Red Bull USA announced that i3 Detroit is a winner in the qualifying round of its Red Bull Creation 2013 contest. I3 Detroit and 5 other teams from around the US, from Maine to Maui, have been selected as Finalists from almost 50 teams nationwide. The i3 Detroit team will be flown to New York City for the final round, a 72-hour marathon creative build on June 13-16.

Red Bull Creation 2013 is the 3rd Annual event which challenges teams of top inventors to design and make something useful, imaginative and inspiring in 72 hours, for a purse of $10,000.

i3 Detroit is a collaborative environment for people to explore the balance between technology, art and culture. We feel the best way to create this environment is to bring together like-minded people who share a common passion for technology, art and culture.

Known as “hackerspaces” sites like i3 Detroit are springing up all over the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. The specific activities that take place at hackerspaces vary between organizations. In general, hackerspaces function as centers for peer learning and pooling of knowledge, in the form of workshops, presentations, and lectures. They usually also offer social activities for their members, such as game nights and parties. They typically provide space for members to work on their individual projects, or to collaborate on group projects with other members. Hackerspaces may also operate computer tool lending libraries, or physical tool lending libraries.

The i3 Detroit hackerspace is one of the oldest and most successful in the US, with over 100 dues paying members and an over 8,000 sq ft facility in Ferndale chocked with tools and fabricating equipment of all types, from giant computerized milling machines cutting blocks of metal into useful components, to laser cutters that can cut plastic and wood with surgical accuracy. This collection of tools and knowledge enable their members to make projects like those entered into the Red Bull Creation 2013 contest.

i3 Detroit is an 501(c3) charitable organization. For more information see www.i3detroit.com

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Google announced that it will be competing with iMessage and Facebook Messanger directly when it unvieled a new integrated messaging strategy at Google I/O 13. The new application comes with a new standalone iOS and Android applications, a Chrome application, as well as deeper integration into the Google+ ecosystem.

Many startups utilizing Google Apps for Business will need to first enable the new hangouts functionality in order to test the new features. Without enabling the features Google Apps for Business users will see the following error:

Hangouts has not been enabled for your account. Please contact your administrator to enable this service.

In order to enable the new hangouts feature for Google Apps administrators, the administrator will need to visit their domain admin panel (google.com/a/example.com) and login as an administrator.

Once there it is simply a matter of flicking the right switches. Visit Settings -> Talk -> Org Settings  and then ‘enable the new Hangouts for messaging and video calls.’

Let us know in the comments what you think of the new Google Hangouts!

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Automation Alley will host the Entrepreneurial Initiative of Southeast Michigan (EISEM) Entrepreneur’s Forum May 7 from 8-11:30 a.m. at Automation Alley Headquarters in Troy. Watch up-and-coming entrepreneurs present their business plans, and then join in the discussion.EISEM works to highlight regional entrepreneurs and their businesses and further develops their message to reach customers and investors. The Entrepreneur’s Forum features business plan presentations by emerging technology-driven companies. The short presentations are critiqued by attendees, including venture capitalists, angel investors and business professionals, who provide constructive criticism and guidance.

“This event offers startup business owners the opportunity to network with experienced entrepreneurs, and it also gives them the chance to refine their business pitch – often the first step to customer attraction, revenue and potential funding,” said Automation Alley Senior Director Tom Anderson, who will moderate the event. “We will have experts on hand to give their advice.”

Presenting companies include:

Are You a Human replaces hated  with games that make people smile.

Avegant Corporation commercializes exciting new next-generation projection display technologies.

Portal Architects makes it possible for you to find, move, sync and control files … no matter where they’re stored.

SurClean is developing noninvasive laser-based technology to remove paint and other coatings from aircraft, vessels and bridges undergoing maintenance.

Panelists include:

Terry Cross, Windward Associates, LLC

Rajesh Kothari, Cascade Partners LLC

Antonio Lück, MEDC, Pure Michigan Venture Match Fund

Visit http://www.automationalley.com/a2_nws_eventinfo?id=a086000000JFtJPAA1 to register.

