Author: Delaware Prosperity Partnership

Creating Planet-Friendly Anticorrosives

Written on . Posted in Success Stories.

Sumedh Surwade could have launched his chemical startup SAS Nanotechnologies anywhere, including his native India. He chose Delaware.

When Sumedh Surwade was growing up in India, he rarely left his hometown of Mumbai. But since moving to the United States, he’s lived in multiple places, including Texas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Delaware, however, has been his most extended U.S. address.

“I’ve been here for five years now, and I’m just loving it,” says the Newark resident. Indeed, Surwade likes Delaware so much that in 2017, he founded SAS Nanotechnologies in Wilmington’s Stanton area. SAS stands for “Smart, Advanced, Sustainable.”

The chemical startup is currently developing smart microcapsule technology for various applications, including anticorrosive coatings and biocides.

Delaware’s status as a science-driven hub has made the state an ideal location for the business. But, as he’s learned, there are plenty of other advantages.

Discovering Delaware

Surwade’s route to Delaware started on another continent. As a child, he excelled at math and science, but it wasn’t until he was in middle school that science became a passion. “School projects, such as building a solar farm, got me really excited,” he says.

After earning a bachelor’s degree at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, he headed to the United States, where he earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Texas in Dallas. He then earned a doctorate in chemistry and polymer science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and followed that with postdoctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh.

Initially, the young scientist pictured his future as a university research group leader. But while at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee, he decided to forgo academia and dip his toe into the industry.

In 2015, Surwade took a job at FujiFilm Imaging in New Castle, Delaware, where he developed inks and formulations for inkjet printing applications. At the time, he knew little about the state except the little that he’d gleaned from friends who were University of Delaware graduates. That would soon change.

An Inborn Entrepreneur

While working for Fuji, the innovative chemist grew restless. He had so many product ideas with the potential for commercial applications. Chief among them was a polymer that could inhibit corrosion on heavy metal in structures such as vehicles, bridges and industrial machinery.

He felt the timing was right. “Maybe I should be adventurous early in my career as opposed to later on,” he told himself. “Maybe doing something on my own would be more fun.”

In October 2016, Surwade secured lab space in the Delaware Technology Park, where he worked nights and weekends on his research. By the following fall, he was full-time with SAS Nanotechnologies. While developing the product, he still turns to the University of Delaware for specialty equipment that would be too expensive for him to purchase.

Surwade’s technology focuses on environmentally friendly microcapsules that gradually release an agent to heal damaged areas, such as scratches on metal. The agent can also be intentionally triggered. Similarly, these microcapsules could attack the fungus, mold or bacteria that damage materials such as roofs.

Surwade wasn’t the only one to see the advantages. With the Small Business Development Center’s help, he won a $225,000 National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant and the Emerging Enterprise Center’s Swim with the Sharks Pitch Competition. And those awards were just the beginning for the chemical startup.

Why Delaware?

The funding has been encouraging, but Surwade also has been inspired by the people he has met in Delaware. This includes members of the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (DESCA).

“They had so many small workshops and meetings with former DuPont employees — high-level managers and executives,” he recalls. “They were sitting with me and listening to my ideas. It motivated me. Folks here are willing to help you.”

Delaware is known for being a state where it’s easy to network and discover resources. “You always can find someone who knows a key contact at a company,” Surwade agrees.

Since starting SAS Nanotechnologies, Surwade has watched as even more labs, accelerator programs, forums and resources have become available to startups like his.

“It’s a good time for a chemical startup to come to Delaware,” he says. “It’s an exciting time.”

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biocurie

BioCurie Finds Delaware Ideal for Innovation

Written on . Posted in Success Stories.

Biocurie Aims to Help Biopharmaceutical Companies Get Ingredient Combinations ‘Right The First Time’

Software Startup Finds Delaware Ideal Location for Innovative Business to Thrive

Each year, prior to March Madness or the Super Bowl, data-analytics companies run thousands of simulations and predict which team is most likely to win. Imagine facing a complex business decision where the wrong choice could cost you millions and being able to do something similar with thousands if not millions of data simulations and identify the best option based on that data.

BioCurie, a Wilmington, Delaware-based software startup, is offering biopharmaceutical companies that spend hundreds of millions of dollars and several years developing each cell and gene therapy the ability to “get it right the first time.”

“There are so many variables between ingredients, the order you put them in and the equipment settings. If you tried every permutation, it would be a total crapshoot,” says BioCurie co-founder Irene Rombel, Ph.D., MBA. “You’d never be able to do all the experiments needed to get the optimal solution.”

Rombel says BioCurie’s software “can predict the best process for manufacturing a cell and gene therapy, the ideal recipe for making high-quality product most efficiently and most cost-effectively every time. The bottom of the ‘knowledge pyramid’ is all trial-and-error machine learning where you put in data and it crunches. But when you try to apply that approach to biological problems, inevitably those models underperform because the biology is so nuanced and complex.”

BioCurie was founded in May 2021 by Rombel, a life science industry veteran whose experience spans academia, investing, consulting and the biopharma industry. Co-founder Richard Braatz, Ph.D., a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is a world leader in AI, data analytics and modeling for process development and biomanufacturing. They were joined by an impressive advisory board that includes CompassRed founder Patrick Callahan.

Rombel and Braatz had a chance meeting at a National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing (NIIMBL) conference in July 2021. After a visit to MIT to investigate further, Rombel called Callahan to tell him Braatz was the perfect person to help transform the paradigm of development and manufacturing from an inefficient, labor-intensive and unpredictable state to a data-driven, intelligent and robust state that will enable faster, less costly delivery of safe and effective gene and cell therapies.

