Tag: Entrepreneur

Delaware’s Startup Ecosystem: Explore Delaware’s support system for startups, funding, mentorship, and networking

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Living In Delaware.

Innovation runs in Delaware’s DNA, dating back at least to the founding of the DuPont company in the early 1800s. Today, the startup ecosystem in Delaware continues to thrive, with support including funding, dedicated innovation spaces, and mentorship and networking opportunities. While not an exhaustive list of all resources for entrepreneurs, the following examples illustrate the collaborative community and active ecosystem that startups will experience in Delaware. Additional sources of support can be found on the Startup Resources page. 

Funding for All Startup Stages 

From pitch competitions to publicly-funded grants and everything in between, Delaware provides many resources for entrepreneurs to elevate their product or company to the next level. Startup 302 is an annual pitch competition sponsored by the Delaware Prosperity Partnership with a focus on supporting early-stage startups led by founders who are from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, the LBGTQ+ community, or women. Prizes vary from $3,000 to $25,000 and are awarded as grants. Past winners include Rush Roto, an AI technology and photography company, and Resonate Forward, a medical device technology company, among other winners. TOVOIA 

Another funding opportunity is the Encouraging Development, Growth and Expansion (EDGE) Grant, sponsored by Delaware’s Division of Small Business. This initiative provides competitive grants to qualified small businesses in Delaware, providing up to $100,000 for STEM-based companies and $50,000 for non-STEM entrepreneurs. Recent winners include Marin’s Med, a prosthetics innovation company in Sussex County, and All Azimuth Solutions, an advanced air mobility startup developing proprietary technology in Kent County.  

Additionally, access to venture capital and seed funding in Delaware is also available. For example, Leading Edge Ventures based in the Delaware Technology Park provides seed and early-stage venture capital financing.  Leading Edge Ventures focuses on startups based in the Mid-Atlantic region operating in the information technology and medical device field, two industry sectors with extensive networks in Delaware. 

Innovation Hubs & Spaces 

All good ideas need a place to call home, and Delaware has numerous business parks and incubators dedicated to supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in the state. For example, the Delaware Technology Park (DTP) provides development-stage companies in the life sciences, information technology, advanced materials, and renewable energy industries with space, resources, and connections to accelerate their business in three locations near University of Delaware. Since its inception in 1992, more than 75 companies have located at DTP such as QPS, a biotech contract research organization, and Prelude Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical manufacturer. 

Another facility that supports innovation and entrepreneurship in the life sciences is the aptly-named Innovation Space, with more than 130,000 square feet of state-of-the-art multi-use lab space. Located within the DuPont Experimental Station in northern Delaware, companies located at the Innovation Space benefit from safe, secure labs of various sizes designed to support biotechnology, chemistry, and materials science research. The Innovation Space also provides critical support elements including access to funding competitions and accelerator programs, encouraging dozens of startups like Versogen, a green hydrogen solution company, and Adesis, a contract manufacturing and development organization with a focus on clean tech. 

Mentorship & Networking Opportunities 

In a small state like Delaware, networking and mentorship opportunities live around every corner. For example, the Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (E3) is a membership cohort from the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation aimed at supporting entrepreneurs with mentorship, connections, and collaboration. The top areas of focus include leadership coaching, marketing, ecosystem collaboration, human resources, and finance and accounting. Any stage entrepreneur is welcome to join E3 and benefit from participating in a network of like-minded individuals and potential partners. 

Other key networking groups include Tech Forum and DelawareBio. Tech Forum provides resources for tech companies in the Delaware area, including presentations from thought leaders and networking events. Past events include discussions of robotics and the Blue Economy, AI, and cryptocurrency. DelawareBio promotes innovation in the life sciences in Delaware through policy research and advocacy, hosting events showcasing industry innovation, and collaborating with industry, academic, and government partners. Events range from monthly happy hours to day-long conferences focused on life sciences.  

