September 18, 2020 – 

Enhancing Ethnic Cuisine at the Delaware Beaches

In the past, Delaware beach restaurants primarily served family-friendly fare. Think burgers and captain’s platters (a fried or broiled seafood medley with a side of slaw). Those days are long gone. Today, the resorts boast so many offerings that the area is collectively known as the Culinary Coast. 

Credit chefs like Gyanendra “GG” Gupta, who with his partners brought Indian-inspired cuisine to downtown Lewes. 

Since opening in 2019, the restaurant has developed a loyal fan base. In part, that is because Indian cuisine had been missing from the healthy roster of area ethnic options, which include Thai, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese restaurants.

And then there is GG, the friendly face of the restaurant, who regularly makes the rounds in the dining room to greet guests and suggest dishes. He is soft-spoken and gracious. He also has an impressive resume: GG has worked in five-star hotels in his native India and in the Caribbean.

The Journey to Lewes

One of five children, GG grew up watching his mother prepare the family meal. “I was a mama’s boy, you know, I love that,” he says fondly. He was 8 when he began questioning her actions while she cooked. Why was she adding this? Why was she stirring that?

He began accompanying her to the market. “Not only did she pass me the cooking skills, but also the purchasing skills,” he says. “Everything had to be fresh. When we were young, I don’t think we had a refrigerator in the house.”

GG’s father wanted him to be a doctor, but the passion for cooking was too strong. After earning a bachelor’s degree, he enrolled in a three-year hotel management program. 

The luxurious Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, a 650-room hotel, hired him as a management trainee, and for five years, he worked as a chef in the hotel. “I’m a real five-star hotel guy,” says GG, who’s opened numerous restaurants for high-end hotel groups. He worked at properties Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada and St. Lucia.

While in Grenada, he met Lewes native Vinay Hosmane, who was in medical school. (Hosmane’s father, Ramachandra, began working at Beebe Hospital in 1978.) They became friends.

Back in India, GG rejoined Taj to open The Vivanta brand in Goa, a world-famous coastal resort. The area made an impression on GG and his family, who returned to Goa after working in Jaipur. 

GG and Hosmane, who became a cardiologist, kept in touch and visited each other. In 2015, GG was a guest chef at the MidAtlantic Wine + Food Festival, which held events throughout Delaware. 

While touring the state, Hosmane suggested opening a restaurant at the beach, and GG agreed.

Hosmane and some associates had been looking for an investment property in the resort community. Meanwhile, Hosmane’s father knew investors interested in the hospitality industry. With GG’s help, the two groups pooled their resources to create Raas, which means “celebration.”

The location, a circa-1899 Queen Anne Victorian on Savannah Road, might seem an odd choice for an ethnic eatery. But Hosmane knew it well. As a child, he rode his bicycle past the house and admired the sweeping front porch and turret. Hosmane felt that it defined the coastal lifestyle. What’s more, the classic architecture speaks to the British Raj that has influenced Indian cuisine.

Built by Capt. W. “Diver” Johnston and William H. Virden, the home is best known as a former residence of Mayor Otis Smith, who oversaw the menhaden fisheries in Lewes. (At one time, the small town was the leading producer of menhaden in the country.)

As a spa, the structure’s exterior was a garish can’t-miss purple paint. The new owners returned it to a soothing blue. Inside, there’s a pop of saffron along with turquoise. White linens cover tables. The atmosphere is decidedly more upscale than an Indian restaurant in strip malls.

Between the massive renovations on Raas, the summer 2019 opening and the pandemic, GG has had little time to rest. When restaurant dining rooms were closed in spring, he forwarded takeout orders to his cell phone, so he did not miss a call. Once dining rooms reopened, he carved out more alfresco seating for the increasing number of people who want to eat outside. 

Lewes-area residents and visitors have embraced the flavors of India.

“They call me back to say they never had a dish before, and it was phenomenal,” says GG, who appreciates the sense of civility and culture in the area. “People want us to be successful as much as we do.” 

The network of support characterizes Delaware, he notes. If he’s standing on the covered porch, it’s not unusual for a driver to honk and call out: “Hey, Chef GG!” 

