ProsperUs Detroit

Our mission is to empower entrepreneurs and our community partners to transform low-income neighborhood economies from within.

As a medic in the Gulf War, Ken Morgan provided aid to wounded and dying soldiers. He served in the military for eight years starting in 1990, and he saw how fragile life can be. When he returned to civilian life, he knew he wanted to create something sturdy with his hands.

“I’d seen so much death and suffering that I decided to resume a trade that’s been in our family for generations,” said Ken, 50. “Construction.”

After working for construction firms in Virginia for 15 years after leaving the military, Ken decided to come home to Detroit, where he grew up as child. He had been away from the city for 30 years, but felt a calling to help transform it. Ken started his own construction business in Detroit called Dream Builders. Part of its mission is to teach young people construction skills. He has hired youth from his east-side neighborhood and from Mack Avenue Community Church, where Ken is a member, to help renovate houses.

“Our youth need a chance to learn skills that will allow them to become self-sustaining as adults,” Ken said. “While I teach them about the trades, I also talk to them about financial responsibility.”

To help realize his dream for Dream Builders, Ken completed Southwest Solutions’ ProsperUS Detroit program two years ago. ProsperUS provides small business training and support services to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those from minority communities.

“I wanted to learn about writing a good business plan and how to market my business better,” Ken said. “ProsperUS was very beneficial and I’m still using the business plan and the information I learned in the program to help me grow my business so I can support my family and provide opportunities for others.”

The building on the corner of Linwood and Buena Vista had been abandoned for many years. Outside, the concrete walls were covered in graffiti. “Till I Die…” was spray-painted on the front door. Inside was filled with debris and discarded tires. It was once the Hobby Bar and Lounge, which opened in 1952 and, over the years, featured performances by outstanding and underappreciated Detroit musicians, like Terry Pollard and Jack Montgomery. Sonja McCoy and her partner Raymond Joiner imagined a new arrangement for the old bar.

Sonja and Raymond created a glass block installation company last January called Glass Block Glass Block Express (GBX). Raymond had considerable experience in installing glass blocks. Sonja would run the business side of GBX. Since they both had full-time jobs, they started with modest operations, with the goal of strategically growing the company through planning, diligence, and investment. Even though she has an MBA, Sonja decided that she needed more training to make the small business successful. She knew others who had taken the ProsperUS Detroit entrepreneurial program and who recommended it. So Sonja enrolled and completed the program last summer.

“ProsperUS was invaluable,” Sonja said. “The class walked me through, step by step, how to write a good business plan. I researched other glass block businesses to learn about competitive pricing and how we could set our business apart. That’s when we came up with the idea of a 7-day guarantee to finish the work. I also figured out how much capital we would need to develop our company, and learned how we could approach lenders and others who could help us.”

GBX sales have tripled for the first part of this year over last year’s numbers. To increase their inventory to keep up with sales growth, GBX secured a $20,000 loan from ProsperUS. ProsperUS is also providing “comprehensive technical assistance” to GBX to help with marketing, logo design, web design, and more. “We’re only in year two of our business, and we’ve already come a long way,” Sonja said. “Our goal is to grow about 20% a year, and we’re optimistic that GBX will do well and become a fixture in the community.”