The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce presented Joseph G. DiPinto, with the Dick DiSabatino Award on Monday at its 182ndAnnual Dinner.
The event, held at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, was attended by nearly 1,000 elected officials and business and community leaders.
The award, named for former DSCC Chairman the late Richard DiSabatino Sr., was established in the mid-90s to recognize individuals making significant contributions to shape opinion and public policy in the state of Delaware. The honor was last presented in 2013 to the late John H. Taylor Jr., executive director of the Delaware Public Policy Institute (DPPI).
DiPinto served for 20 years as a Delaware State Representative. He chaired the Housing and Community Affairs, Appropriation Committees and was the co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee for eight years. Prior to that, he was on the Wilmington City Council for over a decade. He was appointed Director of Wilmington’s Office of Economic Development by Mayor James M. Baker in 2006.
Former Delaware Representative Roger Roy presented the award. “The winner is a man with a strong intellect and a healthy sense of humor. He is a Republican that didn’t just talk about bi-partisan cooperation, he lived it. He was never shy about expressing his own ideas and opinions, but he was always open to the ideas and opinions of others as well. He always looked for ways to work toward a cooperative solution,” said Roy.
A Delaware native, DiPinto was employed by the DuPont Company for 36 years after earning his Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. He is involved with many community and nonprofit organizations, including but not limited to, Delaware Commission on Italian Heritage and Culture, Riverfront Development Commission, Delaware Science and Technology Commission, St. Francis Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Ministry of Caring and WHYY.