Many visitors are so pleased with the cuisine that they want him to replicate the concept. But while Indian food is “in my blood,” he says, a second restaurant may showcase a different ethnic cuisine. After all, he’s opened numerous Italian, Thai and other restaurants in hotels.

For now, he’s satisfied with making his mark in downtown Lewes. Says GG, “If my guests are happy, then I can sleep at night.”

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September 9, 2020 – 

Matthew Saponaro, the founder of A.I. Whoo, is a savvy CEO. In early 2020, his artificial intelligence company marketed its services to zoos, aquariums and other attractions. By using existing video footage, A.I. Whoo could ethically capture visitors’ engagement level and provide data and insight to improve outcomes.

But with the advent of COVID-19 in spring 2019, most venues closed.

Instead of looking for money-making behaviors, the University of Delaware student focused on disease-spreading behaviors that might cost them money.

Enter COVIDVision, “a clear solution that moves on getting rid of COVID,” he told an audience in a virtual conference.

Using artificial intelligence, his company can help quantify coronavirus-spreading behaviors, such as mask-wearing, social distancing and human traffic load, “so we can start reopening safely.”

Saponaro wasn’t pitching his idea on the ABC television show “Shark Tank.” He was among the 18 teams in the Summers Founder program, a 12-week pre-accelerator for University of Delaware students with early stage startups.

The program, sponsored by the university’s Horn Entrepreneurship, culminated with Demo Day.

Like the 2020 Summer Founder program itself, the event was virtual this year due to the coronavirus.

Nevertheless, this year’s participants still reaped the program’s rewards.

“Before Summer Founders, I was definitely a developer,” said Saponaro, who recently received his doctorate. “But this turned me into an entrepreneur. What’s the value proposition? Look for a problem, and build a solution.”

It was the fifth year for the program, which provides weekly, individualized mentoring, meetings with advisors, classes and a stipend.

“Entrepreneurship, much like baseball, can’t be taught by [just] sitting in a classroom,” said Vince DiFelice, senior instructor of entrepreneurship and faculty director of venture support. “One has to do it. There are unwritten rules in baseball, and that’s true in entrepreneurship. You learn from people who’ve done it before.”

Participants must work full-time on the project; they can’t have an internship or summer job. Course credit is available.

Typically, there are up to eight participating teams. But due to the pandemic, many UD students lost internships and summer jobs, leaving them with nowhere to go.

“We marshaled all of our resources with donations from a number of kind folks—who donated not only money but time and experience,” DeFelice said. “We worked with over 20 teams and 30 students.

Even as a virtual program, Summer Founders was “intense,” said Sierra RyanWallick, who with Michelle Yatvitskiy founded UP Cycle.

Their company takes post-consumer waste, such as clothes, and creates new products, including handbags. The goal is to prevent clothes and fabric from winding up in landfills.

“We want to hire marginalized community members to make these items,” RyanWallick explained. “The main goal of UP Cycle is to raise awareness about sustainability and make an impact in as many areas as we can.”

The women came into the program with a loose idea and “exited the program with new mentors, prototypes of our ideas, more than 100 customers interviews, a newsletter with more than 60 people on the list and a partnership with the New Castle County government,” she said.

In between, they pitched to philanthropic investors, met with advisors, attended educational sessions, revised their business plan and worked on their presentation for Demo Day.

Presenting Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs

In the past, Demo Day took place at the Venture Development Center on campus. After the presentations, which occurred on stage, audience members could visit the companies’ tables for further discussion.

This year, advisors, teams, mentors and other participants came together in a virtual setting.

The teams each had seven minutes to present their product or service to the Zoom audience.

“Their PowerPoint presentations were absolutely, positively fantastic,” said Ajit George, a volunteer advisor and the founder of Second Chances Farm, an indoor hydroponic farm in Wilmington that employs returning citizens released from prison.

“I wish I had a Summers Founder program when I was at UD in 1972,” said George, a serial entrepreneur. “The students now are smarter, brighter and have better technology. They got incredible advice from the whole program.”

George worked with UP Cycle, and he used his contacts at Goodwill Industries of Delaware and Delaware County to help them secure clothing and fabric.

On Demo Day, UP Cycle received the Most Socially Responsible Award from the audience, who took a poll after the presentations. The Impact Potential Award went to COVIDVision.

