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Business Owners Begin Program For Detroit's 'Creative Corridor'

DETROIT (WWJ) - A handful of Detroit businesses have been chosen to begin planting the seeds for a new crop of creative business that will help re-shape Detroit's economy. It's part of an effort to cultivate a "creative corridor," a cluster of downtown businesses focusing on industries such as design, film, digital media and apparel.

Seventeen business owners will be introduced Tuesday as the first participants in the city's new "Creative Ventures Acceleration" program.

Patrick Thompson's design business is among the participants being introduced during the grand opening of a center where all the ideas will be generated.

"My firm in the past two years has grown quite a bit with the amount of work that I've gotten, so I do hope to have a  bricks and mortar office in the City of Detroit in the next three to five years," Thompson said.

Business owners in the program will participate in a 12-month curriculum developed in partnership with the TechTown business incubator at Wayne State University.

"To project where we want our businesses to grow, help grow creative businesses in the city and keep talent in the city and then eventually create more bricks and mortar creative businesses in the City of Detroit," Thompson said.

The initiative is aimed at cultivating businesses in film, production and architectural design to help fill a gap left by the downturn in manufacturing.

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