“I was involved early on with Irene and think the problem she is focused on is spot-on, transformable and has real potential to change the trajectory of the manufacturing of cell and gene therapies,” says Callahan. “Using the advances in AI on this problem is largely ignored and believe it has huge potential.”

According to Rombel, companies often must wait two or more years to get a slot at a manufacturer.

“Which is ridiculous because patients and shareholders are waiting,” she says. “And every time you have a batch failure or you miss, it’s millions of dollars and several months down the drain. Literally. Our software helps companies de-risk both from a regulatory standpoint and an execution standpoint.”

BioCurie, Rombel says, has created a “scalable model factory” that will use the cloud (SaaS) to send out its optimum “recipes” to client sites all over the world so they can faithfully reproduce the process from Site A to Site B. This will allow BioCurie to provide continuous innovation.

“You want to be able to figure out how to make these life-saving safely, swiftly and at an acceptable cost of goods,” Rombel says. “Figuring out the recipe for a cell and gene therapy is called ‘development.’ Once you have that recipe figured out, actually producing it is called ‘biomanufacturing.’ Our software addresses both parts of that value chain. The status quo today is empirical brute force – basically hit or miss with a lot of misses. And we’re the only company focused on the development and manufacturing part of the equation.”

Rombel said she founded BioCurie in Delaware because Delaware’s business-friendly environment and proximity to biopharma companies make it an ideal place for innovative businesses to thrive.

“We have NIIMBL here,” she says. “North of us in Philadelphia, we have ‘Cellicon Valley’ and the Greater Philadelphia region with all the cell and gene therapy companies. We’ve got all the big pharma just north in New Jersey. The contract manufacturers in cell and gene therapy are in Maryland. We also collaborate with the University of Delaware through one of its grant programs.”

Rombel is a Delaware resident with 20-plus years of relevant experience spanning big pharma (Janssen Pharmaceuticals, J&J), biotech (Spark Therapeutics, a gene therapy leader), consulting (founded Biomedical Intelligence, a life science consulting company), investing (public and private equities) and academia (focused on gene regulation). She’s a first-generation New Zealander, the daughter of Polish immigrants. When Poland was invaded in 1939, her father’s family was shipped off in a cattle car to a Siberian prison camp before they were taken in as refugees by New Zealand.

Evidence of the importance her parents placed on education can be found on two bookshelves of encyclopedias in her home office. Her parents bought them for her when she was 12, even though they were a working-class family and did not even own a car. Around the same time, she was inspired by the Polish Nobel laureate, Marie Curie, to pursue her passion for science.

Since then, she has earned a doctorate in biochemistry and completed stints as a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and UC Davis. She also earned an MBA from Southern Methodist University while serving as a faculty member at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Innovative Biopharma Companies Excel in Delaware

BioCurie has four customer targets for its “new product category”: biopharma companies, contract development and manufacturing, hospitals and academic institutions. Rombel believes “validation through partnerships” will help BioCurie acquire venture capital funding.

“We’ve also applied for an EDGE grant from the State,” she says. “That would be a great win because it would show that Delaware values us and our presence here.”

CompassRed’s Callahan says having a woman-led science and technology success that could grow this industry from the ground would be transformative for Delaware’s innovation community.

“As someone who’s been an entrepreneur in Delaware for most of my life, I would love to see her succeed here as I have,” Callahan says. “With NIIMBL here, there could be a great story that develops that reminds me of the very beginning days of DuPont, Gore and all the other leaders that believed and succeeded.”

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Pedro Moore Delaware venture capital analyst and entrepreneur

Delaware’s Star Venture Capital Analyst

Written on . Posted in Success Stories.

Getting There First in Delaware

pedro moore Delaware entrepreneur

April 13, 2022 – 

Venture Capital Analyst Pedro Moore Likes to Invest in Companies Pre-IPO

The First State provides fertile ground for them.

Pedro Moore developed his business acumen at a young age. The native Delawarean spent summers on his grandfather’s North Carolina farm, where he picked melons and pecans to sell to grocery stores. “That was my first taste of entrepreneurship,” he recalls.

Today, the enterprising Moore is an analyst for Daymond John, an investor on the TV program “Shark Tank.” Moore, a Delaware-based advocate for funding startups, is also starting a venture fund. And he knows both sides of the equation: he’s launched several businesses outside the venture capital world.

Moore, however, is just getting started.

Leveraging Connections

The William Penn High School graduate grew up in New Castle, Delaware. At the University of Delaware, he studied marketing and management. But he founded an entrepreneurship club that was open to all majors, not just business students.

Venture capitalist David Freschman, a prominent Delaware businessman, spoke to club members. The colorful personality was famous in tech circles for starting Early Stage East, a must-do angel venture fair. Moore had always wondered how to invest in a company before it went public, and Freschman was doing just that. The student volunteered to work at the conferences that Freschman organized, and a few years after Moore graduated, he joined Innovation Ventures, which Freschman managed.

Moore, an analyst, meticulously reviewed potential investments. Freschman had plenty of words of wisdom about the process. “He always said that when you are doing due diligence on a company, make sure you collect the facts,” Moore says of his mentor. “Don’t write that something is an amazing product. Write that the product got five-star reviews on Amazon.”

Freschman also told him to “trust but verify.” “Every entrepreneur will say their product or service is amazing,” Moore says. “We will take it at face value, but we are going to verify it as part of our due diligence.”

Moore then became the executive director of the nonprofit Delaware Innovation Fund, which Freschman also started. Both that fund and Innovation Ventures focused on growth and early-stage investment in information technology, software, and business-information services for legal and financial services.

