Small Businesses Become Resilience Hubs in Eastside Detroit Communities
Elevate is a 24-year-old 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on creating equitable and sustainable communities. Their areas of focus span energy efficiency, water, workforce development, and creating healthy and efficient homes and buildings in communities. Part of the work it is doing in Detroit is helping to develop resilience hubs in response to flooding and ongoing climate-related injustice issues. This is part of the Resilient Eastside Initiative (REI), a culmination of residents and organizations including the Eastside Community Network (ECN), The City of Detroit Office of Sustainability, and the Eastside Climate Action Coalition. Tim Skrotzki, associate director of partnerships at Elevate, and Terri O’Neal, project manager of community programs, talked with SBN Detroit about this work and the role businesses are playing. Q: What is the impetus behind Elevate? A: Elevate is a Chicago-based nonprofit formed in 2000 as an energy cooperative focused on energy efficiency and reducing the drag on the grid. We have projects that touch almost all states. Over the past twenty-four years, our work has expanded to include water, solar, electrification, environmental health, and workforce development. Q: How is Elevate supporting resilient and sustainable communities throughout Detroit and Southeast Michigan? A: One important initiative is the development of Resilience Hubs on Detroit’s East Side. Resilience hubs are vital community centers offering education, support, and resources while fostering community connections. These hubs – many of which are small businesses in the neighborhoods – serve as trusted spaces in touch with residents’ needs. They help facilitate coordination of resources and services across various stakeholders before, during, and after climate-related emergencies. These are being led by the Eastside Community Network and the Resilient Eastside Initiative (REI), a network of 12 resilience hubs on Detroit’s east side, which officially launched in August 2023 in partnership with The City of Detroit Office of Sustainability with funding from the Kresge Foundation. One of these spaces is The Commons, a café, laundromat, and community space that operates in MACC Development’s storefront space on Mack Avenue. This is a safe space for the community that offers charging stations, resources, and more for neighbors during power outages or emergencies. They are also training and upskilling local residents as a form of workforce development. Neighborhood Grocery is another hub, offering healthy food access, refrigerators, and charging stations to neighbors during power outages. This is a framework a lot of businesses can adopt to provide more resources for their communities. It’s an opportunity for businesses to think about where they fit into the community and how they can help the neighborhood remain resilient and sustainable. Further, part of the funding we received from Kresge is being used for training black contractors in solar and EV infrastructure. Called the Detroit Clean Energy Contractor Accelerator Program, the program helps create growth paths and lift up black and brown contractors to help them build their businesses. We believe that if we develop contractors in clean energy in Detroit they will then hire and train more Detroiters to work with them. Q: What best practices can you share from the sustainability work you do in terms of the business and community impact? A: There are federal incentives for businesses and buildings to become more energy efficient. It’s so easy to track what energy you are using and lower it. There are huge opportunities here that people are leaving on the table. Also, any business looking to grow and be sustainable has to be ingrained in the community. Providing resources that help the neighborhood become more resilient should be on every small business owner’s mind. Q What are trends you are seeing when it comes to the sustainability that impacts businesses? A: We are all dealing with new issues we have not dealt with before. Flooding, power outages from 100-year storms, and more. Making a building more resilient is extremely beneficial to business owners, so they don’t have to reduce hours or close during a flood or power outage. There are new impacts that climate change is driving, and if you are not thinking about how to make your business more resilient you may be losing money. Also, businesses should be and are becoming more involved in community organizations, meetings, and community engagement. It’s thinking about how they can better meet the needs of the community. Perhaps be a place where people can come during power outages and offer resources to support. And finally, all businesses should have a climate emergency plan on the operations side of things for their staff, and if applicable, their community. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
The Greening of Detroit: Working to Create Healthy Urban Communities Through Trees, Education, and Jobs
Established in 1989, The Greening of Detroit is a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire sustainable growth of a healthy urban community through trees, green spaces, healthy living, education, and job opportunities. To date, it has planted 147,000 trees and trained more than 1,000 people through its five-year-old workforce development program. Putting trees in the ground is job one for the organization, but it also is involved in stormwater management and providing landscaping services to residents and businesses in the communities they serve. President Lionel Bradford has been with the nonprofit since 2010 and is proud of its 35-year history. SBN Detroit interviewed Bradford about the organization’s programs, impact, and future. Q: What was the impetus to begin The Greening of Detroit? A: For years Detroit was known as the Paris of the Midwest, partly because of the tree canopy cover the city used to have. Between 1950 and 1980 Detroit lost over a half million trees due to Dutch Elm Disease, urbanization, and neglect due to financial struggles. In 1989, The Greening of Detroit was founded to reforest the city of Detroit. Since its inception, 147,000 trees have been planted throughout the city. We also started a youth employment program as a way to educate and take care of these trees. Our Green Corps Summer Youth program at its height employed 200 high school students. That number decreased due to COVID-19, but it’s coming back up. In a nutshell, our organization has two main pillars: workforce development and green infrastructure. Q: What are you currently working on in terms of tree planting? A: We are in the third year of a five-year strategic plan where we are