The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation announced a new platform that will match entrepreneurs with the best fitting lender. 

The website is designed to help small businesses navigate financial options through partnerships with local Community Development Financial Institutions.   

Applicants visit the website, submit the criteria for the type of loan and amount they need, and the algorithm will match them with the best lenders.  

DEGC Senior Vice President Derrick Headd calls the hub a central command center for the city’s small business ecosystem.  “One place where you can find financing options, technical assistance, and service organizations. Everything you need to have a thriving company.” 

Lenders participating in the hub include ProsperUS, Detroit Development Fund, Invest Detroit and more.  

Eligible applicants must be located in the city, have documented cash flow, and cannot be affiliated with any business prohibited by federal law.  

 Additional headlines for Thursday, September 25, 2025

Pastors seek high voter turnout this mayoral election

Detroit voters will elect the city’s first new mayor in 12 years this fall. A coalition of pastors is working to educate and mobilize their flocks to decide between City Council President Mary Sheffield and Reverend Solomon Kinloch. 

Organizers say 12 churches took part in the Lift Every Voice and Vote campaign in the August primary. They want five times that number mobilizing voters in the general election. 

Al Williams leads Lift Every Voice and Vote Detroit. He admits its hard motivating voters in the city. “I think that the history of our mayoral elections, past two or three mayoral elections, have shown us that the excitement has gone down every single mayoral election. Yes, it has made it a challenge.” 

Less than 20 percent of eligible Detroit voters cast ballots in the August primary.

Proposed ordinance requires body cam footage be made public

A proposed Detroit ordinance would require police to release body camera footage within 30 days of police shootings and other incidents including the use of non-lethal weapons like tasers, pepper spray, tear gas, bean bags and rubber bullets.

Under the proposed ordinance, footage must be posted on a public website. Exemptions would be allowed upon written request from the Detroit Police Department or Wayne County prosecutor.

Exceptions apply to footage captured during federal or state task force operations, footage prohibited by court order and footage determined to be prejudicial to a civil matter. 

James Baldwin Sidewalk Libraries

The City of Detroit and the Detroit Public Library will be hosting the James Baldwin Sidewalk Libraries across the city. Detroit ACE and the Charles H. Wright Museum also partnered to launch the reading campaign.

Boxes designed to help residents find or donate books by and about author James Baldwin will be placed in Detroit neighborhoods. 

The initiative completes the work started by artist Sabrina Nelson, whose landmark exhibit on Baldwin debuted last fall.

The initiative is being launched during Black Reading Month in Detroit. 

Fashion business management degree now offered at CCS

 The College for Creative Studies in Detroit is now offering a fashion business management degree. The degree will take 90 credits and just over three years to complete. 

Students will learn merchandising, styling, marketing strategy, brand development, trend forecasting, and fashion communications. No portfolio is required for admission.

Visit the College for Creative Studies and look under the listing of undergraduate programs more information and to apply. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Longtime Detroit businessman, youth advocate and organizer of Metro Detroit Youth Day Ed Deeb has died. He organized the event as a response to deadly confrontations between young people and store owners in the summer of 1980.

In a 2014 interview with WDET’s Pat Batcheller, Deeb says then-Mayor Coleman Young called him and other business leaders into a meeting to address the violence.  

”And he pointed his finger to me and said, he said, ‘Ed, What are you guys going to do next year to prevent this from happening again?’ And I was shocked. He as pointing at me in front of all these people. And I said, ‘Mr. Mayor, are you talking to me or everybody in the room?’ He said, ‘ Well I’m talking to everybody, but I want you to carry the ball’.”

Since then, Metro Detroit Youth Day has become an annual event, drawing thousands of kids to Belle Isle every summer. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources honored Ed Deeb in 2018 by naming a road on the island after him. Deeb died Tuesday at home. He was 89.  

Additional headlines for Thursday, September 4, 2025

Applications open for Neighborhood Beautification program

Detroit also announced the opening of applications for round 6 of the Neighborhood Beautification program. The program provides grants ranging from $500 to $15,000 to block clubs, neighborhood associations, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations to create community gardens, improve public spaces, and launch neighborhood programming.

Film outreach event

City of Detroit’s Media Service Department will be hosting a Film Detroit community outreach event on September 10.

It’s an opportunity to for creatives to get their content broadcast on Detroit’s cable channels, navigate the city’s film permitting process, and network with fellow filmmakers. The event is open to all ages, independent filmmakers, and nonprofit or community groups.

Organizers note that the event is not intended for for-profit businesses looking to promote or sell products. The event will run from 4p.m. to 7p.m. at the A.B. Ford Community Center.  

45 years of Black Reading Month

September is Black Reading Month, a tradition started in Detroit in 1980 by activists wanting to celebrate and support Black authors, Black-owned bookstores, and Black stories.

This year marks the 45th anniversary.

The Charles H Wright Museum is hosting talks from authors and artists on Black history. Detroit Book City in Southfield, a Black-owned bookstore, is hosting “read-in” events throughout the month showcasing new books by Black authors. Or catch the Black Reading Month Bookfair on September 26 from 5p.m. to 9p.m. at Mama Imani Humphrey Hall in the Detroit Food Commons at 8324 Woodward Avenue.  

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.