All This Plus More 

Considering the wealth of funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities available to startups in Delaware, it is no wonder that the state is home to a thriving ecosystem for entrepreneurs across multiple sectors. More resources for funding, mentorship and networking can be found here, as well as information about incubators, accelerators, education programs, and more. 

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Maurice Catlett innovative chef Delaware

Innovative Chef Maurice Catlett Thrives In Delaware

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors, Working in Delaware.

If you have a passion and you follow it, great things will come your way. For Maurice Catlett, a chef at SoDel Concepts, he may not have realized what exactly would make his life so great, but now living and working in Delaware, he is glad he can say his passion has led him to happiness. Catlett’s love of cooking stems from when he was younger—his father was African American and his mother was Korean, so meals were always an interesting blend of cultures. “Food always brought us together,” says Catlett. Because he loved watching his mother cook, Catlett always knew being a chef was what he wanted, so he worked his way up from being a dishwasher to eventually working on the line at SoDel.

SoDel Concepts is a Rehoboth-based restaurant that owes its success to passionate and innovative chefs. Since his start at SoDel, Catlett has watched them grow from a mere five restaurants to a total of twelve across the state of Delaware. The restaurant has become more than just a place to eat: it’s somewhere to enjoy good food cooked by chefs who really care. In addition, the nonprofit organization SoDel Cares was started to assist the community by providing grants, with the goal of helping children, at-risk adolescents and adults, and the elderly.

A Passion for Cooking

“My name’s Maurice Catlett. I’m a corporate chef with SoDel Concepts. You know, growing up my passion’s always been cooking. Started off at the bottom, dish-, you know, dish-washer slash prep, jumped into that and loved it, you know, and grew rapidly, pretty fast with this company.

When I started we had, what, one, two, three, I think we had five restaurants at the time. You know, now we’re at 12 restaurants. It’s amazing. Food is everything, you know? We didn’t have a lot growing up. Food always brought us together.

I have a background of soul food and Asian food. My father was African American, my mother was Korean. Thanksgiving would be turkey, we’d have ribs, collard greens, and then we’d have kimchi. But those were the times, like, I would always remember, like, the best times of, you know, growing up, and family barbecues. And my mother’s a great cook.

I learned a lot just from watching her, and that’s where I got a lot of my passion from. I love the beach area. That’s why I’m here. I’m raising my children here. I love being by the water. I love the people here, the community. I moved down here one summer and never left.”

An Exceptional Place to Live

Not only does chef Maurice Catlett feel passionate about where he works and the food he makes, but he also extends this love to the state of Delaware itself. After moving to Delaware one summer, Catlett knew this is where he wanted to stay, as he loves the beach, and he proudly raises his family in this community he has come to love and admire.

As SoDel restaurants appear across the state, it goes to show that Delaware houses top-rated places to eat. There is something for everyone, as enjoyment can be found in the state’s food or other attractions. Delaware is full of people like Catlett who care about what they do, and they all contribute to making Delaware an exceptional place to live and visit.

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creative entrepreneur Angela Wagner

Angela Wagner, Esq. Creates Arts Platform in Delaware

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors, Working in Delaware.

Where else but in Delaware could a transplanted attorney make a name for herself collaborating on two innovative restaurants while helping to shape a statewide platform for the advancement of artistic expression?

When entertainment attorney and creative entrepreneur Angela Wagner moved to Delaware to be with the person she loved, her dream was to build upon a career that combines her legal expertise with her passion for creativity. Six years and several unexpected, yet welcome turns later, she’s well on her way to changing the landscape — and the menu — for local artists of every genre thanks to incredible opportunities and the warm welcome she received from Delaware’s business community.

Location, Location, Location… and Relationships

In business, it’s all about location, location, location. And Wagner loves Delaware’s location that allows her to quickly reach major cities such as Philadelphia and New York while being able to come home to what she describes as a “beautiful way of living” here.

But Wagner has also discovered another equally important part of the equation for entrepreneurial success: in Delaware, relationships are key.

