Jobs in manufacturing and finance – and the small businesses that serve them – have given hundreds of thousands of Delawareans the chance to raise and support their families.
To make ends meet, and help build stronger financial foundations in their own lives.
These industries have, in turn, been critical foundations of our state’s economy.
They are also two of the industries hit hardest – and most often – by the national recession.
So it was with a degree of enthusiasm that we welcomed the news this week that Capital One intends to add 500 jobs to Delaware –jobs we look forward to seeing once Capitol One completes its acquisition of ING Direct and HSBC’s domestic credit card business.
And it’s with a great deal of enthusiasm that we greeted Bloom Energy’s announcement earlier this year that it was choosing Delaware for a new manufacturing hub – that Bloom was interested in turning the site of the shuttered Chrysler plant in Newark into a factory and campus.
This week, the Public Service Commission held three forums to discuss the opportunity for Delmarva Power to serve Delaware homes and businesses using technology manufactured here in Delaware, built by Delawareans. A number of Delawareans spoke up to support this effort to get Delawareans back to work, to make “Made in Delaware, exported to the nation” more true than before. As with any forum, there were opponents, too, and that’s an important part of any discussion. We think Bloom Energy will help power our future. Because, at heart, this is about getting our neighbors back to work. About supporting the small businesses that will readily welcome as new customers the Delawareans who will be hard at work at that factory.
And it’s about looking to the future with a stronger manufacturing base here in Delaware.
We can’t control the strong national winds that have buffeted the industries that put so many Delawareans to work. But we can control how we respond.
We keep working, we keep fighting, and we keep focused, on getting people back to work, which is what we need to do to keep our great state of Delaware and the people who live here moving forward.