ComCap19 is happening this week in Detroit!

There’s a national conference happening in Detroit this week that will shine a brightlight on Michigan’s highly successful crowding movement.

About 300 investors, community leaders, entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders from across the country will descend on Detroit this week for the annual conference of the National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3). Follow the event on social media using the hashtag #ComCap19.

The conference is taking place June 11-13 at the College for Creative Studies and the HopCat in Midtown Detroit and it will explore how community capital has been an instrumental part of the Motor City’s positive economic development. ComCap moves to a different state each year so it’s an honor to have it in Michigan this year. Last year it took place in Vermont, said Melissa Milton-Pung, program manager for the Michigan Municipal League, which is one of the main sponsors of this year’s conference.

A ComCap education session taking place today in Detroit.

“People may be surprised to hear this conference is coming to Michigan. But it’s no surprise to those of us in the community capital field because Michigan is a proven leader in the nation in the crowdfunding movement,” Milton-Pung said. “This conference is our chance to show the amazing crowdfunding work happening in our state to the rest of the world.”

In fact, an in-depth report on crowdfunding in Michigan will be unveiled during the conference at a general session on Thursday. We will be sharing a press release, with links to the report, tomorrow (June 13, 2019). The general session, titled “The Evolution of Community Capital in Michigan,” features speakers Milton-Pung; Chris Miller, lead economic and downtown developer for the City of Adrian; Katharine Czarnecki, senior vice president of community development for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; and Angela Barbash, principal of Revalue, a registered investment advisory firm.

The cover of the new crowdfunding report being released June 13 at the ComCap conference.

This interactive conference will include two full days of sessions, keynotes, panels, and working groups centered on contemporary community capital how-to’s. Topics include local investing, crowdfunding, equitable economic development strategies, community ownership structures, loan and investment funds, and how local and state governments can support the creation of community capital. The conference can be followed on social media using the hashtags #COMCAP19 and #communitycapital.

Conference sponsors are the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan; the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; the Michigan Municipal League; Port Covington Impact Investments; Council of Michigan Foundations; Center for Community-Based Enterprise; Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss; Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan; Small Business Association of Michigan; Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation; and Gingras Global; The Local Frequency. Community partners are Revalue; LocalFirst; TechTown Detroit; New Solutions for Nonprofits; City of Adrian, MI; Build Institute; Hatch Detroit; Wayne State University; Propeller; The Hire Effect; Grubstake; Workforce Intelligence Network; Eastern Market; Community Development Advocates of Detroit; Lean & Green Michigan; Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; and Commonplace. Media partners are Crowdfund Insider; Locavesting; Conscious Company Media; Model D; Concentrate; Metromode; and Detour Detroit. And national partners are Hatch Innovation; Balle; Our Crowd Rocks; Investibule; Fair Food Network; Initiative for Local Capital; and Cutting Edge Capital.