looking to plant 20,000 trees throughout Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park, and train 300 individuals who have barriers to employment. This plan fits into a larger initiative we are involved in called the Detroit Tree Equity Partnership. This is a collaboration with American Forest, DTE Energy, and the City of Detroit in which we are planning to plant 75,000 trees over the next five years. There is a buzz in the city right now in terms of trees. We’ve done a lot of engagement and outreach. Recently we conducted a 500-tree giveaway, and there were still cars lined up after we gave away the last tree. It’s great to see this. Q: What is your involvement with the Walter Meyers Nursery? A: Walter Meyers is a tree nursery on 72 acres in Rouge Park that for years went untouched. In 2004, The Greening of Detroit – with the city’s permission – took over managing that property to serve as a training ground for our adult workforce development. We have used it as an outdoor classroom setting. In 2017, we put together a master plan to turn it back into a working nursery operation. As an organization, we are looking for ways to generate revenue for our training programs and to plant our trees. We want to control our destiny and cut down the carbon footprint involved in having trees shipped in. We have planted over 4,000 trees in the nursery and harvested our first 200 trees last year. The goal is to get to a point where we are selling 5,000 trees annually to municipalities, the City of Detroit, and the community. Q: What sustainable impact do you think this brings? A: In addition to creating green infrastructure in the city, community engagement is at the heart of what we do. Our job is to get trees in the ground, but we do not want to impose our will. We want to be invited into communities. Not only do we want residents to have a say, but we also want them to be a part of the work. This is a model that speaks volumes in terms of sustainability, and it’s held up across the state and the country. Q: How does The Greening of Detroit impact businesses? A: We engage and work with business owners in the communities we are involved in. Many of them bring us in to green their properties. The more green space we can add for businesses, the more it helps aesthetics and foot traffic. Green space and economic development go hand in hand. Also, from an economic standpoint, our education program puts people into jobs doing work around the city, which enhances the economic viability of Detroit as well. Q: In what other ways does the organization create green infrastructure in the city? A: Stormwater management. We have installed three major bioretention ponds around the city that hold up to a million gallons of water. These are in Rouge Park, Chandler Park, and Eliza Howell Parks. We also work with residents and businesses to replace impervious surfaces with green infrastructure through our Land + Water WORKS Coalition. Q: You have an adult workforce program from which over 1,000 Detroiters have graduated in the past five years. How does this work? A: This is a six-week program called the Detroit Conservation Corps. Sixty percent of those who have graduated were previously incarcerated. We are passionate about helping that population get credentials and secure jobs that pay decent wages. We work with a network of businesses looking to employ, most from the tree care and landscaping industries. These companies work in tandem with our advisory committee to help us build our curriculum and help with job placement. We have hired a small percentage of our trainees ourselves. Q: What is the future of The Greening of Detroit? A: Community engagement will always be a focus. We also are rebuilding our environmental education. These programs fell by the wayside before and during COVID-19, but we are working to get into schools, facilitate field trips, and educate our youth. We truly believe that getting the Meyers Nursery operations up and running is key for us moving forward. It will be important for us to generate our revenue. I’m proud we’ve been able to sustain the organization for 35
As Recycling Grows, So Does the Need for New Strategies, Technology
In 1995, after graduating from the College for Creative Studies with a degree in industrial and product design and an eye toward bettering the environment, Keith Zendler founded Environmental Services of North America Inc. in Detroit. Nearly thirty years later, the company retooled and relaunched to focus on waste management and upgraded its technology to help it expand and improve its services and expand its network of partners domestically and globally. We interviewed founder and owner Keith Zendler to learn more. Q: Tell us about RecycleMax. A: RecycleMax is a tech-based reboot of a company I founded in 1995. At that time, we had a plant in Detroit and a fleet of 14 trucks and we were focused mainly on paper and similar recyclables. We now provide the environmentally sound management of virtually all solid and liquid waste materials. I have always been interested in sustainability from a community standpoint – in building stronger and more sustainable communities through technology. So, I sold the original recycling company in 2008 and started a civic tech company focused on designing an online community network for people and organizations to better work together. Through this company, I launched a multisided SaaS platform with the intent of improving stakeholder communication, collaboration, and engagement to help leaders solve political, health, social, environmental, and economic issues. Eventually, I realized I could apply this technology to the recycling industry and provide businesses with robust and customized waste management programs that help them meet their sustainability goals and reduce their carbon footprint. So, RecycleMax was relaunched as a tech-based company in 2020. We use the same technology we offer clients internally for our operations. The crux of the platform is its ability to facilitate a community network and real-time communication. We have used it to build a global network of recyclers and haulers that we can leverage for clients. Q: How is the industry different now, than in the 1990s? A: There was a time when we had to push companies to recycle, and they would only do so if we could show that it either saved them money or at the very least did not incur additional expenses. That is no longer the driver. Companies are doing it now no matter what. That is a surprising shift. We work heavily in the auto industry, and I’ve been amazed at how progressive these companies are and how seriously the industry is taking environmental measures. Adding to that, until recently, most of our recyclables were shipped overseas, and