The 2016 Delaware Economic Summit will bring together business leaders from around the state for two days of open discussion revolving around four themes: Entrepreneurship, Education, the Economy, and the 2016 Wilmington Mayoral Election.
Four sessions and two keynote lunches will take place on Wednesday, April 20 and Thursday, April 21 at World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington. Two keynote lunches will begin each day.
Click here to register for the entire summit or for selected events
Speakers are:
Alex Pires, the lawyer who represented minority farmers in class-action discrimination cases against the federal government, the banker who founded Community Bank Delaware, and the businessman who is a partner at Highway One LLC with properties including the Bottle & Cork and Rusty Rudder in Dewey Beach, speaks at lunch on Wednesday.
Anthony Wedo, the turnaround specialist who now serves as CEO of Premier Restaurant Group, is a member of the Board of Directors of several companies and non-profit organizations including the Armed Services YMCA, and has twice appeared on “Undercover Boss” on CBS, speaks on Thursday.
Two panel discussions will follow lunch on both Wednesday and Thursday:
- Entrepreneurship: How to Succeed from Start Up to the Far Horizon, featuring Mark Aitken, co-owner and senior vice president of Horizon Services; Steve Masterson, co-founder of Waste Masters Solutions; and Mac Nagaswami, founder and CEO of Carvertise.
- Education: Reconstructing the Building Blocks of Education, featuring D. Dusty Blakey, superintendent of the Colonial School District; D. Sandra Hall, 2016 Delaware Teacher of the Year; and Tony Allen, head of Corporate Communications for Bank of America’s Consumer Banking and Business Banking divisions.
- Economy: Risks and Rewards for Business as Delaware Goes Gray, featuring Ciro Poppiti, New Castle County Register of Wills and candidate for Lieutenant Governor; Ed Ratledge, director of the Center for Applied Demography and Survey Research at the University of Delaware; and Dace J. Blaskovitz, a Delaware Valley and national investment and financial counselor,
- Election: Wilmington Mayoral Candidate Forum: Business in the City, in which all six challengers for the mayor’s office – Theo Gregory, City Council president; Norman Griffiths and Kevin F. Kelley Sr., both former City Council members; state Sen. Robert Marshall, D-Wilmington; Mike Purzycki, executive director of the Riverfront Development Corp.; and Eugene Young, advocacy director at the Delaware Center for Justice – will answer questions directly from the business community. Current Mayor Dennis Williams has another commitment.
