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.”

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

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.”

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

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.”

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

July 29, 2020 – 

Nathanial Hagedorn was an energetic entrepreneur in 2012 when he founded NorthPoint Development in Kansas City, Missouri. In short order, the management team moved to the fast lane.

Between mid-June 2015 and mid-June 2020, the privately held real estate development firm built more industrial space than any other developer nationwide, according to Real Capital Analytics.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” says Brent Miles, chief marketing officer and a founding partner. “We started with one building, and now we own about 76 million square feet across the country.”

The firm owes its achievements to its culture, Miles maintains.

“We live by our core values,” he says. “Anything can happen when you do the right thing and empower your people.”

The company motto is “Beyond the Contract” as NorthPoint is dedicated to honoring relationships and employing the Golden Rule. But NorthPoint’s growth also comes from the ability to spot trends and develop in strategic locations, including Delaware.

The Delaware Logistics Center is currently under construction near Delaware City. Dart Container Corp — the Michigan-based manufacturer of the famous Solo cup — is moving East Coast distribution to the site.

NorthPoint, which is the fastest-growing industrial development firm in the nation, primarily owns the structures that it builds. “We have a long-term view of real estate,” Miles explains.

To realize that vision, the firm applies an engineering, technical and data-driven approach to development. Employees include data scientists, as well as civil, geotechnical, electrical, industrial and computer engineers.

It’s not unusual for NorthPoint to purchase sites requiring environmental remediation, as long as they meet the company’s layout, logistics and labor requirements. “We have a park that’s going to have a couple thousand employees,” Miles notes. “Will our tenants be able to hire people?”

For instance, although a portion of the 190-acre parcel NorthPoint bought near Delaware City in 2019 had been occupied by Stauffer Chemical, this location offers quick access to major transportation arteries and is within minutes from Philadelphia, Maryland and New Jersey. As a result, tenants will have access to a ready talent pool.

NorthPoint, which is new to Delaware, also wants sites that can accommodate the center’s planned layout. The company wants to feel welcomed as well.

“It’s been a great experience right off the bat (in Delaware),” he says, noting that the state’s small size has been an advantage. NorthPoint is a hands-on company, he adds, and the Delaware decisionmakers involved in development have the same attribute.

Keeping a Keen Eye on the Market

The Delaware Logistics Center represents a trend in industrial development driven by ecommerce. Admittedly, the momentum began before the coronavirus pandemic. But the need has only increased as more consumers shop online during virus-related shutdowns.

Before the pandemic, ecommerce and traditional companies followed the just-in-time system, which limits the amount of capital invested in warehoused goods and supplies. According to Miles, that’s changing.

“I would say the just-in-time approach is going to be replaced by just-in-case,” he says.

The need for a streamlined, accessible pipeline may increase domestic manufacturing, he says. “We haven’t seen it yet, but that’s the conversation we’re having in industrial real estate.”

NorthPoint is nearing the completion of one building, and it is going forward with another so that a tenant could move in by Jan. 1, 2021. Tenants can customize the space themselves in the future should the need arise.

Miles says industrial development and redevelopment will continue to rise. “You’ll see less demand for retail and a transition to industrial overall,” he says. “That’s the way people are shopping.”

The Delaware Logistics Center will help NorthPoint meet that need.

“We’re proud of our investment in Delaware,” Miles says, “and we think it will be really successful.”

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

July 23, 2020 – 

Company Makes Solo Cups and Other Food Containers

For many Americans, no backyard barbecue or holiday celebration is complete without a stack of red Solo cups. Now Dart Container, the manufacturer of this popular product, will have a presence in Delaware’s own backyard.

Dart Container Corporation — not to be confused with DART, the Delaware Transit Corporation — will be the first tenant in the Delaware Logistics Center in New Castle near Delaware City. The site is Dart’s first location in Delaware, and the center is the first project in the state for NorthPoint Development.

Dart will occupy a million square feet on the new campus, where it will serve “customers who order a tremendous amount of Dart products,” says Bob Markus, director of distribution for the Michigan-based company.

