Governor’s Weekly Message: Expanding Successful Downtown Development Program

Wilmington, DE – In his weekly message, Governor Markell addresses expansion of and continued progress being made through the state’s Downtown Development District program. The program has spurred more than $200 million in private investment across all three counties to help sustain Delaware’s economic growth that has recently earned the state recognition as one of the top three economies in the country.

“Vibrant downtowns are crucial drivers of economic growth and they are central to our efforts to strengthen the quality of life,” said Markell. “Residential, commercial and industrial projects in our downtown districts may qualify for local and state development incentives, and I encourage you to visit stateplanning.delaware.gov/ddd for more information. Through this innovative program we will continue to drive investment in our downtown areas, create jobs, and build sustainable urban communities. And that will keep Delaware moving forward.”

Every week, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form. The message is available on:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/ulncgy0OBJw
Delaware.Gov: http://governor.delaware.gov/podcast_video.shtml
By email: Please contact our press team to subscribe to our press list
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/governormarkell
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Transcript of the Governor’s Weekly Message: Expanding Successful Downtown Development Program


Governor’s Weekly Message: Sustaining Delaware’s Strong Economy through Employment Growth

Wilmington, DE – In a guest weekly message, Delaware Economic Development Officer (DEDO) Director Bernice Whaley reviews the state’s efforts to sustain Delaware’s strong economic growth through efforts to attract and retain employers who recognize the value in Delaware’s welcoming business climate, highly-skilled workforce, and high quality of life.

“Delaware’s economy today is strong, with the lowest unemployment rate in a decade and job growth that leads the region,” Director Whaley said. “But that doesn’t happen by accident. Businesses today can choose to locate just about anywhere, and the Markell Administration works tirelessly to attract and retain employers — from the largest corporations that hire thousands of Delawareans, to our small businesses who collectively employ more people than any other sector, to entrepreneurs and start-ups with the next great idea. Through these and other initiatives we will continue to seek innovative ways to attract new businesses on the cutting edge of technology, grow and educate our workforce, and sustain our strong economic growth. And that will keep Delaware moving forward.”

Every week, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form. The message is available on:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/Xp26WcOYaEA
Delaware.Gov: http://governor.delaware.gov/podcast_video.shtml
By email: Please contact our press team to subscribe to our press list
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/governormarkell
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/governormarkell

Transcript of the Governor’s Weekly Message: Sustaining Delaware’s Strong Economy through Employment Growth


Downtown Development Districts (DDD) Program Expands

Governor Markell designates new districts in Smyrna, Milford, Harrington, Georgetown and Laurel

• Governor Markell made the expansion announcement during an event on Wednesday in Downtown Smyrna
• Since last year, $14 million in Downtown Development Districts grant funding has leveraged more than $200 million of private investment in Wilmington, Dover and Seaford.
• Smyrna Mayor: DDD designation will “ignite even more progress.”
• Funding round for large projects is scheduled to begin in early September
• Lawmakers unanimously approved the DDD program in 2014

Smyrna, DE – Governor Jack Markell on Wednesday announced a statewide expansion of Delaware’s Downtown Development Districts program, significantly building on the state’s efforts to redevelop Delaware’s commercial business districts and drive private investment in towns and cities.

Governor Markell officially designated five new Downtown Development Districts – in Smyrna, Harrington, Milford, Georgetown and Laurel. Investors who make qualified improvements to residential, commercial, or industrial properties in those districts now may qualify for state and local development incentives, including 20 percent state grant rebates.

“The Downtown Development Districts program already is driving major investment in our cities, from Market Street in Wilmington to the banks of the Nanticoke River in Seaford,” said Governor Jack Markell. “More Delawareans than ever want to live and work in walkable, urban areas. This expansion will help meet that demand by encouraging private development of downtown areas statewide.”

Since early 2015, the Downtown Development Districts program has helped finance major new private development in the original districts in Wilmington, Dover and Seaford, with $14 million in state grant funding leveraging more than $200 million of private investment. Governor Markell made the expansion announcement in downtown Smyrna on Wednesday morning, joined by local officials representing the new districts.

Quotes from new DDD representatives

“We are excited about the transformation that will occur in the next few years in Downtown Smyrna. Smyrna has been working hard to grow our Downtown, and the Downtown Development District designation will help ignite even more progress and at a quicker pace,” said Smyrna Mayor Joanne Masten. “The grant program will open doors for our wide range of developers and business owners with opportunities to further strengthen our town. We’re grateful that Governor Markell has made this initiative available to so many wonderful downtowns in Delaware.”

