2021 DNEP +ISLB

After more than a year of COVID-19 pivoting and innovating, Detroit business owners told us they needed action, not advice. So in 2021, we recruited 31 student interns for the DNEP +Impact Studio for Local Business (+ISLB) and divided them into seven teams to take on DNEP clients' most-cited challenges.

2021 Clients:

Akoma
Blck Cocoa Bakes
The Congregation
Detroit Sip
Detroit Soul
Farmacy Food
ForHerCosmetics
Hot Sam's Detroit
Ivy Kitchen + Cocktails
Luxe Skin Therapy
Olive Seed
Paradise Foods
Rock Your Month
Royalty Gardens
Sisters on a Roll
Slows Bar-B-Q
Space Lab
Tauntas Cosmetics

2021 Student Teams:

 Team One: Brand Identity

  • Areeba Razi, Ross Business School
  • Lucy Sun, Stamps School of Art and Design / School of Engineering
  • Noelle Seward, Ford School of Public Policy
  • James Benjey, School of Information
  • Sophie Herdrich, Stamps School of Art and Desig

 Team Two: Brand Identity

  • Anders Lundin, Stamps School of Art and Design
  • Kirsten Lam, Ross School of Business
  • Maddie Shepherd, Stamps School of Art and Design 
  • Megan Shohfi, Ford School of Public Policy

Team Three: Marketing

  • Madelyn Woodrow, Ross School of Business
  • Karan Khanuja, Ford School of Public Policy
  • Chris Wong, Ford School of Public Policy
  • William Mizer, Stamps School of Art and Design

Team Four: E-Commerce 

  • Isabella Valice, School of Information
  • Grace Maloney, Center for Entrepreneurship
  • Sadhana Ramaseshadri, School of Information
  • Haarika Karlapati, Ross School of Business

Team Five: Product Enhancement and Expansion

  • Aaron Meyer, Ford School of Public Policy
  • Michael Willard, Ross School of Business / LSA
  • Malavika Vengilatt, Ross School of Business
  • Jordan Maisch, Ford School of Public Policy
  • Jonah Cuenca, Ross School of Business

Team Six: Point of Sale

  • Simone Turner, School of Information
  • Cami Slavkin, Ford School of Public Policy
  • John Prisby, Ross School of Business
  • Rishi Kalyan, Ross School of Business
  • Jacqueline Taylor, Ford School of Public Policy

Team Seven: Operations

  • Casey Rheault, Stamps School of Art and Design
  • Ethan Goldstein, School of Information
  • Kristine Zhou, Ross School of Business
  • Michael Cardamone, Ford School of Public Policy

2021 Leadership:

 
  • Chris Mueller, Faculty Director, DNEP +Impact Studio for Local Business
  • Christie Baer, Program Director, Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project
  • Justin Erickson, Program Manager, Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project
  • Jaume Boneta Seco, MBA, Ross School of Business
  • Claire Miller, MBA, Ross School of Business

2021 Key Areas

Branding & Identity

Establishing a logo, colors, fonts, copywriting, and messaging that communicates a company’s unique identity to customers.
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E-Commerce

Making e-commerce websites more user-friendly through user testing.
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Managing a Marketing Campaign

Managing, and analyzing the results of, a marketing campaign for the summer based on specific goals.
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Operations

Documenting standard operating procedures.
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Product Enhancement & Expansion

Identifying options for, and procurement of, packaging for new products.
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Point of Sale

A deep dive into selecting the right, and/ or better utilizing your current, POS system.
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