Duggan talks Motor City Match; where Detroit business is headed

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There are 10 areas of the city that have been targeted along with program that's helping business owners one at a time to set up businesses.

New west side Detroit Vegan Soul on Grand River is one of the few places for a nice, sit-down dinner in the community.

A grant from Motor City Match helping the owners open their doors - but that's a microcosmic look at Detroit development.  A lot of blood, sweat and tears - figuratively and maybe literally went into the hard work of opening of a restaurant.

The owner of Detroit Vegan Soul in the 19000 block of Grand River got $60,000 from Motor City Match.

"This second location would not have been possible without support from support from organizations like Motor City Match," said Kirsten Ussery-Boyd.

Over the past two years, the city says about $4 million has been doled out to entrepreneurs. Vegan Soul is about 90 businesses over two years that has gotten between $10,000 and $100,000 in grant money through the program - money they don't have to pay back.

A map shows red dots that mean the business is open, orange is under construction. Green dots got financing.

In FOX 2's exclusive one-on-one sit down with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan at Detroit Vegan Soul; we got a chance to see how the $4 million in grant money to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs is part of a larger effort.

"The whole point of this is to take our local talent that otherwise would not have access to capital, they don't have the relationship with the bank," Duggan said. "And to get them started - and it is exciting."

Another map shows the first 10 areas the city is targeting with what they call significant public and private investment, encompassing more than 60 neighborhoods with a term the mayor has touted for a while "Twenty-minute neighborhoods" or true urban communities where folks can live, shop and walk to where they need to go in a 20 minute radius.

"It's a question of are people moving into the city or are they moving out," Duggan said. "There is no doubt we are recovering. We had 260,000 Detroiters leave the city in 13 years between 2000 and 2013 - and it devastated the neighborhoods."

Professor Robin Boyle specializes in Urban Planning at Wayne State University, is familiar with these development plans. Could a combination of Motor City Match winner and this larger strategy produce a tipping point in Detroit? More importantly how close can we really get to revitalization?

"Is it a tipping point, no," he said. "But it is an indication we are going in the right direction."

The current numbers for Motor City Match according to the city of Detroit:

-About 78 percent of the businesses are minority owned.

-About 70 percent are owned by women.

-About 60 percent of the recipients live in the city of Detroit.

- They estimate about 24 million in total investment in these communities.

-And 760 businesses have seen some benefit either through grants or building support, design and other things from Motor City Match.

If you are interested in applying, http://www.motorcitymatch.com/