Business Haven or Business Has Been?
Delaware has long maintained a reputation as a business haven but that may soon change.
A new study from WalletHub ranked Delaware as the 7th worst state to start a business and in the bottom ten for business climate. This is nothing new.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Delaware’s business conditions recovered from the Great Recession at a noticeably slower pace than the rest of the nation, taking three more years to stabilize than the average. During that recovery period, the state’s real GDP (the change in real GDP from 2009 to 2013) was approximately -2%, while the national average was closer to +8%.
Delaware’s recovery still leaves something to be desired by many. At a Delaware Business Roundtable (DBT) panel in June, former Delaware Economic Director Alan Levin expressed his concern, stating, “I want to get to the point where…people are knocking on our door saying, ‘I want to come to Delaware because we see things are happening here.’ That’s not really happening…Until legislators and the administrators… realize that their most important thing is to serve the people as opposed to getting re-elected…things are not going to change.”
It is time to create this change. At this point, we stand at a critical juncture for our economy. It is time to make decisions with the future in mind instead of putting elections above Delawareans.
As we prepare for the second half of the 150thGeneral Assembly, it is time to demand better practices and legislation in Dover that promote a better business climate and strengthen our economy, such as Governor Carney’s “Rainy Day Fund” included in the FY 2019 and FY 2020 budget appropriations.
Delaware has the industries, bond ratings, and location needed to be business-friendly again and have a robust economy, if legislation from Dover allows it.
The First State can be a leader in business again if we take the right steps forward.