we relied on China to handle them. A lot of waste was ending up in the ocean. China shut that off and it certainly caused a disruption, but ultimately it made the industry stronger. There are more and more companies being established in the U.S. to handle these materials. The industry has made a tremendous amount of progress, and it’s exciting. Q: Who are some of your customers in Detroit and Southeast Michigan? A: Union Tank Car Company, Detroit Manufacturing Systems, Fishbeck, and Piston Automotive to name a few. Q: In your experience, what are the challenges companies face with recycling? A: Education and incentivization. Employees often need to be trained in why and how to recycle and handle their waste materials. It’s also vitally important for individuals to understand the difference they are making. Providing that data offers motivation to continue the momentum toward success. Q: What are the biggest challenges you see that businesses have with waste management? A: Participation is probably the biggest challenge. Companies need all employees on board. Training and education are critical to a successful recycling program. There is still a lot of work to do in getting people to take recycling seriously. Plastic is another big challenge for the industry. There are types of plastics that are not commonly recycled due to the unique resins involved. It can become difficult for companies to manage this. Trucking and logistics are a challenge as well. Transportation costs can be the biggest component when it comes to recycling. Q: What are the biggest opportunities? A: I think there is a massive global opportunity in recycling. And by applying technology, the potential to streamline efficiencies is huge. I never thought I’d be in recycling for over thirty years, but It’s a wonderful industry. It feels good to be able to help businesses meet their recycling and waste management goals and do their part to better the environment. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
New Detroit Director of Sustainability is Focused on Community
In March, Mayor Mike Duggan named longtime urban farming activist Tepfirah Rushdan as the city’s new director of sustainability. Rushdan was serving as Detroit’s first director of urban agriculture, where she worked to encourage urban farming by improving city policies and streamlining processes. Rushdan is helping lead the process of selecting a new director of urban agriculture, a position that will report to her. Rushdan also previously acted as codirector at Keep Growing Detroit, whose mission is for the majority of fruits and vegetables consumed by Detroiters to be grown in the city. She also is a co-founder of the Black Farmer Land Fund. She serves as treasurer of the Detroit People’s Food Co-op and is a cofounder of Black to the Land Coalition, which connects BIPOC people to outdoor recreation. She is also a board advisor to several other community projects and has formerly held seats at the Detroit Food Policy Council and the Uprooting Racism Planting Justice initiative. In her new role, Rushdan will lead the city’s priority actions within the four main goals of the Detroit climate strategy: Transitioning to clean energy Increasing sustainable mobility Accelerating energy efficiency and reducing waste Prioritizing vulnerable residents and adapting to change Reducing flood risks Protecting from extreme heat Improving air quality SBN Detroit interviewed Rushdan about her role, the challenges, and the opportunities. Q: How will you approach the four main goals of the Detroit climate strategy? A: The key for us to work across all departments within the city. There are some real champions in place who want to meet these goals and are already working to do so. My approach to tackling the four main goals involves fostering collaboration and synergy across all city departments. We are actively building out our capacity within my department to ensure that every arm of our municipal operations contributes to realizing our citywide sustainability vision. Q: You’ve said that you believe Detroit has real potential to become a national leader in municipal sustainability. What is your vision behind this? A: Being in Michigan, we have so many natural assets. Also, Detroit brings some things that may be seen as deficits, like vacant land and blighted areas, but I think these are big opportunities for us. It’s a chance to rethink what the city will look like in the coming years. Coming from an urban farming background, I’ve been thinking about the potential of this vacant land for many years, and I’m excited to find ways to repurpose it toward environmental goals – whether that’s farming, pollinators, solar, or other things. Also, Detroiters have grit. This is a city that’s been largely disinvested in, which has fostered strong resilience in our spirit. There is great potential here. Q: A major immediate focus is the city’s solar neighborhood project, which will replace up to 250 acres of vacant, blighted land in up to six neighborhoods with solar arrays that will create enough clean energy to power all of the city’s 127 municipal buildings. Can you tell us more about this project? A: This was largely driven by the people in the communities. The city put out a questionnaire regarding what the residents would like, and 19 groups responded saying they’d like to utilize the vacant land for projects. This city has met with them alongside other stakeholders and partners to determine what this might look like for the neighborhoods, the logistics of the sites, and so on. We currently have eight potential sites, and we are in meetings with the council to discuss moving forward with three of them for Phase One. We have selected two potential developers. The developers will work closely with the residents to lay out what the sites will look like in terms of design and aesthetics and work hand-in-hand with the neighborhoods. If all goes well with the city council, we’ll be able to start building as early as this fall. Q: What are the challenges of the project? A: I think there is a big opportunity to educate the public about climate change the issues that are at the forefront. It’s a chance to invest in the neighborhoods – communities that have not seen investment in years. This is a chance to spread that out. We’ll also be developing in the immediate areas around the footprints of the sites, investing in housing with energy upgrades, and more. So, I think it’s a chance for us to rise to the challenges of meeting the goals that the state of Michigan, the federal government, and the United Nations have outlined. This will take everyone working together including residents, businesses, and organizations. Q: Overall, do the city’s sustainability goals involve or