School's back from the summer, and so is Open City

Hear the bell ringing? That means school's back in session, and so is Open City Detroit. The group, designed to inspire and inform would-be Detroit entrepreneurs, meets the third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at Cliff Bell's; September's falls on the 16th.

The first speaker is set to be Mary Kramer, the publisher of Crain's Detroit Business. Liz Blondy of Canine to Five, one of the group's founders, says that Kramer was the perfect selection to invigorate Open City attendees right off the bat. "Mary is a huge booster of small businesses in Detroit," she says. "Plus, Crain's has really started to focus more on small businesses with things like Small Talk and DetroitMakeItHere.com."

Future topics will include financing and business planning, plus there are two planned panels: one of new business owners -- such as Torya Howell from Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes and Greg Mudge of Mudgie's Deli -- and another of experienced business owners.

Blondy says last year saw a couple Open City-ites open the doors on their dream businesses, including Dave Mancini's Supino Pizzeria, and hints that a salon in Midtown is next.

She says Open City's goal is to not just convince people that "now is a great time to open your small business in Detroit," but to give them access to the tools necessary to do so.

Source: Liz Blondy, Canine to Five
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh

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