Dart’s customers don’t lack options. The company manufactures more than 3,000 packaging products from a variety of raw materials for the foodservice industry, including cups, plates, containers and lids. Some of these items have been in high demand, given that many restaurants have depended on takeout during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global company has more than 30 locations in four countries and about 14,000 employees. The Delaware center will employ about 60 to 70 people.

And it all started in a small machine shop in 1937. “We’ve been in business for 60 years and have seen tremendous changes in the marketplace through the decades,” Markus says.

William F. “WF” Dart founded Dart Manufacturing Company to make plastic key cases, steel tape measures, ID tags for the armed services and children’s toys.  His son, William A. “WA” joined the company in the 1950s and invented machinery to manufacture foam cups. The impetus was a new, lightweight material — expandable polystyrene — which keeps items hot or cold for prolonged periods.

Dart shipped its first order of 6-ounce foam cups by 1960 and in 1962 began offering customized print cups, 8- and 12-ounce sizes and retail cups for consumers. By 1963, Dart Manufacturing Company had become Dart Container Corporation.

Complementary products soon followed to fuel society’s to-go trend. Dart began offering everything from foam bowls to spout lids to plastic cutlery and dinnerware.

“We’ve always partnered with our customers to innovate new food and beverage packaging to fill the needs of restaurants — both national franchises and mom-and-pop businesses — and coffee shops, healthcare facilities, entertainment venues and academic institutions,” Markus says.

The company also has kept a keen eye on new markets. When supermarkets began selling prepared foods and installing salad bars in the 1990s, Dart was there with clear deli containers. It then stepped up when convenience stores entered the foodservice arena.

In 2012, Dart doubled its size with the purchase of Solo Cup Company, which was founded in 1936. At the time of the acquisition, the Illinois-based manufacturer had 7,500 employees and 20 plants and distribution centers worldwide.

Breaking New Ground

The red Solo cup might be a signature seller, but Solo’s first product was the paper cone, which became a mainstay alongside water coolers in offices, hospitals and other public places. Dart still makes the cone along with the foam cups that launched the business.

Today, products are made from paper, plastic and sugarcane and encompass an array of environmental profiles, from recovery to recycling to composting. “We’re always innovating to create sustainable packaging solutions,” Markus maintains. “Dart is an industry leader in providing access to recycling.”

Dart, which has two distribution centers and a large manufacturing facility in Maryland, chose Delaware for its strategic location. “It enables us to consolidate inventory in a single location that serves our East Coast customers more efficiently from a trucking and logistics standpoint,” Markus explains. 

The COVID-19 pandemic won’t delay the New Castle distribution center’s opening, he adds. “Dart has implemented comprehensive protocols at all facilities to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for employees, vendors and visitors,” he says. “We will continue to use the same approach at our Delaware facility.”

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

July 7, 2020 – 

Baltimore Manufacturer Relocating to Dover

For Linda Parkowski, executive director of the Kent Economic Partnership, casting a wide net is starting to pay dividends. She’s been on the hunt for job creators that want to locate in Kent County since assuming the leadership role at the county’s economic development department back in 2018. Her efforts in launching a new website, attending myriad trade shows and refocusing the partnership’s mission has raised the agency’s profile and garnered attention from business interests considering Central Delaware.

Recently, these outreach activities attracted a cold call from a New York commercial Realtor attempting to find a buyer for the Dover Post – a mid-state weekly newspaper – facility on Little Creek Road in Dover. The 24,000-square-foot facility on eight acres was owned by Gannett, which recently merged with GateHouse Media to form the largest newspaper company in the country.

“He said the company was looking into selling the facility and wanted to know if I had any leads,” said Parkowski. “It’s the type of call I love getting because it’s a huge opportunity.”

Luckily, Parkowski already had been working with Steven Manlove, president of Avalon Industries Inc. and International Container Corp., to try to find a suitable location. Avalon Industries Inc. is a textile manufacturer focusing on bags, totes and cases for the Department of Defense, first responders, schools, cities, towns and youth team sports leagues. International Container Corp. is a disposable container manufacturer.