It didn’t take long for Wagner to experience — and benefit from — the Delaware Way of everyone knowing everyone else (or at least knowing someone who seems to know everyone else). From personal introductions and endorsements alone, doors opened for Wagner, allowing her to put her experience to work and grow her own professional network.

“I took a risk moving to Delaware because my industry (entertainment) wasn’t here — yet. But I am tenacious. I knew I could make it anywhere,” she said. “What was important was being around people I love, doing what I love, so I decided, ‘If I can’t find it here, I will build it here!’”

Her first big break to make a name for herself in Delaware came in the hospitality industry — a field she also knows from soup to nuts from years working every position imaginable since she was a teen. She successfully pitched a concept to the Big Fish Restaurant Group to transform an empty building on Washington Street in the city of Wilmington into the Harvest House, a meeting place featuring fast, healthy, casual food.

“Harvest House was the perfect blank canvas for me to make my mark on Delaware and show off what I do best,” said Wagner.

Opportunities spiral into other opportunities and, through her work on Harvest House, Wagner met Delaware entrepreneurs Jason Aviles and John Naughton, who would become her business partners in her next creative endeavor — Green Box Kitchen. Grant support from the City of Wilmington helped the trio create a vegan restaurant in an unlikely urban setting. The welcoming Market Street space expands on the concept of Wilmington Green Box, a nonprofit project that provides at-risk teens with entrepreneurial jobs while supplying communities with direct access to cold-pressed juices and healthy options.

It was during these restaurant projects that Wagner also got to know a Market Street neighbor, musician and filmmaker Jet Phynx, who would become her first entertainment client here in Delaware. And, through mutual contacts — there’s that Delaware Way of networking again — Wagner was introduced to, and had the opportunity to work for a time with Gayle Dillman, owner and CEO of Gable Music Ventures, a Wilmington firm representing the local entertainment industry.

Wagner’s dream has come full circle.

Today, along with Jet Phynx Films, Wagner proudly represents Delaware’s own Dallas Shaw, illustrator and creative director; visual storyteller Blake Saunders; mixed media artist Rick Hidalgo. She also does work for the innovative nonprofit film company Of Substance. and assists with branding, marketing and operations for The Mill Summit.

A Playground for Entrepreneurs

Wagner’s path may not have been linear, but she said she made an opportunity for herself through word of mouth here in Delaware that she probably wouldn’t have been able to do in other cities.

“Delaware is pretty much a playground for entrepreneurs,” said Wagner. “There’s relatively low risk to get into the market if you have a solid idea, business acumen and the right people behind you.”

“What I’ve found about Delaware is that if you have an idea, Delawareans will put you in front of the right people and figure it out together. I am so grateful for that.”

Wagner is now a top finalist in the Reinventing Delaware competition sponsored by the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation, an entrepreneurial incubator providing a platform for individuals to present ideas that will create jobs and improve Delaware.

Her pitch to encourage Delaware to invest in the arts and creative economy, she said, is all about encouraging people to want to live, work and play here in Delaware.

“I want to champion that narrative – to highlight artists and give them a platform to tell the beautiful stories of the work that they do,” she said. “I want to help artists love where they live, to have pride and be proud to say, ‘I’m from Delaware!’”

Wagner is confident that if Delaware invests in the entertainment industry, people will recognize the state’s advantages and want to move here, buy houses, dine and vacation here.

Entertainment attorney and creative entrepreneur Angela Wagner has received tremendous support from Delaware’s business and arts community, and is impressed by Delawareans’ willingness to pick up the phone and hear people out. “In Delaware, we see each other for the human side of things and see how, together, we can make a business work. That’s huge and not often found in other areas,” she says.

“I would love for this little corner of the country to become a place for creative entrepreneurs to get started and plant roots here,” she said.

And when that happens, Wagner is ready to pay forward the same warm welcome she received to help other creative entrepreneurs find business success in Delaware, as well.

