Keona Cowan of Invest Detroit Rebuilding Communities One Neighborhood at a Time
catalyst
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FOR THOSE REDESIGNING DEVELOPING & CREATING A NEW DETROIT JUNE/JULY 2019
Doing it On
Her Own The Non-Traditional Developer,
Nya Marshall PAGE 6
Chef Omar Mitchell and His Newest Enterprise,
Table No. 2 Restaurant PAGE 8
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CONTENTS
Omar Mitchell 8 Chef and His Newest Enterprise, Table No. 2 Restaurant Cowan 4 Keona of Invest Detroit
and Her “Village” Works to Rebuild Communities One Neighborhood at a Time
6 Doing It On Her Own The Non-Traditional Developer, Nya Marshall
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Keona Cowan of Invest Detroit
and Her “Village” Works to Rebuild Communities One Neighborhood at a Time By Gina Gallovich
As a college student, Keona Cowan’s career path was clear: she would study math and become an actuary. Then came an internship at the National Bank of Detroit, and she was hooked. She changed her major to accounting and started with NBD, later Chase, specializing in real estate. Her career was on an upward trajectory and she moved over to what would become to Bank of America, specializing in commercial community development lending. The territory she was responsible for at Bank of America grew exponentially and came to cover the Central United States, including Michigan. While at Bank of America she did a number of transactions with Invest Detroit, including working on developing condominiums in downtown Detroit prior to the recession. But she was on the road a lot, working in a demanding position. With two sets of children, one set grown and/
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or in college, and the other ages 8 and 11, she decided to reprioritize. And three years ago, she joined Invest Detroit as Senior Vice President and later added the title of Chief Lending Officer. She now oversees the lending and credit teams that provide the most critical function of Invest Detroit’s work. As a “gap” lender, Keona and her team work on projects that “Improve lives in communities by providing affordable housing to low- and moderate-income people, something that was not available to them previously.” They use their expertise to take advantage of all available tax credits and federally supported programs while also strategically investing philanthropic and corporate funding. Invest Detroit is also a critical part of the Strategic Neighborhood Fund, a public-private partnership that is now extended into 10 neighborhoods. The aim of the
fund is to revitalize neighborhoods, making them livable, vibrant areas that provide all the services that residents will need, from parks to streetscapes, from stores to restaurants, to police and fire services. “I love this job because we play a pivotal role in the overall development of Detroit. We help create jobs, support underserved entrepreneurs, and provide affordable housing,” said Cowan. “And we do it as a team.” “While we concentrate on mixeduse space, one of the projects that I am most proud of is our investment in Kamper and Stevens,” said Cowan. Two buildings on Washington Boulevard were all that remained of affordable senior housing in Detroit. “We went in and completely rebuilt the space and did not displace one resident. That is something that I am most proud of.” Kamper and Stevens is affordable to low-income seniors with Section 8 vouchers. And the long-dormant
retail on the ground floor has been activated on the ground floor, including a restaurant. Bringing neighborhoods back to live, providing new housing and repopulating areas brings a sense of security and stability. “Having a positive impact on the community is a driver for me. I find it rewarding and fulfilling.” Cowan stressed that Invest Detroit has key partnerships that allow it to succeed. And in five short years Cowan sees “strong neighborhoods. A Detroit made and build for everyone.” Her position with Invest Detroit helps Cowan keep work and family life in balance. She has more time to spend with her children and her family. And her kids are happy that Mom is home more. When asked what advice she would give to other women of color coming up in her field she thought long and hard about her answer.
“What I do, what I’ve done every step of the way is respecting and appreciating the circle of life. By that I mean take every opportunity to learn; take note of others that come across your path and learn from them.” She says that having opportunities to call people she worked with in the past, to ask for advice or to brainstorm, is priceless. Cowan says she comes by her strength of will and her strength of character honestly. Her mother has been her biggest supporter throughout her life. Her mother had not finished high school when she gave birth to her, but she went on to receive her associate’s degree when Cowan was in high school and went on to receive her baccalaureate when Cowan herself was in college. There’s a saying in her family that crosses over into business: work hard to play hard, and learn how to eat better. “What it means is ‘here’s what I have to do in order to do what I’d like to do.’”
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The Non-Traditional Developer, Nya Marshall By Gina Gallovich A 19-year-old single mother looking for stability for herself and her son, Nya Marshall bought her first small house in Detroit for $34,000. Working and going to school, she was determined to find a better school district for her son. With her eye on a house that cost just a little more than her previous house, she saved up.
mixed-use space. With both office and retail space, it has become a haven for young entrepreneurs. “Everything I do has to have a community component to it,” says Marshall. “I was able to take a dilapidated building and bring it back to life, making it a usable, viable entity. That gave me a sense of pride.”
