Detroit’s Small Business Growth Summit goes hands-on as Detroit Means Business prepares for its next chapter

• Detroit small business owners gathered at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church for the fifth annual summit, newly renamed the Small Business Growth Summit and formerly known as the Detroit Means Business Summit

• This year’s program traded lectures for working sessions, sending entrepreneurs home with succession maps, pricing models, investor-ready checklists and customer systems they could put to work the next day

• A fireside chat titled “Honoring the Blueprint” traced six years of Detroit Means Business, which winds down at the end of July as its work shifts to DEGC’s Small Business Services team

• Born out of Detroit’s COVID-19 relief response in 2020, the program went on to deliver $3.4 million in professional services and reach hundreds of Detroit entrepreneurs across its programs

• Carla Walker-Miller, founder and CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services, earned the Small Business Champion Award, and Bank of America, Walker-Miller Energy Services  and human-i-t sponsored the event

JUNE 15, 2026 (DETROIT) — Detroit small business owners filled Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church on June 15 for the fifth annual Small Business Growth Summit, the event formerly known as the Detroit Means Business Summit. The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) rebuilt this year’s program around hands-on working sessions, trading the lecture format of years past for rooms where entrepreneurs rolled up their sleeves and built practical plans for their businesses.

A summit that put owners to work

The shift was deliberate. Last year’s summit leaned on keynotes and big-stage panels. This year put the work in the hands of the people who run the businesses. Breakout sessions ran in two blocks across the morning, each one built to send owners home with something they could use, not just notes to file away.

“Building Systems That Win,” led by Robert Courtney of Robert Courtney & Associates, showed owners how to connect community building, customer conversations and day-to-day operations into systems that attract and keep customers. Talisa Norton of All Pro Color ran “How’s Your Business Health?”, walking participants through pricing, margins and the true cost of delivering their products so they could chart a clearer path to profitability.

A high-growth track handed founders the tools investors look for. Dr. Dawn Batts of Union Heritage broke down what belongs in a strong data room and where most businesses leave gaps. Hannah Sandmeyer of Up & Over Advisors and Allegra Stennett of New Majority Capital led "Built to Last," helping owners draft a starter succession map and think through family succession, employee ownership and value-aligned buyers.

City leadership backs the push

City leaders framed the day as part of a larger push to put Detroit entrepreneurs in position to grow. Mayor Mary Sheffield opened the program with remarks on what small business success means for the city’s neighborhoods.

“Detroit’s small businesses are the backbone of our neighborhoods, and when they rise higher, the whole city rises with them,” said Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield. “This summit puts practical tools in the hands of the people doing the hard work every day, and that’s the type of investment my administration is committed to making.”

“Every thriving neighborhood in this city has small businesses at the heart of it,” said Dr. Marlo Rencher, the City of Detroit’s chief of Neighborhood Economic Development and Small Business. “Our job is to make sure entrepreneurs in every corridor and on every block have what they need to grow, because when they win, our whole community wins.”

A name retires, the mission stays

This year’s summit also marked a turning point for the program behind it. Detroit Means Business will wind down at the end of July, six years after it launched to help small businesses through one of the toughest stretches in recent memory. Its work will not stop. DEGC’s Small Business Services team will carry it forward, keeping the resources, connections and assistance that entrepreneurs have come to rely on.

“The Detroit Means Business name may be retiring, but the mission is not going anywhere,” said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. “Our Small Business Services team is picking this work up and running with it, so entrepreneurs keep getting the support they count on without missing a beat.”

Honoring the blueprint

A fireside chat anchored the morning and gave the room a chance to look back. “Honoring the Blueprint,” moderated by DEGC’s Tekeyah Gaines, brought together DEGC Senior Vice President Sean Gray, Lily Hamburger of Invest Detroit, Marlo Rencher of the City of Detroit and Carla Walker-Miller of Walker-Miller Energy Services. The panelists traced Detroit Means Business from its 2020 origins through its growth under ARPA funding, unpacking what entrepreneurs truly needed and how the program became a model for public, private, philanthropic and community partners working side by side. They closed on what comes next and how Detroit keeps meaning business long after the brand sunsets.

The story the panel told started with a crisis. COVID-19 forced storefronts across Detroit to go dark in spring 2020, and DEGC moved fast, teaming up with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Wayne County and the City of Detroit to get emergency cash to owners staring down lost income. That effort, the Michigan Small Business Relief Program, programmed grants of up to $10,000 for businesses with fewer than 50 employees and put DEGC’s Small Business Services team at the center of the response. Detroit Means Business grew out of that moment, and the same team that fielded those first relief applications is the one carrying the work forward today.

Six years, by the numbers

The numbers behind six years of Detroit Means Business back up the story the panel told. Over its run, the program:

• Delivered $3.4 million in professional services through business assistance, serving more than 200 businesses

• Graduated 30 business owners across three rounds of it Small Business Owner Advocates Fellowship, a 10-month program focused elevating the power and platform of Detroit’s small business owners

• Served 316 businesses through its digital hub, including Small Biz Boost, Google Business Profile support and one-on-one sessions with Jefferson East, Inc.

• Helped 140 business owners buy essential technology through the Small Business Technology Fund

• Hosted dozens of DMB Lives

• Hosted four Detroit Means Business summits, drawing hundreds of attendees each year, a series that continued this year as the Small Business Growth Summit

A champion honored

The summit also honored one of the city’s steadiest champions. Carla Walker-Miller, founder and CEO of Walker-Miller Energy Services, received the Small Business Champion Award for years of backing Detroit entrepreneurs and the ecosystem that supports them.

“As an adopted daughter, I feel so very blessed to be a part of Detroit. With everything that is within me, I honor the city of Detroit, from Mayor Mary Sheffield, our history making mayor, to every resident, every community, every worker, nonprofit and entrepreneur, every citizen and ally who embodies the beautiful spirit of Detroit,” said Walker-Miller. “I thank you. I love you.”

Longtime sponsors helped make the day free and open to every Detroit small business owner who wanted to attend. Bank of America returned as a lead supporter, joined by Walker-Miller Energy Services, and human-i-t, which gave away laptops to attendees during the program.

What comes next

The day closed with a grant giveaway and a long lunch built for networking, a tradition organizers say has fueled five years of partnerships that outlast the event itself. The message was hard to miss. The Detroit Means Business chapter is ending, but the work of helping Detroit’s small businesses grow is only picking up speed.

About the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation

Detroit Economic Growth Corporation is a non-profit organization that serves as Detroit’s lead implementing agency for business retention, attraction and economic development. DEGC is led by a board comprised of business, civic and community leaders. Its staff provides services for key public authorities that facilitate incentives and other forms of financing for projects that bring new jobs and investment to the City. DEGC also manages important initiatives to support small businesses and grow neighborhood commercial corridors. DEGC is dedicated to inclusive development and access to economic opportunity.