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Delaware king of cakes Desserts by Dana

Delaware’s King of Cakes

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors, Working in Delaware.

Dana Herbert is Comfortable in the National Spotlight, But His Heart is in Delaware

Dana Eugene Herbert is comfortable wearing many hats. The owner of Desserts by Dana is a savory chef, pastry chef, baker and sugar artist. The veteran entrepreneur is also a champion. In 2010, he scored a win on TLC’s “Cake Boss: The Next Great Baker,” which led to celebrity tours and guest appearances on Food Network and Cooking Channel programs.

Given that celebrities clamor for his cakes, the “Sugar Daddy” could live and work in Hollywood or Manhattan. But Herbert prefers Delaware.

“It’s a good place to raise a family,” says the father of three, who lives in Bear, near Newark. “There are great values here. The higher education is good here. When you see New Jersey residents and New Yorkers sending their kids to the University of Delaware, you know the school has great programs.”

Herbert should know. He graduated from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant and institutional management before receiving a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island.

Clearly, he’s been a man with a plan. Herbert was prepared not only to succeed on “Cake Boss” but also to leverage the fame it brought him for the good of his career, family, and home state.

Love at First Bake

Herbert was born in Washington, D.C. But because his father worked for the DuPont Co., the family frequently moved. They kept returning to Delaware, DuPont’s headquarters. “With every promotion, we were bouncing back to Delaware,” Herbert says. While relocating was hard, it had its benefits. “I’m grateful that I got to see different places and meet different people,” he says.

By the time he was in high school, the family was once again living in Delaware, and they stayed long enough for him to graduate from John Dickinson High School in Wilmington’s Pike Creek Valley.

In his junior year, Herbert started cracking open cookbooks after school. He realized he liked to both cook and bake, and his culinary experiments alternated between the two. “I guess that’s the reason why I can now do both so easily,” says Herbert, author of “Sweet & Savory Union,” which is available on Amazon.

After high school, his father pushed his son to study business. But Herbert knew he loved the culinary world. Going to the University of Delaware for hotel, restaurant and institutional management let the two men “meet in the middle,” he says. “I had food classes and all the management stuff – it was a nice marriage. We had to take accounting, finance.”

But Herbert hungered for more culinary training. He earned a second bachelor’s degree and an associate degree in pastry at Johnson & Wales University. He trained as both a culinary and a pastry chef, but the sweet side of the business proved irresistible. While working as a savory chef, he started Desserts by Dana to “exercise” his baking and pastry skills. The company took off.

Becoming a Boss

Herbert did not look for fame on television, but he was interested in culinary competitions. “I wanted to climb in the ring and go a few rounds,” he recalls. He credits a Delaware Today article that spotlighted Herbert’s ability to make pulled and blown sugar sculptures for catching the eye of the “Cake Boss” casting crew.

In addition to “Cake Boss,” Herbert won “The Next Great Baker” on TLC. He’s been on “Cake Wars” on the Food Network and “Cake Hunters.” If a show had “cake” in the title, he notes with a laugh, then he was on it. Now, with so many under his belt, he’s more interested in being a judge than a contestant.

Herbert also has received recognition from his industry outside television. He’s been profiled in Dessert Professional and was named one of the Top Ten Cake Artists in America in 2013. What’s more, the venerable James Beard Foundation asked him to participate in the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour. He made French toast with bacon ice cream, bacon-rosemary caramel sauce and an almond-bacon tuile cookie for the first tour. Each one was a hit.

Herbert’s clients have included President Joe and Dr. Jill Biden, Oprah Winfrey, Jesse Jackson and Ice Cube. Not surprisingly, he’s received job offers from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

But he’s stayed in the First State and, in fact, is opening a Desserts by Dana space in UD’s Perkins Student Center so faculty and students can have access to his award-winning cupcakes and croissants. Meanwhile, he continues to serve New York, Philadelphia, Maryland, and New Jersey clients from his Bear, Delaware location.