play into workforce development? A: I’m proud of the work the city is doing around developing our workforce to be ready for the green economy. That’s pivotal. I want to highlight the Detroit At Work program where residents have opportunities to access careers and training. In fact, one of the new training options is around electric vehicle charging. The city is looking forward in terms of where the workforce needs to be and putting things in place for job creation toward these things. Q: What impact do you think your work will have on businesses and the economy? A: Sustainability is not exactly sexy. It takes a lot of work, commitment, and collaboration between businesses, residents, and all stakeholders. Business communities are driving our economy, so we need to be thinking about working alongside businesses to make sure their practices are sustainable. We all have to rethink how we are doing business and working together as a whole to reach our goals. Also, recently the city council unanimously passed the Energy and Water Benchmarking Ordinance requiring buildings with over 25,000 square feet of space to annually report their energy and water usage. This data will be gathered, and learnings and insights will be shared with other large business owners. Other cities have done this, and it’s been helpful. Q: What impacts are
Richard Hosey – Developing Companies, People, as Well as Projects
The career of Richard Hosey, owner of Hosey Development LLC, has spanned development, consulting, financing, and asset management of more than 75 projects in Detroit totaling over $2.5 billion in development costs. His most recent undertaking is the renovation of the former Fisher Body 21 plant, a $134 million project that will preserve and redevelop the plant into approximately 435 rental apartments; 38,000 square feet of commercial space; outdoor and indoor amenities; and up to 139 interior and 646 adjacent surface parking spaces. At least 20% of rental units will be affordable for those earning no more than 80% of the area median income ($51,200 or less for a two-person household). SBN Detroit spoke to Hosey about his work and his impact on sustainability in Detroit. Q: Tell us about Hosey Development. A: I’ve been in real estate since 1996, and then I worked for Bank of America from 2005 to 2013 investing in urban development. That job brought me back to Detroit in 2008. I remember arguing with a city councilperson on why the Lafayette Building should not be torn down, and that it should be invested in and rehabbed. She said to me, ‘Would you do it?’ and I thought, yes, I need to stop complaining and start doing something. I started with the Kirby Center Lofts, which was an old Hebrew School in Midtown, and then it became a process after that. Q: Talk about preserving affordable housing in Detroit and how you work to do this. A: In 2008, the city was only building affordable housing, which created concentrated poverty. On the other hand, as the market rate takes off, we need to ensure that it’s reasonably and rationally balanced so housing doesn’t become unaffordable. Revitalization tends to push out affordability, but the City of Detroit has an affordability requirement inside every project to ensure this doesn’t happen. I love the work of the Detroit Land Bank. Affordable housing should not just be apartment living. With programs like Rehab and Ready, they are going into neighborhoods and driving change. Q: You provide financing for your subcontractors. Can you tell us about that? A: I focus on employing Detroiters. Detroit has plenty of construction talent, but there are not plenty of contractors with the capacity to carry a big job. There is an upfront economic load that comes with larger jobs, such as purchasing materials and paying for labor that many – most – construction companies in Detroit can’t shoulder. For my first project – the Kirby Center – I started thinking what if I carry the job? I then met Mel Washington, a local developer who walked me through the process of doing so. Now, my partner and I are using this same concept on the Fisher 21 project. We are using companies that have the skills and the organization to do a big job like this but can’t buy $1 million in HVAC equipment upfront and get paid later. So we do that part. It’s been great working this way. We get Detroit companies who do great work. Q: How do you think sustainability plays into what you do? A: As we build up the ecosystem such that our contractors in Detroit are getting the jobs, the economics go in a circle. Good-paying jobs mean the workers buy homes here, buy cars here, and spend their money here. That’s the ideal model. For a lot of years, construction companies would come into the city, make their money, and go back to their homes in Oakland County or Macomb County. The key is to keep it in Detroit so the dollars stay in the community and circulate. From an environmental standpoint, rehabbing a building versus tearing it down is much better for our planet. The challenge comes with being good to the tenant while being good to the planet. For example, we can put in huge beautiful windows, but how high is the electric bill going to be? We then need to find solutions for the most efficient furnace so the tenant isn’t impacted by a huge expense. Q: The redevelopment of the Fisher plant is the largest Black-led development in the city. What is the importance of this? A: I want this to become the everyday normal. So many processes focus on the idea that there is no talent or capacity in Detroit. I hope to be able to show that larger projects can be handled by Black and Brown teams. We still have a long way to go. The Fisher project at $135 million is just 3% of the $5 billion in development announced in the last twelve months. But I hope to build a model for black funders and black talent to come together. Q: What is the future of Hosey Development? A: I will be in this market for the long run. I picture myself exclusively in Detroit except for one thing – mentoring new and existing developers. Again, I will feel more successful when more Black and Brown people and women are involved in development in the city. And it’s happening. Many small and midlevel Black and Brown developers are coming into Detroit in ways you don’t see in other cities. Diverse developers are landing here because they can get a foothold. Preserving that should be a priority. Removing barriers and growing talent based on ability as opposed to inherited wealth is one of the most important things we can provide in this market. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
Perspective on Eliminating Food Waste