First State Angels, affiliated with the Delaware Innovation Fund, pulled together high net worth investors to fund entrepreneurial ventures.

“The rest is history,” says Moore, who has been creating his own legacy since Freschman died in 2015.

Diversified

Moore is no one-trick pony, and all his endeavors are laced with his entrepreneurial spirit. In 2010, for instance, he helped start the coIN Loft, Delaware’s first coworking space. Moore is also the owner of Bump N Play, the state’s first bubble soccer company. Players encased in plastic bubbles careen safely into each other like human bumper cars. The outfits also add a cardio challenge to the game.

However, his bread and butter is serving as a venture capital analyst for clients such as Wilmington-based True Access Capital.

Moore met Daymond John at one of Freschman’s conferences before the businessman and investor appeared on “Shark Tank.” Freschman offered to do John’s due diligence, and Moore took the lead.

John is now a busy speaker, motivational speaker and, of course, TV personality. He also is one of Moore’s clients. In addition to due diligence, Moore handles deal structures.

Not surprisingly, there is a demand for angel and venture capital funding. But there also is a need for guidance. “A doctor knows how to be a doctor, but he does not know how to invest,” Moore notes. “If he doesn’t have anyone to help him look at a deal, he’ll just hold onto his money. You need someone who can analyze the deals.”

Facing the Future

Next up, Moore is building a venture capital firm, Leverage Us Capital, which will provide flexible capital to women and minority-led companies in the mid-Atlantic region.

Delaware is liberally peppered with such entrepreneurs and startup companies. Consider a female business owner who sells “virgin” hair (chemically unprocessed human hair used for extensions). “She has a nice warehouse in Middletown and a great social media presence,” he says. “We talk about access to capital and how she can double her revenue.”

It is Moore’s goal to see her succeed, along with others who need funding. Because venture capital is a “people business,” Delaware is a good place for it, he says.

“I can’t imagine trying to get a hold of key people in Silicon Valley,” Moore says. “In Delaware, you’re only a few touch points away from a high-profile person. When the state is smaller, you’re closer, and you can reach the right people faster.”

And that, he says, gets the deal sealed that much quicker.

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easy hiring workers Delaware

Greater Ease Hiring Workers in Delaware

Written on . Posted in Press Releases.

Delaware’s Diverse Workforce Helps Businesses With Talent Recruitment

(WILMINGTON, Del.) – Delaware is one of the few states maintaining equilibrium in its workforce as others struggle with hiring workers, according to a new survey released by WalletHub.

In the report “2022’s States Where Employers are Struggling the Most with Hiring,” Delaware ranks among those struggling the least in hiring workers. In the WalletHub study, Delaware ranks second among all the states with easier access to talent and recruitment.

To compile its report, WalletHub compared job openings for the month prior to the survey with the same metric for the previous year. In Delaware, 4.8% of jobs were open in the previous month, compared with 6.23% for 2021.

Much of Delaware’s success results from the exceptional diversity of Delaware’s workforce. Located along the I-95 corridor and convenient to New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Delaware draws from more than 100 nearby universities, medical schools, community colleges and Ivy League institutions

Delaware’s progressive 1981 legislation, the Financial Center Development Act, has helped the state to become a financial services hub, attracting tech and IT talent as well as fintech companies. The state’s 200-plus-year history in chemistry, life sciences and innovation have supported some of the most familiar brand-name companies in science. Delaware has the fourth-highest concentration of employed science, engineering and health PhDs in the U.S.

More recent legislation encourages growing science and tech companies to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Delaware’s business-friendly environment. For example, the recently launched Delaware Lab Space Grant program allows the state to grow even more as a hub for lab-based manufacturing and R&D and the job opportunities they offer.

Delaware also rates high on the livability scale with one of the most affordable and centrally located places on the East Coast. The state also is investing in homegrown talent through state Department of Education career programming and a host of education, training, accreditation, and upskilling programs offered by its many academic and vocational institutions. As a result, Delaware is growing a skilled and highly educated workforce eager to take advantage of the jobs resulting from its growth as a center for science, tech and other business.

###

About Delaware Prosperity Partnership

Delaware Prosperity Partnership leads Delaware’s economic development efforts to attract, grow and retain businesses; to build a stronger entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem; and to support employers in place marketing Delaware to potential employees, highlighting Delaware as a great place to work, live and play through its LiveLoveDelaware website. In partnership with economic development partners throughout the state, the DPP team works with site selectors, executives and developers focused on where to locate or grow a business and helps with reviewing potential sites, cost-of-living analyses and funding opportunities, including available tax credits and incentives. DPP advances a culture of innovation in Delaware, working with innovators and startups to spotlight and celebrate successes and connect them with the resources they need to succeed. DPP and its partnerships throughout Delaware support and advance the missions of companies of all sizes and sectors.

Contact
Susan Coulby
Marketing Communications Manager
Delaware Prosperity Partnership
scoulby@choosedelaware.com
office: 302.576.6582
cell: 302.983.5710
choosedelaware.com

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UOVO Chooses Delaware

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Inspired by Hurricane Sandy, UOVO specializes in the storage of precious artworks and collectibles

The final days of October 2012 wrought havoc on the eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine as Hurricane Sandy moved from Jamaica up the U.S. coast, its post-tropical remnants eventually merging with a nor’easter off the coast of New Jersey and turning west to slam into northern New Jersey and New York City.