For Delaware’s “King of Cakes,” Delaware’s sense of community can’t be beat.

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chemical startup choses Delaware

Creating Planet-Friendly Anticorrosives in Innovation-Supportive Delaware

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors, Working in Delaware.

Sumedh Surwade could have launched his chemical startup SAS Nanotechnologies anywhere, including his native India. He chose Delaware.

When Sumedh Surwade was growing up in India, he rarely left his hometown of Mumbai. But since moving to the United States, he’s lived in multiple places, including Texas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Tennessee. Delaware, however, has been his most extended U.S. address.

“I’ve been here for five years now, and I’m just loving it,” says the Newark resident. Indeed, Surwade likes Delaware so much that in 2017, he founded SAS Nanotechnologies in Wilmington’s Stanton area. SAS stands for “Smart, Advanced, Sustainable.”

The chemical startup is currently developing smart microcapsule technology for various applications, including anticorrosive coatings and biocides.

Delaware’s status as a science-driven hub has made the state an ideal location for the business. But, as he’s learned, there are plenty of other advantages.

Discovering Delaware

Surwade’s route to Delaware started on another continent. As a child, he excelled at math and science, but it wasn’t until he was in middle school that science became a passion. “School projects, such as building a solar farm, got me really excited,” he says.

After earning a bachelor’s degree at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, he headed to the United States, where he earned a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Texas in Dallas. He then earned a doctorate in chemistry and polymer science from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and followed that with postdoctoral work at the University of Pittsburgh.

Initially, the young scientist pictured his future as a university research group leader. But while at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tennessee, he decided to forgo academia and dip his toe into the industry.

In 2015, Surwade took a job at FujiFilm Imaging in New Castle, Delaware, where he developed inks and formulations for inkjet printing applications. At the time, he knew little about the state except the little that he’d gleaned from friends who were University of Delaware graduates. That would soon change.

Sumedh Surwade sas nanotechnologies delaware

An Inborn Entrepreneur

While working for Fuji, the innovative chemist grew restless. He had so many product ideas with the potential for commercial applications. Chief among them was a polymer that could inhibit corrosion on heavy metal in structures such as vehicles, bridges and industrial machinery.

He felt the timing was right. “Maybe I should be adventurous early in my career as opposed to later on,” he told himself. “Maybe doing something on my own would be more fun.”

In October 2016, Surwade secured lab space in the Delaware Technology Park, where he worked nights and weekends on his research. By the following fall, he was full-time with SAS Nanotechnologies. While developing the product, he still turns to the University of Delaware for specialty equipment that would be too expensive for him to purchase.

Surwade’s technology focuses on environmentally friendly microcapsules that gradually release an agent to heal damaged areas, such as scratches on metal. The agent can also be intentionally triggered. Similarly, these microcapsules could attack the fungus, mold or bacteria that damage materials such as roofs.

Surwade wasn’t the only one to see the advantages. With the Small Business Development Center’s help, he won a $225,000 National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant and the Emerging Enterprise Center’s Swim with the Sharks Pitch Competition. And those awards were just the beginning for the chemical startup.

Why Delaware?

The funding has been encouraging, but Surwade also has been inspired by the people he has met in Delaware. This includes members of the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (DESCA).

“They had so many small workshops and meetings with former DuPont employees — high-level managers and executives,” he recalls. “They were sitting with me and listening to my ideas. It motivated me. Folks here are willing to help you.”

Delaware is known for being a state where it’s easy to network and discover resources. “You always can find someone who knows a key contact at a company,” Surwade agrees.

Since starting SAS Nanotechnologies, Surwade has watched as even more labs, accelerator programs, forums and resources have become available to startups like his.

“It’s a good time for a chemical startup to come to Delaware,” he says. “It’s an exciting time.”

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young professionals choose Delaware

Young Professionals Choose Delaware

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors, Working in Delaware.