“We are extremely excited about our selection as a Delaware Development District partner with the State of Delaware,” said Milford Mayor Bryan Shupe. “The Downtown Development District application process has been a great experience for the City of Milford. It has allowed us to explore and evaluate the public and private, commercial, and residential assets within the downtown district.

“Determining an overall economic development strategy that encourages private investment from existing businesses and home owners as well as prospective investors, the City of Milford has created a series of incentives that rewards individuals and businesses that enhance the quality of living within the district,” Shupe said. “The benefits created by the State of Delaware DDD program, including the potential for grants up to 20 percent of hard costs for private investments, will create a vibrant economic environment where public-private partnerships can create jobs and further economic opportunities in downtown Milford.”

“Harrington is very honored to accept the Governor’s Downtown Development District Designation and I feel this is exactly what Harrington needs to jumpstart its Downtown Revitalization,” said Harrington Mayor Anthony R. Moyer. “The City recently adopted a Downtown Development District Plan with input from the community, various organizations, downtown businesses and a Downtown Task Force with support from the City Council and Planning Commission. The Plan would not have been possible without the Neighborhood Building Blocks Grant Fund.

“A special thanks to our City Manager, Teresa Tieman, and her staff, as well as Debbie Pfeil and Lauren Good of KCI Technologies, Inc. for leading the efforts with these initiatives and the very competitive designation application,” Moyer said. “The City recently approved five District specific incentives and ten other citywide incentives, created several development resources, and ensured infrastructure was in place. With this designation, our Downtown is certain to prosper, maintain its character, and be the center of our community.”

“The Town Council and I are committed to the revitalization of our downtown and firmly believe this designation, combined with significant local incentives, will help kick start both residential and commercial investment within our main commercial district,” said Georgetown Mayor Bill West. “Initial efforts will be to complete our implementation plan, communicate the designation to all properties within the district boundaries, and invite new and existing projects to take advantage of this opportunity. We appreciate the continued support from both the Office of the Governor and the Delaware Legislature for this worthwhile program. We look forward to the positive impact of this designation on the Town of Georgetown.”

“The development district designation will give Laurel a very important new tool to stir new development along broad creek to support eco tourism, establish new businesses and revitalize homes in our historic area,” said Laurel Mayor John Shwed.

DDD Background

The DDD program, administered by the Delaware State Housing Authority, was created by legislation proposed by Governor Markell and passed unanimously in May 2014 by the General Assembly. In January 2015, Governor Markell designated the downtown areas of Seaford, Dover and Wilmington as Delaware’s first three Downtown Development Districts.

To incentivize development, applicants receiving DDD grants are eligible for up to 20 percent of their construction costs in the form of a rebate. Grants are awarded only when projects are complete. Local incentives also are available for qualifying projects.

In Laurel, for example, local incentives include property tax relief and coordinated cross-agency efforts to help investors build homes, promote homeownership and rehabilitate vacant properties. Smyrna is offering business consulting services, discounted utility charges and assistance from a Revolving Loan Fund for Downtown Development District investors.

Downtown Development District Incentives

In early September, the Delaware State Housing Authority will launch a new funding round for large projects in each of Delaware’s Downtown Development Districts. Nearly $8 million in funding will be available for projects statewide. Applications to fund small projects – defined as investments of less than $250,000 in a designed downtown district – are accepted on a rolling basis.

“We’re thrilled to work with homeowners, developers, and small business owners to drive investment in all of the newly-designated districts,” said Anas Ben Addi, Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority. “This program is working, and we’ve seen the proof in Wilmington, Dover and Seaford. We look forward to even more progress statewide.”

Governor Markell announced in March that the DDD program would expand through new district designations. Delaware’s Office of State Planning Coordination led the process to review the applications and designate the new districts. Applications were scored based on the town or city’s need for Downtown Development District incentives, the jurisdiction’s downtown revitalization plan, and the creativity of its incentive package.

“All of Delaware’s towns and cities are unique, and I am so pleased that we were able to expand this program to the five diverse communities being recognized today: Laurel, Harrington, Smyrna, Milford and Georgetown,” said State Planning Director Constance Holland. “The best part of this program is that it supports such a wide range of redevelopment activities so each town can thrive. This program demonstrates that the state supports all of our local governments and their visions of economically vibrant, healthy, and complete communities.”


Law Changed to Help Give Delaware Veterans Fair Access to Jobs

Governor signs bill to end unnecessary requirements for receiving professional licenses

Dover, DE – Eliminating an unnecessary obstacle for Delawareans who serve our country to pursue economic opportunities at home, Governor Markell joined members of the General Assembly and veterans at the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base to sign legislation that allows veterans to more fairly compete for jobs.

