Delaware Prosperity Partnership: Helping Businesses Grow and Innovation Thrive

Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) leads Delaware’s efforts to attract, grow and retain businesses and support employers in place-marketing Delaware to potential employees. DPP also plays a key role in helping Delaware build a stronger entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem.

Kurt Foreman, President and CEO

The DPP team collaborates with partners throughout the state, including economic development groups, chambers of commerce, industry trade associations, academic institutions, business incubators and development companies. DPP works with site selectors, executives and developers focused on where to locate or grow a business and helps with reviewing potential sites, cost-of-living analyses and funding opportunities, including available tax credits and incentives. DPP also supports existing Delaware businesses by helping them identify, recruit and develop talent and making them aware of opportunities that can help them thrive.

DPP finished 2023 marking its sixth anniversary and celebrating the announcement — in cooperation with statewide partners and investors — of more than 65 located projects, nearly 9,000 new and retained jobs and almost $1.8 billion in capital investment since its founding in 2017. During the year, DPP staff resumed international travel by visiting France, Great Britain, Germany and India to promote Delaware to companies looking to expand to the United States. DPP also promoted Delaware across the United States by attending key industry gatherings as well as closer to home via a collaboration with WDEL featuring interviews with innovative Delaware business leaders, 30-second commercials and monthly public-service announcements.

Furthering innovation is a key part of Delaware’s operating plan, and DPP actively works to promote Delaware’s reputation as an innovation hub that grows scalable science and technology companies. Numerous national rankings of Delaware reflect the success of this statewide commitment, including #7 on the Milken Institute State Technology and Science Index (2022), #6 on WalletHub’s Most Innovative Environments list (2023) and #8 on WalletHub’s Most Innovative States list (2024).

DPP’s work to advance a culture of innovation in Delaware also includes connecting innovators and startups with the resources they need to develop and then showcasing their successes. In addition to advising these ventures one-on-one, DPP and its statewide partners coordinate Startup302, which is Delaware’s premier funding competition for startups led by underrepresented founders. The third annual installment of this entrepreneurial pitch contest attracted more than 160 applicants from around the world and awarded nondilutive grants and other valuable support to 15 finalists in five categories. Since its launch in 2021, Startup302 has provided $643,000 in funds to a total of 37 startups.

DPP also has initiated and supported programs to promote the growth of science, technology and manufacturing businesses statewide. In 2023, DPP served as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Hydrogen Hub (MACH2) collective and financially supported the year-long process that furthered MACH2’s selection as a regional clean hydrogen hub funded by $750 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. Also in 2023, DPP joined with the Delaware Division of Small Business to establish the state’s new Modernization Investment Support Initiative Grant, which helps existing Delaware companies fund upgraded equipment and services to keep competitive within their industries.

Now in its seventh full year of operation, DPP continues to promote Delaware’s strengths as it successfully competes for business expansion and relocation projects. DPP also celebrates the success of its nonprofit, public-private economic development model and all that its team, statewide partners and investors have accomplished together so far. And DPP anticipates much more to come during the rest of 2024 and beyond.

“Delaware provides an outstanding environment for collaboration and innovation. Both business and government leaders are known for going out of their way to provide innovators and entrepreneurs with access to the resources, mentorship and creative ecosystem of support necessary for their ideas to move from concept to creation.”