Not many people are lucky enough to say that where they live has all the ideal factors, but when it comes to the citizens of Delaware, they can proudly boast about a place that is perfect for all aspects of life. Delaware has been experiencing an influx of young professionals who choose to live somewhere they know will provide them with job opportunities along with a welcoming community.

Over the years, while the size of the state has remained the same, the business and residential communities have grown. Residents of Delaware feel connected to each other, and this allows them to make meaningful connections. As interviewee Jason James points out, more people seek out diversity when it comes to their work and home lives. The younger workforce wants to become involved with people unlike themselves—they want to engage with others so that they can learn and become more in tune with their communities.

Because of these reasons, young professionals choose Delaware as it is a state whose diversity is growing each and every year. The range of diversity allows people to pursue a variety of interests, showing that Delaware is truly a place where anyone can come and thrive.

Kyle Gay: Delaware is a place to live, work, and play, for millennials and for people of all ages.

Kyle Barkins: Really easy to meet people here. I think it’s very easy to establish strong relationships. And it’s easy to get things done.

Charles Vincent: If you can’t get ahold of the person, you have somebody who can, and you’re able to just get things done faster. Instead of talking out stuff, we’re able to do stuff.

Nicole Magnusson: I love the community in Delaware. It’s small enough to know your neighbors, but also big enough to explore and learn new things, and find new places to eat, and shop, and have fun.

Jason James: This generation that’s coming up is really interested in living and working in diverse spaces. Research studies support that over and over again, when millennials are asked, what attracts them to being in a certain place, it is diversity. It’s multiple people, multiple people with different backgrounds, and multiple things to get involved in. So this is really an opportune area for millennials to really move into and work in.

Daniel Walker: We’re flexible as a small state, so we’re able to find what interests a person, and really capitalize on that. And I think that’s what makes the networking so great.

Kyle Gay: We chose Wilmington because we knew that this was a great opportunity for us; both in our careers and finance, and in law, and for the family that we wanted to have, and we finally do have now. It’s a great place to raise children. A great opportunity for people and families to be ingrained into the community.

Jennifer Saienni: And you don’t have to wait years to see the difference of what your work is doing. You are able to come to Wilmington, come to Delaware, and make an impact!

Young Professionals Living the Good Life in Delaware

Young professionals like these agree that Delaware is an ideal location for work and life. You can find great fulfillment and success in your career through the ever-growing job market. More businesses are discovering that Delaware is a great state to locate in, and this allows for job opportunities of all kinds.

And work isn’t the only positive Delaware has to boast. From restaurants to shops to parks to beaches, Delaware has everything that makes a home state worthwhile. Residents of the state take advantage of its many amenities while also making meaningful connections with their fellow neighbors. The community of Delaware, in both the business and residential life sense, provides endless support for all those looking to make the First State their home.

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bloom daily planners thrives in Delaware's business-friendly community

Delaware’s Business Friendly Community Allows Passion to Bloom

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors, Working in Delaware.

Being organized is a skill we all wish to have. For some, it comes easy; but for others, organization is a struggle. Luckily, there exist tools to help anyone keep their life on track. Michelle Askin and Kaylyn Minix founded bloom daily planners by combining their personal interests with their passion for inspiring others. The two met as interns working at Student Media Group during their time at the University of Delaware. Their work revolved around planners, and they were able to bond with one another over this shared interest. Both women took great joy and pride from being organized, and they found they wanted to share this ability with other people.

bloom daily planners was created with the intent to not only help people stay organized, but Askin and Minix wanted to focus on inspiring women to be their best selves. This is where they began, creating products anyone—not just college kids—could use and feel empowered. Ten years later, the company has over 300 different products and 400 shops. Askin and Minix have been able to share their talent and passion with thousands of people, and their messages of empowerment have been able to help women of any age all throughout the country.

