Candidates made promises to boost small businesses in Detroit a day after the city approved changes to cut red tape in obtaining a business license.

Seeking to burnish their credentials and secure the support of Detroit’s business community, six candidates vying to become the city’s next mayor detailed their plans to address small and minority business concerns, if elected, during an online forum Wednesday evening.

Candidates were hit with myriad questions about ways to create a viable pipeline for small businesses to grow and engage, with long-term opportunities and contracts in the city; whether candidates actually own a small business or what they would build if given the opportunity; the possibility of reponing discussions about a controversial cashless ban on businesses, and how they expect to build capital and leverage federal partners.

The forum took place one day after the Detroit City Council approved regulatory changes to ease the burdens of obtaining a business license in the city. The Detroit chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists hosted the forum, along with Charity Dean, president and chief executive officer of the Michigan Black Business Alliance, and Michigan Chronicle reporter and Detroit One Million founder Sam Robinson, who served as hosts.

Participants included former City Council President Saunteel Jenkins, Councilman Fred Durhal III, businessman Jonathan Barlow, Joel Haashiim, attorney Todd Perkins and current City Council President Mary Sheffield. Other candidates running for mayor include Triumph Church Pastor Solomon Kinloch, former Detroit Police Chief James Craig and DaNetta Simpson, who previously confirmed her participation but did not appear at the forum. All candidates were invited to participate.

Here’s what they had to say:

Building a pipeline for small businesses

Candidates proposed varying ideas on ways to uplift small businesses.

Barlow said he aims to bring in capital to boost small business innovation. He said he will start a $500 million fund with his partners across the city to grow businesses, funded publicly and privately, to provide low-interest loans and grants.

Durhal raised a procurement ordinance, which the city council passed, to enable small businesses to compete for city contracts.

“We streamlined that process, making it easier so bigger businesses are not competing for smaller contracts and we created a leveled playing field,” Durhal said.

Durhal said he also aims to further transparency by establishing a collaborative effort with the Metro Detroit Business Alliance or small business owners to ensure their needs are met and heard. He also promises to invest more in small businesses by putting more money into the city’s Motor City Match program. But, he said, the program alone is not enough, adding there is a greater need to increase capital for business support “on the back end” to ensure businesses continue running.

Haashiim said he expects to take advantage of ensuring small businesses have opportunities to take on large city contracts, along with providing businesses a safeguard program to keep them operating for several years.

Jenkins said she expects to create a joint venture program for small businesses to participate in larger city contracts by partnering with larger firms — for example, those bidding on $100 million contracts — to build the capacity they may not otherwise have “so that the next time the contract comes up, they do have bonding capacity; they do have the ability to get their own insurance, and they have the experience on these large projects that often keeps them from participating.”

Jenkins also said she plans to re-up funding for Motor City Match and create a more permanent funding solution of rotating capital for businesses struggling to access funding through banks.

Perkins said he has a “Detroit first mentality” and aims to provide mentoring and financial advice, “so when money is deployed into those businesses, then they understand how it’s best going to be used for the purposes of managing those affairs.”

Sheffield said she promises to create a “Targeted Business Support Office” to address various needs, along with ensuring Detroit-based and small businesses have more contracting opportunities. She also promises to prioritize commercial corridors and spaces across neighborhoods for Detroit-based and minority-owned businesses, and boost entrepreneurship.

“We’re also going to address one of the greatest needs of entrepreneurship, which is access to capital, by creating a business investment fund, partnering with banks and the philanthropic sector to ensure that we are filling gaps that oftentimes our business owners need,” Sheffield said.

Candidates also addressed providing opportunities for local businesses to be commercial tenants in larger developments. Durhal, Jenkins, Sheffield and Perkins said they supported some form of an agreement between developers and the city to include Detroit-based businesses. Haashiim prefers a community benefits agreement that would be enforceable in court should developers turn around from their commitment.

Reopening the cashless ban discussion

The City Council, in 2023, unanimously passed a resolution banning businesses from running cashless operations in an effort to allow Detroiters without banking access to purchase goods, with some exceptions. However, businesses will face penalties if they do not comply.

