The Collaborative Group Blog

With an unyielding focus on nutrition, food preparation, and food relationships, Evelyn Stokes has found motivation to start her first entrepreneurial endeavor: I Eat Super! Evelyn has done her homework.  She has an advisory board comprised of entrepreneurs, lawyers, and nutritional consultants that has provided insights on what it takes to start a successful company.  She also has a well-thought out financial and marketing analysis.

Based on her findings, Evelyn believes that a corporate approach to nutritional well being is essential.  Therefore, her goal this year is to help large corporations reduce health costs by providing nutritional training for employees.  Working with a team of Collaborative members including Jim and Nicole Worth of Formcode Design Studio and Matt Mosher of hiredMYway.com, Evelyn speaks at forums, educates community groups and companies, and is currently developing a cooking show.

Another new business emerging out of the Collaborative Group is hiredMYway.  Just six-months ago, Matt Mosher recognized a problem with the current job board model and, with his partners, set out to find a solution.  Under the current system, companies spend bookoo bucks for job posts that yield resumes from thousands of job seekers (most that are unqualified).  hiredMYway shifts the paradigm and encourages job seekers to invest a small amount up front to apply for jobs, automatically reducing the applicant pool down to only more serious candidates.  Job seekers have a better chance of getting noticed by hiring employers, and hiring managers save time and resources because they no longer have to sift through thousands of resumes to find the right candidate.

Matt is driven by ideas, but understands the importance of having experts on your team.  He has worked with Collaborative members such as Jim and Nicole Worth of Formcode Design Studio, Katie Dirksen of Pulse 220, David Goldenberg and Lindsay Mosher of Resolute Consulting, Kerry Doman of After 5 Detroit, Evelyn Stokes of I Eat Super!, and Andy Meyer of Meyer Strategies.  Together with his business partners Erinn O’Connor and Doyle Mosher, Matt’s goal for hiredMyway.com is to put Michigan back to work.

Congratulations to Board Member Dr. Betty Chu on her recognition in Crain’s 40 under 40!  Also this year, Betty was recognized as one of HOUR’s Top Docs 2010 and she was the recipient of a Service Excellence award by the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce.  Having practiced obstetrics and gynecology for many years, Betty was recently elected as President of the Medical Staff for Beaumont Hospitals, Troy.

Betty’s career in medicine began early when she was accepted to the University of Michigan (U of M) Accelerated Premed-Medical program (Inteflex) right out of high school.  During her residency at Beaumont, she spent time teaching medical students as well as beginning her leadership involvement in organized medicine. It was during this time that Betty began to realize that caring for patients also meant advocating for improved quality and access to health care.

Betty’s desire to create meaningful experiences has traversed into her current role as doctor, president of the medical staff, educator, volunteer, community change leader, and mom.  An activist and optimist, Betty believes in the future of Michigan, but feels that we all must commit to its growth and development.  She admits that, selfishly, one of her long-term goals is to make the greater Detroit area a more desirable place to work and live so that her children will make Michigan their lifelong home.  For more about Betty, visit her website.

Film student turned fashion model turned janitor turned…  Detroit spokesperson, co-chair to Mayor Bing’s revitalization efforts, young leader, and overall change maker?  Yep, that’s right.  Phillip Cooley decided early on that he didn’t want to join the audience; he wanted to be on the stage.  He describes Detroit as the only truly democratic city he has lived in (and he’s lived an international lifestyle), and a place where making a difference is possible.

The first step in his journey through Detroit began five-years ago.  With a $40,000 loan in place, Phillip and his partners were determined to open a restaurant in Corktown.  Although his initial instinct was to establish a fine dining restaurant, he founded the authentically hip Slows Bar BQ.  In 2009, sales totaled $4 million.  Everyone loves Slows.

But, Phillip does more than run a successful restaurant.  He believes that the more we give, the more we get, and he gives, and gives, and gives.  Despite the difficult times facing Detroit, Phillip recognizes that what we do under pressure defines us.  And, that community support is essential.  Detroit has received unprecedented amounts of positive media coverage from Phillip’s volunteer work.  From helping a fellow restaurateur design and build a new Corktown eatery, to planting an urban garden just beyond the walls of the train station, Phillip’s work has been acclaimed on local and national levels.

Recognizing that community partnerships are key, Phillip co-founded:

• ClandesDine, which invites diners to a complete five-course meal hosted in an abandoned building in Detroit;
• Detroit’s first skate park in Roosevelt Park;
• www.DigInDetroit.com, a site which seeks to connect volunteers with opportunities to cultivate social interaction and improve the physical environment;
• www.RainbowBlight.com, which celebrates Slows five-year anniversary with a corn hole tournament, delicious eats, and donations that benefit the Imagination Station; and
• So much more!

Want to support Phillip’s efforts in Detroit?  Join us at Rainbow Blight on Sunday, October 3.
There will also be insider’s tour of Detroit with artist, Scott Hocking, which will be followed by lunch at Slow’s Bar BQ on Tuesday, November 9.

Challenge Detroit, an initiative of The Collaborative Group, is a program targeted at attracting and retaining young talent to Detroit in an effort to develop and rejuvenate the city’s core and continue to grow an attractive, urban center that will strengthen the surrounding region.

The program will begin with a competition that will identify 30-individuals who will be offered a job and housing, among other benefits, in the greater Detroit area.  The individuals will be between the ages of 21 and 34 and will hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree.  Challenge Detroit will seek candidates and companies from every area of expertise – artists, lawyers, doctors, engineers – to participate in forward-thinking jobs that exemplify the diversity of our region.

Candidates will have a multi-faceted experience of life in the greater Detroit community where they will have opportunities to live, work, and socialize.  At the heart of Challenge Detroit are the monthly team challenges which bring candidates together to address issues we are currently facing such as transportation, homelessness, conservation, etc.  Candidates will provide theoretical solutions that will spur new thinking on how we address these challenges.  Candidates and companies will be featured in an online campaign aimed at promoting the region and the good things happening here.

To date, a total of 26-companies have committed to providing a job to participants!  The caliber of these companies is outstanding:

1. Compuware
2. Brooks Kushman
3. Michigan Waterproofing
4. Private Bank
5. The United Way of Southeast Michigan
6. Marketplace Homes
7. Marketing Associates
8. Quicken Loans
9. Health Plan of Michigan
10. H2Bid.com
11. Hired My Way
12. Spire Integrated Systems
13. DSM Engineering Plastics
14. Man’s Lumber
15. DTE Energy
16. Valassis
17. Team Detroit / Ford
18. ePrize
19. Mosher Dolan
20. Macro Connect
21. Kosch Catering
22. Payroll 1
23. Cornerstone Schools
24. Strategic Staffing Solutions
25. billhighway
26. Effortless 24/7
27. Beaumont Hospitals

Challenge Detroit is moving forward rapidly.  We are currently in the process of developing a funding strategy for the year-long program.  For continued updates and to join the Challenge, email Deirdre Greene Groves at dgreene@collaborativegroup.org.

UPDATE February 1, 2011: Challenge Detroit’s beta website it up!  Check it out at www.challengedetroit.org.