Detroit’s smallest businesses keep the city moving, yet plenty of them are still running without the everyday tools that make modern commerce easier — reliable computers, updated point-of-sale systems, bookkeeping software, and online storefront support.
City officials say a new microgrant program is meant to help owners cover those basics.
The City of Detroit and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation announced Jan. 22 that they are launching the Detroit Small Business Technology Fund, a grant program backed by Rocket Community Fund that will award $1,000 technology grants to 140 Detroit-based microbusinesses.
Businesses must be located in Detroit, have 10 or fewer employees, and bring in under $500,000 in annual revenue to qualify, according to the city and DEGC. Grants can be used for items and services that help a business operate and sell more effectively, including laptops, point-of-sale systems, accounting and e-commerce software, along with other technology tools listed by the city.
Mayor Mary Sheffield said the point is to help neighborhood businesses modernize in ways that bring in customers and reduce day-to-day friction.
“Small businesses are the heart of Detroit’s economy and they deserve access to the tools that help them grow and succeed,” Sheffield said in the announcement. “This funding will make it easier for neighborhood small businesses to modernize, reach more customers, and operate more efficiently.”
Justin Onwenu, director of the city’s Office of Small Business Services and Economic Opportunity, said the city views small businesses as neighborhood anchors, not side projects.
“Strong neighborhoods are by thriving small businesses,” Onwenu said. “When we invest in our small businesses, we invest in the families they support, the jobs they provide, the communities they serve, and the future we are building together.”
How the money will be distributed
Instead of a single citywide application portal, the fund will be distributed through nine business service and neighborhood organizations already working with entrepreneurs across Detroit. Each partner will award between 10 and 20 grants, the city said.
Those partners are: East Warren Development Corp, Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation, Live6 Alliance, Southwest Detroit Business Association, Michigan Black Business Alliance, Arab American Chamber of Commerce, ProsperUS Detroit, TechTown Detroit, and Michigan Women Forward.
Eligibility also requires a business to be affiliated with one of the partner organizations. Those groups will select grantees and collect data the city says it wants to track, including changes in revenue, efficiency, technology use, new customers, and job creation.
DEGC’s Sean Gray framed the fund as a practical step for businesses that have been priced out of upgrades.
“Technology is no longer optional. It is foundational,” Gray said in the city’s release. “By giving Detroit microbusinesses access to modern tools and connecting them with trusted support organizations, we are strengthening Detroit’s local economy from the ground up.”
Why a $1,000 grant matters in Detroit’s Black small business economy
Detroit has long been a Black business city in the way residents understand, not just in the way tourism brochures describe. Black-owned barbershops and salons, restaurants, boutiques, contractors, caterers, creatives, childcare providers, home-based brands and neighborhood storefronts form an ecosystem that feeds families and keeps commercial corridors alive.
Yet research keeps showing how hard it is for Black-owned firms to reach the same scale as others, even when the talent and demand are there.
A Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago analysis focused on Detroit found steep gaps among employer businesses: average revenue for Black-owned employer firms in the city was about $1.38 million, compared with about $17.78 million for non-Black-owned employer firms. The same analysis reported Black-owned employer businesses averaged 10 jobs per firm, compared with 37 for non-Black-owned employer firms.
A newer Chicago Fed Insights report noted that Detroit’s Black-owned firms, like Black-owned firms nationally, tend to be small in employee count and revenue. It also reported that only about 3% of Black-owned firms in Detroit have employees, reflecting how many owners are operating as nonemployer businesses or very small teams.
That reality is why supporters of the fund describe $1,000 as small money with real impact. When margins are thin, basic technology upgrades often get delayed behind rent, payroll, inventory, and utilities.
Michigan Black Business Alliance President and CEO Charity Dean said the grant is arriving during a tough period for small operators.
“As always the announcement of the tech grant is good news for small business,” Dean said. “It’s been really really hard for small businesses and it’s only gonna get harder and every little bit counts.”
Dean said MBBA and the other partners will help move the dollars into businesses.
“The Michigan black business alliance is a partner, other organizations are partners to get these funds out to small businesses,” she said. “It’s a small amount, but like I said, every little bit counts when it comes to running and operating a small business in Detroit.”
She added that MBBA is “very grateful to the city of Detroit and community fund” and expects to keep partnering on future opportunities for small business owners.
Johnnie Turnage, co-founder of Black Tech Saturdays, said he has watched Detroit entrepreneurs build while operating with limited capital and little room for error.
“I’m genuinely excited—and honestly grateful—that the City of Detroit and Rocket Community Fund answered this moment with action,” Turnage said. “Through years of building Black Tech Saturdays, I’ve watched Detroit small business owners do incredible things with limited access, limited capital, and limited margin for error.”
Turnage said the fund signals that local business growth is being taken seriously.
“This investment sends a powerful signal that their growth matters and that we’re serious about meeting entrepreneurs where they are,” he said.
He also emphasized that the money will move through organizations business owners already trust, which can matter as much as the dollar amount.
“What makes this initiative so meaningful is that it reflects the best of public-private partnership: aligned leadership, trusted community partners, and direct investment that allows business owners to modernize, work more efficiently, and compete in a digital economy,” Turnage said.
Turnage described technology as something that touches every part of running a business— sales, scheduling, inventory, bookkeeping, customer outreach — and said stronger operations ripple into households and hiring.
“When we invest in small businesses this way, we’re not just helping individual owners—we’re strengthening families, creating jobs, and reinforcing the economic backbone of Detroit,” he said.
What Rocket Community Fund says drove the idea
Autumn Evans, senior program manager for digital equity and inclusion at Rocket Community Fund, said the fund grew out of conversations that highlighted a basic gap: people are being told to adopt new tools while lacking devices and infrastructure to do it.
“The intent of this fund is to create opportunities for Detroit’s micro and small businesses to access tools and resources that leading companies like Rocket are using to create efficiencies and gain a competitive advantage,” Evans said.
“This plan was birthed through community leaders over time lifting up the small business community as a portion of the city that still needs basic access support to digital tools,” she said. “I’ve had the privilege to be able to partner with these industry champions over the years to advocate and deploy resources to fill that need. Town hall spaces, such as Black Tech Saturdays, have been instrumental in being that center of gravity where everyone is focused on solving problems together. This fund is just one solution to this complex opportunity.”
“More specifically, bridging the digital divide is an economic development tool that connects local economies to the global stage,” said Evans. “More businesses online means more prosperity for our region.”
What business owners should do next
Because the grants are being distributed through partner organizations, microbusiness owners who think they qualify should start by contacting the partner group they already work with — or joining one of them — since the city said businesses must be affiliated with a partner organization and those groups will select recipients.
Detroit’s small business landscape has no shortage of vision. The question has always been whether resources show up at the same scale as the need.
