Over the course of nine years, when EastSide Charter School CEO Dr. Aaron Bass has met with education or business leaders in a Wilmington boardroom, his first question started almost every meeting is: how many of you live in Delaware?
Time and time again, he’s seen only a few hands raised. It’s not surprising, Bass said, given that residents have been moving out of Wilmington for decades. But he and others at EastSide Charter School are hoping to flip the script for their students — the $27 million Chemours STEM Hub is a big piece in that plan.
“It’s rare to see someone in corporate settings raised in Delaware, let alone someone who maybe didn’t come from the right side of whatever city. But if no one’s from Delaware, we don’t see a pipeline of workers from Delaware,” he told the Delaware Business Times. “STEM is the No. 1 opportunity in the state right now and we need an access point.”
The STEM Hub is a one-stop shop for science, technology, engineering and mathematics learning, complete with three lab spaces, all designed like the Chemours Discovery Hub, as well as makerspace complete with a 3D printer and laser cutter and hydroponic farming. There’s also a coding and esports lab and a podcast and streaming studio. It’s not only open for the 435 students to learn about robotics and coding – it’s also open for adults.
The facility is backed by $10 million in federal and state funds as well as close to $12 million from private, nonprofit and other sources. With that support, EastSide Charter will include services like drone certification, data analytics and lab assistant training – and expand on existing partnerships with Chemours, Future First Gaming and Delaware Bioscience Association.
There may be no other place in the First State more primed to seize the opportunity than the east side of Wilmington where Bass’ school sees hundreds of students every year. EastSide Charter school is in the predominantly Black community of Riverside where the 2010 U.S. Census found that the median household income was between $15,000 and $24,999. About 65% of EastSide Charter students are considered low income, according to the 2024 school’s annual report.
In comparison, jobs in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field can bring a salary of $64,000, according to a study completed by the National Science Foundation.
“That could shift somebody’s life who’s only making $20,000, $30,000 a year without a college degree. But they just need the training to get to that point,” Bass said.
The STEM Hub at the East Side Charter School is open for the public as well as 435 students at the school.
EastSide Charter is still exploring new collaborations with the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and others to help spark the interest in Delaware’s nascent life sciences sector because it’s getting harder with each passing year to get students interested which means it will also be hard getting those jobs filled by Delawareans.
In the United States, students are in the middle of the pack academically compared to other nations with many gains in math and science over the last 20 years being erased by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 36.8 million people who worked in STEM-related careers in the United States in 2021, the National Science Foundation reported that 43% of all doctoral-level scientists and engineers were foreign-born workers.
“The earlier they can get exposed to it, the easier it’ll become for them as they get into the older grades. It’s not easy these days,” said STEM Hub and Community Engagement Director Ray Rhodes. “So many of our students are intimidated by it because it’s not fun.”
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The Chemours STEM Hub includes maker space where students can hone their engineering skills through creative exercises designed to gain kids interest. | DBT PHOTO BY KATIE TABELING[/caption]
The competition for skilled labor
Delaware has deep roots to the life sciences sector, tracing back to DuPont’s first steps as a gunpowder manufacturer which turned into 200 years of cutting-edge development of chemicals, polymers, nylon and more. Successful scientists and researchers at DuPont have since moved on to start companies of their own in the state, creating a flourishing industry in pharmaceuticals and chemical engineering.
Locally, the life science sector has created 16,000 jobs, according to the Delaware Bioscience Association. Half of those jobs include pharmaceuticals and biotechnology developers, research and testing companies and medical device and equipment manufacturers, among others.
Still, there’s challenges in filling those jobs - particularly in highly skilled positions. It’s a conversation that Katie Lakofsky, a trained biologist who now focuses on workforce development matters at the Delaware Bioscience Association, continues to hear about from their members.
“What we hear consistently is that these companies want someone to come in and either train them themselves or have them go through a program so they can be prepared once they enter through the door,” she said. “But there’s also a need for people with doctorates and masters. How do we retain and attract that kind of work here?”
That question becomes more pressing as Delaware is not only seeking talent from neighboring states, but on a national and international scale. DuPont has 24,000 employees around the world including the 2,300 in Delaware. It’s still in that intense competition of attracting workers today.
DuPont values key skills in research and development in employees like technical expertise, analytical skills and up-to-date knowledge of regulations, said Bethany Ellis, director of talent management and development at DuPont. But softer skills like collaboration, creativity and adaptability are also highly prized in candidates.