ASKIN: I am Michelle Askin, and I am the co-founder of bloom daily planners. bloom is a stationery company and our mission is to inspire and empower women to bloom into the best version of themselves. So we create all kinds of planners, planning pads, all kinds of stationery to walk you through every age and stage of a woman’s life. I was interning at a company called Student Media Group when I was a sophomore at University of Delaware, and I met the co-founder of Bloom, Kaylyn, through that internship. Kaylyn and I obviously loved planners which is what brought us to that internship in the first place.

MINIX: I always had a planner, my brothers would make fun of me going on vacation in Delaware, making my packing lists and to-do lists.

ASKIN: And we had kind of a pet project idea to do a more inspirational, more general line that wasn’t specific to colleges. It took off, and 10 years later, we now have basically a whole other company from that idea.

MINIX: I don’t think that we could’ve ever imagined the amount of growth that we would’ve had.

ASKIN: We went from just one product to now having over 300. We have 10 full-time employees now and a bunch of interns from the University of Delaware. And at least, 400 bookstores and gift shops and we’re selling on Amazon and online. We love being to close to University of Delaware. It’s been a huge asset for us. We hire probably 10 to 15 interns per semester, and then we kind of use that as a talent pool to hire full-time.

MINIX: So it’s nice to just have that hometown kind of spirit within our company.

ASKIN: Delaware is definitely a very business-friendly community. We’re close to a lot of big cities, so you get a lot of people from New York and Philadelphia shopping in Delaware for that tax-free benefit. So it’s just a really business-friendly community feel, and I’m really proud to be from Delaware.

Delaware’s Business Friendly Community

Delaware has been the base for bloom daily planners since the company’s beginning. Askin and Minix met at the University of Delaware and remain near the university, which allows them to use this past connection to hire multiple interns. But the university isn’t the only positive that exists in Delaware. Delaware is known for its acceptance of other businesses. There is a business-friendly community that wants to help companies thrive. Minix says there is a “hometown kind of spirit,” both within bloom and the community of Delaware as a whole. Also, since Delaware is located between large cities, it brings in a significant number of customers, promoting the success and growth of businesses like bloom. Through a community that supports growing businesses, Delaware allows for passions to bloom into a career.

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2022 small business grants kent county delaware

New Kent County Small Business Grants

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Working in Delaware.

Attention Kent County small businesses!

Kent County Levy Court, Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce and Kent County Tourism have launched a new $3 million grant program for Kent County small businesses. Grant funds are available for small businesses with 100 or fewer full-time employees who had established operations in Kent County during calendar years 2020 and 2019 and are in still in operation today. Grant funds can be used to directly support the operation of the business.

 A similar $2 million grant program was also launched for Kent County hotel and banquet/meeting facilities. Eligible organizations include hoteliers and for-profit banquet/meeting facilities with established operations in Kent County during calendar years 2020 and 2019 who are still in operation today.

Both grant programs are currently accepting applications. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2022, or when funds are exhausted for the grant programs.

Visit the Kent Count Small Business Grants website to apply for a grant and get answers to frequently asked questions.

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Sposato Family Vineyards' Karen and Tony Sposato

Sposato Family Vineyards

Written by Live Love Delaware on . Posted in Delaware Ambassadors.

Sposato Family Vineyards

Sposato Family Vineyards loves Delaware

From the Andes Mountains to Delaware’s Culinary Coast

Sposato Family Vineyards Brings International Cheer to Sussex County and Beyond

Business partners Karen and Tony Sposato could teach a business class on diversifying. For one, they are former educators. For another, the Milton, Delaware, residents don’t allow boundaries – or even a pandemic – to limit their aspirations.

Since 1992, the Sposato name has been linked to Sposato Landscape Co. But in restaurants and wine stores, it’s better associated with Sposato Family Vineyards, which Tony and Karen built from the ground up. “We created it,” she says.

It’s a good story, and one that Karen, who spearheads company marketing, tells well at wine dinners, in-store tastings and on social media. And although their vineyard is located in Argentina, the business is a distinctly Delaware endeavor buoyed by small-town support and linked to the coastal quality of life.