Other honorees:

• Most Creative Award: PrintAble, which seeks to provide assistive technology so that people with disabilities or an injury and do everyday tasks.

• Most Promising Award: Oh-So Cycle, an indoor cycling studio that pivoted to offer at-home bike rentals and virtual classes.

• Most Interesting Award: Backyard Gig, a two-sided marketplace that connects students with individuals or businesses seeking help with outdoor tasks.

• Offers Unique Value Award: Alchemize Fightwear, an apparel company for women who compete in mixed martial arts.

• Most Motivated Award: Female Food Foundry, which provides a supportive community for female founders of consumer-packaged food and beverage products.

“What we try to be at Horn is all-inclusive,” DeFelice said. The student companies included services that had the potential to scale and create jobs as well as social ventures. There were students from a variety of colleges within the university system.

Boots on the Ground

Since its start, Summer Founders has launched 31 U.D. startups and raised more than 3.1 million in follow-up funding. But the program is not an accelerator, which offers investors an opportunity to provide funding.

“Some of the [companies] might launch,” DeFelice said of the teams presenting on Demo Day. “Some of them might not. But they’re here to be part of the community.”

Maya Nazareth started Alchemize Fightwear when she was just a sophomore. In the past six months, she’s brought the apparel company online with an image-heavy e-commerce platform.

Nazareth, who graduated with a degree in international business, plans to continue her company. Still, she’s accepted a job with the CEO branding company that mentored her during the Summer Founders program.

She said that Delaware is an excellent place for student entrepreneurs. “The community is small enough that I can have access to such a rich network of people who are creating change in Delaware and around the world,” she said. “I don’t think I would have had the same opportunity to connect with this caliber of people if I were in a larger state. So, I think that’s really special.”

Richard Hayburn and Amanda Zicherman, the founders of PrintAble, would agree. “We were provided with many valuable resources, including advising sessions and referrals to professionals and potential business connections,” said Hayburn, who graduated in spring with a degree in mechanical engineering.

They are expanding their network while continuing to refine their business model. As for Saponaro, he believes that Delaware is open to the artificial intelligence sector.

“I think there’s a huge opportunity for me, so I’m not leaving,” he said. “This is a wonderful place to be. We’re at the right time and the right place.”

For information on Horn Entrepreneurship, visit udel.edu/research-innovation/horn/.

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September 4, 2020 – 

World War II pilot Lt. Maxwell Honemond was in extreme danger as he flew his small, fabric-covered L-4 airplane over enemy lines. A well-aimed shot from an anti-aircraft gun would have brought him down in flames. Armed with only a primitive radio and .38 pistol, his job as an artillery spotter was to help finetune the artillery commander’s aim in real-time during bombardment. Who would have thought his career as a heroic aviator began at a humble college in Dover, Delaware?

Honemond, a Black pilot, began training to be a pilot at what was then called the State College for Colored Students in the late 1930s. In the 1940s, the United States Department of War consolidated some of its pilot training efforts to Tuskegee University in Alabama. Honemond went on to become one of the fabled Tuskegee Airmen. Although the DSU Aviation Program went through a number of changes throughout the decades, turning out top-level pilots is a proud tradition it carries on to this day.

According to current director of aviation, retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Michael Hales, Delaware State University’s aviation program was restarted in earnest by Daniel Coons in 1987.

“He raised money, got donations and found some way to get aircraft,” said Hales. “Back then, he started with what we like to call the ‘magnificent seven’ students. Over the years, we kept building on our successes and morphed into what we are today. I’m proud to say that last fall we had 91 professional pilot majors and 36 students focusing on aviation management. We’re on course for even more growth this fall.”

It’s not just the number of students that’s increased. The number of aircraft owned by DSU Aviation has ballooned to 22 in recent years. So many, in fact, that they’ve outgrown the hangar in Delaware Airpark in Cheswold.

“We were one of the first historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to own its own fleet of aircraft, and now we’ve become by far the largest,” Hales noted.

Any program that’s thrived over decades will have faced its fair of trying times. However, DSU’s aviation program faces one of its most serious hurdles yet in the form of an economy reeling from COVID-19.