DANIELLE TODD, IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MAKE FOOD NOT WASTE Landfilled food is one of the primary sources of climate change due to two main reasons. First, food decomposing in landfills emits methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Second, landfilled food represents a waste of land, water, and transportation resources that cannot be reclaimed. Given the substantial volume of food we send to landfills, methane emissions are skyrocketing and our resources are depleting at an alarming rate. Annually, Michiganders discard more than 2 billion pounds of food, resulting in approximately one-third of our landfills being composed of food waste. This excessive waste leads to the negative impacts of extreme weather such as flooding and power outages. It deteriorates air quality, threatens our food supply, and endangers vital plants and animals. Consequently, the State of Michigan, along with the U.S. government and the United Nations, has set a target to halve food waste by 2030. However, with 2 billion pounds of food still being landfilled annually, achieving this goal within six years presents a major challenge. Despite the fact that the problem is so great, eliminating food waste from our landfills is not all that difficult compared to other climate-related changes we need to make. Yes, it’s something we all must do, but it’s also something we all can do. According to the United Nations, more than half of the food waste comes from our homes. That means all of us can make a huge difference in this issue by changing how we handle food in our kitchens. For a fun way to get started, join our 7 Day Food Waste Challenge. You’ll learn the basics and begin to set up some habits that will drive down the amount of food you throw away. Of course, food waste happens outside of homes too. And if we’re going to reach the State’s goal in less than six years, we need a concerted plan. That’s why Make Food Not Waste has launched The 2030 Project, focusing on Southeast Michigan, the region with the highest population density. Concentrating efforts in this area is strategic, given that a larger population corresponds to greater amounts of waste. The project’s objective is to divert all food waste from landfills in the top 15 cities in the region. By collaborating with 17 local and national partners, Make Food Not Waste is crafting a detailed plan incorporating best practices in food waste reduction from across the country. The project’s approach underscores two critical principles: first, there is no singular solution to food waste. Second, we can only stop food waste by working together. While skeptics may argue that completely eliminating food waste from landfills is unattainable, we feel otherwise. It does not require the invention of groundbreaking technology or a defiance of natural laws. Rather, we simply need to stop throwing our food in the garbage. While establishing infrastructure, logistical frameworks, and educational programs pose challenges, they are not insurmountable. The alternative—continuing to waste our resources and make our planet hotter – is not something we can live with. Learn more at www.makefoodnotwaste.org. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
UDM: Teaching Design Through Social Justice and Sustainable Communities
For nearly sixty years, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture and Community Development has been educating designers and planners. The school is committed to preparing students to address urban revitalization, environmental justice, and sustainability, and through its design studios, Master of Community Development, Detroit Collaborative Design Center, and international studies program, offers real-world experience. Dean Dan Pitera talked to SBN Detroit about the school’s approach to preparing students for the practical applications of sustainable design. Q: What can you tell us about the community development aspect of the school? A: If we take a child who is enrolled in a poorly designed and unmaintained school and then put that same child with the same faculty in the same neighborhood in a well-designed school, the child will be nurtured and developed differently. The space around a child – a person – is important. The spaces we are in influence how we are as people just like nutrition influences health and wellbeing. So why aren’t our communities designed differently? And from a school perspective – how do we teach that? We ingrain community development through the lens of social justice throughout our curriculum, and we start on day one of the program. For example, within a Structures course we embed these concepts, so students begin to see that whether they are designing a museum or affordable housing, all designs should be looked at through this lens. Q: The school is internationally recognized for its environmental justice-driven and student-centered approach. Talk about this approach and how it’s different. A: We help students understand that climate change and climate justice are linked. We sit in the Great Lakes region with Michigan at the center. Our buildings and our communities must be prepared and designed for climate migration, so our students must obtain hands-on experience. Q: You led the Detroit Collaborative Design Center for years. Is this center unique when it comes to design schools? A: Only a handful of architecture schools have something like this. I modeled it after the medical field, where teaching hospitals align with and collaborate with medical schools. The DCDC is a true architecture office within the school of architecture. It works exclusively with nonprofit organizations and government agencies. There, students get paid to work, and they work with professional architects, urban designers, and landscape architects. It is essential to take theory and practice and bring them together. Q: How do you prepare future generations of architects and planners to think sustainably throughout their careers? A: We’ve been teaching this way for a long time. Now, the students coming in want education around sustainability and that’s exciting for us. I think the most effective way to teach is not class by class, but through concepts that are continually woven throughout the curriculum. The concepts of social justice, climate change, and building sustainable communities are woven throughout every class and we start on day one, as I mentioned previously. I teach Introduction to Architecture to first-year students, and I introduce the United Nations development goals. I teach that architects essentially create 40% of greenhouse gases produced annually. The emissions come not just from the buildings themselves, but the materials used to build, and the processes taken to create these materials. Students come in thinking in terms of brick-and-mortar buildings, and we teach them immediately about the impacts on the environment and the communities around the buildings. We have a Zoning and Codes class in which students learn about redlining, deed restrictions, and blockbusting. Most professors at other schools are not teaching this. So, the students are learning and digesting these things constantly throughout their five years. Q: What do you think your graduates take out into the workforce that’s different? A: The ability to adapt to change. The program they are working with now to design lighting or a certain type of heat will likely not be the same program in four years. Things change fast. I asked my students in the fall of 2022 if they thought we’d be using AI going forward. They laughed. At the start of 2023, I asked them what tools we as architects would be using, and they all said AI. So, we work with the tools we have today but also train the students to be flexible and adaptable. They will need these skills to design and also to sustain their careers and lives. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
The Impacts of the Gordie Howe International Bridge on a Community
The Gordie Howe International Bridge – currently under construction – is a 167-acre suspension bridge spanning .53 miles, which is the longest main span of any cable-stayed bridge in North America. The impacts of the construction and future operations of the bridge in the Delray area in Southwest Detroit are formidable. Finding ways to assist businesses and residents and keep the community healthy and sustainable while a once-in-a-lifetime infrastructure project like this occurs has been the focus of several community groups. SBN Detroit spoke with Simone Sagovac, project director at the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition, and Laura Chavez-Wazeerud-Din, president and CEO of the Southwest Detroit Business Association, who are leading initiatives in the community to ensure the interests of businesses and residents are protected. The Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA) is a coalition of businesses and community interests committed to facilitating a stable and economically healthy Southwest Detroit. The Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition is a community-initiated organization of residents and stakeholders in the direct impact area of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, whose mission is to seek protection for the quality of life and health of those facing impacts. Q: What impacts are the construction of and existence of the Gordie Howe International Bridge having on the Delray area? Sagovac: It has reshaped the entire neighborhood. One-third of the Delray community has been replaced by this development; 250 families were relocated, and more have chosen to move. Over 50 businesses are gone, and others are trying to figure out how to remain prosperous. Many small businesses are owned by people who live in Southwest Detroit. For the hundreds of residents still living in Delray, community amenities are no longer there, and more truck impacts are coming. Chavez-Wazeerud-Din: The transformation of the Delray community is undeniable, and while we understand that progress often brings change, our focus remains on addressing challenges faced by local businesses. The ongoing street closures pose challenges for customers trying to reach the area, while construction-related dust and debris impede pedestrian traffic. As a result, some businesses have opted to relocate downriver. Q: What is your organization doing to address these issues and mitigate the risks for residents and businesses? Sagovac: We helped initiate a Home Swap program with the city where residents can swap their homes for a land-bank house. About 100 families have chosen to do this. These houses are fully renovated, including new roofs, furnaces, HVAC, interiors, and more. This is a great program, but there are only so many land bank homes available to meet the needs, and some residents want to stay. For those who moved, it’s tough to replace a community you once were a part of. The I-75 Environmental Mitigation Program offered home mitigations such as improved HVAC systems, insulation, and new windows to address noise and air quality impacts from increased truck traffic. The Delray Home Repair Program provided these same options for new roofs and furnaces. We are also working with the state and the University of Michigan on air monitoring and tracking emissions. We’re working with other Southwest Detroit organizations and SDBA on truck traffic solutions – dealing with trucks that are currently being rerouted into neighborhoods and creating significant challenges for residents and the business corridor. Chavez-Wazeerud-Din: The SDBA supports nearly 900 local businesses by offering access to meaningful programs and resources. One resource is our Façade Improvement program, which has been instrumental in helping businesses maintain their relevance and appeal. We’ve extended this program to businesses located on Springwells Street and West Vernor Highway, among other areas. We also are actively engaged with the bridge authority, advocating for a portion of the recent $2.3 million grant funds to be allocated directly to businesses in Southwest Detroit. In addition, we are developing an Experience Southwest Detroit Campaign, recognizing that the increased traffic resulting from the bridge will impact the area. Our goal is to encourage people to stop for meals and retail purchases, allowing them to truly experience the character of Delray and Southwest Detroit, rather than simply passing through. Q: What is being done in terms of buffering and preserving the neighborhoods? Sagovac: We are still seeking additional buffering along I-75 and truck routes and are working with the city and state on this. This is covered in the Delray Neighborhood Framework Plan. Chavez-Wazeerud-Din: We’re collaborating closely with the city and planning department to enhance the safety of the corridor, prioritizing its walkability once more. West Vernor Highway has unfortunately become a main thoroughfare for semi-trucks, posing serious safety concerns for businesses and residents alike. As a result, we’re actively addressing truck routing issues, and we’re optimistic that the Joe Louis Greenway will alleviate some of the traffic on West Vernor Highway. We are involved in the Detroit Intermodal Freight Terminal project to support businesses and the economy in Southwest Detroit by improving freight transportation opportunities. Q: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities? Sagovac: Living with extreme daily truck traffic impacts the community’s health and quality of life deeply. It also damages and devalues property. We are working with the city and many others to bring all forms of solutions, including better truck routing, new infrastructure and zoning, and other policies that will create a quality of life that any family should expect. We also need the support of trucking businesses to ensure their policies and their drivers respect all the traffic safeguards to protect our shared community. Chavez-Wazeerud-Din: Southwest Detroit embodies resilience, characterized by its gritty spirit and the determination of its do-it-yourselfers, a legacy spanning over a century. Business owners and residents (who are often the same) have been impacted and marginalized for a long time. Despite these challenges lies an opportunity: There are funds and resources available to build a more sustainable community. This community, with its rich history and vibrant culture, is not just worth saving – it’s worth nurturing and celebrating for generations to come. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator Works to Bring Sustainability Solutions to Fruition
The Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator – a collaboration of VentureWell and TechTown Detroit funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Translations – offers support to entrepreneurs creating solutions focused on emissions reductions, smart mobility technologies, and infrastructure development. Ascend is entering its second year after providing resources and training to ten startups in 2023. SBN Detroit spoke to Tricia Compas-Markman, director of National Venture Programs for VentureWell about the program and its impact on businesses and the economy in Southeast Michigan. Q: What is the Ascend Energy and Mobility Accelerator and how did it come to be? A: Ascend is powered by VentureWell and TechTown Detroit and is funded through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Technology Translations. VentureWell, a nonprofit providing training, funding, and resources to science- and technology-focused innovators and startup teams across the country partnered with TechTown in 2017 to create an investor engagement program to educate innovators and entrepreneurs on how to raise funds to support their inventions. We began to see a gap. These individuals and startups needed more support when it came to customer discovery and commercial launch. We received a $500,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Technology Transitions to create programming and support for energy startup teams and entrepreneurs and launched the Ascend Energy & Mobility Accelerator, which trained its inaugural cohort of ten Michigan startups in 2023. We were then one of four incubators to receive a grand prize in the Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC). This prize funding will also support VentureWell and TechTown Detroit in running additional Ascend programs in 2024-2025 and beyond. Q: Tell me about the program. A: It’s a six-week program that helps bridge that gap I mentioned between customer discovery and investment readiness. We focus on mostly hardware solutions around energy and mobility problems, so these can be innovations around EV batteries, charging stations, safety, performance, and more. Q: What are some examples of startups you worked with in the launch-year program? A: Surge Mobility is a great example. This is a software management program that streamlines the EV charging process for drivers. Another example is Freight Miner, a startup based in Ann Arbor that’s developing autonomous driving technologies for commercial fleet trucks. Energy-focused startups in the cohort included ThermoVerse, which is developing cost-effective heating and cooling energy retrofits for low-to-middle-income housing property managers, enabling energy-efficient building upgrades without the need to open up walls. Another is VMX Green, a woman-owned recycling company that is now developing a recycling process for automotive end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, allowing for safer and more sustainable disposal of hazardous waste materials. Q: How does the work you are doing involve businesses and the economy in Southeast Michigan? A: In a couple of ways. First, VentureWell acts as a connector, so we are working within the regional ecosystem to help these innovators and startups connect and network. This provides opportunities for all. The community is already robust, and we are there to elevate existing resources. Second, we bring in mentors who act as an extended part of the teaching team. Many of our mentors are active investors and successful entrepreneurs who also assist in getting the teams connected to local business opportunities and networks. Example mentors include Erika Block, Ellington Ellis, Anne Maghas, Domineca Neal, and DeWayne Williams. VentureWell and TechTown Detroit are also supported by an active regional advisory committee made up of mobility and energy experts in Detroit and the local region, including Tu Le (Mobility EIR, TechTown), Alisyn Malek (serial entrepreneur and mobility expert), Clay Phillips (Mobility Technology Lead, Michigan Small Business Development Center), and Sherelle Streeter (Senior Mobility Strategist, Office of Mobility Strategy – Detroit). Q: What is the end goal? A: The end goal for the teams following the intensive six-week program is to make progress (validate product-market fit, clearly tell their story, and understand the financing landscape) and leave the program with a community of people supporting them, including peers, program mentors, and connections to the local ecosystem so they can achieve their next milestones. Our intention is for them to come out with a viable financial and business model. During the final two days of the program, we host in-person networking events at TechTown to connect these startups to partners, service providers, and investors with the intention of creating more resources and opportunities. It can be overwhelming to navigate the ecosystem here so we provide support to our alumni teams and, oftentimes, those who don’t make the cohort and need more preparation to do so. Q: How do you think the startups coming out of the program will impact the region? A: First, these entrepreneurs and startups create job opportunities for others. We also had two teams last year that were not from Michigan, who are now establishing business operations in Michigan – Surge Mobility from Turkey and Voltaic Marine Inc. from Beaverton, Oregon. There is a lot of innovation coming out of Michigan, but often founders leave to follow the money. When we can keep talent here, and also bring talent in, I think that’s a big win. We want inventors to stay local and give back to their communities. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates on sustainable business practices in and around Detroit.
