On a hot August day in the heart of the East Side, eager business owners, city officials, and members of the press alike gathered on Kercheval Avenue to witness the next round of businesses in the Motor City Match see their dreams come to life.
The two-year-old program is a signature small business initiative of Mayor Duggan and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit that serves as the lead implementing agency for business retention in the city of Detroit.
“Mayor Duggan pulled folks together to create something that would meet Detroit’s raw world-class entrepreneurial talent where it is. And now, because of that, dozens of new businesses are now serving Detroiters.” -Michael Rafferty, Vice President of Small Business Development, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
Each quarter, the matching cash grant program helps new or expanding businesses in Detroit with awards to either open the doors of their business or keep the doors open. Yesterday’s awards ceremony, conducted by Michael Rafferty, Vice President of Small Business Development, saw 13 businesses from all seven of Detroit’s council districts benefit from a total of $500,000. This is the eighth round of funding to come along in the short 24-month time frame of the program’s existence.
“This program wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the Mayor,” said Rafferty. “He’s the most enthusiastic supporter of Motor City Match. A year or so before the program was launched, Mayor Duggan pulled folks together to create something that would meet Detroit’s raw world-class entrepreneurial talent where it is. And now, because of that, dozens of new businesses are now serving Detroiters.”
To date, nearly $4 million in grants has helped support a total of 763 new and expanding businesses, 87 of those with matching grants and the remainder in the separate categories of business plan development, space, and design. Neighborhoods from all over the city can boast recipients, from Rosedale Park to Jefferson. The object of Motor City Match is to connect burgeoning businesses with real estate opportunities as well as some of the other resources they may need to make their venture a success. In turn, the thriving business can offer employment to those in the respective neighborhoods, thus adding vibrancy to the all-too common vacant buildings and commercial enterprises seen city-wide.
“We are creating a pathway for people who have the talent, people who have the drive, but otherwise might not have had the financing. I couldn’t be more pleased,” Mayor Duggan said as he acknowledged that this was one of his favorite events each quarter.
The event was held in the space of a former Motor City Match award recipient, Mutual Adoration. The artisan manufacturing company is housed in a former United States post office just east of Chalmers. Owners Clare Fox and Wayne Maki have created a business which reclaims wood from city reconstruction projects and turns it into furniture and household accessories. Their now-successful venture—which includes a retail store slated to open in the same space at the end of September—got off the ground partly through a $35,000 award.
“We started this business in our basement four and a half years ago,” said Maki to the crowd assembled.“This is actually our fourth workspace and we couldn’t have done it without Motor City Match, and without Mayor Duggan. This support helped us put in this beautiful dust collection system,”he said, gesturing behind him, “to buy new equipment, and finally, open the retail store, which we’re hoping can support all of you this holiday season.”
Co-owner Clare Fox expounded upon Maki’s enthusiasm by saying, “I’m sure the other business owners here understand the struggle of finding the right space to work in; it’s so important. Moving into a bigger space has enabled us to increase our productivity and hire more help. We’re just going to continue to grow from here.”
Awardees in this latest round of funding include businesses as varied as O’Neal Contracting Group, a Detroit contractor already operating for 30 years; Lacquered, an upscale nail bar on the Avenue of Fashion, the apparel industry corridor along Livernois and the Vernor Café, a community-oriented space that includes a small café, main stage, rentable practice studios, gallery, and classroom space. Programming plans for the latter include focus on resources for the AA and LGBTQ communities.
A total of 310 spaces have seen new life as a result of Motor City Match, with $24 million in neighborhood investments leveraged. Detroiters have comprised 61 percent of the business ownership while 78 percent are minority-owned and 68 percent women-owned.
The day’s festivities were capped by a reception at Eastern Market to further celebrate the bright future of entrepreneurship in the Motor City.
MOTOR CITY MATCH ROUND 8 WINNERS:
Food-focused businesses dominated the cash awardees in Round 8, including six specialty cafés or restaurants, a mushroom farm and two microbreweries.
Batch Brewing Company, 2841 E. Grand Blvd., $65,000
Simply Breakfast Restaurant, 7526 W. McNichols St., $50,000
Vernor MC, 5705 W. Vernor Hwy., $45,000
Bar Botánica, 14522 E. Jefferson Ave., $40,000
Big Mama’s Southern Kitchen, 19644 Grand River Ave., $40,000
Detroit Mushroom Factory, 13832 Joseph Campau St., $40,000
Rosedale Beer & Bistro, 18910 Grand River Ave., $40,000
The Congregation, 9321 Rosa Parks Blvd., $40,000
O’Neal Contracting Group, 17160 Wyoming St., $35,000 The Vernor Café, 4110 W. Vernor Hwy., $35,000
Lacquered, 18685 Livernois Ave., $25,000
PizzaPlex, 4458 W. Vernor Hwy., $25,000
Tot Town Child Development Center, 8932 Greenfield Rd., $20,000
The pool of successful start-ups is filling, thanks to Motor City Match added by Cindi Cook on
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