DETROIT-Formed a decade ago to connect Detroit businesses with University of Michigan expertise, the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project is leveraging AI to augment its human help.
Since its launch in 2016, the University of Michigan's Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project has connected hundreds of Detroit small business owners with students and faculty who provide expertise in marketing, accounting, technology, law and business strategy.
DNEP was created to help neighborhood-based businesses access resources that can be difficult to obtain in the early stages of growth. At the same time, it gives students the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to real-world business challenges.
Today, DNEP serves approximately 350 businesses each year and has assisted nearly 1,700 businesses since its founding. About 90% of participating businesses are minority owned.
DNEP was co-founded by Michael Barr, former U-M law professor and Ford School of Public Policy dean, on leave and serving as a Federal Reserve governor; Stamps School of Art and Design professor Hannah Smotrich; and Christie Baer, an attorney and entrepreneur, who now serves as DNEP's managing director. Law professor Alicia Alvarez, and Ross School of Business faculty Jerry Davis, Michael Gordon, Christie Brown and Bill Lovejoy trained and supervised students in the initial pilot.
"The idea was to create an interdisciplinary clinic where the clients would be Detroit small businesses, and they would be able to get not only legal advice, but some of the wraparound support that is needed," Baer said. "That is a core part of what makes DNEP different from other university programs … when the semester ends, there's somebody for the businesses to be able to come back to-and that's really important.
"Grit and gut feelings will get you started. But, if you want to turn a business into a legacy or an anchor in a neighborhood, you need data and you need other people's money. That's why, as we have grown the program, we've expanded to offer year-round accounting and technology services-those are the foundations for a successful business."
A helping hand
One of those businesses is The LuvGluv, a Detroit-area company founded by DaNita Weddle.
The LuvGluv creates leather gloves featuring interchangeable charms that allow customers to personalize the accessories with symbols representing family, organizations, causes and other meaningful connections. Weddle launched the business after a workforce reduction eliminated her position in health care following the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The inspiration behind the glove is based on the biblical principle of laying of hands that bless generation after generation," Weddle said. "When I was 10 years old, my aunt, who was a master seamstress, taught me to sew and design."
She said memories of her aunt, mother and grandmother inspired both the product and the company's mission.
"I started designing these gloves and I wanted to find a way to make them personal to every woman who wears them," Weddle said. "And that inspired putting charms on them."
Like many entrepreneurs, Weddle entered business ownership with professional experience but quickly encountered challenges that required specialized support.
"The biggest challenge was really knowing where to start," Weddle said. "I knew how to design. I knew how to sell. I even knew how business is operated. But now everything has to be done by you."
Student consultants at work
After participating in TechTown Detroit's Retail Boot Camp, Weddle connected with DNEP seeking help with accounting and inventory for her e-commerce platform.
Through DNEP, she was paired with U-M students who worked on projects tailored to her business's needs. The students conducted market research that helped her better understand and focus on her target customers.
"They actually took all of the conceptual data that I had on the company, my business plan, things like that, and did research to help me really figure out and focus on what is my market," Weddle said. "That was extremely helpful to me."
The student research became a resource she later used when applying for grant opportunities and evaluating future growth strategies.
For Weddle, the value of the project extended beyond just marketing. DNEP also helped improve inventory management for her online store, reducing time spent manually tracking products after pop-up events and conferences.
"I can tell you, hands down, that I'm a researcher and I couldn't have done a better job myself with what they were able to provide me with," Weddle said. "And then secondly, the inventory system, getting that up and running the way that it's supposed to, saved us hours of time."
A network of support
Weddle's experience reflects DNEP's approach to supporting entrepreneurs. Supervised students work directly with business owners to address practical challenges while allowing students to gain experience working with real clients.
In the last 10 years, the program has expanded significantly. In addition to consulting projects, DNEP now offers accounting assistance, community technology support, AI workshops and specialized programming office on helping business owners strengthen their financial and digital skills.
DNEP moved to the Ross School of Business in 2024, a change intended to strengthen its entrepreneurship focus and connect participating businesses with additional resources, including a focus on technology and AI tools.
Last year, DNEP expanded its Community Tech Consulting program to a second Detroit neighborhood, training three self-taught techies from Detroit neighborhoods to work as tech consultants who can provide 1-on-1 support. They brought on students from U-M's School of Information to do UX analyses of entrepreneurs' websites. And, they trained eight Marsal Family School of Education students from the LEAPS (Learning, Equity, and Problem Solving for the Public Good) program at Marygrove to create social media for businesses.
A grant from Engage Detroit, a program administered by the U-M Provost's office, allowed DNEP to pilot AI workshops with four different community partners.
"The Engage Detroit grant was the seed funding we needed to learn how to teach AI skills," Baer said.
That teaching became even easier when BoodleBox joined the effort as a corporate sponsor, donating 120 free licenses to DNEP businesses, student service providers and community partners.
"Boodlebox makes it easy to teach AI skills," Baer said. "It combines dozens of AI agents in one platform. Each time you enter a prompt, it offers feedback on how your prompt could be better. If it doesn't know the answer, it tells you which agent to ask instead. And, it's FERPA and HIPAA protected. It completely accelerates learning."
This access, in turn, allowed DNEP to start building AI tools for Detroit businesses, starting with Bambini, a legal/regulatory bot for Detroit daycares and preschools, built by Michigan Law alumnus Habib Saad while he was a student.
And another tool for small businesses-a CFO dashboard-will launch soon. Baer said that traditional accounting software is not always useful in helping entrepreneurs who are acting as both CEO and CFO.
"Business owners want to be able to pay themselves the same amount of money every month and make strategic investments in the business," Baer said. "Our CFO dashboard is going to allow businesses to enter their financial data and have AI extract insights for them without having to go to business school to do it."
For Weddle, DNEP resources have helped position The LuvGluv for future growth. The company participated in 32 events in 2025 and generated approximately $20,000 in sales, a revenue growth of 13% from their launch in 2024 compared to 2025. She is now exploring new markets, including partnerships with historically Black sororities and fraternities, while continuing to expand her product lines.
While businesses ultimately drive their own success, Weddle said access to U-M resources has helped accelerate that process.
"It would have taken me a year to do it myself because of all the other things that I have to do," she said about the market research and inventory projects. "Having someone who could help me do the research was extremely helpful."