“In today’s rapidly changing business environment, attracting and retaining talent is crucial to the success of any organization. At DuPont, we recognize that our employees are our greatest asset,” Ellis said in a prepared statement. “We know that investing in the development and well-being of our employees is critical for their engagement and satisfaction, as well as the long-term success of our business. Investing in our employees has helped us achieve positive engagement scores on our employee survey and high retention rates.”
DuPont also thinks regionally when it comes to its operations base in Delaware. Ellis said that the state’s strategic locations to nearby cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. and their notable universities grant the company access to a diverse talent pool.
Here in the First State, University of Delaware continues to attract students all over the world for its engineering and bioscience program and Delaware Technical Community College offers a certificate in chemical process operating, designed for low-skill STEM roles that are now opening up in the region. Wilmington University also recently started certificate programs geared toward the STEM industry.
But Lakofsky pointed out it’s also becoming an awareness problem as more people are self-selecting out of STEM careers, believing that the path is not there for that line of work.
“It’s not just about the awareness of the jobs that are available, but it’s about the training programs that are available that’ll lead you to those jobs. I’ve said it 1,000 times – just because you build it doesn't mean people will come if they don’t know about it,” she said.
Innovative thinking
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EastSide Charter's STEM Hub has three lab spaces and will soon include classes for adults looking to tap into the life sciences sector. | DBT PHOTO BY KATIE TABELING[/caption]
That gap between the skills needed for jobs in the bioscience sector and the available workforce has resulted in creative solutions, like at AstraZeneca. The global pharmaceutical company employs 500 people at its Newark plant which manufactures tablets and sachets for the U.S. market. But since 2020, AstraZeneca has also offered intense training in its operations at four locations, including Delaware. That training program can span weeks to months and has seen thousands of employees since.
Shamus Whyte, executive director and site manager at AstraZeneca’s Newark site, said that the training is a way to help employees and the company adapt to the digital skills that more workers have today compared to 10 years ago. In 2010, for example, mechanics would use tools. But today, employees may find themselves plugging in a laptop to troubleshoot equipment.
“Even the manual tasks are heavily engaged in digital interfaces, so we’re finding that we don’t have to teach them as much,” Whyte said. “But with automation and other controls, we’re having to target recruiters and referrals. We’ve found that we just can’t pluck people from the workforce since unemployment is so low… so we’ve had to quite heavily invest in the [existing] workforce.”
That also means AstraZeneca has worked to upskill its employees that have worked with the company since the 1980s, helping them learn new skills as the technology shifts.
The global company is still looking to spark new talent, however, be it through high school class tours or working with the local universities to fill that supply. Others like DuPont have key partnerships with several organizations to help find the talent, like the American Chemical Society, Society of Women Engineers and more.
But even as Delaware companies look to train the next generation of workers, there may be a more pressing need to hire for skilled talent. WuXi STA plans to complete its Middletown plant this year and hire 500 new workers when it opens in 2026 - and that’s just one company.
“This is a national challenge we’re facing in the industry because when the need for highly skilled workers grows, particularly with early stage companies, they may be competing with the Amazons of the world that are paying $22 an hour,” Delaware Bioscience Association President Michael Fleming said. “There needs to be more awareness around careers like those at AstraZeneca that offer great careers and professional development.”
The Delaware Bioscience Association is quietly preparing the launch of two programs that hope to address the more urgent demand. That includes the possible STAR Fund, a pilot program that would award people who work in STEM fields between $1,000 and $6,000 in a state grant to work in a Delaware company. The trade association is also working on a workforce training initiative shaped by Delaware companies to help develop the talent pipeline.
Final curriculum has yet to be set, but it’s hopeful that the Chemours STEM Hub on Wilmington’s east side will be one of those locations. EastSide Charter has already seen success in its own program, working closely with Delaware businesses through a program that covered tuition for 25 students to receive training for related health fields.
Once those students completed the program, they had jobs waiting for them. It’s a strong case study for what lies in store at the STEM Hub and, as Bass sees it, a way to address systemic economic inequalities in the neighborhood.
“If businesses are doing better because they have access to that talent, then more businesses will come. It’s easier to tell a parent that they need two jobs, but who’s going to make sure their child gets an hour of reading per night?” Bass said. “What we’re trying to figure out is how to meet those needs for the whole family.”
