Casey Iaccino

Tuebor is an honor-pledge commitment to invest in at least one Michigan-based business per year.

We’re called Start. Not Startup. That word has been propagated by too many people to mean something that it just simply isn’t any more. Tech startup or just startup? Same same. Either way, no one goes into business because it’s easy. You have to start. Somewhere. Anywhere. So, why not here? If there is one thing you should take from this page, from this site and from our stories… it’s that unlike the national news seems to think or the tech bro BS, we have real people who make real stuff here. We may sometimes talk about fundraising, VC and Angel rounds on these pages, and that talk may focus on certain sectors more than others… but essentially we’re about things that matter to real people: Innovation. Growth. Jobs. We’re here to tell the stories about the biggest and best companies in the world that are being built RIGHT HERE. How do we know? They always have been. McDonald’s, Ford, Procter & Gamble, John Deere. These are more than flyover states. More than just fields and lakes (though we do love our fields and lakes). ‍Among the very best and brightest to ever do it have been born, raised and built here. This continues to happen. We’re going to keep talking about it. And all it takes, is to start. Contact us to find out more: https://www.start-midwest.com/contact

Just beyond the hustle and bustle of Eastern Market and downtown Detroit, a grey brick industrial building sits neatly at the corner of E. Vernor Highway and Beaufait Street. Each day, like clockwork, vans pull up and children excitedly rush in. Happy chatter and boundless energy fills the air. And – with patience, persistence, dedication, tough love, compassion and care – lives are changed within those four walls. The children who enter the doors of the Downtown Boxing Gym emerge as the best version of themselves with hope, promise, knowledge, skills, strength, determination, and the tools they need to pursue their dreams. Our FREE, out-of-school-time academic and athletic program for Detroit students is the brainchild of Khali Sweeney – a Detroit native on a mission to build a better world. Together with executive director, Jessica Hauser, and a hardworking team of coaches, tutors, staff and volunteers, the program has steadily grown since 2007 – and racked up a 100% high school graduation rate every year in the process. Our gym doesnt train heavyweight boxers, we train heavyweight scholars. DBG is a safe haven from the streets. We knock out inequality in an imperfect educational system, level the playing field, and give students a fighting chance at a winning future. We train kids for life.

Tuebor is an honor-pledge commitment to invest in at least one Michigan-based business per year.