Tag Archives: new models for non-profits

Ponyride… a home for social entrepreneurs sharing knowledge, resources and networks in Detroit’s Corktown

By Mark | March 13, 2014

Opening the summer of 2011, Ponyride, a 30,000 square-foot warehouse in the Corktown area of Detroit, presently serves as home to 25 socially-conscious businesses, ranging from non-profits like Detroit Soup, to for-profit entrepreneurial ventures like Detroit Denim. Following is my conversation with Ponyride’s Executive Director Kate Bordine on how they made it happen, the power […]

Posted in Detroit, entrepreneurism, Local Business | Also tagged 3rd Ward, branding, Brooklyn, business incubators, Cleveland, co-working, Corktown, Detroit Denim, Detroit Harmonie, Detroit Soup, Empowerment Plan, foreclosure, grants, hip hop dancing, Hugh, Indiegogo, Kate Bordine, Knight Foundation, letterpress, local non-profits, makers, metalworking, networking, non-profits, Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy, Phil Cooley, pop-up retail, Pot and Box, recording studio, Slows Bar BQ, Smith Shop, social entrepreneurship, TechShop Detroit, textiles, the lessons of Detroit, triple bottom line, Two James Distillery, volunteering, woodworking | 6 Comments

Introducing my new socially-responsible business idea… The Divine Justice Gun Shop and Family Empowerment Center

By Mark | March 5, 2012

I had a great business idea the other day, that I know is going to make me a fortune. It’s the perfect business for today’s lean, mean Michigan. It capitalizes on every trend. The idea… and I probably shouldn’t share this publicly, before the Kickstarter campaign even gets off the ground… is a chain of […]

Posted in Ideas, Mark's Life, Michigan, Uncategorized | Also tagged business, business ideas, churches, Emergency Financial Manager, empowerment, G Gordon Liddy, gun violence, guns, justifiable homicide, Mark's big ideas, new revenue models, police, satire, Stewart Beal, war profiteering | 30 Comments

Growing Hope responds to CityFARM with the announcement of a similar service

By Mark | February 28, 2012

Amanda Edmonds, the executive director of the local urban farming non-profit Growing Hope just sent in the following letter in response to my recent post about real estate developer Stewart Beal’s newly launched, somewhat competitive, largely for-profit entity, CityFARM. Many, many community members and partners have come to me this past week with concerns about […]

Posted in entrepreneurism, Food, Local Business, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Amanda Edmonds, CityFARM, Food Gatherers, food security, Ginny Golembewski, Growing Hope, Growing Hope Center, healthy food access, Lauren Maloney, Lisa Bashert, local food, local food production, local non-profits, Michigan Works, Project Grow, raised bed gardening, social enterprise, Stewart Beal, urban farming, vegetables | 17 Comments

Introducing Stewart Beal ‘s newest venture… CityFARM

By Mark | February 25, 2012

I’ve been puzzling over an email that I received from local real estate developer Stewart Beal a few days ago, announcing a new “business concept” of his, called CITYfarm. “CityFARM,” said Beal in his letter, “is a company with a social mission (kind of like a hybrid of a for profit company and a not […]

Posted in Agriculture, entrepreneurism, Food, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Adams Street, Adams Street Farm, Amanda Edmonds, CityFARM, farm jobs, farming, Food Gatherers, food security, GMO, Growing Hope, heirloom seeds, Kickstarter, Lauren Maloney, local non-profits, non-profits, organic farming, pesticide, Stewart Beal, urban farming | 89 Comments

Announcing the FLY Children’s Art Center

By Mark | September 27, 2009

My friend Ruth Marks is launching an incredibly cool children’s art program in Ypsi called FLY, and I had an opportunity this weekend to ask her a few questions about it… Here’s the interview: MARK: So, what’s FLY? RUTH: FLY Children’s Art Center is a non-profit organization that makes meaningful art making experiences accessible to […]