Economic Development
In This Page:
Sussex Economic Development Website
OP ED – from Joe Conaway, Chairman, Sussex County Economic Development Action Committee
March 2018
http://sedac-de.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/JoeConoway_OpEd_Suggestionsthatmayhelp.pdf
A quote from Conaway's Op Ed
" One statistic that continues to haunt me is one that tells us the Sussex County and the Delmarva Peninsula continue to lead the nation in the highest outmigration of 18 to 25 year olds. THIS TREND MUST BE STOPPED. In my own family two of my four children have left their home county to find work elsewhere. The other two work in education which I submit is the largest group of professionals in Sussex County. But not everybody is cut out to teach and moreover, not everybody should go to college. That’s why our efforts must bear fruit. "
Time for Sussex County to Seize the Opportunities Opened up by The Pandemic
May 9, 2020
It has already been 2 months. Even witnessing the frenzy at 5 stores on March 12th, and finding no TP or hand sanitizer, did not prepare me for what I heard later that day - The State of Emergency. Soon the lockdown followed. Then, the mask frenzy . . .
What surprised me the most was the speed with which Americans learned to connect with others in their homes alone. I saw some technophobic seniors in their 80's resolving to learn how to Zoom and finding the joy of seeing again their grandchildren and friends on the screen. Of course, college courses went online.
Yes, an online meeting is not tactile, but it is akin to the spectator sports that are played in the real world and broadcast on the TV for those who cannot afford to be in the stadium due to the costs or time/space constraints.
This surge of online meetings and classes are not to be dismissed as a temporary phenomenon. Sussex County must seize this as an opportunity to redirect its economic future for 2 reasons:
Locality is not as important a factor as before, to businesses and colleges, provided reliable high-speed internet is available throughout the County. This beautiful Sussex County with relatively low land prices should be able to attract high-tech companies that would thrive through the invasion of AI (Artificial Intelligence). Sussex can also offer their employees a relaxed lifestyle with affordable cost of living. These would provide advantages over urban areas where, not only are the living costs high, but also the crammed space could be more problematic in such times as now! The high speed Internet will also open up opportunities for the gig economy.
College students can take classes from almost any famous university from across the country, since universities in the U.S. are already forced to offer online classes for foreign students who are not allowed to come back to the U.S. during lockdown. California State University (Cal. State), the nation’s largest four-year public university system, said on May 12th that classes at its 23 campuses would be canceled for the fall semester, with instruction taking place almost exclusively online. This means beautiful Sussex County can attract college students without having physical campuses, and they will be the pool of well trained employees for the high-tech industries that we will be able to attract.
Out of the 9 Universities of California (UC), 7 are located by the ocean and the other 2 are within a couple of hours drive from the ocean. Sussex County has the ocean for ocean-loving college students.
But, beyond the concept are the details. More high-paying industries and their employees could mean a disaster for the already battered eastern and southern Sussex County. We need to implement the master plan, especially as to roads and environmental protection, and the precious farmlands, forests and waterways must be preserved.
Laurel, Frankford, and Dagsboro, an easy driving distance from Salisbury Airport, have ample space that can be converted into industrial parks, surrounded by well laid out subdivisions for their employees.
If Salisbury Airport is not enough, we can pursue expanding Georgetown Airport as a passenger commercial airport connecting to Atlanta (Delta), Chicago (United), Dallas (American), or Baltimore or La Guardia (Southwest). This will open up opportunities in rural Georgetown, Ellendale, Bridgeville and Seaford for play.
This also calls for the re-thinking of public transportation system, especially for the roads leading toward the beaches from western parts of Sussex County. For instance, for Rehoboth Beach, which has only two two-lane roads to get in and out, may we augment Park & Ride with minimal park/ride fees while replacing some parking spaces with personal locker facilities? This may alleviate much of the traffic jam on Coastal Hwy during peak times.
It is about time Sussex County shifts its economic reliance from tourism, retirement housing, and chicken industries, and turns to diversification and higher paying jobs. Along with them, many more service jobs and commercial entities will be drawn to middle and western Sussex, along Rt. 13 and 113.
Again, I stress we need to preserve, even subsidize, farmlands and family farmers who serve the local population, for self-sufficiency in times of transportation lockdowns or food shortages.
What we cannot ignore are emergency preparations. As our dependency on technology and the Internet grows, the opportune time for smart grid hackers looking for the maximum impact ripens. Even the White House recently ordered our power plants not to use any foreign parts. Currently, many critical parts for the power industry and grid are only available from foreign manufacturers. There have been some warnings that the Delaware area may run into power shortages, even in the absence of power grid hacking, as some nuclear and other power plants on the mainland are retired.
Yes, we have emergency management agencies, but they were not prepared for the current event. I hope the pain of this pandemic is not wasted, but will be turned around to make us stronger and better prepared for future disasters - even if it does not make economic sense to prepare for unlikely situations.
Patrick Callahan: Finding business opportunities in the face of a global pandemic
Aug. 4, 2020