Welcome by W. David Tarver, UEI President
W. David Tarver, President and Founder, Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative, Inc.
Mr. Tarver will define the purpose and goals of the Urban Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Symposium, and will acknowledge program participants, sponsors, and organizers.
Session 1: Urban Problem Mining
Moderator:
Tifani Jones Sadek, Partner, Sadek Bonahoon PLC
Panelists:
Maggie DeSantis, Founder, Eastside Community Network
James Feagin, Outreach Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corp.
Lauren Hood, Founder, DeepDiveDetroit Inc.
Chad Rochkind, Founder, Human Scale Studio
Panelists will each advocate passionately for the solution of a significant problem the community faces. Each presenter will illustrate why the problem is important, and how the community will benefit from solving the problem. Brief (<5 min.) presentations followed by Q&A panel.
Keynote Address: Miguel McKelvey, Co-Founder, WeWork
Miguel McKelvey, co-founder and chief creative officer at WeWork, Inc., New York
Session 2: Community Engagement Strategies
Moderator:
Rishi Moudgil, Managing Director, U-M Center for Social Impact
Panelists:
Garlin Gilchrist, Deputy Technology Director for Civic Community Engagement, City of Detroit
Cornetta Lane, Founder, Detroit Dialogs
Dan Pitera, Executive Director, University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture Collaborative Design Center
Lyneir Richardson, Executive Director, Rutgers University Business School Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development
Panelists will discuss the strategies and methods they have employed for community engagement. Each participant has a track record of effective community engagement, and have utilized different engagement methods. For example, community immersion, community action research, data analytics, etc. Brief presentations (<5 min.) followed by Q&A panel.
Session 3: Scalable Urban Business Models
Moderator:
Forrest Carter, Faculty Director – Institute of Entrepreneurship & Associate Professor of Marketing, Michigan State University
Panelists:
David Anderson, Co-Founder, Bamboo Detroit
Ralph Clark, President & CEO Shotspotter, Inc.
Anya Babbitt, Founder & CEO, Splitting Fares (SPLT)
Leslie Horn, CEO, Three Squared, Inc.
These business founders will each discuss how they managed to create a business that solves an important urban problem, and the pitfalls they experienced along the way. How did they identify the problem that their business solves? How did they arrive at their solution? How does the business sustain itself, i.e., make money? How was the business financed? What are the opportunities for scaling the business? Brief presentations (<5 min. each) followed by Q&A panel.
Luncheon Program: The University’s Role in Urban Innovation
Program Host:
Ned Staebler, Vice-President for Economic Development, Wayne State University and President and CEO, TechTown Detroit
Program Guests:
Lou Anna K. Simon, President, Michigan State University
Cynthia Wilbanks, Vice-President for Government Relations, University of Michigan
Antoine Garibaldi, President, University of Detroit Mercy
University leaders will discuss their institution’s role and effectiveness in driving and assisting urban innovation and business development. What are universities doing to advance urban quality of life? Where have their efforts succeeded, and where have they fallen short? How can these universities nurture, support, and enhance the kind of innovation needed to enhance urban communities?
Session 4: Business Models for Entry-Level Employment
Moderator:
Malinda Jensen, VP Business Development, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC)
Panelists:
Heath Carr, COO, Bedrock Manufacturing (Shinola)
Paul M. Hickman, Owner, Urban Ashes
Calvin Evans, HR/Operations Manager, Urban Ashes
Don Reimer, Director – Entrepreneurship Programs, Lawrence Technological University
Jim Robinson, Founder, Metro EZ Ride
Business leaders will discuss prospects and business models for employing significant numbers of low-to-medium skill level urban workers. For example, the “gig economy” is often cited as a collection of business models (witness Uber, for example) for employing large numbers of people. Also, some companies are “on-shoring” manufacturing jobs. What are the prospects for this, and what types of manufacturing businesses are most amenable to the practice? Each business leader will advocate a different approach for employing urban workers. Brief presentations (<5 min. each) followed by Q&A panel.
Seminar: Financing the Urban Startup
Seminar Leaders:
Patricia Glaza, VP & Managing Director, Invest Detroit
Julie Lein, Co-Founder, Tumml (San Francisco)
Contributors:
Doug Neal, Managing Partner, Michigan eLab Capital Partners
Ray Waters, President, Detroit Development Fund
What are the financing methods available to urban startups? Which have proven most effective? What are some examples of successfully financed urban-focused startups? What are the gaps in the availability of financing? What about crowd-funding? How do angels and venture capitalists view the prospects for investing in urban-focused startups?Objective: Identify the financing methods available to urban startups, and how to choose the most appropriate method for a given business. Also, identify and explore the feasibility of crowd-funding, micro-finance, and other non-traditional methods
Seminar: Community Engagement and Human-Centered Design
Seminar Leaders:
Hajj Flemings, CEO/Founder of Brand Camp University
Deborah Parizek, Executive Director, Henry Ford Learning Institute
You’ve decided that your mission is to improve the quality of life in your community by starting a profit-making business. Where do you begin? How do you assess what the community needs? How do you focus on an important need and convert that into a business opportunity? How do you design the business, and the product, in a way that is most attractive to the community members?
Objective: Define the tools and methods available to urban entrepreneurs to perform effective community engagement and “human-centered” design.