Delaware, the triple threat

By Technical.ly reporter Andrea Whitley

You might not know it yet, but this small wonder has a hold on your money, your food and your glamping weekends.

At Developing Delaware 2022 (#DevelopingDE) hosted by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce last week, leaders from each county had the floor for hot developments in their part of the state.

Each county boasts its own contribution to the economic health of Delaware. Any neighbor might know that New Castle is home to Wilmington banks, Kent County has the capital of Dover and farmlands, and Sussex boasts bachelorette beaches. Meanwhile, what else is happening in those two thousand square miles? Here are some of the coolest projects happening in each county:

New Castle is doing the most

New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer revved up the crowds with mention of the 2022 BMW Championship hosted by the Wilmington Country Club. 

Meyer’s mind is on how New Castle can support the workforce, whether it’s someone out of college or a leader looking to start up a company. Programs like 1,000 Kids Coding teaching programming and a fly school pilot training program are building the workforce. 

While tech and shiny new things are on the horizon, NCC still aims to serve its community. The county's "pay for success" contract, through which taxpayer funds are used only when project is successful, focused on a program providing $3 million in assistance for vulnerable mothers. The Pathway to Apprenticeship offers skill-based job training, and Wilmington's hotel-turned-shelter, The Hope Center, is helping residents move into permanent housing.

Meanwhile, the county is also transforming vacant spaces like Barley Mill Plaza which will soon bring the state’s first Wegmans, and building new ones like the MOT Library, plus parks and trails. A grant aims to reinvigorate the Jack A. Markell trail, which will serve as a travel and tourism draw with public art. 

Kent County is bringing home the bacon … er, chicken

Michael Petit de Mange, county administrator of Kent County, touted the impact of agricultural production and agri-business, new processing and cold storage.

A Rockport Analytics study from 2018 that identified strengths in Delaware emphasized warehousing and distribution opportunities. Accordingly, Petit highlighted companies like NKS, Procter & Gamble and National Vinyl Products now calling Kent County home and bringing hundreds of jobs. Food processing is also a key, like Perdue with a net impact of $319 million.

The update on the 2018 study, Rockport 2.0, focuses on workforce development. More to come there.

Sussex County is mixing business with pleasure

While it’s best known as a tourist destination and leader in agriculture, Administrator Todd F. Lawson said Sussex County is in a big stage of economic development.

“That’s no accident,” he said. “In Sussex, our goal is to create and sustain a business environment where investments generate results.” Lawson highlighted a Frankford business owner bringing business from Maryland to Sussex county using the Site Readiness Fund as evidence these efforts are paying off. 

The Delaware Coastal Business Park is home to JennyGems, a new lighting and plastics company, and a metal company that produced for the NYC subway. As Lawson put it: "A little bit of Sussex metal is in the city that never sleeps.”

Love glamping? Bet you didn’t realize a company in Delaware installs these adorable cottages and owns campgrounds from here to Florida. Last year, a 4% increase was predicted — and they chose to build an $8 million expansion in a Sussex County business park.

Where can you keep up with new developments?

• New Castle County
• Visit Wilmington
• Kent County
• Sussex County

— Technical.ly reporter Andrea Whitley (delaware@technical.ly) 

(Photo by Regina Donato, courtesy of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce)

P.S. This week, Technical.ly published the third in a five-part reporting series called Checking the Box.

Until fall 2022, Delaware did not collect minority status data about its registered small businesses. What does that mean for the state's entrepreneurs who identify as a minority, woman, veteran and/or disabled?

This series explores the collection of demographic data related to small businesses, including the use of set-asides, diversity goals and strategies; the certification process on the state and federal level, and the portals that make them more accessible; and how increased supplier diversity could impact Delaware businesses.

This series is underwritten by Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce (DEBCC), a membership organization that advocates for Black entrepreneurs in the First State. Read the third story below.

— Technical.ly reporter Holly Quinn (holly@technical.ly)

What else happened in Delaware this week?

• University of Delaware unveiled its Center for Clean Hydrogen, now part of the Clean Hydrogen Partnership. The public-private partnership brings the US Department of Defense, UD, Chemours, Plug Power and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory together to solve the challenges of creating low-cost clean hydrogen. The center will be led at UD by Yushan Yan, the Henry Belin du Pont Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, as well as the CEO and cofounder of Versogen.

• Inventia Life Science, an Australian biotechnology company, launched its first US office and facility at the Innovation Space, located at the Experimental Station in Wilmington. Inventia specializes in building systems that create realistic 3D human tissues for drug and therapy research applications. 

• Delaware High school and college students can now register for CyberStart America and Cyber FastTrack. The national online program, sponsored by the National Cyber Scholarship Foundation and the SANS Institute, allows students to compete for cybersecurity scholarships, advanced training, prizes and school recognition. 

• Horn Entrepreneurship has announced the 14 semifinalists in the 2022 Hen Hatch pitch competition. See who’s in on Horn’s update page.

• We spotted a few tickets left for The Revisionists — A Haunted Victorian Walk at Rockwood this weekend and next, if you’re looking for something spooky to do pre-Halloween. Rockwood’s famous (and sold out) Paranormal Investigation program is also this weekend.

• Downtown Wilmington commercial real estate development and management company McConnell Johnson has announced that Gaby Indellini has joined the company as its new director of marketing and communications. Indellini has a long history working in the Wilmington and Delaware tourism markets. Before joining McConnell Johnson, she ran her own marketing consultancy.