The Delaware Health Information Network (“DHIN”) announces full participation of all acute care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities in the state, along with the vast majority of Delaware providers, in the first statewide community health record. This enhances a health care information exchange started in May 2007, when DHIN became the first operational statewide health information exchange in the country.

New Castle County Executive Paul Clark today announced a six-point jobs program to attract, keep and expand employment opportunities for county residents.

Clark’s “Sowing Seeds, Growing Jobs” program, one of the initiatives he previewed in his State of the County address last month, includes a tax incentive for businesses, aid for economically distressed neighborhoods, promotion of local goods and services, designation of a small business advocate, a more efficient development review process, and additional investment in sewers, libraries, and parks.

“Too many of our residents are out of work, and we cannot stand by and wait for the economy to turn around,” Clark said. “We can’t guarantee a bumper crop of jobs, but we can help to create the environment in which jobs can grow. This plan lays out ways we will join with the state, Delaware’s congressional delegation and our local partners to make New Castle County fertile ground for job creation.”

The centerpiece of “Sowing Seeds, Growing Jobs” is legislation presented today to County Council that would grant a partial exemption from property taxes to businesses that invest at least $50,000 in new construction of commercial or manufacturing facilities in unincorporated areas of the county.

The exemption would be available starting July 1, 2012, and ending March 30, 2015. During that time, businesses whose projects qualify would be eligible for a three-year exemption from the increase in property taxes that would have resulted from their property being reassessed due to the new construction.  The exemption would apply only to the New Castle County part of the property tax.

The proposed exemption addresses the struggling state of non-residential development in the county. Retail market vacancies are near 11 percent, a 20-year high. The county’s office vacancy rate is 21.2 percent compared to the national rate of 12.5 percent. Plans for non-residential development submitted to the county are down an average of 46 percent from 2009 to 2011 compared to the 10-year average.

The actual number of jobs created will depend upon the amount of investment that occurs.  The county plans to use its real-estate transfer tax account to fund the program, and any transfer of ownerships of property would result in real estate transfer tax revenue for the county. 

“This legislation sends the message that New Castle County is here to do its part to help new and existing businesses thrive and keep our residents working,” said Councilman George Smiley, co-sponsor of the legislation with Councilman John Cartier.

Other elements of Clark’s plan:

Target areas with high unemployment and low income.

The county will:

• Develop an economic development strategy to attract businesses and jobs to the Route 9 and 13 area south of Wilmington, including the city of New Castle. Among the objectives will be to promote growth around the Port of Wilmington and New Castle Airport and expand tourism and the Main Street Program, which supports small businesses and investment in historic areas. The plan will cost $93,400 and will be funded using county, state, federal, and municipal sources, including a $41,700 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration along with funds from the Delaware Economic Development Office, Delaware River and Bay Authority, city of New Castle, and the Historic New Castle Alliance. County officials estimate the plan will be ready within a year.
• Award grants to nonprofit and community groups or municipal governments for projects that promote economic development, job growth or small businesses.  Examples of eligible projects include business marketing programs, façade improvements, microloan programs, studies for filling vacant retail space, special events, tourism, and establishing or expanding local business associations. The county has set aside $50,000 for grants to multiple organizations; applicants will be required to provide a funding match. The application process will begin this spring with public information sessions.
• Continue to leverage federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds to improve neighborhoods hit hardest by foreclosures. Under the NSP, the county buys and rehabilitates vacant or distressed homes to prepare them for new owners. The county also uses NSP funds to offer five-year forgivable loans to eligible homebuyers to purchase other homes that have been vacant for 90 days or more.
• Use $1.62 million in federal funds for businesses and non-profits to borrow through a county bond program. These Qualified Energy Conservation Bonds provide low-interest financing – currently 2% – to qualified businesses for green energy and energy-efficiency projects. Projects must be located in designated areas, which include more than 90 percent of the county.

Promote the purchase of local goods and services and give local businesses more credit when competing for county businesses.

