In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many small businesses locally, in particular Black-owned, struggled to survive as uncertainty hung heavy, like a thick plume of smoke. Then Detroit Means Business (DMB) was formed in response to COVID-19 and it etched out a path through the chaotic disruption with much-needed help for businesses in desperate need. Housed under the Detroit Economic Growth Club (DEGC), DMB was developed in partnership with a wide range of government, business, nonprofit and philanthropic partners to help small businesses in Detroit safely and successfully reopen last year.
“Just over a year ago as COVID-19 has totally ravaged our city … (it) left small business owners fighting for their lives and livelihood,” Carla Walker-Miller, founder and CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services, said during a recent DMB virtual meeting. (A) coalition of more than 60 organizations rallied together.”
Mayor Mike Duggan also took attendees through a journey during the meeting and reminded them that supplies were hard to come by last year early on, especially for businesses.
“You couldn’t get the gloves or the masks the first few weeks,” Duggan said, adding that millions of crucial PPE were distributed through the DEGC and DMB. “We were keeping doors open — very few businesses closed. … We are going to build a city that is going to be vibrant during the long run.”
Today, with the COVID-19 pandemic still impacting lives, communities, and the business sector, DMB discussed its fresh focus during a virtual meeting on March 16. Local officials and business leaders attended including Duggan, DTE CEO & President Jerry Norcia, representatives from Bank of America, Walker-Miller Energy Services, Bedrock, and Michigan Chronicle’s very own Publisher Hiram Jackson, also Real Times Media CEO.
“This is about more than just small businesses — this is about equity. This is about jobs — about driving incredible outcomes in generational wealth,” Walker-Miller said, adding that she experienced her own issues as a business owner on top of COVID-19-related issues. “My journey and the journey of too many business owners (are) painful and sometimes diminishing. We truly are the change we want to see … we will do better starting now because Detroit means business.”
During the nearly-hour-long discussion highlights of DMB’s pivoting included the announcement of DMB’s new president Pierre Batton. He currently serves as the DEGC’s vice president, Small Business Services. Also, major news came in the form of a $500,000 donation from the DTE Energy Foundation, which Norcia announced to help small businesses. To date, DMB has received about $1 million.
“The announcement …. was multi-prong,” Batton said in a follow-up interview with the Michigan Chronicle. “The way Detroit Means business formed (was) as a reaction because we wanted to support small businesses in the middle of COVID. There was never a formal announcement (and there) wasn’t a long-term plan with DMB. We were in reaction mode trying to do everything we could to support small businesses in the city of Detroit.”
The March 16 meeting formally announced the group will act as a permanent anchor to support small businesses locally.
Batton added that DMB wants to also help small businesses navigate systemic issues that prevent them from “meeting their full potential.”
Fundraising was also discussed during the meeting and how financial support helps the DMB continue to in turn help small businesses grow.
Batton added that there have been a lot of questions about how DMB fits into the ecosystem. He said that it “brings everyone together.”
“(It) paints a path and vision of DMB moving forward — something we wanted to make sure we got across,” Batton said.
Batton added that DMB created 10 north star goals to help it move strategically to improve small businesses in the city.
“The pandemic has shown us (there) still exists a lot of opportunity to strengthen our small business ecosystem in Detroit,” he said. “We’re creating a transformational tool that has the power to lift Detroiters out of poverty, rebuild Detroit’s Black middle class. … If we maximize our collective power … we can create a more equitable, sustainable part in the city of Detroit.”
The north star goals include:
- Create and measure culture
- Inject new capital
- Access to new contracts
- Facilitate job growth
- Drive revenue growth
- Create new small businesses (SMBs) (traditional)
- Create new SMBs (new sectors)
- Digital access and tools
- Coaching and mentoring
- Remove policy barriers
Nefertiti Harris, owner of popular Textures by Nefertiti hair salon, spoke during the meeting and said that her entrepreneurial journey started 20 years ago when she started to use her gifts.
“I started with no idea of what a blueprint for success looks like … I clawed and I scraped and more than two decades later I found my way,” she said, adding that she moved into a space last year just COVID began to ravage Detroit. “I am a fighter and eventually my business will be OK. The COVID crisis has shown we need much more support than what we have.”
Jackson (who said that he and the Michigan Chronicle plan to donate to DMB) mentioned that as a Detroit resident he has seen the economic impact of not having small businesses in Detroit.
“Up until a few years ago there was nowhere I could buy groceries. When Whole Foods came on board we started going to Whole Foods and some neighborhood stores. We had bike shops, small bakeries — all kinds of things. And a couple of decades ago Detroit had serious swag of being the black capital around the world,” Hiram said, adding that places like Charlotte, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Houston, Texas now have that title.
But all is not lost — Detroit is rebounding, Jackson said.
“There is a DNA in our city that represents Black business,” he said, adding that small businesses are everything in the city. “In my opinion, nothing happens unless you have Black businesses up and down our street.”
He added that it is more than just about small businesses making money, but they are the lifeblood of the local community.
“It really is about the quality of life … in those neighborhoods and it is demeaning when you have no small businesses that can support you in your neighborhood,” Jackson said. “Black business owners like myself, we have to make it right.”
For more information on DMB call 844-333-8249 or visit https://detroitmeansbusiness.org.
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