The storm inflicted an estimated $78.7 billion in damages along its path, and the flooding of lower Manhattan also dealt a violent blow to the galleries in Chelsea at the center of the city’s contemporary art community, with one art dealer estimating that the losses to the art world would total in the “hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Among those who suddenly realized how vulnerable artwork and priceless collectibles could be in the face of Mother Nature were Steven Guttman, a prominent collector of contemporary art and modern furniture, and fellow collectors Steve Novenstein and Nick Coslov, executives in the self-storage company Storage Deluxe. Novenstein and Coslov had already created an art storage facility in the Bronx as an offshoot of Storage Deluxe when the three recognized a need in the market for safer and more secure art storage on a much larger scale.

From that idea born of tragedy, the three created UOVO, a dedicated art storage and services company that opened its first facility in New York’s Long Island City in 2014. The company has now expanded nationwide and includes a 50,000-square-foot facility in Newark, Delaware.

UOVO, which means “egg” in Italian, does what the name might suggest – protecting delicate and valuable artworks and collectibles for private clients, artists, corporations and museums.

At eight floors and 280,000 square feet, the Long Island City location was the first of its kind, said Andrew Barron, Director of Marketing for UOVO. “It was really remarkable in terms of the architectural ingenuity, the level of detail and the security climate.”

Since then, the company has expanded to include three more facilities in the New York metropolitan area – one in Brooklyn and two in Rockland County – as well as West Palm Beach and Miami in Florida, two facilities in the San Francisco Bay area, and Delaware. Additional facilities in Denver, Colorado, and Dallas, Texas, are forthcoming this year.

For those not plugged into the world of museums and fine art, it might come as a surprise that such a network of storage facilities didn’t already exist. But Barron notes that much of the transport and storage of art previously was handled by traditional moving companies.

“The industry was pretty mom-and-pop and emerged in tandem with the contemporary art world,” he said. “With UOVO, we redefined the industry standard. At our facilities, we have a number of gallery-quality viewing rooms for clients to use for private showings and photoshoots and for conservators to use for conservation work. I would say that, before UOVO, art storage facilities weren’t places anyone went to visit. UOVO really recentered the facility as a space where collectors, museum professionals, gallery registrar advisors and other types of clients want to be.”

The UOVO buildings themselves are distinctive but unassuming, similar to any anonymous but well-designed office building you might see on the edge of a large city or along a stretch of interstate. But what they lack in exterior flash they make up for with amenities, safety and security.

Lobbies and public spaces are designed to be warm and welcoming – more like the lobby of an upscale office building than a warehouse – and some sites include client cafés with cold brew on tap.

“We really invest in the client experience, and we think of our client experience team, along with our account managers, as the face of the brand,” Barron said. “It’s the first interaction a lot of clients have with us.”

Security is discrete but high, and buildings are designed with safety features based on their locations. The south Florida facilities are hardened against flooding and Class 5 hurricanes, while the California sites are designed to withstand earthquakes and wildfires.

UOVO clients can range from private collectors, galleries, large and small museums and art brokers, all of whom can use the UOVO sites in different ways, Barron said. For private collectors, UOVO allows them to rotate art through their homes knowing that what isn’t currently hung is safely stored. Private dealers appreciate the viewing rooms for showing works to clients, especially if the dealers don’t maintain their own brick-and-mortar galleries. Those traditional galleries, meanwhile, can use UOVO as a space to display works outside of their exhibition schedule for a potential buyer.

On the surface, UOVO’s decision to add a storage facility in Delaware might seem incongruous, but Barron said it makes perfect sense for the type of clients UOVO serves.

“Specifically thinking about New York and south Florida, as we expanded beyond the New York metro region, we thought about the different points of connectivity that matter most to our clients,” he said. “And we hadn’t had a way to service those clients, specifically institutional clients, who are based closer to Delaware, whether it’s Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., or Baltimore. So having the Delaware facility creates a space between New York and Florida and really gives us that network all along the eastern seaboard.”

And as Delawareans know, there’s no shortage of museums, historic homes and estates, and private collectors in the First State. Barron said UOVO’s presence will provide the resources to these clients that might have previously been out of reach.

“We accommodate all kinds of clients. In looking at institutional clients, we service world renowned museums and also small, local museums who are really community-based and -focused but who also have logistics or storage needs,” Barron said. “So certainly, it’s about servicing local enterprises as much as it is about being a point of connectivity for our national network.”

In coming to Delaware, Barron said the partnerships it formed through the Delaware Prosperity Partnership eased its entry into the First State. UOVO has since returned the favor by embarking on a five-year partnership with the University of Delaware’s Museum Studies program. Called Collections Aid, the program allows graduate students to get hands-on collection management experience at local museums and archives.

“It also helps these smaller institutions that maybe don’t have in-house staff members to do some of the work they need,” he said. “It’s a win-win for the community.”

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Resilience & Innovation: Year in Review 2021

Written on . Posted in Success Stories.

Resilience & Innovation: Year in Review 2021

April 8, 2022 – 

Resilience & Innovation: Year in Review 2021 is DPP’s third annual report. For a snapshot of the DPP team’s accomplishments, please click on the image to view a flipbook. Comments or questions? We want to hear from you — please email scoulby@choosedelaware.com

To download a PDF copy of the Report, please click this link: Resilience & Innovation: Year in Review 2021 (PDF).

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Incyte biotech company Delaware

Big Fish or Small, Delaware Has Your Back

Written on . Posted in In the News.

Big Fish or Small, Delaware Has Your Back

7 April, 2022  | SITE SELECTION MAGAZINE

More than 1,000 people work at the Wilmington headquarters of Incyte, a global biopharmaceutical company with more than 2,000 employees, specializing in drug discovery in the fields of oncology and dermatology, among others. That’s a big fish in the pond that is Delaware’s growing biotech sector, and it’s getting bigger. Plans to expand its corporate campus with a building for chemistry, technical and development operations staff were nearly sidelined by the pandemic in 2020. But the company has been occupying the building since January, thanks to an assist from Governor John Carney, who like other state officials wants to keep all the state’s industry ponds stocked.