Urban Tech Xchange Facilitates Real-World Testing to Create Sustainable Urban Solutions
Nearly six months ago the Urban Tech Xchange (UTX) launched in Detroit – an innovative lab hosting a series of startups to advance smart city technologies. UTX is a collaboration between Bedrock, Bosch, Cisco, and KODE Labs and is operated by NextEnergy. The space provides a real-world test facility for the progression of sustainable urban solutions. Kevin Mull, senior director for the Office of Urban Strategy and Innovation at Bedrock, sat down with SBN Detroit to discuss the work being done there. Q: Impetus behind UTX? A: In 2021 Bedrock worked with Bosch, Ford, and the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) to launch the Detroit Smart Parking Lab (DSPL) at our Assembly Parking Garage. This lab was specifically designed to accommodate open innovation, allowing startups to quickly and effectively deploy early-stage mobility technologies in a real-world testing environment. The concept has worked so well that we began to think about what’s next… being Detroit’s largest real estate developer, it made sense to try to apply those same methods to developing and deploying technologies for the built environment. The DSPL’s focus is mobility and transportation, which in many ways is dependent upon infrastructure, so the Urban Tech Xchange (UTX) was its natural progression. Q: In what ways does UTX help to foster a more resilient Southeast Michigan? A: I think it brings attention to the region’s entrepreneurial spirit and helps define Detroit as a place for innovation while adding another layer to its creator ecosystem. It also gives us a chance to further collaborate with stakeholders here in Southeast Michigan. Between the DSPL, TechTown, Michigan Central, Centrepolis Accelerator, and others like those, and our universities and colleges, and now UTX, we have an emerging set of platforms for continuing to attract and cultivate new ideas and advance open innovation throughout the state. Q: Why the combination of Bosch, Cisco, Bedrock and KODE Labs? A: Bosch and Bedrock are natural cofounders as they have complementary business concepts. Bosch is a lead innovator in energy and building management, while Bedrock is a city builder whose development projects throughout the central business district range from residential and commercial development to hospitality and retail. Cisco is a globally recognized brand and a huge player in smart infrastructure deployment, while KODE Labs is uniquely positioned as a Detroit-based startup focused on smart building technology that has recently experienced tremendous growth. The four companies together bring all the expertise for supporting a sustainable innovation platform, and importantly, maintain a strong Detroit presence. Q: How will Bedrock data be used to design sustainable solutions? A: This is the first-in-the-world kind of opportunity that’s driven by the uniquely dense portfolio we have in Detroit. We have this construct we are working on called a data lake, which is the aggregation of the data that comes from Bedrock’s 17 million square feet of real estate across Detroit. Its access to this unique operational data, combined with publicly accessible information like that from Census Data and the U.S. Energy Information Administration, provides lab participants with the unique opportunity to tie into a broad real estate ecosystem. We encourage and want anyone who engages with UTX to integrate their data as well, and under the right governance, we can offer this data lake to third-party developers for innovation. Q: In what ways are energy usage and decarbonization being looked at? A: Technologies like those being tested and deployed through the UTX platform allow us to track energy usage in real-time and better understand asset optimization. This provides us with the ability to cut back quickly and efficiently on carbon intensity. For example, heat pumps are a great technology but in certain situations, traditional heating systems might actually create less carbon. Real-world and real-time testing will help reveal this. The more data we get, the better decision-making we have and that can support AI applications as well. So first, it’s about understanding where a building is using energy, then understanding how the building responds to energy usage profiles. Q: Elaborate on how UTX is forming best practices for ensuring equity in urban tech solutions. A: When we set out to develop UTX we engaged several stakeholders such as community organizations, local government, public schools, and other platforms to all weigh in. Our work is fully transparent and there is a lot of communication in terms of where we are applying the technologies. For example, we are currently deploying tech in an area of Detroit to better understand air and noise pollution. We are working side-by-side with the community to make sure businesses and residents understand where we are doing this, how we are doing it, and in what ways the information will be used. Communication is paramount when trying to achieve equity in tech deployment. Q: In what ways does all of this work being done here impact businesses in Southeast Michigan? A: I look at it as a bidirectional flow. By establishing the UTX platform, we are helping to attract the best and brightest to deploy their innovations locally. Conversely, established local businesses have the opportunity to plug into a platform that provides a potential global spotlight. Q: What are some examples of new technology that’s being developed there? A: There are several examples of building automation systems, such as using smart blinds that automatically adjust to provide maximum natural sunlight based on occupancy and interior temperature. What I find very interesting are new systems for tracking and automating accessibility. One such deployment is smart communication between power wheelchairs and elevators. … The elevator is automatically called when the wheelchair arrives! Q: Do you think UTX is a differentiator for Detroit? A: Yes. Again, it puts Detroit on the map as a place that’s committed to, and capable of driving innovations and setting benchmarks and best practices for sustainable urban solutions. UTX is putting a stake in the ground for sustainable tech in an urban environment. Detroit is where the innovation is happening. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for regular updates
