Daily Detroit

In the wake of the President being diagnosed with COVID-19, we talk to Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health Direct Primary Care about the situation and what's happening here.

Specifically, due to the incubation period of the virus, presidential candidate Vice President Joe Biden is not out of the woods for awhile yet. Plus, the Lions will not have fans at the stadium; and Michigan's cases are rising. This was recorded before word came that the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is rolling back to stage 4.

Plus: 85,000 or so Detroit bus riders were left without transportation today as there was a work stoppage around safety concerns on DDOT coaches.

And finally, the U.S. Census matters, and in Detroit it's a full-court press to get people counted. Victoria Kovari from the city of Detroit joins us to talk about the low response rate, how it's calculated, and where in the coming weeks the city will be focusing their efforts. Census numbers impact not only representation in the legislature but funding and business planning.

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On today's show:

• COVID-19 Updates
• Chrysler is paying $9.5 million in additional fines to the SEC
• Macomb County gets $12.5 million in settlement money over the giant sewer collapse in Fraser back in 2016
• The Detroit Housing Fund for the Future kicks off to make more housing that's affordable for middle and low income possible in the city of Detroit

Plus, our feature conversation at 6m30s: Oak & Reel — a new seafood and pasta restaurant in the Milwaukee Junction neighborhood — just opened a few weeks ago and Engineer Randy visited the place to provide a preview for our listeners and chat with Chef Jared Gadbaw.

Website: https://www.oakandreel.com/

There are some pictures from the visit on our website: http://www.dailydetroit.com/2020/09/29/first-look-at-oak-and-reel-plus-things-to-know-in-detroit/

The city of Detroit – as well as cities across the nation – has an issue with residents not having bank accounts. A study by prosperity now says that almost 20% – or one in five Detroiters – do not have a bank account.

So they're paying much higher fees at liquor stores and other places to get access to their money.

To help residents, especially young adults, get started off on the right foot, Jason Rivers joins me to talk about a new program.

Then, we check in with Fletcher Sharpe about the latest in fall tournament action with Detroit City Fc, the Michigan Stars, and looks ahead to the weekend of play.

And finally, a Detroit tradition is back, but on television only.

Today's show focuses on a second big company in metro detroit going public.

You know them as United Shore, but as this show is being published the giant letters on their Pontiac headquarters are coming down for their new name, United Wholesale Mortgage.

The merger deal that will put the lending giant on the NASDAQ will peg the company's value initially at about $16 billion dollars.

And although metro Detroit is known for cars, students of regional history may know that we're also the cradle of the consumer finance industry.

From auto loans to help make cars more accessible to store credit at places of yesterday like Hudsons, consumer credit powers America's economy and a lot of it started right here.

So to navigate the waters of this deal, I'm going to chat with Matthew Rolling. He has a career with experience in accounting firms, an automaker, and yes, full disclosure, worked for a time for Rock Ventures at one point - although that's a couple of positions ago. Rolling is the executive director at Wayne State's Office of Business Innovation, as well as an adjunct finance professor at the university.

Black women entrepreneurs are the fastest growing group of business owners in the nation, but they're also starting with the least amount of capital.

That's especially important in a city like Detroit that is about 80% black, although our entrepreneurial sector - especially those who get venture funding - does not reflect that.

This conversation with Dr. Courtney McCluney, assistant professor at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University was recorded a few days ago, but to me is especially poignant to share now in light of a recent article in MLive featuring a 19-year old entrepreneur.

Who is a University of Michigan student.

Who said they started their million dollar firm, Zuplift, from nothing two years ago.

It seems at first like the typical young guy business success story we've read a thousand times.

But that entrepreneur is AJ Gilbert, the 19-year-old son of one of America's richest men, Dan Gilbert.

And here's the passage that is full of usually ignored business speak that caught the ire of many of my neighbors in Detroit, attributed to AJ.

"We started it from nothing...It took a lot of hard work but we're passionate about putting our customer first."

I'd note here that their biggest client, according to the article, is Quicken Loans. As you probably know, his dad, the aforementioned billionaire, founded that.

Now I'm not one to discount hard work. Or that it's a challenge.

But privilege, I think, isn't about that.

It is the awareness you're starting ahead of others. That the playing field in this society is not level. And stat after stat, and life experience after life experience for people of color, shows that it's not.

In short, we as a community and a country have work to do. And there are people and organizations, locally, who are making an effort to change things in the entrepreneurial space.

Dr. McCluney is in the middle of work on a multi-year study on the topic of Black Women Entrepreneurs in Detroit.

Daily Detroit can have conversations like this thanks to our members on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/dailydetroit

Dr. Paul Thomas is back to talk Coronavirus and gives more details on the Big Tens's testing plans and why he has reservations; plus more on Michigan's statewide situation with COVID-19.

Next, the North American International Auto Show has been moved again. Autoblog editor in chief Greg Migliore has more on why and what to expect.

And finally, as it is fall tournament season, Fletcher Sharpe updates us on Detroit City FC, the Michigan Stars, and a way to watch the matches on your TV for free.