“The project finished early,” says Paula Swain, Incyte’s executive vice president of human resources. “During construction, it was very helpful to us that the governor allowed building to continue. We were able to safely operate that site without delays. People were working in space that was leased until March, and they would have had no space beyond that.

Also,” adds Swain, “had we halted construction, all the people working on the building would have been without jobs. Having access to the governor and explaining how important this was helped us finish the building when we needed it finished.”

With its roots in Palo Alto, California, recruiting East Coast scientific talent from Delaware and its proximity to biotech hubs in neighboring states was the way to go. “Delaware is becoming more of a biotech haven, and the cost of living is far lower than Palo Alto,” notes Swain. Once the state was chosen, public officials sprang into action. “Senator [Tom] Carper was instrumental in helping us secure space initially and encouraging access to our delegation, local leaders and representatives to have good dialogues with them. This isn’t typical in most states. You can know these people on a personal level. It gives companies a tremendous advantage. They are very helpful when you want to grow and expand.”

“Because of Delaware’s size, it’s easier to get things done, and state officials work with you long after the operation is set up.”

— Paula Swain, Executive Vice President, Human Resources, Incyte

First Impressions Matter

Adjacent states were considered before Incyte picked Delaware, says Swain.

“To be honest, we were small fish to them,” she relates. “The sense was we could locate there if we wanted to, but they didn’t have much in the way of incentives we needed at the time. Delaware in the early days provided hiring incentives and helped with capital in the beginning. We don’t need that support today, but as a small startup we did. Delaware made us feel wanted and that they would help us be successful in the state. The other states did not. We weren’t a big enough player. Delaware was excited about the prospect of our locating and growing here.”

Wilmington’s location gives Incyte employees many options when it comes to where to live. Swain says a number of younger workers prefer the urban vibe the Philadelphia area affords. Young families tend to reside in Delaware’s smaller communities. Others commute from Princeton, New Jersey, and many other locations. Those living in Delaware know the state’s tax climate is a strong motivator for doing so. It has no statewide sales tax, and it has the sixth-lowest property tax burden in the United States, according to a recent report from WalletHub. That allows for three-quarters of the state’s households to own their own home.

“Because of Delaware’s size, it’s easier to get things done,” says Swain, “and state officials work with you long after the operation is set up. For our new building ribbon cutting, for example, they coordinated their calendars to find a date when our two senators, our state representative and others could be here live to talk to our employees about what Incyte means to them. We get incredible support from the state.” 

This Investment Profile was prepared under the auspices of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership. For more information visit choosedelaware.com or call (302) 244-5785.

This article was originally posted in Site Selection Magazine at: https://siteselection.com/issues/2022/mar/big-fish-or-small-delaware-has-your-back.cfm

Kurt Foreman

PRESIDENT & CEO

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hvac industry 3rd generation design

AirGreen’s Innovative Tech in HVAC Industry

Written on . Posted in Success Stories.

So Cool, They’re Hot

hvac industry 3rd generation design

March 31, 2022 –

HVAC Industry Air Conditioning Innovators AirGreen Ready to Grow in 2022

“Innovation” and “growth” aren’t two words you’d expect to be associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. But while much of the working world either scaled back or went remote, New Castle, Delaware-based AirGreen was ramping up.

AirGreen, which manufactures an innovative twist on the concept of air conditioning, had just completed its Series A round of financing in January 2019, pitching its cheaper and more efficient process to businesses, hospitals, schools and indoor growers.

Since then, the HVAC manufacturing company has blossomed, finalizing the commercialization of its third-generation technology after demonstrating its benefits in two-year, 24/7 operations across a variety of applications. The company also earned Intertek/UL safety certifications and expanded its team with a full-time sales professional with deep expertise in the HVAC industry, an additional project engineer, and a full-time skilled fabricator/shop manager.

During the same time, AirGreen saw the installation of its new technology at a large indoor cannabis growing facility and exhibited at the AHR conference, the largest HVAC conference in North America, ranking among the top 2% in exhibitor engagement by participants.

“Our system eliminates humidity at an energy-use footprint that is a fraction of traditional mechanical cooling systems,” said CEO John Hammond.

The High Price of Cool

Anyone who’s ever sweltered through a long July day with only open windows to cool them can attest to the value of modern air conditioning.

But energy experts and building managers will tell you the cost of those comfortably cool businesses and homes is significant. Air conditioners – most of which are based on the mechanical refrigeration concept developed by Willis Carrier in the early 1900s – use about 6% of all energy produced in the United States at a cost to homeowners of about $29 billion.

Billions more are spent by businesses to cool office spaces and by the U.S. military to cool military housing in desert climates. Meanwhile, the electricity used to power the world’s air conditioning results in the production of tons of greenhouse gases.

A New Concept for the HVAC Industry

But AirGreen has been working diligently since 2013 to turn the A/C business on its head, leveraging new technology that’s cheaper and cleaner than traditional mechanical refrigeration.

AirGreen’s technology uses a closed-loop liquid desiccant system to remove moisture from the air in multiple stages while simultaneously cooling the air. The result is conditioned air that averages around 60 or 65 degrees and 40% to 50% humidity. In addition, the AirGreen system cleans the air along with cooling it, capturing and neutralizing airborne pathogens like molds, bacteria, and viruses, including COVID-19, creating an environment that’s both comfortable and healthy.

