Business & Professional ON THE COVER Biz Kids from page B1 Dan Gilbert's Entrepreneurial And Civic Spirit Bizdom University is important to its students, the city of Detroit and entre- preneur Dan Gilbert; but it's almost a sideline for Gilbert, who launched his sales career as a youngster in Southfield, selling homemade pizza, candy, pots and pans and power tools to friends and neighbors. Under Rock Enterprises, an umbrella entity, Gilbert, chairman of Quicken Loans- Rock Financial, which he co- founded 23 years ago, now has a diverse portfolio Dan Gilbert of companies and investments in Internet-based consumer-direct mar- keting, consumer financial services and sports, media and entertainment. Financial services companies include Quicken Loans (Rock Financial), the nation's largest online mortgage lender; Title Source Inc., a title and settlement services company; In House Realty, an online residential real estate brokerage firm; and One Reverse Mortgage, based in San Diego, Calif. Sports, media and entertainment companies include the Cleveland Cavaliers/National Basketball Association team; the Lake Erie Monsters, an American Hockey League franchise; Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland; Veritix LLC, an online digi- tal tracking firm, based in Cleveland; Fathead LLC, which makes life-sized wall graphics of popular sports and entertainment characters, based in Livonia; and Xeko, a Seattle-based children's media property. Gilbert also is an investor in ePrize, a global online promotions company; Rock Companies, a commercial and residential real estate development firm; RockBridge Equity Partners; Xenith LLC, a Boston-based cre- ator of new helmet technology; and StyleCaster in New York, a fashion media property set to launch in the fall. But Gilbert still finds time to be active, often behind the scenes, in civic, medical and Jewish charitable organizations. He has served on the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Board of Governors and is past president of the Farmington Hills-based Jewish social service agency JARC. - Bill Carroll B2 July 24 • 2008 Mason Levey outside the Bizdom U office on the Wayne State University campus Practical Know-How Classes at Bizdom (a contraction of "busi- ness" and "wisdom") are held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. three days a week all year (some students have part-time jobs) in an office on the WSU campus although the school is not affiliated with the university. Most students live in Wayne dormitories and are provided with textbooks, training materials and high-tech tools like laptop computers and Blackberry electronic data devices. The rest of the day is spent reading business publications, doing homework, meeting with mentors, working on class projects and outside jobs. The curriculum includes entrepreneur- ship, starting a business from the ground up, real estate and facility management, how to obtain financing, principles of eco- nomics, basic accounting, business ethics and etiquette, public speaking, grammar and analysis, reading smart, practical mathematics, negotiation skills, the history and culture of Detroit, business law, the fundamental "isms" of business, "Gizmos and Gadgets" and even the "Buzz" (keeping your ears to the ground). As a "final exam;' each student must develop a realistic and profitable plan to launch a business in Detroit and present the comprehensive plan to Gilbert and others. If the plan is approved, Gilbert will provide anywhere from $25,000 to $500,000 to start the enterprise; and the entrepreneur will be part owner, sharing the profits with the rest of the program. That money will be used to finance other businesses established by Bizdom students. Sanders, a former Quicken-Rock execu- tive who also formerly ran the Detroit Police Athletic League program, is a full- time instructor along with Dan Izzo of Detroit, a former Chicago lawyer, who is Bizdom's training director. But practical advice comes from a bevy of Detroit-area businessmen, entrepreneurs in their own right (including many Jews), who serve as guest speakers and mentors. They give the students the benefit of their real-world business experience. Levey's Lessons Mason Levey is a graduate of West Bloomfield High School, and attended Eastern Michigan University and University of Michigan-Dearborn. "But I didn't want to wait three or four more years to get going in a business;' he said. "When I heard about Bizdom, it seemed like the right fit for me. But it takes a lot of discipline and commitment. It's a great opportunity for me. I learned a great deal from the instructors, and Dan Gilbert is the perfect role model." During the year, Levey lived in a Wayne dorm and also worked part time as a valet parking manager at Star Trax/pulse 220, an entertainment company in Southfield. His plan calls for establishing the Bablur Co., which would be an interactive, mobile marketing agency, focusing on cell phones, iPhones and text messaging to help com- panies sell their products and services. "Text messaging and video messaging are obviously the high-tech instruments of the future, so any business would use them for sales promotion and advertising campaigns:' he explained. "For example, a real estate company could show pictures of homes for sale directly to the prospects daily, rather than distributing sheets of pictures all the time; it would speed up the sales process and reduce the paperwork." The business plans of other students in the first graduating class include setting up an organic food grocery store, selling jewelry online and creating a Web site for environmentally sound products. "We hope the graduates and their busi- ness plans will help boost the Detroit economy:' Sanders said. "The city needs more high-tech, leverageable businesses. The key to Detroit's economic development is entrepreneurship; it creates jobs and growth." Levey added, "I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and now I'm getting an opportunity to do so; I made the right choice." Mentors Matter Gilbert has been extremely involved with Bizdom's first class, lecturing to them at some sessions and taking them on com- bination business-recreation trips. They