Entrepreneur and lender match program announced

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

• A coalition of pastors is working to educate and mobilize their flocks to decide between City Council President Mary Sheffield and Reverend Solomon Kinloch. 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.”
• 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. 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.
• 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. 
• 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.

The Detroit Evening Report is a three-minute daily round-up of the news that city residents need to know. Stories focus on the concerns, problems, passions and needs of Detroiters – specifically residents of color. On the weekends, we take a break from the news and spend some time with community members. Hosted by Sascha Raiyn, Jerome Vaughn, Tia Graham, Nargis Rahman, and Hernz Laguerre, Jr. Detroit Evening Report is a production of WDET, Detroit's NPR Station.