Entrepreneurs and capitalism have built America. With an earth shattering idea and dedication, a person can become a millionaire. It does not matter where they live and where they were born.  John Vincent states “Ideas are the factors that   lift civilizations. They  create  …REVOLUTIONS. There is  more ...  dynamite ... in ideas.” If we want to change Detroit into a vibrant city that attracts young people and families, we must encourage entrepreneurial activities  amongst everyone. Let’s face it! Detroit has entrepreneurs albeit underworld entrepreneurs. If we could encourage some of these individuals to utilize their skills of underground hustling, to hustle in a legal manner, Detroit could be a vibrant city in a relative short time.

Ida Byrd-Hill, President of Uplift, Inc., a 501(c) 3 non-profit Idea Incubator and Technology Revolution Enterprise,  like Dan Gilbert of Quicken Financial believes PhDs-- Poor Hungry and Driven has created more companies and success stories around the world.  She created Hustle & TECHknow Preparatory High School on that premise.

Hustle & TECHknow Preparatory High School an alternative school  once located at the Compuware headquarters was  a cyber school. A cyber school is where students attend all of their classes online via the worldwide web. “Technology is perfect for young people as they have a natural proclivity  of success there with video games on computers, home game consoles, mobile game consoles and now mobile phones,” states Ida Byrd-Hill.

Her students, former high school dropouts and street hustlers, achieved world-renowned success when they qualified as quarter finalists in the National Vocabulary Championship in 2007. Ten thousand  students participated in the qualifying test and only 79 qualified were selected as quarter finalists. Hustle & TECHknow Preparatory High School sent three students as quarter finalists. She prepared them with reading instruction performed online daily.  “ I hoped by exposing students to their own intellectual capabilities and  success in the mainstream  they would be encouraged to create small businesses within their own community. Young people even Detroiters, are chockfull of ideas and dreams. Often they get crushed by the weight of life’s burdens ”, states Ida Byrd-Hill.

While Hustle & TECHknow Preparatory High School closed, caught in the middle of a political dispute with Detroit Public Schools,  she hopes, like Dan Gilbert, to spread the message of hope through entrepreneurial activities in a campaign anchored by the distribution of her new book, Breakin' Out of Your Financial Funk!

 “If Detroiter wants vibrancy we must look within ourselves for business ideas to solve the problems we face rather than looking to outside  people. While our communities may look like urban wastelands to outsiders, they are opportunities to generate a lot of cash as the demand for retail, restaurants and service businesses are at an all time high,” states Ida Byrd-Hill. For example,  every year 100,000 Detroit parents purchase school uniforms and supplies. If we created retail stores to cater to our needs,  we could employ thousands of people as the average parents spends 250 per child, which adds up to 250 million dollars alone.

Join her for the Breakin' Out of Your Financial Funk! book signing and champagne toast at the Java Exchange September 18, 2008, 6 pm to 8pm. Java Exchange is located in Techtown.  Believe in her entrepreneurial campaign, test drive  the new donation portal at www.upliftinc.org .

2007 Uplift, Inc. All Rights Reserved.