Several candidates said they would consider bringing discussions back to the table after Dean asked whether they would decriminalize or remove the Detroit Police Department as the enforcing agency.

Jenkins kicked off supporting discussions to meet the needs of businesses in a way that does not leave anyone behind.

“We need to work with our businesses to find answers and find ways for digital inclusion and utilizing innovation so no Detroiter is left out,” Jenkins said. “I would not be looking to exclude any particular kind of business because if the concern is that all Detroiters deserve to have access, then that concern, from my perspective, should be true across the board.

Sheffield, who supported the cashless ban resolution, said she is open to amending it.

“I never supported the criminalization of the ordinance, whatsoever. I think it’s important that it’s fair. But I also think, as a mayor, it’s important that we figure out ways to get more of our residents banked, which I think we have to address as well. We have tons of residents who don’t have bank accounts that need basic financial literacy, and we have a huge demographic of Detroiters that don’t have access to debit cards,” Sheffield said.

Durhal, who also supported the resolution, recalls working with those opposed to the ordinance to ensure it would be amended. He said he would be open to bringing it back to the table — especially since, at the time, council members were criticized for not supporting those living in poverty, he said.

“But that is not the case. When we look at a lot of our small businesses who have started up, particularly in our minority communities across the city, they need to have the opportunity to have flexible options of how they receive their pay and how they generate revenue,” Durhal said. “I think that is important to ensure that we’re providing fairness, but we want to make sure that our businesses stay open. And if they are providing services and they receive pay digitally, they should be able to operate that way so that they can stay open.”

Businesses that want cashless operations should have mechanisms in place for those with cash to use, similar to a reverse ATM, Perkins said.

Haashiim said he would be against it, adding that businesses have the right to make decisions on how they handle operations. He said he also is against criminalizing those businesses that don’t comply. He said he also supports a reverse ATM-type operation to ease any burdens.

Leveraging funds via Washington

Detroit received a record amount of federal funding — $826 million through the American Rescue Plan Act under former President Joe Biden — and the next mayor will be tasked with drawing in federal money to fund various initiatives, including small business support, likely without the same level of help from the current administration of President Donald Trump.

Barlow said he does not expect to count on federal partners and prefers “self-sustainability and innovation.”

“We cannot continue to have a fragmented ecosystem,” Barlow said, adding that his goal is to spur technology and innovation hubs.

Sheffield said she plans to continue leveraging as much support as possible through the city’s budget, state and federal governments, along with creating a business investment fund. She also said she expects her administration, if elected, to strengthen relationships with banks to ensure they contribute loans and capital needs to Detroit’s small businesses.

“I think it’s important that we create a dedicated line of funding that will support small business funds here in the city of Detroit and that will be in partnership with the philanthropic and private sector,” Sheffield said.

But the city cannot completely rely on its general fund, Durhal said. He supported $500,00 in supplemental business support for Motor City Match awardees in the latest budget adoption, but said he wants to accelerate businesses by helping prepare owners to invest and prevent them from feeling the burden of taxes.

As a former nonprofit executive who has worked on “both sides of the aisle” to provide and maintain utility assistance funding, Jenkins said she expects to do the same as mayor.

“I’ve been in and out of the offices of Democrats and Republicans, not only right here in metro Detroit, but across the entire state of Michigan, and worked with legislators across the country to ensure funding for vulnerable families. I would do the same thing to ensure that we continue to get funding here,” Jenkins said.

Some of their favorite local spots

Robinson asked candidates to share some small businesses they frequent.

Barlow: Three Thirteen Store, A1 Smash Burgers food truck.

Durhal: In Harmony Cafe, Brew-ti-ful Coffee House, SAVOY Restaurant

Haashiim: Detroit People’s Food Co-op, Caribbean Citchen.

Jenkins: Shell Shock’d Tacos, Brew-ti-ful Coffee House, Westwood Fresh Market.

Perkins: Café Noir and various fashion stores.

Sheffield: The Kitchen by Cooking with Que, Bert’s Marketplace, Cutters, Detroit vs. Everybody, Good Cakes and Bakes.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.