​by James DeChene

On September 20th, from 8-11 at Alfred I. duPont Hospital For Children, the State Chamber and its Health Care Committee, will be holding an event focused on what employers need to know about opioid abuse in the workplace.

Separate from medical need, this event will focus on the dramatic increase of abuse and how it impacts a business, what resources are available for employers to help employees and/or their families seek help and what other options are available aside from simply firing an employee.

Recently, in Huntington, WV 26 people overdosed in just under 4 hours, cutting across a wide swath of the population with no bias against race or social or economic standing.  This epidemic can impact anyone, and it is important to know how best to deal with its impact.

The event speakers will be:
Carla Markell
First Lady of Delaware (Invited)
Dr. Terry Horton, M.D, FACP
Chief of Christiana Care’s Division of Addiction
Michael Barbieri
Director, Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Delaware Department of Health and Social Services
The Honorable Eric Davis
Superior Court Judge
Steve Mockbee
Founder & Chairman, Bancroft Construction
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To register, visit: http://www.dscc.com/events/eventdetail.aspx?EventID=1860

by James DeChene

August 20th is the deadline for those who wish to vote in Delaware primary elections to be held on September 13th.  In addition to being able to register at DMV or at your local library, the easiest way is online: ivote.de.gov.  There are a number of races featuring primaries this year, all candidates for which can be viewed in the PDF linked below.

DE 2016 Primary Election Candidates

​by James DeChene

Although the dog days of summer are upon us, there have been some items of interest the last few weeks.
The decision by PJM to review the Artificial Island project for both scope and cost was welcome news. Faced with political and public relations backlash, along with a pending FERC plan review, it was a wise move by PJM to step back and reevaluate. We are hopeful come February 2017 there will be a better, more fairly equitable, plan put forward.

Conversely in unwelcome news, abandoned property was in the headlines again–this time with the State settling the Temple-Inland case, with further potential ramifications on the horizon. We now wait and see how many companies currently under audit choose not to settle, or how many who have settled under a flawed system, choose to attempt to sue to recoup money given to the state. In addition, there’s the remaining contracted years with Kelmar Associates, the auditing firm behind the huge uptick in revenue these last few years, and the pending case at the Supreme Court brought by 21 states challenging Delaware’s escheat process. The state faces a significant reduction in revenues next year as a result, with no clear path to replace them.
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And finally, Delaware’s Chancery Court was in the news related to TransPerfect and the decision to prepare the company for sale. It’s important to note that the Court, and the corporate bar community, have been the gold standard for corporate law for decades, making Delaware internationally known, and respected, as a result. It’s always news when a controversial case is decided, and the hubbub surrounding this decision is no different. It bears remembering, however, that shareholder disputes are settled all the time.
All in all, a fairly exciting few weeks for summertime.

​by Mark DiMaio

Fantastic work by Delaware Economic Development Office, City of Wilmington and many others in securing Chemours as a Delaware headquartered company. It was no small feat, keeping the approximately 800 jobs in Wilmington. By some estimations, losing Chemours could have resulted in losing over 3,400 direct and indirect jobs and over $550 million dollars in revenue. This is more than a symbolic win for Delaware, it demonstrates that our state can and does compete at a regional level. A key factor in landing Chemours was the passage of the Delaware Competes Act, which modernized Delaware’s corporate income tax code to be competitive not only with surrounding states but nationally. The General Assembly swiftly passed the legislation, demonstrating not only to Chemours but to the business community that Delaware can make policy changes to keep the state competitive.
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But there’s more to be done. The reality is that there may not be another economic “silver bullet” to provide a springboard for economic prosperity. Time and time again, Delaware has demonstrated that it will successfully react to a crisis business situation by bringing public and private sector stakeholders together and making necessary legislative or regulatory changes. The state should be commended for these yeoman efforts. But has the time finally come to formalize these ad-hoc efforts and establish a public-private economic development organization? Many states have already implemented these economic development tools. Recently, the Delaware Business Roundtable (DBRT) published the Delaware Growth Agenda and a key framework component is establishing a public-private economic development organization responsible for crafting a new comprehensive statewide economic development strategic plan with a marketing campaign that pursues new investment and jobs in key industries. We have a great opportunity to be proactive in formalizing our “ad-hoc system” by developing and implementing a public-private economic development partnership. Let’s not wait until the next crisis brings everyone together.