Waltz named vice chair of A Better Delaware

WILMINGTON — After two years of dedicated service, board member Sam Waltz has been promoted to serve as vice chair of A Better Delaware, a non-partisan public policy and political advocacy organization that supports pro-growth, pro-jobs policies and greater transparency and accountability in Delaware state government.

Sam Waltz | PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM WALTZ

Waltz is an award-winning and respected professional leader who remains active in Delaware’s political and business scenes. After serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during the height of the Vietnam War, Waltz returned to complete two degrees at the University of Illinois.

He would go on to work as a political journalist and state capitol bureau chief for The News Journal before a long public and government relations career. His earlier work as a journalist prompted him in 2014 to launch the Delaware Business Times along with Today Media Publisher Rob Martinelli.

Waltz served as chair of the Delaware delegation to the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business, chair of two Governor’s Conferences on Small Business in the 1990s, chair of the Delaware Leadership Council of the National Federation of Independent Businesses between 1997 and 2007 and held committee and board memberships at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce, New Castle County Chamber of Commerce and Delaware Small Business Chamber.

Chris Kenny, chairman and founder of A Better Delaware, announced Waltz’s promotion last week.

“Since joining ABD in November 2020, Sam has worked tirelessly to recruit and establish a multifaceted Advisory Board that includes former Gov. Mike Castle, renowned elder law attorney Bill Erhart, accomplished obstetrician Dr. Greg DeMeo, nationally recognized climatologist David Legates, and public safety expert Dennis Godek – all of whom share a vision for A Better Delaware and who contribute their expertise to our movement,” Kenny said in a statement. “A Better Delaware’s impact has grown to reach thousands of Delawareans through a multi-channel communications strategy that includes social media, email, direct-web, and op-eds in local newspapers.”

Waltz will continue to build A Better Delaware’s advisory board with professionals in education, finance and family health to advise on school choice, mental health and substance abuse issues, and state budgetary matters all of which influence Delaware’s economic growth.

ABD Executive Director Kathleen Rutherford hailed Waltz as a driving force behind the organization’s success and a shining light into the organization’s future.

“Sam is an experienced, respected and well-connected leader with a brilliant mind for Delaware’s business and political culture,” Rutherford said. “In two short years, with Sam’s help, A Better Delaware has helped to add five new advisory board members who with their professional advice, will help to make a marked and observable impact on public policy in the First State – but there’s more work to be done.”