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[Racial map of Detroit and surrounding suburbs; red is Caucasian, blue is African-American, orange is Latino, credit ATI and US Census]

If you work or live in Detroit you would have to spend a lot of time looking the other way to avoid noticing the rampant racial and class disparities surrounding you. It’s not just that there are a lot of impoverished people of color in Detroit (though that fact is also undeniable), it’s that impoverished people in Detroit experience greater immiseration than in many other parts of the country due to lack of public investments, from education to public transit to social services. And deeply ingrained historical forces have linked this cycle of geographically selective public dis-investment to de facto racial segregation that is still astoundingly prevalent in Southeast Michigan. Today, the City of Detroit is undergoing a supposed process of “emergency” macro-economic revitalization, but can it do so without addressing the historical scars of racial dispossession, and contemporary white supremacy? I’d like to argue that by failing to consider the role of race in contemporary economic development efforts, Detroit’s leaders and dreamers are likely to repeat the mistakes of the past, perpetuating structural violence against impoverished people of color in Southeast Michigan.

Start-ups and the entrepreneurs who run them are the great hope for economic development in the region. It’s what Rick Snyder ran on to win the Michigan Governor’s seat, it’s what county and city officials have been counting on with investments in high-tech zones, funds and incubators across the region. Detroit, in particular, features many (white) poster children for the new ethos of DIY tech-savvy bootstrapping and taking risky bets on new business models, hopefully creating jobs in the process. It’s the American Dream, isn’t it? The problem is that Detroit’s entrepreneurial community has become a powerful institution of complicity with the contemporary ideology of white supremacy. That means that to the extent that Detroit-based start-ups succeed in creating wealth, the distribution of that wealth will be unjustly stratified according to race. To the extent that these start-ups innovate they will likely displace more local jobs than they create. If entrepreneurs do not understand the racial significance of Detroit’s history, they risk re-enacting violent power relationships that further dispossess the region’s people of color.

[Median family net worth by race, 2009 - credit Institute on Assets and Social Policy, Brandeis University]

This disparity has a lot do with the difference in outlook and opportunity between an individual who graduates from a school with 95% of their class versus an individual who graduates with less than 30% of their class. Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (Random House, 2005) points out that divided urban/suburban educational districts separate the experiences and expectations of black and white youth from an early age, making their social and economic communities mutually inaccessible. Through this educational geography of white privilege non-white youth suffer extreme disadvantages from school facilities to class sizes to accessible college counselors. The result is a disparity in graduation rates that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan characterized as “…the civil rights issue of our generation.”

The concepts of personal responsibility and individualistic self-reliance are often core values in entrepreneurial incubator and accelerators. Implicit in these values are deeply embedded anti-government sentiments which carry over into the subtle political character of many who dream of being very rich; that wealth is solely the result of visionary hard work, that taxes are theft by the lazy and uncreative, that welfare is a hand-out. These Horatio Alger values are hardly historically innocent. Since the Civil Rights movement, the Gilded Age myth that “anyone can succeed with enough hard work” has been one half of a monumental propaganda campaign by anti-tax conservatives, the other half being that impoverished people of color “lack initiative” and are therefore undeserving of public goods. Economist and Professor Michael Perelman examines this relationship in his book Manufacturing Discontent (Pluto Press, 2005):

“…researchers suggest that racism might be involved in the unwillingness to give the state more of a role in protecting individuals. … states that are more ethnically fragmented spend a smaller fraction of their budget on social services and productive public goods, and more on crime prevention (Alesina, Glaeser, and Sacerdote 2001: 229). Daniel Levitas, author of an extensive study on extreme right-wing movements, comes to a similar conclusion. He makes the case that the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and federal enforcement of the 1954 Brown decision, which declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional, caused a sizeable number of white people to become more antagonistic toward taxes, believing that the financial product of their hard work was being used to support “undeserving” and “parasitic” elements of the population (read: black people) (Levitas 2002: 102—3).”

These social histories do not disappear with time but rather form the backdrop through which racially privileged norms are unconsciously formed. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a wealthy lawyer. What’s the first image that comes into your head? Did you imagine a white man? Now close your eyes and imagine a homeless man. Did you imagine a black man? If so, don’t blame your imagination for being racist; credit it for picking up on on what you might experience if you strolled around the streets of Downtown Detroit. Now close your eyes and imagine an entrepreneur. What color is their skin? If you were to open your eyes after walking into the M@dison Building, Bizdom, DC3 or most co-incubating/accelerating spaces, you can answer that question for yourself as a matter of statistical probability. Or maybe you just don’t see race. Liar. There’s a reason that line is a recurrent joke on The Colbert Report.