“Pre-COVID, we used to brag that 100 percent of our pilots are flying ‘right seat’ as a first officer at a regional airline within 12 months of graduation,” said Hales. “There was such a pilot shortage that you could almost hear a sucking sound as our graduates were scooped up by the industry.”

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, though, the bottom fell out. Since then, the commercial airline industry has shifted to trying to keep its current pilots rather than hire new ones.

“It happened overnight,” Hales said.

Although the future of the industry remains unclear, he finds plenty of reason for optimism.

“I would strongly encourage anyone interested in aviation to stay with it,” he said. “In some 

ways, there is opportunity in crisis. Cargo flights with FedEx, UPS and DHL aren’t having any issues. Those jobs were very competitive already, but there is also the military option. The U.S. military’s demand for pilots hasn’t diminished, and there are a lot of benefits in going that route, considering various scholarships and incentives.”

Hales said the shift in commercial travel has even made charter flights more competitive.

“The charter side of things is doing quite well,” he said. “For folks with a fair amount of money who still need to travel, some operators are making it very inexpensive to fill seats. They’re priced close to first class flights now. With that comes more demand for charter pilots. Either way, we will get through this. We’re hearing from the commercial airline industry that there is a pause on hiring right now, but things will pick back up, and they’ll start hiring again once it does.”   

Serving the Underprivileged

Although Delaware State University is “open to all,” Hales noted that graduating minorities and students from underserved or underprivileged backgrounds is something they take particular pride in. On average, a graduating class consists of about half minority students.

The recently passed FLIGHT Act may help drive the number of black pilots up further, Hales said. The National Defense Authorization Act bill provides new resources for Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) students attending HBCUs.

“It’s a big deal,” Hales said. “An ROTC scholarship will now help pay the flight lab fees for HBCU students. These fees can be a big obstacle for underserved populations, so this really helps increase accessibility.”

However, when it comes to outreach, few activities are more important to Hales than his “discovery flights.” As one of the only aviation programs in a 150-mile radius, he believes the DSU program may be the only contact many locals ever have with the prospect of becoming a pilot.

“It’s so important for us to expose a potential student to aviation in any way, shape or form,” he added. “Especially with minority students, many will have never even learned enough about the field in the first place to opt out – many don’t realize that it might be an option for them.”

By taking kids, some as young as middle school-aged, up for a discovery flight in a small airplane, Hales believes he’s helping to “plant the seeds” of aviation in the next generation.

“We’re trying to capture their imagination early and show them what’s possible,” he said. “Get in touch with us or email us at aviation@desu.edu, and we’ll take you up for a flight.”

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August 27, 2020 – 

Railroads are an integral part of the Delaware landscape. They parallel Interstate 95 and the Delaware River, curve through neighborhoods and add fun ambiance to alfresco dining in Trolley Square, a popular Wilmington community.

Businesspeople and leisure travelers depend on the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station on the Wilmington Riverfront. There, they board Amtrak trains heading to Philadelphia, New York or Washington, D.C.

Running through all three of Delaware’s counties and into Maryland, the railroads also are the state’s economic arteries. The Delmarva Central Railroad (DCR) is a prime example.

The subsidiary of Carload Express Inc. now operates 188 miles of line in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. DCR also has a direct connection to the North American network through Norfolk Southern Railway. In May, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association recognized DCR with an award for outstanding business development activities designed to grow the short line railroad business.

The Long and Short of It

Headquartered in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, Carload Express operates four short line railroads: The Allegheny Valley Railroad and Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad, which serve western Pennsylvania; the Ohio Terminal Railway, which serves the Ohio River Valley bordering Ohio and West Virginia; and Delmarva Central Railroad.

“Our vision starts with taking assets that are underperforming — or maybe a little neglected — and investing in them to bring them back to their former glory,” said Cliff Grunstra, chief marketing officer for DCR, which is based in Harrington, Delaware.

Carload Express saw the potential for a line on the Delmarva Peninsula, which is technically an island thanks to the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal.

“Delmarva lends itself well to rail transportation,” Grunstra said. “It’s also close to major consumer markets: Norfolk and Hampton Roads, D.C. and Baltimore, Wilmington, Philadelphia and New York. Delaware is a great place from which to serve these locations.”