Dover Post Facility Perfect for Baltimore Manufacturer

Manlove had been planning to move production for both companies to Delaware, and the Dover Post facility was “exactly what he was looking for,” said Parkowski.

“And it’s great because he’s exactly what we’re looking for too,” she added. “The Kent Economic Partnership has been targeting small-to-medium manufacturers like Manlove’s companies. They’re a great addition to our local economy and fit well here. Of course, we were thrilled to hear that he plans on creating 40 new jobs here, too. That will go a long way toward our economic development goals.”

The $1.4 million sale of the facility closed in May, according to R&R Commercial Realty’s Carl Kaplan, who acted as Manlove’s agent. Both Parkowski and Kaplan agree that an especially satisfying part of the acquisition is that the Dover Post plans to lease back some office space from Manlove. The building will contain both his businesses and the newspaper.

“I’d say it’s a good outcome for the property,” said Kaplan. “There isn’t a lot of warehouse/manufacturing space like this in Dover, so it’s nice to see that it’ll be used efficiently. But it’s also nice to see that the Dover Post will stick around.” 

The current plan is to split the warehouse into four portions, with 18,000 square feet to be divided up between Manlove’s companies. The remainder of the building will be reserved for the newspaper’s use.

Manlove’s businesses were originally based in Baltimore. Parkowski noted that Maryland is losing the two manufacturing businesses over the state’s increasingly “challenging” business climate. Its loss is Delaware’s gain. In the coming months, after some retooling and renovations, the facility will come back online and a plethora of made-in-Dover products will hit the market.

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

June 25, 2020 – 

Delaware-based Credit Card Leverages High-tech Methods to Serve Untapped Markets

Delaware has no shortage of credit card brands, thanks to the Financial Center Development Act. The bipartisan legislation, which Gov. Pete du Pont signed in 1981, attracted some of the world’s largest banks to the state. But in the nearly 40 years since the act’s passing, there has been nothing quite like Ollo.

The consumer Mastercard, which serves the “underserved” and “unbanked,” is the creation of Fair Square Financial, a Wilmington company with seasoned leadership and a fresh fintech attitude.

Since launching Ollo in 2017, Fair Square has acquired more than 500,000 credit card customers and received positive ratings from credit-rating agencies Moody’s Investors Services and Kroll. These are impressive accomplishments, considering Fair Square is only four years old.

Spotting a Need

Ollo caters to the average, everyday American, says Florian Egg-Krings, chief marketing officer and head of products at Fair Square. “Consumers in the middle of the market were not well-served by a lot of the large bank issuers,” he notes.

Egg-Krings should know. He previously worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America, both of which have a strong presence in Delaware.

Fair Square’s CEO, Rob Habgood, has more than 25 years of industry experience, including tenures at Bank of America and Capital One. The board’s industry veterans include Vikram S. Pandit, former CEO of Citigroup and previously president and COO for the institutional securities and investment banking businesses of Morgan Stanley.

The experienced executives realized thousands — if not millions — of consumers apply for a credit card every day only to face rejection. Some have poor credit while others have little of it. Fair Square was founded to level the field with affordable rates and no surprises.

The company received a vote of confidence in 2016 with an equity commitment of $200 million from financial services-focused private equity firm Pine Brook and an $800,000 grant from the State of Delaware.

From the start, Ollo was about elevating the credit card experience. “We wanted to create a brand that people were proud to have in their wallet,” says Jen Spofford, senior vice president of client services at Bounteous — formerly The Archer Group — which has worked on the Ollo project from the start. “You are proud to put the Ollo card down as you pay for dinner.”

So what’s with the name? The letters “O” and “L” have an open, engaging sound. Ollo rolls off the tongue with a happy, hopeful note. Plus, you’re not likely to confuse it with a conventional bank name.