[Colbert race meme - credit weknowmemes.com]

Few of Detroit’s shiny new entrepreneurial facilities pay homage to the legacy of Black Bottom, or Paradise Valley. During the days when most affluent neighborhoods, restaurants and hotels were “White Only”, Paradise Valley was Detroit’s Harlem; a place for working people to get together and have a good time. This area, centered in what is now known as Harmonie Park, stretched south down the Detroit River and was an early foothold for Detroit’s nascent black middle class, and at one time boasted one of the largest cluster of black-owned businesses in North America. Sounds like a great entrepreneurial success story, right?

Unfortunately, during the last “urban renewal” of the postwar years the shoddily constructed buildings built by German immigrants a hundred years before drew the ire of Detroit city planners and the entire neighborhood was razed. The dispossessed residents and yes, entrepreneurs of that neighborhood — few of whom were compensated at all for the massive destruction of wealth — were displaced to other neighborhoods, as few could afford the new residential developments in Lafayette or Harmonie Park, even if they could find a realtor who would rent to a black family.

[View of I-75 and surrounding developments in what was once Paradise Valley.]

It’s no secret that Detroit has an issue with urban blight. Across the city there are thousands of unoccupied falling-down houses that are quite expensive to demolish. Enter John Hantz with an interesting proposal; to buy up thousands of these unoccupied residences at below market rate, demolish them at private expense and plant 70,000 trees with a promise to clear and maintain the land. For an area that has been struggling with the costs of urban blight, this sounds like a win-win, right? Witness the controversy as community groups assemble to block the vote on Hantz Woodlands, many of them chanting “Remember Black Bottom.” The reporting on the Hantz Woodlands controversy is surprisingly divided along racial and class lines. Outside observers are confounded at the mere existence of the controversy, while long-time black residents of Detroit paint the entrepreneur’s vision as a profit-driven “land grab”.

Episodes such as this demonstrate the challenge for Detroit’s entrepreneurs in negotiating the region’s profoundly racist history. It is certainly true that John Hantz’s personal identity as a white male is inseparable from the debate about his entitlement to buy the land at below market-rate, where less-recognized entrepreneurs of color have had to pay more for each lot. Is this racist history repeating itself; a black man paying more for the same lots as a white man? Or is it simply a case of a community too mired in past injustices to accept a good deal when it’s offered to them?

For better or for worse, values such as “innovation” and “efficiency” which are recurrent in the entrepreneurial vocabulary are not socially neutral — “doing more with less” is often a management-driven strategy for shedding jobs and stagnating wages without diminishing productivity. Even “social ventures” which claim to supplant failing public programs by offering community-oriented goods and services may be regarded with suspicion, as they are sometimes vehicles of the de facto racist process of divesting in publicly owned goods. The danger is that a “Whites Only” approach to economic growth will serve the interests of multinational corporations only too happy to usurp the roles of black-managed public works and services. Of course, innovation is often socially beneficial, and proposals such as Loveland Technologies’ modest proposal that aim at restoring the City’s flagging tax base exemplify an approach to entrepreneurship that targets deep historical causes rather than popularized symptoms.

[Rev. David Bullock of Rainbow PUSH calls on Obama to intervene against Emergency Manager takeover]

When I was a kid in grade school we typically discussed the history of racism once a year on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Going through some of the less gruesome details of chattel slavery, a teacher posed the question to us: If we had been living as a white person in antebellum South, would we have had the courage to be an abolitionist, or even to participate in the Underground Railroad? Each year, this question gave me and my classmates pause as we tried to put ourselves in the shoes of someone of that bygone era, and hoped that we would indeed have been able to overcome prevailing social biases and act on our better natures. Today, as we witness more black men in prison than were enslaved at the height of chattel slavery in 1850 the question is no longer academic, if it ever was to begin with. Life in Southeast Michigan’s apartheid geography is a catastrophe for many people of color, and a complicated series of moral choices for this system’s white beneficiaries. Entrepreneurs of all races have an opportunity to make a huge difference in this struggle, if only they realize that the decision is theirs to make.

The post Michigan Entrepreneurs Need to Confront White Supremacy appeared first on Grow Detroit.