“The thing with dehumidifying using traditional systems is that it’s inefficient,” Hammond said. “In order to get the moisture out of the air, you have to cool it down to the dew point. Then, in a lot of cases you have to reheat the air before it goes back into the building.”

With the AirGreen system, Hammond estimates energy savings of 50% to 60% over traditional systems because it strips out humidity chemically and doesn’t require such significant cooling.

A Cooler Way to Grow

Hammond notes that it’s those factors that make the AirGreen system perfect for high-humidity conditions like indoor growing.

“If you’re growing things indoors, you water the plants, the plants transpire moisture into the atmosphere. And if you want your plants to grow, then you’ve got to strip moisture out of the air,” he said. “Because if the air becomes saturated, the plants’ growth slows considerably.”

Indoor growing is also a huge source of energy consumption, he notes, with the U.S. Department of Energy projecting that by 2030, the amount of energy used by indoor growing operations just for legalized cannabis will be equivalent to that of data centers or electric car charging.

“So, the ability to dehumidify in an efficient way with a low energy footprint that improves indoor air quality, we think that’s really where it’s at,” Hammond said. “And we’ve been working very hard to mature the technology and get it into the market.”

Other markets include data centers, indoor recreation facilities, indoor pools, chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and cold storage, as well as warmer-climate countries with growing middle classes where as many as 3.4 billion new AC units could be installed, he said. With traditional air conditioning, the increased energy use could cancel out any prior attempts at limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

A Productive Pandemic Perfects Innovative Tech

Hammond said when the U.S. went into COVID protocols in March of 2020, he sent his team home for three weeks. “But we couldn’t do what we do with everyone sitting at home. We have to build equipment. We have to test it. We have to do the design work together,” he said. “So, we did all the right things in terms of social distancing and masking and didn’t lay anyone off. We just went to work.”

Because many other businesses shut down for longer, AirGreen had a chance to perfect its technology and catch up, he said. The support of organizations like Delaware Prosperity Partnership, whose collaborative work typify how business is conducted throughout Delaware, definitely helped.

“I think they’re much more entrepreneurial, and in turn, that makes it fit a lot more with entrepreneurial companies and industries that are trying to grow in this area,” Hammond said. “And if you need to call someone and say, ‘Hey I’ve got this issue. I’m wondering if you might know someone who might have some advice,’ it really is small, business-friendly, and you can get people to answer.”

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Delaware site readiness funding

Site Readiness Projects Funded

Written on . Posted in In the News.

Council on Development Finance Approves Eight Site Readiness Fund Project Applications Totaling $6.2 million

March 28, 2022 – 

(NEW CASTLE, Del.) – On Monday, the Council on Development Finance (CDF) approved eight Site Readiness Fund project applications totaling $6.2 million. The projects are located throughout the state with three each in New Castle County and Kent County and two in Sussex County.

Established through Senate Bill 127, the Site Readiness Fund promotes economic growth and stability by investing in the development or improvement of commercial and industrial sites to attract job-creating businesses.

“The Site Readiness Fund was created to help fund development or redevelopment of commercial and industrial sites across Delaware to spur economic growth and new business investment. With the funding approved today, these properties can be quickly converted to meet the needs of employers who will create quality jobs for Delawareans,” said Governor John Carney.

“By investing in these projects, we can ensure that Delaware remains competitive in attracting and retaining vital businesses that create opportunities for employment,” said Jordan Schulties, Director of the Division of Small Business. “In today’s competitive economy, it is more important than ever that we have tools like the Site Readiness Fund to help expand and sustain economic growth in our state.”

“The Site Readiness Fund allows us to be proactive in developing a ready supply of sites available to companies who choose to locate or expand in Delaware,” said Kurt Foreman, President and CEO of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership. “We are excited to see the projects receiving funding today develop over the coming months and look forward to the new jobs they will bring to Delaware.”

The Site Readiness Fund provides grants, loans or other economic assistance to qualified businesses or local governments that invest in constructing, renovating or improving commercial, and industrial sites that are readily available to new businesses, established businesses that are considering moving to the state, or existing businesses within the state that need additional sites to remain or expand in Delaware.

The FY 2022 Bond Bill included $10 million to support the Site Readiness Fund. This is the first round of funding for the program.

The project applications approved for funding by the CDF on Monday include:

  • $1 million to the Chestnut Run Innovation and Science Park partners to modernize campus infrastructure of the Chestnut Run Innovation and Science Park, which was designed to combine research, advanced manufacturing operations and business incubation while cultivating relationships with local universities. Funding will be used to improve site lighting and utilities, paving and concrete, and for selective building demolition.
  • $1 million to the City of Harrington for proposed redevelopment of an industrial park on three properties on U.S. Route 13 totaling 131 acres. Funding will be used for engineering and planning of the project and roadway and utility work.
  • $1 million to Drawbridge Claymont to support the development of an industrial site on 58 acres at 6300 Philadelphia Pike in Claymont. Funding will be used for demolition and engineering services.
  • $1 million to E & D Holdings to support continued development of the Wyoming Business Center at 140 and 146 Southern Boulevard in Wyoming. Funding will be used to prepare the site, install infrastructure and utilities, and construct two new warehouse buildings.
  • $1 million to Martin Property Development to support development of 112,000 square feet of flexible industrial warehouse space on 10.9 acres of commercial property in the Frankford Business Park. Funding will be used for civil engineering, earthwork, sitework, and utilities.
  • $1 million to Sussex County to create new shovel-ready sites at the Delaware Coastal Business Park near Georgetown. Funding will be used for road improvements, utilities, and supporting infrastructure.
  • $100,000 to the City of Milford to support planning for the development of an industrial/business park on a recently purchased 182-acre lot on Milford Harrington Highway. Funding will be used to develop a master plan, conduct a traffic impact study, and complete engineering design.
  • $100,000 to Shanlan Corporation to support planning for the development of the St. Georges Logistics Center at 1870 Dupont Parkway in Middletown, which is conceptually designed to include three buildings totaling more than 2.5 million square feet of warehouse facilities. Funding will be used for engineering fees and transition surveying.

