I remember a conversation many years ago when a candidate for County Executive said he would bring a better business climate to New Castle County.
Chris Coons went on to become executive and U.S. Senator. He made some headway in that area after passage of the Uniform Development Code left the county with the reputation in development circles of being closed for business.
Under Sen. Coon’s predecessor and now successor Tom Gordon, the county has rolled out some economic development ideas, the latest being an expansion of the Port of Wilmington.
Still, a serious challenge exists, due to the decision by the University of Delaware to terminate the lease for the Data Centers project and the intense opposition that helped lead to that decision.
Up and down the East Coast, economic development officials will be downloading stories and targeting prospective and existing companies. At this point, Newark and New Castle County are in poor shape when it comes to dealing with the situation. While the Delaware Economic Development Office has resources in place, New Castle County has no full-fledged economic development office and Newark is a small city.
A New Castle County Economic Development Council exists, but operates with limited resources.
Often, companies are more comfortable dealing with local governmental entities or private groups operating with some government support.
It is time to discuss an economic development strategy that involves input from all parties, including the Data Center opponents if they indeed care about economic opportunities for all.
Only then can a full-scale effort to bring blue collar and other jobs to this area gain any traction.
