DETROIT – Six Detroit entrepreneurs are putting their small-business plans into action after the Motor City Match program awarded them thousands of dollars to get started.
Mayor Mike Duggan made the announcement Friday morning at a building that will now be the second location for the N'Namdi Center for Contemporary Art on Grand River Avenue.
Five other businesses -- The Wise Decision, Plum Health Direct Primary Care, The Kenilworth Club, Social Sushi and the Detroit Marshmallow Co. -- received grants as well.
"I remember the very first time I got the idea that I wanted to be an entrepreneur," said Godwin Ihentuge, the owner of what will be The Kenilworth Club, a neighborhood restaurant and bar located on John R Street.
Sterling Wise has been a certified personal trainer helping people in the city of Detroit for seven years, and is now able to open his own business called, The Wise Decision, on Kercheval Avenue, near the area where he grew up.
"The vision that I have is that it'll be a one-stop shop. If you bring health to people, you bring happiness to people and if you bring happiness, it just makes the community better," Wise said.
The facility will offer customized fitness training, nutrition and weight management counseling along with healthy-cooking classes, and corrective exercise clinics designed to reduce common injuries. Wise's wife, Kamelia, is a doctor of physical therapy, so she will be able to offer services as well. They also work with people with special needs.
The next window for business owners to apply to the program is open from Dec. 1 to Jan. 1.