Three additional Site Readiness Fund project applications requesting a total of $3 million will be considered at the next CDF meeting on April 25. If those projects are approved, the first round of Site Readiness funding will support 11 projects at a total of $9.2 million.

This article was originally posted on the Delaware Division of Small Business website at: https://news.delaware.gov/2022/03/28/council-on-development-finance-approves-eight-site-readiness-fund-projects-totaling-6-2-million/

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best health system to work

Forbes: ChristianaCare One of the Best

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Forbes: ChristianaCare One of the Best Health Systems to Work in the US

15 March 2022 | ChrisitanaCare News

best health system to work

(WILMINGTON, Del.) For the second consecutive year, Forbes magazine has ranked ChristianaCare as one of the best large health systems to work for in the United States.

ChristianaCare ranked as the 29th best health system overall, within Forbes’ list of the 500 best large employers in the United States.

ChristianaCare was the only health system in Delaware to make Forbes’ list.

“At ChristianaCare, we anticipate the needs of others, help with compassion and generosity, and show respect to everyone,” said Neil Jasani, M.D., MBA, FACEP, chief people officer at ChristianaCare. “These values and behaviors start with our workforce, as we create a supportive environment that enables our caregivers to find joy in their work and provide consistently excellent care to everyone we serve.”

While the pandemic has taken a significant toll on the health care workforce nationally, ChristianaCare has been recognized for its success in supporting its caregivers.

The American Medical Association recently recognized ChristianaCare with the highest honor in its Joy in Medicine program, which recognizes health systems that demonstrate a commitment to preserving the wellbeing of health care team members by engaging in proven efforts to combat work-related stress and burnout. This work has been largely driven by ChristianaCare’s innovative Center for WorkLife Wellbeing, which was founded in 2016 to tackle the growing national problem of burnout in health care and help caregivers to reconnect with joy and meaning in their work.

All employees at ChristianaCare are referred to as “caregivers.”

Other highlights of how ChristianaCare creates a great place to work include:

  • Benefits that include medical, dental and vision coverage, as well as a wellness incentive program and free healthy lifestyle coaching and care management, as well as access to ChristianaCare’s innovative and always-on virtual primary care, which makes health care options for busy caregivers more convenient than ever.
  • Twelve weeks of paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child.
  • An organizational commitment to anti-racism and a robust Inclusion and Diversity program that includes 10 employee resource groups (ERGs). Forbes ranks ChristianaCare as the No. 1 overall employer for diversity and inclusion in Delaware and No. 14 among U.S. health systems nationwide.
  • A caregiver recognition program that supports a culture of gratitude and rewards caregivers who exemplify the core values of ChristianaCare.
  • Care@Work, which provides backup care services when working families are faced with a disruption in regular childcare or other dependent care coverage.
  • Free medical plan option for caregivers under certain income thresholds.
  • Competitive pay at all levels. ChristianaCare was the first health system in Delaware to adopt a $15 minimum wage, in 2018.

To create the list of America’s Best Large Employers, Forbes partnered with the market research firm Statista, which surveyed 60,000 Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. All responses were anonymous.

Using a scale of zero to 10, the respondents rated how likely they were to recommend their employer to others. The participants also nominated organizations other than their own.

The final ranking features companies with the most recommendations.

About ChristianaCare

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, ChristianaCare is one of the country’s most dynamic health care organizations, centered on improving health outcomes, making high-quality care more accessible and lowering health care costs. ChristianaCare includes an extensive network of primary care and outpatient services, home health care, urgent care centers, three hospitals (1,299 beds), a freestanding emergency department, a Level I trauma center and a Level III neonatal intensive care unit, a comprehensive stroke center and regional centers of excellence in heart and vascular care, cancer care and women’s health. It also includes the pioneering Gene Editing Institute.

ChristianaCare is nationally recognized as a great place to work, rated by Forbes as one of the best health systems to work for in the United States and by IDG Computerworld as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work in IT. ChristianaCare is rated by HealthGrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals and continually ranked among the nation’s best by Newsweek and other national quality ratings. ChristianaCare is a nonprofit teaching health system with more than 260 residents and fellows. With its groundbreaking Center for Virtual Health and a focus on population health and value-based care, ChristianaCare is shaping the future of health care.

Kurt Foreman

PRESIDENT & CEO

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Delaware hosting BMW Championships 2022

Delaware Hosting PGA TOUR’s BMW Championship

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Wilmington Country Club to Host 2022 BMW Championship

Delaware hosting BMW Championships 2022

March 11, 2022 – 

The PGA TOUR, Western Golf Association and Wilmington Country Club officials announced today the 2022 BMW Championship will be played on the South Course at Wilmington Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware. While official dates have not been announced, the event is scheduled to be held in late August of 2022.

“We’re thrilled to be taking the BMW Championship to Wilmington Country Club, one of the finest clubs anywhere in the United States,” said Vince Pellegrino, WGA Senior Vice President of Tournaments. “The South Course has everything you look for in a traditional championship layout. It will present a strategic test for the world’s best players and a perfect venue for fans and PGA TOUR partners.”