House Bill 296, sponsored by Rep. Earl Jaques (D-Glasgow) and Sens. Brian Bushweller (D-Dover) and Bruce Ennis (D-Smyrna), allows professional licensing boards to recognize military education, training, and experience when reviewing credentials and issuing licenses. This change will assist service personnel in obtaining and/or renewing professional licenses when transitioning from active duty.

The Governor noted that, before today, medical personnel returning from treating members of the armed forces overseas were told they must complete an entire educational program because they didn’t have the right training or experience to obtain a nursing license in Delaware. Similar circumstances affected veterans in a variety of professions.

“As a state and as a nation, we have no more sacred responsibility than to ensure that the men and women who sign up to serve us have fair opportunities to succeed when their tours of duty are over,” said Markell. “And it’s not complicated to realize that they will only get those opportunities if they can compete for jobs on a level playing field with everyone else. House Bill 296 corrects the flaws in our licensing system that have inadvertently, but unacceptably, worked against our service members and their families.”

HB 296 further allows boards to issue temporary licenses to service personnel when they hold a valid license from another state. The current Delaware law only allows Boards to do so for military spouses.

“We passed legislation last year to aid military spouses with state professional licensure, and when we learned this was a problem for military members themselves, we immediately crafted this bill to remedy that,” said Rep. Earl Jaques, D-Glasgow, who chairs the House Veterans Affairs Committee. “Any time we can assist veterans, guardsmen and reservists with their transitions to the civilian world, we want to do so.”

Delaware has made progress in giving Veterans the support they have earned. According to the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the Delaware unemployment rate for the most recent returning veterans – those categorized as Gulf War II Veterans – plummeted from 12.9 percent to 6.4 percent from the end of 2011 to the end of 2013. Today’s bill signing marks another step in supporting servicemen and women and their families. “We have a lot of highly skilled service members right here at Dover Air Force Base who see what Delaware has to offer and want to stay here when their tour of duty ends and we want to make it as easy as possible to keep those skills in Delaware,”  said Sen. Bushweller, D-Dover. “This helps take us from talking about helping our veterans succeed in civilian life to actually doing something to help our veterans both stay here and succeed in civilian life.”

“This makes sense,” said Sen. Ennis, D-Smyrna. “We all recognize the high-quality training our service members receive. This simply makes it easier to switch those skills from the military to civilian worlds.”

Among those celebrating the bill signing was Deshawn Jenkins, a nurse who served as a medic in the Air Force and had difficulty obtaining a license to get a job when he left the military. He visited Legislative Hall this year to urge the General Assembly to change the law so other service members would not experience the same impediments to successfully transitioning to civilian life.

“This law will make a difference for veterans,” said Jenkins. “I’m proud that today Delaware is taking this step to fully recognize how military experience and training can help veterans contribute to the state’s workforce and economy. I thank the Governor and the legislators who listened to veterans concerned about this issue and made sure it was fixed.”

At today’s event, Markell also signed House Bill 324, sponsored by Rep. Jaques, which creates special motor vehicle license plates for the purpose of honoring Delaware’s veterans.

“There are so many Delawareans who want to do something to support our military and the men and women who have served, but who don’t have a direct connection to the military,” said Rep. Jaques. “The special plate lets those folks show their support, as well as contribute to the Veterans Trust Fund we established to provide direct aid to veterans in our communities.”

 

VIDEO Veterans Bill Signing

PHOTOS Veterans Bill Signing


Governor Markell Sets Agenda for Unleashing the Potential of Delawareans

State of the State proposals focus on creating jobs and economic growth

Dover, DE – Governor Markell laid out his priorities for 2014 today, saying we must commit to unleashing the potential of every Delawarean by ensuring they have equal opportunities to acquire good education and training, find good jobs, and live in safe and vibrant communities.

“The premium in today’s economy is on the human factor – the creativity, the talent, and the drive in every one of us,” said Markell. “A society that squanders the potential of its people is a society that lets its future slip away.”

Delivering his annual State of the State address in the House Chamber, the Governor offered a path forward to help Delawareans make the most of their abilities. His agenda starts with better workforce training through efforts, like a scholarship that better prepares students for college and a program to help high school juniors and seniors acquire nationally recognized manufacturing certificates. The Governor also proposed:

  • Infrastructure investments that create jobs and lay the foundation for future economic growth;
  • Research grants to spur job-creating innovation;
  • Improved educational opportunities for our youth through efforts to better support our youngest children, and attract and retain top teachers in our schools; and
  • Policies to reduce crime, including focusing on ways to help ex-offenders and those suffering from addiction become productive members of society.

