From
Model D:
Jay Rayford believes in Detroit. So much so that he is always on the lookout for positive stories about it. That hobby turned into a start-up based out of his Warrendale home, Rep Your City.
The small business is an aggregator for positive news stories about the Motor City. "There was no one place I could go online to find everything positive that is going on in the city," says Rayford, CEO & founder of
Rep Your City. "I wanted to bring all of that positive energy together."
Rayford quarterbacks a team of five people that make the website go. Rayford recently completed the BUILD program at the
D:hive in downtown Detroit. The program teaches its participants the basics about running a business or heading up a project.
Rep Your City has also recently branched out to helping support local business. The start-up has created a City Loyalty Program that uses key tags as a punch card to reward people who patronize local businesses.
"It's more of a movement than just a website," Rayford says.
Source: Jay Rayford, CEO & founder of Rep Your City
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.