Even with the distinction of being the longest-running university-based venture capital fair in the nation, organizers of the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium (MGCS) continually refine the format and program in order to attract the best and brightest startups and investors from across country. To that end, event organizers today announced that they have tapped Ann Arbor-based event tech firm CrowdJuice to maximize networking opportunities among attendees and extend the life of MGCS beyond the two-day symposium for the respected roster of investors already registered to attend.

“We’re going to see some bigger funds participating, more representation of growth capital companies presenting, plus our usual array of startup and early stage companies,” said David J. Brophy, MGCS founder and director and professor of finance at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. “With this in mind, we’re crafting a program that, upon inspection, will look very much like what’s going on in the market – and leaning in the direction of what we expect to be coming down the road. Providing insight into the latest market trends and access to up-to-date technology to navigate networking opportunities are the touches that make the Symposium a must-attend event each year.”

CrowdJuice Helps Attendees Maximize Value

Ann Arbor-based CrowdJuice provides an event app that brings powerful, interactive features to conferences, trade shows, and corporate meetings. It was first introduced at the 2011 Symposium, enabling attendees to connect ahead of the event, engage during it, and maintain contact into the future. Following positive feedback, organizers have opted to not only again offer the CrowdJuice app to registered attendees, but also extend the service.

The Michigan Growth Capital Symposium will offer its own mobile app for the 32^nd annual event, powered by CrowdJuice. Available exclusively to registered attendees, the app will enable users to network with other attendees, learn about event sponsors and get details on presenting companies. It will also feature trending tweets based on hot topics emerging from the event’s program and active dialogue.  The mobile app will be available to registered attendees in mid-April.

Symposium Continues to Attract Top Investors

More than 65 investment firms will be represented at this year’s event, including angel, seed and growth stage investors from across the U.S. In addition to partaking in the many networking opportunities, investors will hear presentations from up to 36 “Best of the Midwest” companies across emerging growth sectors such as life sciences and technology, as well as contribute their expertise to a number of panels set to take place during the event.

Investment firms represented at the 2012 event included Landmark Angels/Landmark Capital, Flagship Ventures, GM Ventures, BioStar Ventures, Plymouth Management Company, Hopen Life Science Ventures, Illinois State Treasurer’s Office, Fletcher Spaght Ventures, Essex Woodlands, Lighthouse Capital Partners, 5AM Ventures, Michigan Accelerator Fund, Bank of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Angels, Apjohn Ventures, Arboretum Ventures, Open Prairie Ventures, Allos Ventures, RPM Ventures, Triathlon Medical Ventures, TGap Ventures, Huron River Ventures, Chrysalis Ventures, DFJ Mercury, Baird Venture Partners, Early Stage Partners, Venture Investors, ARCH Venture Partners, SV Life Sciences, Beringea, Credit Suisse, Arsenal Venture Partners, Amherst Fund, Rho Ventures, Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, DTE Energy Ventures, Foundry Group, Quaker Partners, Grand Angels, Resonant Venture Partners, Detroit Venture Partners, Ascension Health Ventures, Lumira Capital, Dow Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, Osage University Partners, Boston Financial & Equity Corp., SWMF Life Science Fund, Converge Medical Technologies, Silicon Valley Bank, Arctaris Income Fund LP, Capital Midwest, River Cities Capital Funds, MK Capital and more, many of whom will again be represented in 2013.

The 32^nd annual Symposium is being held May 21-22, 2013 at the Marriott Resort in Ypsilanti, Mich. More than 400 entrepreneurs, researchers, investment professionals and business executives are expected to attend to hear presentations and panels from luminary speakers, as well as a showcase of the most promising of early to later stage Midwest, high-growth companies seeking institutional investment within the next 12 months. To learn more or register, visit www.MichiganGCS.com and follow conversations about the Symposium by tracking #MGCS on Twitter.

About the Michigan Growth Capital Symposium (MGCS)

MGCS is the original university-based venture fair.  This nationally attended two-day event provides an opportunity for financiers to connect with up-and-coming Midwest businesses and learn about emerging technologies.  The Symposium offers the opportunity to build relationships with an unparalleled business network of distinguished private equity industry leaders, leading university research faculty, and entrepreneurial business professionals.  Entering its 32^nd year, MGCS continues to draw top investors from coast to coast.  MGCS is presented by the Center for Venture Capital & Private Equity Finance at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan with support from the Michigan Venture Capital Association and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

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