16:00 (America/Detroit) | TechTown Detroit, 440 Burroughs Street, Detroit, MI, 48202, United States
Meet with the brightest minds to hear their inspiring success stories. A spark is all it takes to ignite your elementary ideas and convert them into a working success.Also help us mobilize ongoing projects by sourcing for or contributing to the foundation. Participate in various contests in different categories and walk away with grand prizes.

Join us and meet other like-minded attendees and grow your network!

Why attend?

Detroit Elevate is intended to support growth-stage businesses on their journey towards continued sustainability, growth, and scalability. This initiative provides small businesses in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park with connections to resources, capital, and technical assistance to enhance operations, improve customer experience, and expand services.
The Detroit Elevate: Thrive & Scale workshop is strongly encouraged for anyone interested in submitting an official contest application. In addition, this workshop is designed to provide you with a wealth of knowledge and helpful resources to help you scale your business now.
Agenda
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:10 AM – 9:20 AM: Detroit Elevate Overview & Cohort Application Process
9:20 AM – 10:00 AM: Keynote – Marc Howland
10:00 AM – 10:45 AM: “Are You Ready for It?”
Speakers:
Marc Howland, Breadless
Leslie Vargas
April Anderson, Good Cakes & Bakes
10:45 AM – 11:30 AM: Cultivating Relationships & Communication
Speaker: Faris Alami, International Strategic Management (ISM)
11:30 AM – 11:55 AM: Building a Lasting Legacy Business
Speaker: Lauren Stovall & Co.
11:55 AM – 12:00 PM: Break
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Money Matters Workshop
Speakers:
Tina Williams, QT Business Solutions
Arlena Minter, Michigan Women Forward
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Lunch
2:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Resource Fair & Networking
Featured Resource Partners:
• Ops+ Powered by TechTown
• QT Business Solutions
• International Strategic Management (ISM)
• Social Solace
• Michigan Women Forward
• Detroit Legacy

Retail Boot Camp: E-commerce & Home-based Edition Information Session
2026-06-09 18:00 - 19:00
Tuesday, June 09 | 6 p.m.

This information session will take place virtually via Zoom.

TechTown Detroit’s Retail Boot Camp: E-commerce & Home-based Edition is an intensive, ten-week program specifically designed for e-commerce, pop-up and home-based retail businesses based in Wayne County, or owned by residents of Wayne County. The program curriculum is designed to strengthen business owners’ skill sets and grow their businesses as they look to thrive in today’s retail environment.
Information sessions provide an opportunity to learn about the program, who is a good fit and what to expect during the application process.
Applications open Tuesday, June 8 and close Thursday, July 9.
Have questions about Retail Boot Camp: E-commerce & Home-based Edition? Please contact carrie@techtowndetroit.org.
Visit techtowndetroit.org/rbc for more information and key dates on the Fall 2026 Retail Boot Camp: E-Commerce & Home-based Edition program.
Retail Boot Camp is made possible with support from Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Orsa Foundation, Huntington, & MEDC.

2026 Detroit Elevate: Program Overview & Application Review
2026-06-10 13:00 - 14:00
Why attend?

Interested in applying for the Detroit Elevate 2026 Cohort? Join us for an informational session to learn more about the program, review the application process, explore eligibility requirements, and get your questions answered. This is a great opportunity to gain insight into the cohort experience and determine if Detroit Elevate is the right fit for your business.
www.DetroitElevate.org

Open City: Oh Shit, Now What
2026-06-11 17:00 - 19:00
Thursday, June 11 | 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

This session will be held in-person at MoonDog Cafe. Registration opens at 4:45 p.m., with the session starting promptly at 5:00 p.m.

Every entrepreneur knows the moment. The deal falls through. Your key hire quits. The numbers don’t add up, and suddenly the plan you were so sure of is in pieces on the floor. Oh shit, now what? Reid Hoffman once said, “An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.” Mary Kay Ash put it another way: “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do.”
Join us on Thursday, June 11 to hear from local entrepreneurs who’ve been there. They’ll talk about what happened when everything went sideways and how they figured out the next move anyway. The panel will share how they kept their heads under pressure, made tough calls without all the answers, and turned a crisis into the moment that pushed their businesses and themselves forward.
AGENDA:
4:45- Registration
5:00- Networking
5:30- Panel Begins
6:30- Panel Ends
7:00- Event Ends
By attending, you’ll walk away with:

Real tactics for steadying your business when something breaks, drawn from people who’ve lived through it
A clearer sense of how to make decisions when you don’t have all the information
Honest perspective on when to push through, when to pivot, and how to tell the difference
New connections with other Detroit founders who understand what you’re going through
The reassurance that hitting a wall doesn’t mean you’ve failed, it means you’re actually building something

Our Panel:
Lester Gouvia

Owner & Chef
Norma & Les LLC

Martha Rosales

Founder
Nuvo Cabinets & Countertops

Mildred Palmer

Co-Owner
F & M Palmco

Scott Boateng

Founder
PREVA Body