The sleek design of the two available cards includes a simple yet modern logo, which speaks to Ollo’s straightforward services. Ollo Platinum has no annual fee. Ollo Rewards gives card members unlimited cash back on purchases.

Fair Square, which markets to consumers nationwide, has given the same careful consideration to its website and highly rated mobile app, which sport the cheery colors of blue and yellow. The landing pages are bright and crisp. A section on credit education, which is available to any website visitor, offers easy-to-read information.

Egg-Krings and his team worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Bounteous’ designers to make sure the digital experience was frictionless for Ollo’s cardmembers, says Spofford. Consequently, it was an agile process.

“We designed the mobile app from start to finish in a matter of a few months instead of the year it might take less nimble financial services firms,” she says.

The Right Fit

Consumers can apply for an Ollo card only if they receive an invitation. The vetted approach lets Fair Square evaluate risk and tailor the product to the applicant. The goal is to provide each consumer with “the right kind of credit at the right time,” Egg-Krings says.

Prospective customers generally fall into three segments:

• “The Rising Millennial” who may have no credit cards or just one.
• “The Fallen Angel” who lost a good credit score after a hardship and needs a boost.
• “The Steady Juggler” who lacks enough savings to bridge an occasional gap in finances.

To reach these customers, Fair Square goes beyond credit bureau information. Advanced analytics, modeling and complex algorithms digest multiple data sources to provide a full picture of the candidate.

Consider the consumer who lacks enough credit history to obtain a traditional card. By mining additional data, Fair Square may learn that the consumer has lived at one address for a long time, which indicates stability.

A conventional issuer might turn down the customer who has a delinquency on his or her credit report. Fair Square’s machine-learning technology, however, notes that the debt was a five-year-old blip on an otherwise steady record.

Exceeding Expectations

The company is on the move. In 2018, Fair Square received a $100 million investment from Pandit and his investment firm, the Orogen Group, which looks for companies with proven business models and high-growth potential.

In February 2020, Fair Square completed the sale of $300 million of asset-backed securities secured by Ollo credit card receivables. The proceeds are paying down the borrowings from Fair Square’s revolving credit facility and funding the acquisition of additional receivables.

As Ollo’s customers change, they will need other products. Fair Square plans to be there with new offerings. “It is important for us to grow with our customers and be with them on their journey,” Egg-Krings says.

As Fair Square expands, it can look to its own backyard for talent. The company now has 78 employees, many of whom have prior experience in Delaware’s credit card industry or lifestyle marketing. The company also collaborates with Wilmington agencies, such as Bounteous.

“Being able to partner with a brand that’s so forward-thinking has been fabulous,” Spofford says. “We’re really looking forward to taking the customer experience to the next level.”

To be sure, Fair Square isn’t ready to rest on its positive ratings. “We like the business that we’re building,” Egg-Krings says, “and we’re very passionate about what we do.”

Stay Up To Date With Delaware

June 18, 2020 –

Headquartered in a New Castle office park near the Delaware Memorial Bridge, one small Delaware business has been making some very big headlines. Halosil International was featured on NBC’s Today Show, NBC 10 Philadelphia and radio programs. But even before these segments aired, Halosil was receiving a flood of phone calls and emails.  

The reason is the HaloFogger, an R2-D2-looking device that dispenses the HaloMist. Together, these powerhouses can disinfectant an entire room at the touch of a button. There’s no need to spray, wipe or shine a UV light. Indeed, no one is in the room while the machine operates. 

Halosil, founded in 2008 as Sanosil International, had been quietly gaining ground in a competitive marketplace. But Covid-19 has placed the company squarely in the limelight, and the increased interest in its products shows no sign of waning.

Halosil Spotting a Need

Halosil was formed by CEO Chris Ungermann, a former DuPont Company employee, and a partner to develop a novel disinfectant solution in the United States.  The product marries a low level of hydrogen peroxide with antimicrobial silver ions to attack pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores. 

The company promoted the disinfectant as a biocide for water treatment applications. Industrial cooling and animal drinking water treatment remain a target market.

