(WXYZ) — In tonight's 7 UpFront segment Techtown Detroit helped keep small businesses and startups from folding during the pandemic.
It has been a tough year, but the organization has become a lifeline in Detroit.
Joining us to talk about it is President and CEO of Techtown Ned Staebler.
You can see the full interview in the video player above.
"Obviously, you know it's been a horrible year medically and emotionally for the community, but our small businesses, which make up more than half of the jobs in metro Detroit and across the country, have really suffered as well. Estimates have shown that, maybe, 25 or 30 percent of small businesses nationally have closed over the last year," Staebler says. "We hopped right in in March of 2020, recognizing that the vast majority of our clients only had two weeks of cash on hand we were able, in the first days of the pandemic, to help over 700 businesses with cash grants totaling more than 1.2 million dollars to help those businesses, which collectively employed more than 2,300 people, stay in business."
