Behind the weird and the wonderful at the Maker Faire last weekend was hidden a more serious intent. This two-day fair is part of a movement that began in California a few years ago and is now spreading around the U.S. and the world. The Henry Ford Museum, which is home to the makers and tinkerers of the 20th century like Henry Ford and Thomas Edison, was the perfect venue to launch a 21st century makers movement in Detroit. George Moroz and the other leaders at the museum are attempting to reignite the passion for invention, innovation, design and making new things. Last week’s event demonstrates that the interest and excitement exist. Now the trick is to turn a weekend of the weird and wonderful into a seven-day-a-week, year-long effort to create real things that create real jobs.

Already we have close to 100 volunteer mentors and the advice from the experts at MIT will help us organize our talented mentors and expand the important and generous time they are prepared to offer entrepreneurs.

At Techtown we are developing a multicultural support team to help new businesses get started. They include Faris Alami who came to America from the middle east many years ago. Faris and the rest of the SmartStart team are ready to provide tried and tested training programs to help you start your new business.