Mandisa Smith of Detroit Fiber Works is a Detroit native artist whose vision has brought an incredible corps of local artists together under one roof. DFW hosts classes, exhibitions, and events on top of being a working studio and boutique within the University District on Livernois. We chatted with Smith about her involvement with SWOTCity…
by Ned Staebler It’s been a busy two months since I became CEO of TechTown, succeeding the indomitable Leslie Lynn Smith. And in this time, there is one refrain I have heard more than any other: “Are you crazy?” Not because this isn’t a great gig, mind you. But because it is a demanding position,…
During the pitches on the first night of Hacking Health – Windsor Detroit, a silence and awe fell over the room when several high school girls took to the microphone and delivered a well-honed one minute pitch. They talked about a need to track their mental health as teens in order to better communicate with…
On Friday, Aug. 2, DTX and Challenge Detroit co-hosted a joint event featuring final presentations from the Launch Detroit start-up teams and the Challenge Detroit fellows.
Suane Loomis is the founder of contemporary art studio We Are Clay and a recent graduate of TechTown’s Blocks Retail Boot Camp.
Corporations of all shapes and sizes have core values or culture statements that sit beside their mission and value statements, often only to get lost under a pile of business journals, reports and correspondence.
Amanda Brewington of Always Brewing Detroit chats about her company (launching in a permanent location this month!) and why it’s special; plus her best advice for fellow entrepreneurs.
It is the unique combination of people, place and time, that seems to freeze the universe for a moment and allow people who may not necessarily find themselves in each other’s company, ready and without planning, able to connect.
Yesterday TechTown launched its first Blocks Retail Boot Camp. The highly customized program will prepare 12 serious entrepreneurs with strong, independent retail concepts for the successful launch of their Detroit business.
Last week, Business Insider named us one of the 23 coolest businesses in Detroit. How pumped are we??!!
We’re LOVING this Fox 2 Detroit story on our SWOT City expansion to the East Jefferson commercial corridor! Check it out!!
TechTown today announced it has expanded its SWOT City program to Detroit’s East Jefferson commercial corridor through a new engagement with the Jefferson East Business Association (JEBA).
Haven’t met Charlie Moret? He’s TechTown’s managing director of entrepreneurial programs, a veteran of the technology innovation and entrepreneurial space, and is opening his office door twice a month to discuss your business questions. Anything related to tech-based entrepreneurship is fair game.
Big news, folks: TechTown and its partners, Bizdom and Invest Detroit, were awarded a grant for $1 million over two years from the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s (MEDC) Michigan Strategic Fund to form the Detroit Technology Exchange (DTX).
Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program
Do you or someone you know want to live, work and play in Detroit for 2 years? As a member of Detroit Revitalization Fellows Program (DRFP) you’d get to work in some of Detroit’s most prominent organizations impacting change and revitalization in the city and beyond.
We’ve been a proud employer of the program and John Corcoran, our DRFP Fellow works on real estate projects and metrics here at TechTown. Think you have what it takes? Apply now.
Want to learn more about John? Read here.
As part of its ongoing plans to expand programming in support of the region’s most promising technology-based enterprises, TechTown today announced that Charlie Moret has joined the nonprofit incubator and accelerator as managing director, entrepreneurial programs.
As we look forward to Thanksgiving week, my heart is filled with gratitude and I am humbled by the continual presence of miracles in my life.
TechTown today announced it has received a $150,000 grant from the Marjorie S. Fisher Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. The grant will support of the nonprofit incubator and accelerator’s recently launched business stabilization and development program in Detroit’s Brightmoor neighborhood.
Congratulations to TechTown client Protean Payment on its $25,000 win at the 2012 Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition. The Ann Arbor-based startup snagged the product and service sector award for Echo, a reprogrammable card that can turn into any payment, loyalty or gift card of the user’s choosing with a touch of a button. Echo…
Detroit is home to the third highest concentration of design professionals in the U.S., attracts entrepreneurs by the minute and has one of the best platforms for turning ideas into companies. Curtis Johnson, president of the Citistates Group, tells Model D why TechTown is one of the catalysts for this growth.
TechTown today announced that the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX), an organization representing Boston’s digital marketing, media and Internet technology community, has selected the Detroit-based nonprofit incubator and accelerator to host the first MITX Up Detroit, an event that will pair TechTown startups with veteran marketers for a free two-hour mentoring session on Tuesday, Nov. 13.
Bootstrapping isn’t a b-school concept to be studied, deployed and measured; it’s a state of mind. It’s knowing that the most important resource your new business possesses is you, and the more tenacious you are about the journey, the more successful you will be.
A trusted adviser, counselor or guide. That’s how the dictionary defines the word mentor, an often overused (even misunderstood) term, especially in the entrepreneurial space. In my opinion, the impact and importance of a mentor can not be emphasized enough.
On Wednesday, Sept. 12, innovators, executives, entrepreneurs, academics and thought leaders from technology, business, government and design will assemble at Wayne State University to discuss the far-reaching potential of technology-enabled change to accelerate economic, urban and social progress at Techonomy Detroit.
Soup. Startups. Two seemingly disconnected ideas, right? Wrong. In Detroit, the most disparate concepts can come together to make magic, and this past Friday night they did exactly that. TechTown, in partnership with the committed folks from Detroit SOUP joined forces to highlight start-up entrepreneurs in the city and give them some critical seed funding.
TechTown today announced the establishment of a partnership with the Brightmoor Alliance, a neighborhood community development organization, to provide business support services to area entrepreneurs.
Come see what’s brewing among local entrepreneurs at TechTown’s first Startup SOUP on Friday, Aug. 3.
Someone recently asked, what’s in a name? I don’t know the answer. I spend my time focused on the needs and opportunities that exist within the context of the TechTown mission but accept the advice to consider a change.
Detroit Fellows: They’re building the city of tomorrow
Check out our own Detroit Revitalization Fellow John Corcoran! He’s in the middle, hiding in the back. From our friends at Model D.
Want to pitch your brilliant business for a chance to win at least $1,500 and business training from TechTown? Nominate to pitch at Startup SOUP on Friday, Aug. 3. Nominations close Sunday, July 1.