DETROIT – For entrepreneurs seeking funding to open a retail storefront in Detroit, Highland Park, or Hamtramck, the deadline is fast approaching to enter the 2022 Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest in hopes of winning $100,000 from Comerica Bank.
Interested applicants with a retail concept looking to open a brick-and-mortar location can submit their business plans via the Hatch Detroit website no later than Thursday, May 12 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Entrepreneurs can also drop off samples in person at TechTown Detroit (440 Burroughs St.) from Tuesday, May 10-Thursday May 12 during the following times each day: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m.
The contest, which is returning for the first time since 2019, aims to promote small business economic development in Detroit. It takes place over a four-month span, including two rounds of public voting – Top 10 and Top 4 – allowing the community to vote for their favorite businesses to win.
The top 10 ideas will be introduced to the community for public vote to determine four finalists. A second public vote will help decide the contest winner. Each of the four finalists will compete in a “Hatch Off” event competition on Thursday, July 21 and pitch their business idea to a panel of judges and an audience of peers. Public vote and judges’ deliberation determine the winner.
The winner of the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest will receive $100,000 to support their business plan from Comerica Bank at the annual “Hatch Off”. The winner will also receive technical assistance from Hatch Detroit, TechTown and their partners that includes accounting, legal, IT, public relations and counsel to help open a business in Detroit, Highland Park or Hamtramck.
“Our objective is to support and foster success in the businesses that enter, not just the winner of the contest,” said Vittoria Katanski, Executive Director, Hatch Detroit. “Those who submit will receive feedback after the contest that will provide them practical next steps to opening.”
Bolstering the 2022 contest is the newly formed partnership between Hatch Detroit and TechTown. Hatch Detroit’s into TechTown’s small business services program lineup provides a sustainable future for integration Hatch while creating synergies between the two organizations which both champion and support small businesses in and around Detroit.
Beyond the contest, Hatch Detroit provides funding, exposure and mentoring in support of its alumni entrepreneurs. Together, Hatch Detroit alumni have opened 49 businesses, employ over 500 people and have invested more than $7 million in their businesses. Over the years, the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest has helped launch some of Detroit’s most successful and well-known businesses, including, La Feria (2012), Sister Pie (2014), Live Cycle Delight (2015), Meta Physica Massage (2016), Baobab Fare (2017) and 27th Letter Books (2019).
Since 2012, Comerica Bank has contributed $550,000 to Hatch Detroit in startup funding to support the winners of the annual neighborhood retail competition and for the 2020 Small Business Alumni Relief Fund. Additionally, the Comerica Charitable Foundation has provided Hatch Detroit $110,000 in grant funding for direct organizational assistance.
For more information to submit business proposals to Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest, interested entrepreneurs can visit HatchDetroit.com.
