People to Watch: Noah Olson, of DPP

WILMINGTON – Delaware’s life sciences sector has become one of its breakout economic success stories of the first two decades of the 2000s, with poise for even greater future growth, according to a recent study.

Noah Olson | PHOTO COURTESY OF DPP

One official who has already been working on the ground-level of that growth and will be key to its future is Noah Olson, director of innovation for the state’s public-private economic development agency, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership.

In the last six months, Olson has been involved in securing state grant support for the expansion of Analytical Biological Services, Prelude Therapeutics, Advanced Materials Technology, Sepax Technologies, creating scores of high-paying jobs.

The Delaware native was promoted to lead DPP’s biotech work this past summer after former director Ariel Gruswitz left for another opportunity, and he’s made the most of the role to date.

With MRA Group undertaking a massive redevelopment of DuPont’s former Chestnut Run labs, the Delaware Innovation Space seeing a large amount of lab space vacated by graduates and the state grants backing retrofitting of existing space into research labs, Olson will have no shortage of space to fill with high-tech firms starting next year.

He will also work with the newly created Science & Tech Advisors Group, which includes representatives from Delaware’s top tech companies, industry organizations, institutions of higher education and state government, to advance the state’s profile to interested companies.

“Noah invests his time touting Delaware’s value proposition to companies ranging from early-stage startups, to mature, large employers. Look to DPP and Olson in 2022 to continue to convene and lead the Science and Tech Advisory committee, advocating for and working to implement new investment opportunities for local companies, and continuing to build Delaware’s brand as a place for innovators large and small,” said Michele Schiavoni, DPP director of marketing.