You probably found your way to THE CREW via Andy's TikTok or other social media contrivance. Either way, here's an entirely unbiased account of the founder of The Crew, Andy Didorosi.
Andy is a Detroit-native born at Hutzel Hospital in downtown Detroit in 1987.
Professionally he started bussing tables at Ferlito's Family Dining for $4.30 an hour. This wasn't cutting it. A friend introduced Andy to car auctions where you could get a rundown Cutlass for $100. Andy used his busboy savings to buy 3 cars.
He got a job shortly after at Slim's Hotrodd Garage to learn automotive repair and was ultimately a terrible employee. He resigned from Slim's after learning a ton and set up shop for himself. After the city cited Andy for fixing cars in his dad's Roseville, MI backyard he rented the corner of a very small warehouse in Ferndale to set up shop properly.
After the Ferndale shop he rented a small warehouse in Fraser to be the center of his business operations. Andy started an automotive performance shop called Team Deluxe that did terribly. As it turns out trying to make money building racecars is a horrible business -- especially for a teenager.
In 2010, Andy was looking for another workspace and found the options available to him lacking. He approached a building owner in Ferndale about leasing out his building and starting a small business incubator so other small businesses could find a place to operate. Paper Street was born.
His shopmate back in the small Ferndale warehouse showed Andy how to buy and sell industrial equipment so he switched his focus to this so he could pay for the mounting utility bills at Paper Street along with his racing habit.
In 2011, Andy got his big break when he landed the Farmer Jack equipment liquidation at the original Farmer Jack facility on Borman Avenue in Detroit. This took the duration of the summer but yielded a modest profit.
Later in 2011, Andy was frustrated with the state of public transit in Detroit and decided to buy a 1996 Ford B600 school bus. Originally the plan was to drive the bus up and down Woodward Avenue in protest of the streetcar line that was canceled because of regional infighting. Andy decided to start a route that ran a similar loop that riders could ride all day for just $5. The Detroit Bus Company was born.
This initial route was another terrible financial decision -- but soon individuals began calling to rent Andy's buses privately for weddings, corporate events, and shuttles. They started a small charter services outfit using DBC's wildly-painted Art Buses to liven up streets wherever they go.
The Detroit Bus Company grew from 1 bus to 2, to 3, up to 15 buses -- all on earned revenue. Soon, there was a TODAY Show piece about the company, a Dark Rye documentary, and a whole host of other national media.
In 2013, The Detroit Bus Company launched the Youth Transit Alliance to begin providing free rides to Detroit kids in need from school to after school programs. In 2015 this program became Ride for Ride, a freestanding 501c3 non-profit. DBC provides thousands of free rides to kids in Detroit, Highland Park, and Hamtramck each year.
Since launch DBC has given thousands of scooters away to Detroit's kids via the PlayFreeBird project, provided hundreds of free voter rides through our Vote Rides project, and connected tens of thousands of people to Detroit's story through tours and events.
In 2020, Andy worked with his team to build both Arsenal of Clean, the largest producer of hand sanitizer in Detroit while given away thousands of gallons to Detroit first responders, hospitals, schools, government agencies, and non-profits. A truckload of free sanitizer was also sent to the Navajo Nation. Later in 2020, Andy worked with friends to start Farebox, a company creating fleet management software.
Andy's next project is growing THE CREW and launching Mutiny, a new automotive company headquartered firmly in Detroit.