 “But in the wake of epidemics, it became clear that there was a need for surface disinfection,” says Maryalice StClair, chief commercial officer. She and her husband, David StClair, joined the team in 2013 after Ungermann’s original partner exited.

 A Painstaking Process

To meet health care’s needs, Halosil developed a ready-to-use formula, HaloMist, and the HaloFogger, a dry-mist delivery system.

“We pioneered the technology,” Ungermann says. Gaining the proper EPA registrations to make efficacy claims took time and patience. 

Halosil worked with an independent, certified testing lab to establish protocols for EPA approval. By 2011, alpha testing and third-party lab testing had determined that the disinfectant — delivered via a dry fog method — was effective against Clostridioides difficile spores. 

C. diff, a bacterium, can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. “It’s very difficult to kill,” Ungermann notes. The infection is on the rise. Each year, nearly a half a million people develop C. diff.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control, to claim efficacy against C. diff, a product must kill 99.9999% of spores. Even a modicum of live spores on surfaces can cause infection. 

On the opposite end of the disinfectant spectrum are enveloped viruses, such as Avian Influenza A (HSN1) and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. These viruses are most susceptible to disinfectants.  

HaloMist is now listed on the EPA’s List N for products with emerging pathogen and human coronavirus claims for use against SARS-CoV-2.

The Complete Package

Halosil received the EPA registration for whole room-surface disinfection in 2013. One fogger can handle up to 10,500 cubic feet. If you use multiple foggers, however, you can increase that capacity. Rooms must be sealed and unoccupied. 

The machines, which have digital timers, are made to Halosil’s specifications at a Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, factory. A “dosing” pump delivers the exact amount of disinfectant needed to kill the pathogens. “There’s no guesswork,” StClair says.

Halosil offers three models. One stays in the room throughout the treatment. The second has a nozzle that snakes into the room while the machine remains in the hall. When the process is complete, release the nozzle, move the fogger to another space and attach it to a second nozzle. “You can fog multiple spaces very quickly,” StClair says.

The third unit, designed for small spaces, is currently being used in Delaware correctional facilities, courthouse spaces and first responder vehicles. 

The HaloMist disinfectant has a two-year shelf life, which means users can store it for an emergency event.

Ramping Up Production

Halosil already had a steady list of clients before the pandemic hit. In February, the company made the news for upping its shipments to China, the source of the novel coronavirus. Once the virus hit American shores, the calls poured in.

Halosil does not sell to consumers, and a website landing page makes that clear.  Customers have long included life science facilities, hospitals, nursing homes and labs. Recently, the number of hospital sales has increased.

“They realize that they need a sporicidal kill in the whole room,” StClair says. “It’s not just spray-and-wipe. It’s not just UV — which does not achieve a sporicidal kill in the whole room.”

 Since the pandemic hit, 60 percent of inquiries concern public and private buildings. In the past, schools primarily used Halosil’s products in gyms and locker rooms. Now they want to fog classrooms, bathrooms and dorms, StClair says.

Rapid transit systems in Dallas, Chicago and Boston are also using the system, as are ambulances. “It’s perfect for emergency vehicles,” she says. 

“We’re doing everything we can to increase our capacity,” StClair says. Having a manufacturing facility in the United States has helped. So has Delaware’s location near major transportation arteries. About 30% of the sales are to overseas clients.

“It’s very easy to ship from here,” she says. “We have access to air shipment in Philadelphia, and since we’re on the I-95 corridor, it’s easy to get the products to Miami and then on to Latin American and the Caribbean.”

A longtime Delaware resident, StClair says that when she calls on Delaware economic organizations for help, they get back to her. “You get answers. Delaware has always been supportive.” 

She gives credit to Beth Pomper, director of international business development for Export Delaware, an initiative of the Delaware Dept. of State, and Jim Jones, a lean enterprise specialist with the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

During the pandemic, it’s been common for the Halosil team to work six or seven days a week to fill orders. The advantages of Halosil’s disinfecting products have clearly gone viral.

Stay Up To Date With Delaware