DEI - Delaware Business Times

Banking, Government, News, Statewide

Harris takes lead at state SBA office

Jacob Owens April 12, 2022

WILMINGTON – Michelle Harris has built a career around opening opportunities for small business owners, especially those from underrepresented populations. The 33-year civil servant spent time at the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity, which ensures ...

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Insider Only, Legal Services, New Castle County, News

🔒 McEldowney named first woman to lead Maron Marvel

Jacob Owens April 7, 2022

WILMINGTON – As a first-generation Korean American woman, who was raised by a single mother and became the first member of her family to earn a law degree, Cathie Pyune McEldowney intends to bring a ...

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Human Resources, Insider Only, News, Statewide

🔒 Consultants, Advisors weigh in on DE&I efforts

Katie Tabeling February 15, 2022

The Delaware Business Times spoke with consultants and talent acquisition specialists to understand where conversations companies and nonprofits stand on DEI efforts today. Consultants include Chanta Howard-Wilkinson, of Chanta Wilkinson Consulting; Njideka Wiggins, a practicing ...

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News, Viewpoints

VIEWPOINT: With DE&I, Delaware can compete into future

Jacob Owens February 15, 2022

Did you know that in 2044, Delaware is projected to be a majority-minority state? This is according to researchers at the Center for American Progress, the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution. And by ...

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Chemicals, DE Public Companies, Education, Insider Only, News, Nonprofit

🔒 Chemours CEO Vergnano donates $3M to UConn DEI institute

Jacob Owens June 25, 2021

WILMINGTON – As he winds down a career in chemical engineering, Chemours CEO Mark Vergnano is already looking to make another lasting impact. Earlier this month, Vergnano and his wife, Betsy, donated $3 million to ...

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WILMINGTON – Michelle Harris has built a career around opening opportunities for small business owners, especially those from underrepresented populations. [caption id="attachment_222112" align="alignright" width="272"]

Michelle Harris | PHOTO COURTESY OF SBA[/caption] The 33-year civil servant spent time at the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity, which ensures diversity in the state’s procurement efforts; the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, an arm of the secretary’s office that ensures each of the operating administrations of the department – highways, airports, transit, etc. – achieve their small business goals and policies; and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), where she worked the 8(a) Government Contracting and Business Development program. Those experiences will suit her well as the state’s new SBA district office director, replacing longtime director John Fleming who was recently promoted by President Joe Biden to overseeing the region’s operations. “When this particular opportunity came up as the district director, it just really spoke to my passion for working with small businesses,” Harris told Delaware Business Times. “I can make sure that in my own backyard, the state of Delaware, the small businesses in my community know what we do, have access to our tools and services, and a real opportunity to grow and scale their businesses.” In moving to the Delaware SBA office, it will mark a welcome return home for Harris, who had been commuting daily to Washington, D.C., where she last worked at the federal Department of Transportation. She is taking over the office after two years in which thousands of businesses made their first contacts with the SBA through the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that doled out millions to businesses at the height of the pandemic. Harris said she plans to leverage that contact to extend offers about the SBA’s traditional products, like microlending and low-interest 7(a) loans. “It's through all of this outreach that we're doing now that we're really pushing that message out there to the small business community,” she said. In particular, Harris said she hopes to identify and contact those businesses that were forced to close permanently during COVID. “We want to find out where they are and who they are because I believe that entrepreneurs have an entrepreneurial spirit. Just because one business may not have worked out, they don't just typically walk away,” she said. [caption id="attachment_222113" align="alignleft" width="300"]

(L-R) Business owner Lanice Wilson, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, SBA Delaware Director Michelle Harris, and Women's Business Center Director Sara Crawford talk at a March meeting. | PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUNT ROCHESTER OFFICE[/caption] Even for those businesses that did survive, the SBA is helping them to retool and rethink their futures in a post-pandemic environment. Harris pointed to The Juice Joint, a women-owned small business that she recently visited in Wilmington’s Riverfront, that is rethinking its business plan after opening during the pandemic. Harris’ office is doing that through its existing resource partners, including the Women's Business Center and Small Business Development Center, as well as a new Community Navigator program, where trained resource professionals walk candidates through the administration’s offerings. She also intends to grow and strengthen the relationships with its lenders, who facilitate the government-backed loans and grew dramatically in number and in workload during the pandemic. She also aims to expand outreach with underrepresented entrepreneurs, and she’s been working with the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce on new programs. One of Harris’ specific goals is to expand the number of women-owned small businesses that export their goods. Currently, only about 14% of U.S. exporters are women-owned small businesses. “We are really looking at how we can expose women-owned small businesses that are ready to compete in a global environment to the tools and resources necessary to actually take the step,” she said.