What she didn’t realize at that time that the house she was currently in appreciated by more than 30% so she had more than enough to buy that second home. And that was the start for Nya to flip houses as a means to supplement her income.
She is now working on her fourth commercial project, her own. “I totally self-funded this project. I own the building and the lot behind it.” Located at 9205 E. Jefferson Ave., this 1920’s era building is new, improved and green. Acting as the general contractor on the project she has turned this old, tired, worn-out building into a mixeduse space. The building already has a retail tenant, and later this summer, a restaurant owned and developed by Marshall, will open in the space.
With a background in the auto industry and an MBA in finance, a few years ago Nya took a hard look at what her next stage of life would look like. She bought her first apartment building, a small one consisting of 8-units, to expand her reach. And then, in 2014 she liquidated her portfolio of houses and apartment buildings and formed DIOMO Development (short for Doing it on My Own). Her first project was to take a 12,000-square foot abandoned property at Joy Rd. and Greenfield, and turn it into
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Ivy Detroit will be an American fusion restaurant, with healthier food options. “Ivy Detroit will open in a food insecure section of the city, one which has few restaurants,” said Marshall. While she’s moving into the role of restaurateur, Marshall wants to send a strong message to other Detroiters. “I want to encourage others to become developers. You can do it on your own, without the tax credits and multi-million-dollar budgets,” she said. “It won’t be easy, and younger, smaller developers need better access to capital investments and resources, but it can be done.”
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Chef Omar
Mitchell and His Newest Enterprise,
Table No. 2 A
Restaurant By Gina Gallovich
native Detroiter, Omar Mitchell went on to Golightly Vocational Technical Center where he thought to pursue a career in computers. However, once there he realized that this was not the right path for him, but unfortunately the only class that had room left was Advanced Kitchen. And there was the start of the right path, paved with gold. As a student he entered many culinary competitions and won. He says, “Golightly took me to a higher pedestal.” His wins not only brought recognitions, but also a scholarship to one of the top culinary schools in the country, Johnson & Wales University.
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The 2 for $30 specials offer a choice of three entrees including Bourbon Chicken Satay, Tokyo Shrimp or Chicken Stir Fry or Barbecue Salmon. It’s a great value that keeps with our standards.
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“The first day of class our instructor told us to show him what we had. Thanks to Golightly I constructed a dish that not only had a great flavor profile, but also had a beautiful presentation,” said Mitchell. After graduation he headed back to Detroit where he fell in love with fine dining. He worked with Michigan’s first Master Chef, Milos Cihelka of the Golden Mushroom. There he added to his knowledge of developing intricate flavor profiles and elegant presentations. But Chef Omar also learned the value of giving back. Since he started working, he has mentored more than 300 Detroit students, a statistic he is very proud of. His first restaurant that he has since sold was the Great Lakes Burger Bar. In April 2019 he opened Table No. 2, his
first white tablecloth restaurant located at 18925 Livernois, in the heart of the business district. The restaurant has room for 70 inside and 80 on the patio. For those in the know, Fashion Avenue is under construction with the end result a walkable neighborhood. However, the construction process has impacted business. “That’s why we started Construction Specials,” said Mitchell. “The 2 for $30 specials offer a choice of three entrees including Bourbon Chicken Satay, Tokyo Shrimp or Chicken Stir Fry or Barbecue Salmon. It’s a great value that keeps with our standards.” As far as what’s next, Chef Omar who works with his twin brother Shimar, hopes to open up another Great Lakes Burger Bar, but also has dreams of opening more fine dining restaurants as that’s what has hold of his heart.
