June 15, 2011

Saving Detroit, One Bagel at a Time

Dan Newman (left) and his brother Ben in their home kitchen. Courtesy of Ben and Dan Newman

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Detroit residents (and brothers) Ben and Dan Newman are working to improve the city’s economic future—and their own. Their recession-busting kryptonite? Bagels.

The Newman pair launched the Detroit Institute of Bagels out of their home kitchen this year after completing an M.A. in Urban Planning and a B.A. in Business. Now, the DIB brothers want to expand. So, last week DIB launched an online “Save the Bagels” campaign to raise some of the $25 thousand in seed money they need to make their bagel store a reality. “I’ve always wanted to help others start food businesses in Detroit,” Ben says. “I thought that the best way to do that is to start my own, to go through the process.” 

DIB is just the most recent enterprise in a line of Detroit-based projects. Local entrepreneurship has grown so popular that Open City Detroit—a forum for aspiring and current business owners in the city—runs courses like “Designing a Uniquely Detroit Business Image,” or “Legal Fun, with a Detroit Twist.” Four non-bagel ventures:

And those are just a drop in the urban bucket.

The Newman brothers hope that DIB will further Detroit’s evolving entrepreneurial tradition. Intrigued? Check out their video below to learn more.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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