In 2016, DCR took over the Norfolk Southern-owned railway from Porter, Delaware, to Pocomoke, Maryland, and from Harrington to Frankford. In 2018, the company added the track from Pocomoke to Hallwood, Virginia, and in 2019, the Delaware lines from Ellendale to Milton and Georgetown to Harbeson joined the railroad.

But don’t plan on buying a seat ticket: Carload Express “moves things, not people,” Grunstra explained.

“The goal of a short line railroad is to be customer-focused and respond to customer needs,” he said. “Once we have the railcars, we want to get them to our customers as quickly as possible.”

DCR’s primary commodities include stone and aggregate for home and road construction and propane, which fuels many homes in southern Delaware. Given that the Delmarva Peninsula is home to the broiler chicken industry, it also hauls agricultural products.

Because DCR customers are essential businesses, Grunstra said, the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t dramatically affected 2020 projections. In early spring, however, the railroad did see a downturn in dried distiller grain shipments.

This byproduct of ethanol production can be used as an ingredient in chicken feed. But since people were driving less, the demand for gas dropped. So did ethanol production.

“That line of the business largely dried up for three or four months,” Grunstra said. “We’re seeing it pick back up again.”

Why ship these items by rail rather than by road? Efficiency for one. Rails can move a ton of freight roughly 500 miles on one gallon of fuel, Grunstra said.

“Rather than lots of rubber on the pavement, you have a small section of steel wheels touching a small section of the steel rail,” he explained. “That exponentially reduces the friction and, subsequently, the amount of energy needed to move the freight. It’s a much greener way to transport bulk materials great distances, and you can move a huge amount of material at a reduced cost.”

Convenience is another reason to ship via Delmarva Central Railroad. In most cases, DCR delivers the railcars directly to facilities on customer sidings — offshoots from the main rail. For instance, DCR rolls cars right up to a poultry processor’s feed mill five or six days a week.

However, DCR also owns transload terminals for businesses that lack a siding, which can be costly to build. Customers can truck the goods from the transload terminal a short distance to the desired location.

“You still get those economies of scale,” Grunstra noted.

There is a transload terminal in Gravel Hill, between Harbeson and Georgetown. In 2019, DCR opened the Seaford Transload Terminal in Seaford Industrial Park to serve customers that previously trucked liquid feed ingredients from outside Delmarva. To accommodate the terminal’s first customer, a roadway was constructed next to the existing rail siding to facilitate direct railcar-to-truck transloading of the liquid.

A few months later, a piping-and-pump system was installed to allow DCR to unload railcars directly into two 30,000-gallon heated and insulated tanks, which were installed for a second customer. Due to the efficient infrastructure, trucks can fill up on demand and make deliveries to local customers.

Savoring the Slow Track

Although known for its resort towns, the Delmarva Peninsula is still sprinkled with farms and cornfields. Grunstra, who grew up in Bristol, Virginia, appreciates the leisurely pace and friendly neighbors.

He and his wife, Sarah, who have four children, have lived in the Milton area for four years. The town, situated on the Broadkill River, is close enough to the beaches for the family to enjoy watersports.

“I love to fish,” noted Grunstra, who has a boat. “It’s my favorite hobby.”

He’s not far from several rails-to-trails, including the old Junction and Breakwater Railroad. But like the others on the DCR team, he’s determined to keep his company’s rails in full operation.

“We want to take these assets and pass them on to future generations — that’s the goal,” he said of the short lines. “Railroads are a vital part of our economy, and they are one of the reasons the U.S. developed into an economic powerhouse. Once those rails go away, they will never come back. So, it’s essential to maintain that infrastructure to allow our economy to grow and thrive.”

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August 21, 2020 – 

Delaware acted as a launch pad for Patient Sortal – a revolutionary healthcare data management company – in two important ways. First, founder Kenny Eck discovered the need for the company while working with 1,500 Delawareans with chronic conditions. Second, the University of Delaware’s Horn Entrepreneurship program connected Eck to a network of experts who helped him craft and ultimately launch the service.