It all started with the lawn-mowing company that Tony began after graduating from Salisbury State University. He needed to make extra cash while looking for a full-time job. But the physical education and health teacher soon found his calling outside the gym.

His Milton-based business snowballed so fast that he left teaching and expanded services to include irrigation, landscape and design. By 2008, the entrepreneur was restless.

“He’d always talked about owning a piece of property or a farm,” Karen recalls. “We could start a nursery and build greenhouses.”

Or, he said, “We could grow grapes.”

It was not a stretch. An Italian American, Tony had grown up with wine on the dinner table. And from a professional point of view, he was well-versed in agriculture.

Given the Sposatos’ landscaping background, they knew that soil and climate influence grapes. They began looking for the perfect property. In 2012, they narrowed their choice to Mendoza Argentina, where 250 acres – and water rights – were still available. The land was “virgin ground,” so they installed a new irrigation system, electric and other improvements.

The property, managed by their Argentine employees, rests in the arid foothills of the Andes Mountains, about 3,000 feet above sea level. “We can almost grow any grape successfully,” Tony says.

Current varietals include malbec, bonarda, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, pinot noir, rosé, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and the Fresh Blend (chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and torrontés). Their wines fall into three categories: Classic, Reserve, Grand Reserve and Sabia Savia, an icon wine, which is the highest tier.

Finding a Footing in Delaware

Making wine is one thing. Selling it is another. When the wine was ready for release, the Sposatos initially promoted it at the beach.

“People know our name here because of the landscaping company – and we have 5,000 clients,” Karen notes. “They’ve seen the name, the trucks, and they know we do incredible work. We know soil. People understand the story of why we started a winery and how we did it.”

The original business offers another advantage: Sposato Landscaping is a regular attendee at industry conferences and tradeshows that offer networking opportunities.

The beach area was an excellent starting point due to its reputation. There are so many acclaimed restaurants in the resorts that the Delaware beaches are known as the “Culinary Coast.” Since so many are relocating here, the dining scene is year-round.

The owners spent hours at wine dinners. If Karen wasn’t doing tastings along the Delaware beaches, she was in her hometown in Harford County, Maryland, which is heavily populated with her family members.

Growing a Business

Sposato Family Vineyards experienced steady growth from 2015 to 2020, Tony says, and the winery has become a tourist attraction as well as a direct sales site. In the United States, the wines are available in Delaware, Maryland, D.C., Florida and upstate New York, where the company has contacts with distributors. The wines also are available in Argentina and Peru and soon will be in Brazil and Columbia.

Karen returned from Argentina last year shortly before businesses shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19. “Thank goodness we had the Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia, which is the harvest celebration,” she says.

Back home, organizers canceled wine dinners. But that didn’t stop Karen’s marketing efforts. The avid runner and former elementary school teacher radiates optimism and a can-do attitude that attracts prospective customers. Behind the broad smile is a steely determination to succeed. So she increased her social media presence, urging consumers to support local restaurants.

“We all needed to come together,” she explains. “We needed to continue to talk about food and wine and how it can keep your spirits high.”

With wine and cocktails available for carryout, she patronized restaurants that carry Sposato and posed for photos. She also become adept at using Zoom for virtual events and organized outdoor wine tastings.

No matter where or when she is marketing Sposato wines, Karen relishes uniting Delaware and Argentina.

“I think it’s fantastic to be able to celebrate two cultures,” she says. “Mendoza and Milton are both tourist destinations.”

When the Sposatos brought their Argentine team to participate in the 2019 Taste of Sposato 5K Run, which benefits Delaware Technical Community College, the visitors also participated in special wine events. One of these introduced Sposato’s rosé, and all of them allowed Karen to show off her hometown.

“You can’t beat the life here – a beautiful state park, amazing wildlife, the sunsets,” she says. “It’s a place where you want to raise your kids. It’s a centrally located, glorious place with a wealth of treasures.”

One of which, of course, is wine by Sposato Family Vineyards.

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