Detroit’s Motor City Match gives grants to 20 more businesses
Ken Walker has had a goal to open a high-end street fashion clothing store since
Ken Walker has had a goal to open a high-end street fashion clothing store since he was 15 years old.
His dream will soon come true for his clothing brand, the K. Walker Collective. With the assistance of a Motor City Match cash grant of $30,000, Walker plans to open a storefront in Midtown at 4161 Cass Ave., just two blocks away from where he attended the Detroit School of Arts.
He said he has a goal to provide “opportunities and equitable positions for a lot of these youth that are coming up in Detroit who are interested in fashion, but maybe not seeing opportunities right in the city that they know and they love. So for me, it’s really about bringing that to the area, but really helping that to be an incubator of hope for a lot of other people.”
Walker is one of 20 businesses that received a cash grant during the 20th round of Detroit’s Motor City Match program. The program announced Tuesday that it has doubled its typical grant fund of $500,000 to $1 million. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan stated that the increase in funding will come from American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
“I think what we consistently have seen is that there’s generally always more great applicants than we have the capacity to award,” said Drew Lucco, director of Motor City Match. “So what this will allow us to do is offer more grants to more businesses, in some cases to offer larger grants than we would have in the past.”
Grant prizes ranged from $30,000 to $80,000. The winning businesses offer products and services such as a cider mill, an art gallery gathering space, a beauty spa, coffee roastery, ice cream shop, party decorations, a distribution center, a laundromat, plumbing, apparel and several restaurants.
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Katrina Belin is the owner of the Pink Diamond Beauty Mall, which provides spa services such as an infrared room, massages, sauna, showers, hot tubs, a hair salon, nail salon, and even shopping. The business, located at 17350 Livernois, will open next spring.
Her vision for this business has been forming over time. Belin was in foster care as a child and she said that beauty wasn’t always seen as a necessity.
“They didn’t really consider getting your hair done or taking care of your body or even teaching me any of those things,” Belin said of her caretakers. “So it really came from that. I want a space where I can just let go. Where I can just close my eyes, feel safe and just release.”
Belin won a cash grant of $50,000. The business is 9000 square feet with four floors.
“I actually have put 75% of my own proceeds into this project,” Belin said. “ I have had no loans as of yet. I have had no support from anyone. This has all come from hard work, blood, sweat and tears. And I felt like I was kind of at a standstill with what do I need to do to receive funding, especially after the pandemic, to complete the project to really get this vision out of me.”
Jantae’ Spinks and Samuel Trotter have plans to open Someday, an art gallery and tea shop in one space. Spinks said the partners expect to open the business by early next year at 2857 E. Grand Blvd.
“It’s where creative and visual and culinary are all merged to craft hospitality, keeping the Black experience in mind,” said Spinks. “We’re going to have unique activations with intentional programming to connect like-minded creatives, to connect like-minded people who are just trying to elevate the collective.”
Spinks said the project is unique because it offers a space to relax and eat in an art gallery. The business received a $40,000 grant.
Cathryn Coleman owns Bouncing Around the Motor City, which is a party decoration, balloon designing and rental business that will be located at 13238 Fenkell Ave. She expects event planners to come into her shop and get the supplies they need. The business will open next spring.
“I have everything I need to open up a business,” Coleman said. “I remember as a little girl how all the businesses used to be lined up on Fenkell Avenue. I’m just so excited to be restoring it back.”
Applications for Motor City Match’s 21st round are currently open for its cash, design, plan and development programs. Lucco said although the program is for new businesses, there are opportunities for businesses that have been open for over a year to participate in its restoration track, to make improvements to their current space.
Find out more about the program at motorcitymatch.com.