Eck, who originally enrolled in UD’s graduate program in kinesiology and applied physiology, says he began to see the need for Patient Sortal during his coursework.

“I worked with each of these 1,500 patients for hours, built friendships with them and became a part of their lives,” he said. “Understanding the problems they encountered during their healthcare journey was something that mattered to me. One problem that stuck out was the management of the health information between patients and their care providers.”

This realization propelled him to go back to school again and obtain a second graduate degree. Attending UD’s Lerner College of Business with a focus in entrepreneurship and design, he aimed to launch a solution to the issues he had identified. Through his involvement in Horn Entrepreneurship, he started putting flesh to the bones of his ideas.

“The Horn program took my ideas and incubated them to fruition,” said Eck. “They have done an excellent job finding subject matter experts, entrepreneurs and brilliant minds to fill the walls of the Venture Development Center. This has built the ideal environment for turning solutions to problems into businesses. I came to Delaware to fast-track my education but stayed here because it is a state where you can learn from the best scientists, innovate within some of the best healthcare systems, learn from entrepreneurs with invaluable knowledge and be a part of a community where everyone is connected and wants to help one another.”

In 2018, while earning a stipend to work on his project, Eck designed Patient Sortal, tightened his pitch and built a network of business contacts. Using what Eck calls “care and information mapping,” Patient Sortal was built to help a given patient’s care team quickly assess important records and data that is shared across. providers. Eck says the company’s value comes by acting as a conduit rather than a portal. He’s able to integrate his solution into existing systems rather than introducing new infrastructure.

In 2019, his proposed project placed in the Hen Hatch competition. Since then, Patient Sortal has launched and is in aggressive pursuit of several markets.

Particularly passionate about trying to help manage the health information of children diagnosed with chronic conditions, Eck hit his first serious stumbling block early on.

“This environment is face-paced and chaotic – a child visits five to 20 care providers within a short period of time,” he said. “Keeping their information straight is necessary to provide a continuum of care. The problem we had was our business model.”

While Eck found the caregivers very receptive to his solution, Medicaid and children’s health insurers didn’t seem to share the sentiment. Eck decided that instead of taking his word for it, he needed to demonstrate the value of his solutions. This led him into a quite different market equally hungry for solutions: prisons.

“While incarcerated, inmates receive long-term care for medical, dental, mental health and substance abuse,” he said. “This includes assessments, medications, interventions, treatments and healthcare costs of up to $7.6 billion per year nationwide. This is paid for through government spending, the same budget Medicaid is derived from.”

Of the 45,000 federal inmates released in 2019, 66% are taking medication, 50% have a mental illness, 44% have a chronic condition and 21% have and infectious disease, Eck said.

“It cost Medicaid an additional $390 million for these 45,000 inmates because of duplicate assessments, appointments, medications, interventions and treatments,” said Eck. “These services were already paid for during incarceration, but due to ineffective transitions of care from prisons to community providers, this information was lost and duplicate services had to be completed. This is where Patient Sortal will step in to streamline these transitions, improve continuity of care, improve public safety and decrease health-related recidivism rates.”

Patient Sortal Brings Its Solution to the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons

Eck has an ambitious mission to take the work of our federal prisons’ Health Services Division and continue interventions post-discharge. One of the biggest disconnects is the sharing of health informatics from prisons to community providers in an easy, quick and secure manner pre-, during and post-discharge, he said. Within two years, Eck plans to be fully implemented within the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons to serve their 110 facilities and 170,000 inmates.

Additionally, Patient Sortal has two proposals out to state prison systems on the East Coast with six more states expressing an interest. As proof of concept takes hold, Eck believes his company has nearly boundless growth potential.

“Currently, we have two employees, one intern and a four-member advisory board,” he said. “In 2021, we plan on bringing in 26 employees to fully implement our solutions within the federal government and pursue other state government agencies.”

Already making some high-value additions to the team, Eck brought Tommy Stretch on as the firm’s chief growth officer about eight months ago. The Delaware native and registered nurse specializes in implementation of health information technology. Having intimate, on-the-ground interactions with the current technology, Stretch knows the benefit a platform like Patient Sortal can bring to the healthcare industry.

Within five years, Eck believes his solution could be implemented in 60% of America’s state prison systems.

