Videos

Awenate Cobbina is the Vice President of Business Affairs and Associate Counsel for Palace Sports & Entertainment (PS&E) and the Detroit Pistons, as well as the Executive Director of the Detroit Pistons Foundation. In his current role, Awenate works on PS&E’s business deals and manages corporate, legal, and regulatory matters for the company and all aspects of the Foundation, including fundraising, grantmaking, and reporting to the Foundation’s Board.

Previously, he served almost 6 years in the White House, including roles in the Chief of Staff's Office, Office of Legislative Affairs, and Office of Management and Budget. Immediately, prior to joining PS&E and the Pistons Foundation, Awenate served as Special Assistant to the President and Policy Advisor to the Office of the Chief of Staff, where he worked with senior White House staff and Administration officials to manage policy development, design strategy, and implement plans on a broad range of issues and initiatives.

Awenate attended Emory University and the Howard University School of Law, and also previously worked at the National Football League, Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP, and the National Labor Relations Board in legal and policy roles.

Detroit Is THIS is hosted by Ivana Kalafatic, founder of Detroitisit. The show follows thought leaders, community change agents, makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs as they share their personal and professional stories.

Through these conversations, we’ll explore opportunities and solutions for the new times we find ourselves in.

Detroitisit founder Ivana Kalafatic talks to Liz Blondy owner of Canine to Five, Metro Detroit's first and ultimate in puppy service, about deciding to open a doggy daycare in Detroit and how Detroit has changed over the years for her as a small business owner. They get into the challenges of owning and running a small business in Detroit, what it's like to have employees during this time of Covid-19 flux, and what having a second location means in terms of growing the business.

Read more articles about Detroit's business scene: https://detroitisit.com/community/business/

Visit Canine to Five's website:
https://www.caninetofive.com/

Detroitisit founder Ivana Kalafatic speaks with special guest, CEO of TechTown, Ned Staebler, on the importance of partnering with local communities, TechTown’s roles in creating change in neighborhoods, and his mindset for producing results. The duo details what makes a city, a city, and why Detroit is a hidden gem. The current state of the world is addressed, including Ned missing the energy and socializing at TechTown, as well as what the futures of TechTown and Detroit look like. Pssst! There are lessons to be learned from living through the Detroit bankruptcy! Then Ned talks balancing faith and numbers while deciding who to fund, innovation and survival during hardships, and top tips for businesses for future success.

Ned Staebler is VP for Economic Development at Wayne State University and CEO of TechTown. A native of the northwest side of Detroit, Ned was well aware that he grew up during a time of tremendous struggle and change. He left to attend Harvard, then worked in the finance industry after graduating, living in Chicago and London. Two years turned into a decade, with Ned attending graduate school at the London School of Economics, where he studied Comparative Politics and Political Economy. He [finally] moved back to Michigan to give back to his beloved home and got a job at the state’s economic development agency, where he ran capital access programs and other programs for businesses. Now at WSU, he and his team help businesses by doing placemaking, growing talent, and much more all across the city.

Key takeaways:
• TechTown partners with neighborhood organizations to promote economic development.
• The restrictions on businesses today breed innovation.
• Businesses need to care about their people, track their cash flow, and seek out additional streams of revenue.

Resources:

At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails with Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Others by Sarah Bakewell

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

What to listen for:

01:30 Why Ned Staebler returned to Detroit

10:32 How TechTown assists the businesses that make Detroit the city it is

13:15 Should funding be targeted to strategic areas?

17:16 What makes cities, especially Detroit, so compelling to citizens?

22:50 Why Ned loves his job and what he misses most about TechTown right now

31:20 What lessons did Detroit learn from its season of bankruptcy that has prepared them for the economic effects of COVID-19?

34:22 TechTown awarded about 700 grants to businesses--Why the company was willing to take risks for these businesses

40:25 How long can businesses survive in a scenario like this?

45:20 Tips for future success for small businesses in Detroit

50:33 What books are you reading?

52:26 Hope for the future: This too will rise from the ashes.
Quotes:

“They never stop to talk to the people here about what the question was.” 09:17

“It’s important to go into a neighborhood and to ask the people… not ‘What do you think of my plans for your neighborhood?’ but, ‘What are your plans for your neighborhood?’” 09:57

“We’re all in the same storm, but we’re all in different boats” 33:26



Learn more about TechTown at https://techtowndetroit.org/.

Learn more about Detroit community, culture, innovation, and design at https://detroitisit.com/.


Read more articles about Detroit's business community: https://detroitisit.com/detroit-is-this-episode-1-interview-with-ned-staebler-ceo-of-techtown/

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A mom, wife and activist stood side by side with Dr. King

Father Gabriel Richard, Detroit's first renaissance man

Detroit's role in the slave trade

We sit down with the founders of Street Beet, Nina Paletta & Megan Shaw to talk Taco Bell pop-ups and an Ilitch family cease and desist. Go Girls.

We've partnered with Ford Motor Company to bring you stories about the individuals, businesses, and organizations working to bring our city into the future. In this multi-part series, we hear from leaders, innovators, founders, and stakeholders on ways they integrate their missions and know-how with that of the future of the city.

Detroitisit spent time inside Bamboo Detroit which is a co-working space launched in Detroit, now expanding to other cities. Co-founder Amanda Lewan talks to us about community, innovation, startups, and their next moves.

VIDEO: Filming Amy Nicole / ACRONYM, Edit KATAI

Located in a 20,000 sq foot facility quietly tucked away on Detroit’s Eastside, the Empowerment Plan is an organization working against homelessness in a completely different way from what shelters and support organizations are supposed to do. Operating in a time where homelessness is on the rise, instead of solely providing food or shelter for those in need, the organization is working to tackle the issue of homelessness at its core by helping people get on their feet and on to a productive career.

We've partnered with Ford Motor Company to bring you stories about the individuals, businesses, and organizations working to bring our city into the future. In this multi-part series, we hear from leaders, innovators, founders, and stakeholders on ways they integrate their missions and know-how with that of the future of the city.

Detroitisit's CV Henriette interviewed Innovation Nation Host Mo Rocca who shared memories of his childhood, what he remembers about Detroit and why he likes the Henry Ford Museum so much.

VIDEO: KATAI