Michigan Central to open 17,000-square-foot workspace supporting businesses
As Black History Month comes to an end, an initiative aimed at helping Black entrepreneurs is expanding its partnership with an iconic Detroit landmark.
Three years ago, Johnnie Turnage and his wife, Alexa, had an idea to create a network for underrepresented communities in tech. Now the collective is ready for the next stage of its evolution at Michigan Central Station.
"We have grown from, really, five people huddling for warmth and coffee shops and conference rooms to today, we've had just over 30,000 people come out to our meetups, networking," Turnage said.
"I think something that Michigan Central offers right now to founders who are building at this stage, credibility when you're building in tech as fast as things are building, having Michigan Central as a backdrop, a partner gives you credibility to deploy pilots, gives you credibility for your partnerships."
Michigan Central Station recently announced plans to open a 17,000 square foot innovation lab called the "Mezz." The space will be located on the second floor of Michigan Central. It will offer members access to private conference rooms, open meeting areas, a kitchen, and a wellness center.
"It's really fun, because when Ford first bought the building in 2018, I think this is what we always hoped, is there'd be so much growth that we need to build out more spaces. So that time has finally come," said Clare Braun, director of Strategy & Innovation at Michigan Central.
"It really has the different variety of spaces that someone would need to go from working on a really hard problem to collaborating to relaxing."
The Black Tech Saturdays cohort will be among the first to call the space home.
"It's like 20 founders, kind of artists, creators and builders across various stages, and give them six months of intentional effectiveness, where we're checking on them, bringing them off to the workshops, and we're measuring how they grow, with the goal of finding the next leaders," Turnage said.
Construction of the Mezz is currently underway. The innovation lab is expected to open sometime in April.
"Michigan Central has always been our partner in equity and making sure we bring people into the building, but this space let builders kind of connect across industry, across stage, and have, like an open environment to work as well as like to have it here. I'm really big on the higher the ceiling, the bigger your thoughts, and the ceilings are really high here," Turnage said.
Anyone interested must be a member of Michigan Central Station to use the innovation lab. For more information and to apply, visit Michigan Central's website.
