Detroit Regional Chamber: Recent Episodes
Detroit Regional Chamber
Serving the business community for more than 100 years, the Detroit Regional Chamber is one of the oldest, largest and most respected chambers of commerce in the country. As the voice for business in the 11-county Southeast Michigan region, the Chamber’s mission is carried out through creating a business-friendly climate and value for members, leading a robust economic development strategy, and convening Michigan's most influential audience at the nationally unique Mackinac Policy Conference.
Dream of Detroit is expanding the beloved and well-used DREAM Neighborhood Pocket Park on Tyler St. to provide kids and families in the neighborhood an enhanced space to gather, play, and build community.
Deeply Rooted Produce
Deeply Rooted Produce has a history in the community of providing convenient delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables to families in need and are expanding their existing program called Fresh Prescription where fruits & vegetable prescriptions are sharing the same stage as the healthcare system by ameliorating morbidities and diet-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Bags to Butterflies
Bags to Butterflies is a fashion brand that helps formerly incarcerated women reclaim their lives after returning to the community from serving lengthy prison sentences. They create luxurious, one-of-a-kind, handmade handbags and accessories constructed from reused materials that get transformed into elegant statement pieces by the women in the program who otherwise would not be employed.
SMPLFD: SMPLFD is a Detroit-based clothing company that includes a boutique screen printing, embroidery, and design house as well as a contemporary streetwear clothing brand and showroom, warehouse, and fulfillment service.
Women of Banglatown: Women of Banglatown is a safe space developed by and for first-generation and immigrant girls and women, where they can be unapologetically who they are and explore themselves through nature, art, entrepreneurship, and community.
Detroit is Different: Detroit is Different’s Lot of Studio project is an outdoor interactive podcast and live music performance event on an urban garden giving fruits, vegetables, and information on Detroit’s west side.
Always There Notary: Always There is a mobile notary service providing service 24-hours, seven days a week.
Ladder 4 Wine Bar: Ladder 4 is a converted firehouse in the Core City neighborhood that is part food and drink lab, part artist showcase, that pays tribute to all the rich and varied Detroit cultures and its musical traditions. With this grant, Ladder 4 will build a bandstand and procure furniture that would allow us to have live, local music outdoors in its yard. One Michigan for the Global Majority: One Michigan has acquired a 100-year-old property in southwest Detroit that previously served as the home of the TheUndocuSafe Space. With the space back in community youth-led hands, the building can be used by community members for studying, laundry, cooking, meetings, immigration legal services, running youth programs, and more. One Michigan’s youth-led team has made significant repairs to the office over the last three years, but there is more to be done to make the space safe and accessible for the community.
Kidz Kingdom: Last year, Kidz Kingdom purchased a 10,000-square foot building and will be launching a state-of-the-art child care center and indoor playground as the facility’s anchor projects. Additionally, a women’s suite, clubhouse for parents, and one-stop dream fulfillment center for current and future entrepreneurs are part of the development.
Motor City Grounds Crew: Motor City Grounds Crew will transform nine overgrown and blighted lots on Barham Street in Morningside into a dynamic and welcoming green space, accessible for neighbors of all ages and ability levels to activate and enjoy.
Motor City GSD: Schutzhund in the D is a project designed to teach the art of dog training and helper work to underprivileged youth living in Metro Detroit.
Universal Health and Wellness (UHW) is a Detroit-based pending nonprofit whose mission is to improve the quality of life through programs that heal, empower, and transform. In 2021, the Hitha Healing House and Garden (HHHG) hub project was established to focus on improving intergenerational wellness in northeast Detroit by providing a safe gathering space for residents and visitors.
The Yunion will build out a courtyard space that can be shared with our service organization partners for events, programs, gatherings, meditation, and other activities requested by the community.
Detroit PAL’s new recreation center will provide education, health, and wellness opportunities to Detroit area students, parents, and community members by connecting them to resources in collaboration with partner nonprofits.
Pingree Detroit is a worker-owned, triple-bottom-line design and manufacturing cooperative, co-owned by veterans and Detroiters. Pingree creates hand-made footwear as well as home, pet, and fashion accessories using leather and other materials upcycled from the automotive industry. The project will help activate Pingree’s community-focused footwear and leather goods training studio in Detroit.
