A local lawyer who specializes in public finance work and has led organizations helping businesses has been appointed the new director of the Program for Entrepreneurship and Business Law at Wayne State University Law School.
Jeffrey S. Aronoff, a Wayne Law alumnus who also recently was elected a principal at Miller Canfield in Detroit, took over the Wayne Law program in March. He succeeds Assistant (Clinical) Professor Eric C. Williams, who has returned to full-time teaching and continues to serve as director of the law school's Business and Community Law Clinic.
The Program for Entrepreneurship and Business Law focuses on helping students develop the legal knowledge necessary to represent business clients and the business skills needed to successfully start a business. The program helps aspiring business professionals in underserved communities participate in the economic revival of Detroit. It offers early stage legal assistance to participating local startups and creates forums for entrepreneurs to receive general legal guidance, access community resources and share their own business experience.
"Jeff's vast experience assisting small businesses makes him a perfect match for our program," Wayne Law Dean Jocelyn Benson said. "The expertise he brings from Miller Canfield, Sidewalk Ventures and D:hive will help to grow our program as we train future business lawyers and assist aspiring entrepreneurs in Detroit."
At Miller Canfield, Aronoff specializes in public finance, municipal securities and economic development law. He has served as bond counsel, special finance counsel and general counsel to state finance agencies, municipalities, school districts, downtown development authorities, counties and regional authorities.
In addition to his public finance work, Aronoff also assists small businesses looking to raise capital from local, community-minded investors. This grew out of his work at Sidewalk Ventures, a project he founded based upon the belief that local businesses should have access to new forms of capital to help them grow while building deeper connections to their customers, neighbors and communities.
During a "sabbatical" from Miller Canfield, Aronoff served as executive director of D:hive, a three-year, nonprofit project that helped individuals get connected to resources for living, working and building businesses in Detroit. During D:hive's existence, it helped more than 400 local entrepreneurs prepare business plans and get connected to Detroit's entrepreneurial ecosystem. D:hive's business assistance activities spun off into BUILD Institute, which continues to assist entrepreneurs throughout southeast Michigan.
Aronoff, who lives in Huntington Woods, earned his law degree from Wayne Law in 2004. He holds a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan.
Published: Mon, Apr 04, 2016
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