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Michigan's Going PRO: State's latest effort to close talent gap By Patreice A. Massey MANAGING EDITOR It’s no secret that Michigan has a talent gap. There are currently over 100,000 open positions on the Pure Michigan Talent Connect website and it is estimated that the professional trades fields will add 15,000 new jobs each year through 2024. Many of those jobs will go unfilled. Michigan employers’ ability to find highly skilled and capable employees is more difficult than ever and is cited as a top concern in the most recent Michigan Future Business Index Report. There is a great need for individuals with professional trade experience. These highly skilled individuals are in extraordinary demand for careers in healthcare, information technology, advanced manufacturing, construction and automotive. On Monday, July 8, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and leaders in business, education and workforce development announced the Detroit kickoff of Going PRO in Michigan. This new public-private partnership is one of the nation’s most ambitious statewide education and awareness campaigns to help employers across the state fill an estimated 545,000 skilled-labor jobs opening up from now through 2026. Spearheaded by the Talent and Economic Development (Ted) Department of Michigan, the Going PRO campaign, highlights a diverse range of high-skilled trade occupations and industries – careers collectively refers to as Professional Trades. Going PRO aims to dispel the myths about Professional Trades as “dark, dirty and dangerous” and showcase numerous career options, from welders, millwrights and electrical line workers to medical sonographers, dental hygienists, anesthesia technologists, surgical technologists, web developers and industrial mechanics. “If we want to make our state a home for opportunity for working people and businesses, we have to get serious
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Martha Grier, Wayne County Community College District Assistant to the Chancellor for Board and Public Relations and Mayor Mike Duggan about closing the skills gap,” Whitmer said. “We know that the vast majority of careers in Michigan require some type of education beyond high school, but only 45 percent of Michiganders have this additional education. I set the state’s first goal to increase the number of people with a postsecondary degree or certificate to 60 percent by 2030 because everyone deserves a pathway to a high-paying job, and the Going PRO campaign will help us achieve this goal.” Professional trades provide the opportunity to leverage ones talents, work ethic and know-how to do things that matter. Closing the skills gap would mean more people bringing home the kind of paycheck that will make a difference in their lives and the community. “Going PRO is the right step toward making sure that Detroit – the city that put the world on wheels – is a place for opportunity where working people and businesses can thrive,” Duggan said. “By building a strong, skilled
workforce, together we can improve the quality of life for every one of us, get people on the right track toward good-paying careers and establish Southeast Michigan communities as a great place to live, work and play.” Michigan needs to put in work to address the state’s long- and short-term talent needs. Approximately half of Michigan’s high school students, young adults and parents lack knowledge about the value and benefits that apprenticeships offer in Professional Trades, with only 13 percent of high school students considering apprenticeships a good career path option. Taylor Barnowsky, a graduate of Lake City High School will have a clear advantage post high school. He will be able to walk into a college program with previous knowledge thus helping his chances of getting into the career he loves. “When I can successfully repair one of these giant machines I am actually very excited because I know
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someone else can do their job and make their money all because I could do my job correctly and earn my share of money.” Leaders from organized labor who attended the event also endorsed the Going PRO campaign, including SEIU Healthcare Michigan, IBEW Local 58, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters and Millwrights and Operating Engineers Local 324. “We applaud Gov. Whitmer and Ted for partnering with labor to encourage men and women who want good-paying jobs, with benefits and a pension, to take advantage of Professional Trades learning opportunities and apprenticeship programs that train the vast majority of skilled workers in the state,” Acevedo said. Everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue a fulfilling career – whether it’s through a certificate in the Professional Trades, technical apprenticeship, community college or a four-year degree, said Furquan Ahmed, senior
vice chancellor at Wayne County Community College District. Many of these skilled trade careers often require less schooling and less debt than a traditional four-year degree. “At WCCCD we have more than 110 career programs designed specifically to meet the demands of today’s rapidly changing job market,” Ahmed said. The Going PRO campaign directs students, their parents and influencers to Going-PRO.com, where they can find career pathways, salary information and job growth projections for careers, along with training and education opportunities, said Beckhorn, who introduced seven Wayne County Community College District students as examples of Professional Trades success stories. “There is incredible demand for ed-
ucating and training skilled workers throughout our state, especially in the metro Detroit region,” said Ted Acting Director Stephanie Beckhorn. “Together with our partners in the public and private sectors, we have a big job to do in helping employers fill this enormous talent pipeline in Professional Trades, mostly in the fields of construction, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, automotive and information technology.” The Detroit chamber is among eight regional chambers of commerce – along with Lansing, Traverse City, Flint, Saginaw County, Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, Southwest Michigan and Grand Rapids – that have announced their support for Going PRO and bringing more Professional Trades talent into the state’s workforce. “Without sufficient workers with the skills employers need, businesses and regions like Detroit can’t stay com-
petitive or drive growth,” Baruah said. “Going PRO will help shape the vision of Michigan as a national leader for its multifaceted, diverse and highly skilled workforce.” Emerging technologies and retiring baby boomers have also led to a steady decline in the number of people with the skills needed to fill these viable careers. Ted-commissioned research shows: • Interest in Professional Trades varies by region, with only 8 percent in Southeast Michigan saying they’ll pursue a training certificate. • Only 4 in 10 students and young adults in Southeast Michigan say they’ve had meaningful conversations with their parents about Professional Trades, the lowest in the state. To learn more about Professional Trades careers, visit the Going PRO website.
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