“Within 10 years, I believe Patient Sortal will be offering solutions within most health systems, removing the faxing of health information completely,” he said. “We hope to improve the lives of many, from those entering society as they leave the criminal justice system all the way back to our primary goal: helping children during their healthcare journey.”

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August 5, 2020 – 

If you’ve enjoyed live music at the Freeman Stage in Selbyville, you’ve likely observed the handiwork of homegrown event production company Mid South Audio (MSA).

In the intricate dance of lighting, sound equipment and video gear, it’s easy to forget the kind of coordination it takes to properly execute a live performance. Mid South Audio has made this its specialty since 1989.

Founded by Sussex County native Kevin Short, what is now a full-service event production company and recording studio was born out of an audio installation company that began in 1983. Technology and consumer preference constantly shake up the industry, but MSA has changed with the times, dancing to the music all the while.

“We used to be an audio installation company, but now we do what’s called ‘integration.’ That’s not even a word we used 30 years ago,” said Short, MSA’s general manager. “Today, everything – sound, video and lighting – needs to work together and be integrated. It’s all part of one package.”

In the beginning, MSA offered sound services to small local events and bands. At the time, it was a modest 16-track analog studio. Over the years, the company’s client base grew. They started supplying services for big local venues like the Avalon Theater in Easton, Maryland, and the Delaware State Fair. Their offerings grew, too. After buying out several different lighting companies about 15 years ago, service integration began.

Now, MSA provides production services for large-scale national acts from New Hampshire to Florida and as far west as Texas. The studio has morphed into a state-of-the-art digital facility that has recorded Grammy Award-winning artists while still being able to cater to local musicians and venues.

Part of what’s kept MSA alive is its ability to always look ahead to the future. Now is no different. The company, currently in Georgetown, recently decided to relocate to Milton and build a new headquarters. A grand opening of the new site is planned for September 28, and with it, MSA looks forward to another three decades of growth and evolution.

“We’re really excited about it because we’ve always worked out of offices and warehouses,” said Short. “We’re going to have a brand-new, 3,500-foot recording space and a retail showroom for the first time. It’s a big expansion for us to be able to bring in customers and have them demo products – they will be able to try before they buy.”

A new stage in the showroom will enable them to put on demonstrations, trainings and lectures. The new recording studio will make their in-house productions more efficient.

“We do a once-a-month show called ‘Tech Talk Live’ that we currently have to rent studio space for,” Short said. “In our new space, we’ll be able to record it in our own facility.”

The Delaware Difference

When MSA resolved to make the big leap into a new headquarters, it required reexamination of what being in Delaware meant to them. Doing due diligence, several other locations on the East Coast were considered. Ultimately, though, Delaware retained MSA for several different reasons, said Short.

“A big thing for us has been that our location helps us attract top talent,” he said. “When we’re trying to entice someone to relocate here, being near the beach communities has been helpful.”

A vibrant client base resides here as well.

“We’re an entertainment company, and this is a resort area – they go hand in hand,” Short said. “A lot of our customers are restaurants, bars or music venues. Anyone who’s putting on a live event or show in this area may be interested in working with us. Not every community is made up like that.”

A grant MSA obtained from the Delaware Division of Small Business also helped persuade them.

“We applied for a received a grant for just over $100,000 – mostly in strategic money, but some to help develop jobs,” said Short. “That made a big difference for us. We already feel like we’re swimming upstream in some ways because so much equipment is being sold online these days and everyone is moving away from brick and mortar.”

Given changing times and recent conditions, it might appear that the odds are being stacked against old-fashioned retail. But Delaware’s lack of a sales tax makes location of a physical shop within the state even more attractive.

“All of the tax laws are changing for internet purchases, but Delaware is great state for us to open a retail space in because of the tax-free shopping,” said Short. “If we can save a customer 5 to 7 percent, especially on a large purchase, it’s a great competitive advantage.”

However, one of the best benefits to staying in Delaware is a seemingly intangible one. According to Short, this is the business community’s dedication to supporting itself.

“Delaware is a small state, and I believe the state and the business community here go out of their way to be friendly to local companies,” he said. “We support each other, and this state remains a pretty easy place to get things done.”

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