Crain's Detroit Business

Kevin Bopp, vice president of parking and mobility for Bedrock, discusses the real estate management company's partnerships for reducing downtown Detroit congestion inside a May Mobility semi-autonomous shuttle as the vehicle makes its one-mile loop through downtown Detroit's central business district.

For the first time since 1990, the Detroit Regional Chamber is endorsing a Democrat for governor. The chamber's political action committee backed Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday over Republican Bill Schuette, who has racked up the majority of endorsements from business groups in Michigan. Brad Williams, vice president of government relations for the Detroit chamber, sat down with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood at Hopcat in Midtown to discuss the business group's endorsements in the Nov. 6 general election.

Eight military veterans are launching businesses from WeWork's shared office space in Campus Martius through Bunker Labs, a national organization that helps former service members become entreprenuers.

Tech entrepreneur Angel Gambino discusses how her purchase of depressed property in Corktown in 2010 triggered her re-engagement with her hometown of Detroit. She's now building small mobility and social media marketing businesses in the city. She's joined on this episode of "Detroit Rising" by local businesswoman Stefanie Kwiatkowski, owner of Barre'letixx, a maker of grippy shoes for yoga. Barre'letixx is one of Gambino's social media clients.

New York fashion designer Tracy Reese, a native of Detroit and Shinola VP Jen Guarino and former Donna Karan CEO Jeffry Aronsson discuss their efforts to scale Detroit's fledgling fashion apparel industry by creating an apprenticeship program in industrial sewing and working to attract outside investors.

Kevin Johnson, CEO of the Detroit Economic Development Corp., speaks with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about why human resources directors are driving business location decisions within large companies these days. He also argues Detroit needs a larger presence of state universities in the urban core to attract talent and businesses.

Jeanne Jeup, co-founder of the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education in Southfield, discusses the importance of better-educating teachers on how to teach reading during an interview for the Crain's "Detroit Rising" podcast at Louisiana Creole Gumbo, 13505 W Seven Mile Road, in Detroit. Jeup's company trains teachers in schools across the country in the foundations of the English language.

The Detroit Economic Growth Corp. has hired seven business liaisons for individual City Council districts who serve as a conduit between city government and businesses large and small in Detroit. Tenecia Johnson, the business liaison for District 1, and DEGC Vice President Mike Rafferty talked to Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about the new outreach and what the DEGC is doing to help foster small business development in the city's neighborhood commercial cooridors.

Joe Spencer, owner of Louisiana Creole Gumbo in Eastern Market, talks about how he opened a second restaurant on Detroit's northwest side and started a food truck service for manufacturing plants without traditional bank financing. Sherita Smith, executive director of the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corp., discusses retail and restaurant business opportunities on Detroit's northwest side.

Stroh Brewery Co. brand manager Andy Gurjian and Kacha Azéma, executive creative director for Skidmore Studio, discuss Stroh's re-engagement with Detroit and the three beers the iconic Detroit brand is brewing and bottling at Brew Detroit in Corktown. They sat down to talk about the marketing strategy for Detroit-made Stroh's beers with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood.

Attorney General Bill Schuette, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for governor, speaks with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about his agenda for Detroit and broader plans for Michigan should he be elected the state's next governor.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer discusses her agenda for Detroit and broader plans for Michigan should she be elected the state's next governor. She vows to stop a $750 million "raid" on the state's School Aid Fund for K-12 schools to provide money for public universities and community colleges.

State Sen. Patrick Colbeck, R-Canton Township, is running a long-shot campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. In an interview with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood, Colbeck details his plan for eliminating the state's 4.25 percent income tax and getting the state "out of the game of picking winners and losers" in economic development.

Jim Hines, an obstetrician from Saginaw County, is running for the Republican nomination for governor in a long-shot bid to be Michigan's next chief executive. He spoke with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about his views on tax incentives that "pick winners and losers" and his plans for fixing the state's roads, improving educational outcome in K-12 schools and lowering auto insurance rates.

At less than 29 months old, StockX is one of Detroit's fastest growing startups, employing 300 people in the city. The e-commerce company is a so-called stock market of things, seeking to commoditize high-end luxury consumer goods like sneaker, watches, handbags and street wear. StockX CEO Josh Luber and Chief Operating Officer Greg Schwartz sat down with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood recently to talk about the company's rapid growth and where it might be headed next in the evolving world of online commerce.

Ann Arbor businessman Shri Thanedar, a Democratic candidate for governor, talks with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about his plan gut "corporate welfare" tax incentive programs, invest in small business incubators and seek $30 billion in new state debt for investments in roads, bridges, underground infrastructure and schools. Thanedar is running in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary against former Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer of East Lansing and Abdul El-Sayed, the former Detroit city health department director.

Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, talks about how he will approach policy issues affecting Detroit and governance in an interview with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood for the Crain's Detroit Rising podcast. If he's elected governor, Calley said he will propose speeding up by one fiscal year the state's plans to spend $1.2 billion more annually on roads.

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, Detroit's former health commissioner, is campaigning for governor on a platform of creating a state-run, single-payer health insurance that he says would eliminate the need for medical coverage that drives up the cost of auto insurance. In this week's segment of Detroit Rising, El-Sayed talks with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about his plans to tackling Detroit's biggest problems if he's elected Michigan's next governor.

Erika Languirand, director of training & development for Detroit Labs, talks with Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood about the mobile app development company's apprenticeship program and how it's continuing to grow into more downtown office space on Woodward Avenue.

Detroit Regional Chamber CEO Sandy Baruah and PwC's Detroit managing partner Ray Telang join Crain's Senior Reporter Chad Livengood on this week's "Detroit Rising" podcast to discuss the pillars and themes of this year's Mackinac Policy Conference, which runs Tuesday, May 29 through Friday, June 1 at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island,,