The 2022 event will mark the first time the PGA TOUR has played an event in Delaware, and it will be the third time since 2018 that the BMW Championship has been held on the East Coast. The 2021 BMW Championship was held at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, hosted the 2018 BMW Championship.

“It is a great honor for Wilmington Country Club to be the first club in the state of Delaware to play host to the PGA TOUR, and to the prestigious BMW Championship,” Club President Gary Ferguson said. “The passion that fans in this area have for golf is unmatched, and they will enjoy the opportunity to watch the best players in the world compete on this spectacular and challenging golf course.”

Wilmington Country Club was established in 1901, with its original 18 holes covering 135 acres. The club relocated in the 1950s, bringing in renowned golf course architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. to design the South Course, which opened in 1959. Playing over 7,500 yards from the championship tees, the South Course has been recognized as one of the United States’ best golf courses by Golf Digest.

While this will be Wilmington Country Club’s first professional event, the club has long been a proving ground for the world’s best amateur players. After hosting the 1913 U.S. Women’s Amateur on what is now known as the “Old Course,” Wilmington has hosted five other USGA events, including the 1965 and 1978 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 1971 U.S. Amateur, the 1978 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 2003 U.S. Mid-Amateur. The club also hosted the 2013 Palmer Cup competition between Europe and a United States team that featured 2019 BMW Championship winner Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Patrick Rodgers.

The club and its membership have a deep commitment to the state of Delaware.

“Delaware is excited to host the 2022 BMW Championship,” said Governor John Carney. “The First State has a long and proud golf history and is ideally positioned to support one of golf’s great championships. Not only will the BMW Championship enhance the local economy, it will showcase a wonderful course and dynamic community to a global audience.”

“We are thrilled the Wilmington Country Club in New Castle County has been selected as the site for the 2022 BMW Championship,” said New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer. “New Castle County has a historic relationship with professional golf, including being the home to the LPGA Tour’s McDonald’s Championship for nearly a decade. We’re excited to welcome back professional golf to one of the premier golf locations on the East Coast.”

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki added: “I join with all members of our community to welcome the BMW Championship to Wilmington Country Club. This event will attract many to our city who will be able to enjoy our terrific restaurants and fine hotels in addition to watching the greatest golfers in the world compete for one of the PGA TOUR’s most coveted titles.”

In addition to having an estimated $30 million economic impact on the Wilmington area, the 2022 BMW Championship is expected to play a vital philanthropic role by introducing more golfers and fans on the East Coast to the Evans Scholars Foundation and its mission of awarding full tuition and housing college scholarships to deserving youth caddies.

“We are proud of our collaboration with the Western Golf Association and of the support that we’ve been able to provide to the Evans Scholars Foundation,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “As the title sponsor of this tournament for the past 14 years, together we have helped to send over 3,000 young students to college to pursue their dreams.”

All proceeds from the BMW Championship benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation. Since 2007, the event has raised more than $35 million for Evans Scholarships. Two caddies have earned Evans Scholarships from Wilmington Country Club – Owen Griffin graduated from the University of Illinois in 1983, and Dan Walsh currently is a junior at Penn State University.

WGA President and CEO John Kaczkowski noted that “the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club will give us an opportunity to show a new market the power of the Evans Scholars Program. This is a critical step in our efforts to expand from coast to coast and reach more deserving young caddies.”

The BMW Championship features the top 70 PGA TOUR players vying to earn one of 30 spots in the season-ending TOUR Championship and the chance to be crowned FedExCup champion. Past BMW Championship winners include Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods.

This content for this article was sourced through the BMW Championship website at: https://bmwchampionship.com/news/wilmington-country-club-to-host-2022-bmw-championship

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Chris Kelly Joins DPP as Senior Economic Researcher

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Chris Kelly Joins DPP as Senior Economic Researcher

March 9, 2022 – 

Chris Kelly, a former associate policy scientist, has joined Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) as its new senior economic researcher.

Kelly previously worked for the University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration, where he was responsible for numerous research projects to support a range of needs for government officials and other key stakeholders in the community.

Prior to his tenure with the University of Delaware, he served as a legislative fellow with the Delaware General Assembly. In that role, he conducted in-depth, non-partisan research to inform decision-making and development of legislation for the State of Delaware.

Kelly will be headquartered in his city of residence – Dover, Delaware – with frequent travel throughout the state, including DPP’s headquarters at The Mill in Wilmington. As DPP’s senior economic researcher, Kelly heads the public/private partnership’s research and business intelligence functions to ensure that the DPP team and its statewide partners have the market and industry information they need about key economic issues to promote prosperity and economic well-being for all Delawareans. He also provides companies considering locating or expanding in Delaware and the site consultants assisting those companies with data and information about the state’s workforce, industry trends, sites and properties, business environment and incentives.

DPP leads Delaware’s economic development efforts to attract, grow and retain businesses; to build a stronger entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem; and to support employers in place marketing Delaware to potential employees, highlighting Delaware as a great place to work, live and play through its LiveLoveDelaware.com website. In partnership with economic development partners throughout the state, the DPP team works with site selectors, executives and developers focused on where to locate or grow a business and helps with reviewing potential sites, cost-of-living analyses and funding opportunities, including available tax credits and incentives. DPP advances a culture of innovation in Delaware, working with innovators and startups to spotlight and celebrate successes and connect them with the resources they need to succeed. DPP and its partnerships throughout Delaware support and advance the missions of companies of all sizes and sectors.

Kelly holds a Master of Public Administration degree from University of Delaware. In his free time, he enjoys visiting restaurants and parks throughout Delaware with his family.

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