New advisory group aims to push Del. innovation economy
From Delaware Business Times
WILMINGTON – A new state advisory group intends to increase Delaware’s spotlight as a science and technology innovation hub, helping the state remain competitive in the region for growing and relocating companies.
The Science & Tech Advisors Group, announced Dec. 30, consists of representatives from Delaware’s top tech companies, industry organizations, institutions of higher education and state government. It will be chaired by Patrick Callahan, co-founder of the Delaware Data Innovation Lab and CEO of Wilmington data analytics firm CompassRed.
As the First State’s spotlight grows under an impending President Joe Biden, Callahan told Delaware Business Times that there is a “huge opportunity to really take this to the next level.” Organization of the new group that was sought by Delaware’s public-private economic development agency, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, took several months behind the scenes in 2020, but it has been a goal for Gov. John Carney since he announced his transition plan four years ago.
Callahan credited J. Michael Bowman, state director of the Small Business Development Corp. and chairman and president of the Delaware Technology Park, an innovation hub near the University of Delaware, for setting the foundation that the group hopes to build on. With startups growing rapidly, an established group of big-name companies and fertile training grounds at UD and Delaware State University, Callahan said that Delaware is poised to benefit.
“I hate to say this, but the pandemic sort of brings an eye toward the need for this type of industry in our region,” he said. “It seems like it’s the perfect timing for all this to really take off.”