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In Crain’s Detroit Business: BUILD Institute expands reach in Michigan, Midwest

By Sherri Welch // March 17, 2019

“Detroit-based BUILD Institute has licensed its basic entrepreneurial education curriculum to a Fort Wayne, Ind., group working to develop an entrepreneurial system there.

At the same time, it’s expanding its classes and select entrepreneur support programs to other cities in Southeast Michigan, starting with Pontiac and Hazel Park.

BUILD is in the pilot phase of scaling its programs through an effort dubbed “BUILD Cities.” The three cities are enabling it to test different models for bringing its programs to other communities.

The three cities are the first to see BUILD classes outside of Detroit, but leaders in other places have also expressed interest, said BUILD Founder and Executive Director April Boyle.”

To the BUILD Institute Community,

On behalf of the BUILD Institute Board of Directors, we want to share that the Board has made the decision to pause operations at the end of 2025.

We recognize that we are living in a time of great uncertainty for small business support organizations across Michigan. This moment offers us an opportunity to reassess how BUILD delivers on its mission, retool our programming, and evaluate new partnership opportunities and our overall business model to ensure long-term sustainability and impact.

In the coming months, we will continue all scheduled programming through December to ensure that all commitments to entrepreneurs and partners are honored. During this time, we will also explore new ways to align our work with the evolving needs of our community, including our network of over 3,000 alums.

Please join us in showing appreciation for the team members and facilitators who have served Detroit’s entrepreneurs and supported BUILD’s mission since our founding in 2012.

If you have any questions about this decision or what it means in the near term, please email us at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued support and for being part of BUILD’s legacy of inclusive entrepreneurship.

With gratitude,
The BUILD Institute Board of Directors