The Cutz Lounge project combines a 4.9 rated barbershop with a high-quality café to offer and serve the community with a place to relax, get a haircut, and eat good food.
Jo’s Gallery is a second-generation brick-and-mortar art gallery located in the heart of Detroit, on the Livernois Avenue of Fashion. The NeighborHUB grant funds will help implement educational opportunities for art students to learn how to frame. Jo’s Gallery will partner with the College for Creative Studies to find creative talent and provide a unique environment for students to explore art gallery ownership and learn the craft of custom framing.
Detroit Hives:The State Fair and Hoover Pollinator Parkway will serve as a centralized location for community resources while providing green infrastructure to address climate inequality and food insecurity for people and pollinators.
The Detroit Regional Chamber hosted Jon Kaplan, national leader in employer-led upskilling and tuition assistance support, for the webinar Getting Started with Education Assistance. Kaplan taught attendees how to develop or scale an education assistance program and shared strategies for getting stakeholders onboard and for increasing program utilization.
A panel of legal, finance, and community engagement professionals will discuss:
The SAFE Banking Act
Legalization
Double taxation
The Detroit Regional Chamber, in promotional partnership with Michigan Economic Development Corporation's Pure Michigan Business Connect, hosted Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Small Businesses on Nov. 16, 2021, to discuss how diversity, equity, and inclusion can benefit small businesses and is a good business decision, and the ways Detroit residents can receive priority consideration for business opportunities. The event featured a panel moderated by the Chamber's Chief Operating Officer Tammy Carnrike, and included Chanell Scott Contreras, executive director at ProsperUS; Portia Roberson, president and chief executive officer at Focus: HOPE; and Kim Rustem, director of the City of Detroit's Civil Rights, Inclusion, and Opportunity Department.
During the webinar, a panel of Michigan's top women leaders in the cannabis industry will discuss how they entered, successfully navigated, and rose to the top of the male-dominated industry. Following the discussion, attendees will have the opportunity to ask the panelists questions.
The Detroit Regional Chamber is hosting a series of events across 2021-2022 to help small, medium, and large diverse-owned businesses in Southeast Michigan grow. The Black- and Diverse-Owned Business series will provide resources to businesses, with the areas of focus being access to capital, procurement, digital divide, policy needs, talent access, and chief executive officer concierge services.
Bea Wolnerman of Bea’s and Bea’s Squeeze, shares her business journey from vision to distribution, the growth the company has seen, and how her team got creative to open a lemonade stand on the smallest parcel of land for sale on Detroit’s urban pedestrian path, the Dequindre Cut. Wolnerman also participated in a panel discussion on the future of dining in Detroit during the 2021 Detroit Policy Conference.
As COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expands to the general public, it is important to share resources within your organization. Controlling the virus and reopening businesses is going to require workplace conversations and support. Attendees will hear insights from regional health experts from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Henry Ford Health System on the COVID-19 vaccines, navigating employee conversations, and the new COVID-19 variants.
Tre Hobbs of Neighborhood Essentials shares the path that led him to create a cannabis brand with a focus on social equity, and how his company is acting as an incubator for other start-ups in the industry. Listen to the podcast to hear how Hobbs is making connections and finding success in Detroit and across the country.
Lester Gouvia, owner of Norma G's Detroit, shares how he transitioned his Caribbean cuisine food truck to a brick-and-mortar location in Detroit's Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood, and the small business resources he utilized to make his vision a reality.
Dr. Stanley Samuel Jr., president of Michigan State University, and Dr. Randolph Rasch, dean and professor at the university’s College of Nursing, joined Tammy Carnrike, chief operating officer of the Detroit Regional Chamber, to share medical expertise and insights on the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered in Michigan. The two MSU leaders also shared their thoughts on how herd immunity can effectively be achieved.
Quiana “Que” Broden of Cooking with Que has used a variety of digital platforms to bring healthier options to the table as many continue to work and cook from home. Learn how she has expanded her reach by teaching workshops on social media and started a meal prep delivery service with options for vegans and meat-eaters alike.