About the Project
Each year, Ross School of Business students learn executive presence, poise, client management skills, asset-based interviewing, and teamwork while employed as Accounting Consultants for the Ross School’s Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project (DNEP). In 2025, students created a nine-hour financial capability training called CFO Boot Camp that empowered 103 local businesses to gain command of their numbers, then held 253 follow-up appointments with individual business owners to help entrepreneurs implement what they learned.
Year-round, student Accounting Consultants meet with entrepreneurs in Detroit neighborhood hubs to assist them in creating financial projections, developing pricing models, and creating financial statements—at no cost to the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs can make one appointment or 40; DNEP supports entrepreneurs until they are able to hire staff. DNEP helps narrow an opportunity gap while providing students with transformational, practical experience.
Students are mentored by Executives-in-Residence Paul Steih and Michelle Randall. $5000 covers one month of time and travel for students to meet with businesses, including staff supervision time.
Mission Statement
Entrepreneurship is on the rise, but Detroit local businesses need access to talent and affordable professional services to scale into neighborhood anchors–while U-M students need practical, real-world experience to create meaningful careers. Through DNEP, faculty- and staff-supervised U-M students work as professional service providers for 300 businesses/year, providing free business strategy, accounting, technology, legal, and design advice and implementation support.
Since 2016, DNEP has provided 1714 businesses with individual, multidisciplinary, long-term support that has helped businesses attract funding, launch new products, open retail locations, and grow. Together, we’re revitalizing the Detroit economy through an inclusive model for community-university partnerships.
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