DC3 Seeks Design-Based Businesses to Apply for Creative Ventures Residency Program

Detroit Creative Corridor Center (DC3) seeks competitive, design-based businesses to apply for its intensive, six-month Creative Ventures Residency Program. Applications will be accepted April 7-20, with accepted businesses announced in June 2014.

Ideal candidates are early stage, post revenue, high potential service providers, studios or agencies that operate in one of the following creative industries:

• Advertising
• Literary (publishing, print)
• Design (industrial, graphic, interior, interactive design)
• Film (audiovisual, broadcasting)
• Architecture

"Now in its fourth year, DC3's Creative Ventures Residency Program has included more than 41 ventures, many of whom continue to deliver measurable results in Detroit's Creative Corridor," says Matthew Clayson, DC3's Director. "Demand for services provided by our ventures continue to grow, and, as such, we've decided to condense the one-year program into six months, and offer it twice a year."

DC3's Creative Ventures Residency Program offers an opportunity for accepted businesses to co-locate in its facility at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education, College for Creative Studies, for six months. Once there, businesses will join a community of talented and dynamic professionals, where idea sharing, peer reviews, and collaboration are a part of everyday culture. Accepted businesses will receive access to mentors, subject-matter experts, and a DC3 entrepreneur-in-residence who will help guide them through monthly milestones, with the aim to help increase revenues and client base.

DC3 will assist with promotional support with opportunities to be showcased within its social platforms and programming, including monthly networking mixers; such as Drinks x Design and Creative Mornings/Detroit, as well as the weeklong Detroit Design Festival.

Creative Ventures Residency Program member Jesse Green of Mammoth Reach, a web design studio, says, "We were thrilled to be selected for the program. We've learned things about our business that would have taken us years to realize on our own. DC3 has paired us with resources and mentors that have been invaluable, taking our dream to the next level."

Since it began in 2011, the Creative Ventures Residency Program is responsible for supporting 41 early-stage creative services firms that have created 89 new jobs, have reported $2.1 million in revenue and have absorbed more than 17,000 square foot of studio space in Detroit. The businesses selected for the Creative Ventures Residency Program will be chosen based on potential to capture large markets, product, commitment to growth, market availability and relevance to Detroit, among other factors.

Applications for the summer Creative Ventures Residency Program will be accepted Monday, April 7 through 12:00 a.m. (EST) Sunday, April 20. Accepted ventures will be announced in early June. The duration of the summer cohort of the Creative Ventures Residency Program extends from July to December 2014.

For more information and to apply, visit: www.dc3.fluidreview.com. DC3 will host information sessions throughout the application process. For dates and times, visit: www.dc3.fluidreview.com. E-mail mkerekes@detroitc3.com with specific questions about the program. For more information on DC3, visit: www.detroitcreativecorridorcenter.com.

ABOUT DC3 The Detroit Creative Corridor Center's purpose is to advance the creative industries in Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Through programs such as the Creative Ventures Residency Program, the organization focuses on growing Detroit based creative businesses in Detroit's Creative Corridor. The annual Detroit Design Festival and monthly events Drinks x Design and CreativeMornings/Detroit celebrate Detroit's design community. DC3-led advocacy initiatives promote Southeast Michigan's creative community to local, state, and international audiences. The DC3's work is deeply integrated within the programming of DC3's parent organizations: the College for Creative Studies and Business Leaders for Michigan.

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