The Governor opened his speech by highlighting progress that has been made to strengthen the state over the past year, noting that Delaware’s job growth has outpaced the national average, schools are better preparing our students, and businesses are dealing with clearer and fewer regulations than 12 months ago.

“But to paraphrase Will Rogers, even if we’re on the right track, we’ll get run over if we just sit here; we have so much more to do,” said Markell. “If you have the right skills and live in the right communities, good-paying jobs are available. But for too many people, that’s not reality. Every Delawarean has something to contribute if given the chance. We need to make sure they have that chance.”

The new initiatives and proposed legislative action announced in the speech would advance that opportunity for Delawareans:

The Opportunity to Work

  • Scholarship program: allow low-income students to take college courses during their senior year, recognizing that these students will be more likely to enroll and persist in college.
  • Roadmap from the classroom to employment: encourage employers to join a new initiative announced today in which DuPont will identify coursework and provide internships that will put students on a fast-track for opportunities in the company.
  • Support students taking accelerated career path: a new, two-year, comprehensive program in manufacturing technologies for high school juniors and seniors will focus on mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering, and will lead to nationally recognized manufacturing certificates. In addition, the Delaware Manufacturing Association and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership are helping identify companies willing to offer students real-world opportunities during the summer between junior and senior year.
  • Grant to support business-education collaboration: a competitive grant program will fund public-private partnerships between employers and our schools and colleges that will develop the skills needed by tomorrow’s workforce.

A Culture of Innovation

  • Research Grants: invest in innovation by creating a $2 million matching grant program, leveraging federal dollars in support of research that will create the jobs of tomorrow.
  • Launch the Delaware Cyber Initiative: a partnership between the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, Delaware Tech and the private sector that will build a collaborative learning and research network dedicated to cyber innovation in a field in which hundreds of unfilled jobs exist.

Investing in Delaware

  • Transportation Investments: $1.1 billion in transportation network funding over 5 years, a $500 million increase over the state’s current financial plan to create good jobs and lay the foundation for future prosperity.
  • Clean Water for Delaware’s Future Initiative: clean up our waterways by upgrading wastewater and drinking water plants, improving stormwater infrastructure, and using cutting-edge technologies to remove toxic substances.

Opportunity to Learn

  • Grow Nurse Family Partnership Program: more than double the number of first-time mothers who are served by a program proven to improve opportunities for kids. Delaware would have a higher percentage of eligible mothers participating than any other state.
  • Supporting STEM teachers: the Delaware STEM Council, in partnership with Ashland, will give awards to support top STEM teachers so they remain in the classroom and can share effective teaching strategies.
  • Give school leaders more flexibility to address student needs: propose giving some school leaders the ability to spend some state resources implementing their own school improvement plans, rather than be committed to a rigid funding formula. Tracking their choices and measuring their results will help show how to best provide greater flexibility to more schools.
  • Enhance teacher compensation system: give the best teachers a path to receive additional compensation for pursuing leadership opportunities while remaining in the classroom, and recognize that our starting salaries are not competitive.

A New Day in Delaware Downtowns

  • Create Downtown Development Districts: designated areas in our cities will qualify for development incentives and a host of other benefits in housing and transportation. Builders would receive grants for a percentage of their investment.
  • Address Wilmington gun violence: create a new Division of Special Investigations within the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to focus on gun-trafficking, recognizing gun violence is often committed by shooters who cannot legally own guns.
  • Improve treatment for substance abuse: propose changes to better align state resources to fill the gaps in the drug treatment system, recognizing most men in the country are using an illegal substance when they are arrested and many of them can contribute if they receive treatment.

The Opportunity to Contribute

  • Help ex-offenders reintegrate into society: eliminate the arbitrary loss of a drivers’ license for crimes that have nothing to do with automobiles, removing a barrier to employment.
  • Ban the Box: address employment discrimination against ex-offenders who have repaid their debt to society by eliminating the box that says “check here if you’ve been convicted of a crime” for state employment jobs.
  • Reduce prison crowding: create pre-trial, community supervision for non-violent offenders so the Department of Correction and social service providers can help get offenders to hearings, avoid trouble while awaiting trial, and be linked to needed services instead of waiting in prison. Another proposal would give judges greater discretion when it comes to concurrent and consecutive sentencing, recognizing Delaware is the only state that forces our judges, without exception, to impose consecutive sentences for multiple offenses.
  • Keep juveniles on the right path after they leave state custody: fund community-based advocates to work with kids who leave Kids Department facilities. Advocated can help them and their families access mental health services and re-enroll in school.

The Governor will unveil a balanced budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2015 in his budget presentation next Thursday, January 30th at 1 p.m.

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