What's new in Southwest Detroit?

How is Southwest Detroit growing? What kinds of business opportunities exist in this colorful community? What are community leaders doing to attract new companies and residents to the neighborhood?

Those and a host of other questions will be answered at How Does Southwest Detroit Grow?, the next installment of Model D's ongoing and highly-successful Speaker Series. The event will take place at 5 p.m. on April 23 at the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle.

Sponsored by Model D, the Detroit Yacht Club and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, next week's program will feature the following Southwest Detroit business and community leaders:

• Kathy Wendler, Southwest Detroit Business Association
• Jim Saucedo, State Farm Insurance
• Tim Thorland and John Van Camp, Southwest Solutions
• Vito Valdez, artist

Registration starts at 5 p.m. and the lecture starts at 5:30 p.m. Networking and light refreshments will follow. The event is free, but seats fill up fast and you must RSVP to attend. To do so, click here.

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Support 'Explore the Detour' in Southwest Detroit

If you care about the vitality of Detroit, then you should know about Explore the Detour, Savor Southwest Detroit.

It's a new marketing campaign designed to help Southwest Detroit businesses survive the two-year closure of I-75 North and South between Rosa Parks and Clark Street - the main artery through Southwest's five business districts. The closure begins this February.

While Southwest Detroit business owners understand the importance of the project, they recognize that the effects of closing the main thoroughfare of their community must be addressed.

To counterbalance the closure, members of the Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA) created Explore the Detour, Savor Southwest Detroit - a comprehensive marketing plan promoting alternative means of accessing Southwest's retail centers and independent businesses so that the community's 800,000 visitors a year continue flocking to the area even while I-75 is closed.

Explore the Detour focuses on eight key points:
-A strong brand with detailed construction information and alternative routes for accessing the community's business districts;
-A detailed, project-long PR campaign;
-Informational print advertising and Web support;
-Radio spots promoting Southwest Detroit as a destination;
-A special map of the area;
-Informational billboards at key spots along the highway;
-A business grant program to assist area companies with immediate marketing needs.

What can you do to help? Continue visiting your favorite Southwest Detroit spots throughout the I-75 closure.

Southwest Detroit is the fastest-growing neighborhood in Detroit, and its population is up an estimated 22% from the 2000 United States Census.

For more information about Southwest Detroit, please click here.

Have a question or comment on this post?
I'd love to hear from you!
E-mail me at girl.in.the.d@gmail.com