Program pairs U. Mich. experts with entrepreneurs

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Fourteen Middle Eastern and North African entrepreneurs are at the University of Michigan as part of a State Department-sponsored program that partners university experts with area community organizations.

The program participants are from Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Morocco and Tunisia. They're primarily small business owners.

Participants attend strategy and coaching sessions with Michigan marketing, communications and entrepreneurship experts and connect with representatives of community organizations such as the Arab American Women's Business Council and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.

After spending three weeks in Michigan, the group will travel to Washington to take part in a networking event.

The University of Michigan Institute for Social Research is one of 17 U.S.-based nonprofits and universities that are hosting foreign professionals from more than 50 countries and territories.