To boost the local economy the county is expanding its successful Buy From Your Neighbor program, which forms partnerships between farms and local restaurants and markets. Through a new website that will go live later this month, the county will promote products made by local manufacturers and artisans and support local independent businesses through partnerships with the RelyLocal and Main Streets initiatives and the nonprofit organization Delaware By Hand.

The county will also provide an incentive for Delaware firms that bid on professional services by doubling the number of points they can receive in the county’s bid-evaluation process. This incentive will apply to non-construction service providers such as architects, engineers, and consultants.

Make the county’s development review process more efficient.

The county is committed to streamlining the development review process without interfering with the transparency of the process or the public’s participation.

Clark will issue an executive order mandating that all county departments review and respond to submitted plans within 20 days. Key documents will be signed by officials within three days rather than the weeks it formerly took. The county is also working with the Delaware Department of Transportation to make the permit-approval process for development projects more efficient. Process improvements should reduce regulatory delays by months.

Designation of a Small Business Advocate.

New Castle County has designated a Small Business Advocate to serve as the point person for small businesses trying to locate or expand in the county. The Small Business Advocate – who fills a previous Executive Assistant vacant position – will assist these businesses in navigating through the land use process and work with state agencies for approvals.  “These are the employers  that may need early direction and guidance to help them through the process so they can get back to running their businesses,” Clark said. The advocate will also develop policies, systems and applications that promote customer service and efficiency and will reach out to small businesses.

Invest in infrastructure. 

The county will make additional investments in libraries, parks, and sewers to create construction jobs, allow businesses to grow and to improve the quality of life for county residents. Since 2004, New Castle County has invested $155 million in its sewer and storm-water systems, the construction of Glasgow Regional Park, and the completion of the Kirkwood Library. These investments have resulted in the creation of more than 4,000 construction and related jobs and have allowed businesses to grow in areas of the county that previously did not have sewer capacity.

Current projects include the building of a new library in Claymont (with ground-breaking set for spring), renovations to the Bear Library, plans to build libraries along the Route 9 Corridor and south of the canal, and extensive sewer rehabilitation projects. 

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Support from business leaders
for “Sowing Seeds, Growing Jobs”

Alan Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office: “Delaware is fortunate to have partners at all levels of government dedicated to improving our state’s economic future. This program represents another step in New Castle County’s efforts to support the needs of business and help create jobs for Delawareans.”

Mark Kleinschmidt, president of the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce: “The County Executive's program sends a strong message that New Castle County is ‘open for business.’ The multi-level approach for the establishment of policies and programs that promote job creation will not only encourage the business community to make significant financial investments in our local economy, it will increase the size of the county's tax base.  The Chamber is particularly pleased with the idea of a Small Business Advocate, since it will give assistance where most jobs are actually created.”

Harry Gravell, president of the Delaware Building & Construction Trades Council: “We have literally hundreds of our members out of work, so we are all for any initiative that addresses that problem.  We support County Executive Clark in his efforts to help our struggling workers and their families.”

Greg Ellis, president of the Commercial-Industrial Realty Council of New Castle County and a principal with Patterson-Woods Commercial Properties: “In this flat real estate market, the commercial and industrial real estate community welcomes a financial incentive like this that will tip the balance to motivate someone to hire and invest.”

Paul Morrill, Executive Director of the Committee of 100: “We applaud this new jobs program. There are still too many people out of work.  It is good to see the county doing what it can to help get the economy back on track.”

The observance of Black History Month in Delaware officially began with an event last week at the First State Heritage Park Welcome Center and Galleries at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover. Governor Jack Markell and other dignitaries spoke about how our heroes of the past can serve as an inspiring lesson to today’s youth, such as the students from Dover’s Central Middle School who were also in attendance.

At the January 11, 2012 board meeting, Wilmington Renaissance Corporation’s (WRC) Board of Directors elected three new board members and welcomed three new representatives of existing companies on the board.