3rd Annual Thanks-A-Brunch! Celebration
Join the Tech Council of Delaware for its third annual year-end Thank-A-Brunch Celebration acknowledging the many sponsors, members, strategic partners, and supporters who contributed to the success of the Council in 2024
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Technical.ly
02-05-2025
- Technical.ly
Delaware leaders address homegrown clean energy at in-person Town Hall
It's been a big month for clean tech in Delaware. There was the CleanTech Innovation Ecosystem Summit at the Delaware Innovation Space, including Startup302's Environmental Impact Finals, and the topic of clean energy took center stage (if only for a few minutes) at the Delaware town wall featuring the state's congressional delegation, the governor and the attorney general. Also new: big biotech expansions in New Castle County, the First State's first esports high school state championships and a Tech Council of Delaware fly-in to DC. Keep reading to get the details, and don't forget about next week's Philly Tech Week presented by Comcast and the Builders Conference. Hop on SEPTA to get there while you still can! A plea for more energy infrastructure On Saturday, April 26, Delawareans had an opportunity to speak directly to state leadership at the first in-person town hall of the second Trump administration. All of Delaware's congressional leaders — Rep. Sarah McBride, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Sen. Chris Coons — were present, as well as Gov. Matt Meyer and Attorney General Kathy Jennings. Community members pressed the all-Democrat panel on several topics, dominated by opposition to the Trump administration and demands for more aggressive action in Congress, as well as protest against the US role in the ongoing Gaza war. Clean energy also came up, as a union boilermaker from New Castle made a plea for more energy infrastructure in Delaware. 'Our nation is on the brink of an electric energy crisis because of the enormous amount of electricity demands needed to power data centers, AI, Bitcoin mining and cannabis farming,' he said. 'What distinguishes Delaware is the fact that our state imports more of its electricity generation, percentage wise, than any other state in the union, and we must change that.' Senator Coons responded, referencing the $750 million grant for the Mid Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub, also known as MACH2, that connects Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey as a center of the burgeoning hydrogen economy. Unfortunately, he said, the grant, approved by the previous administration, may not materialize. 'The current administration is this close to canceling that,' Coons said. 'I know this isn't universally known, but Newark, Delaware happens to be one of the world's leading centers of hydrogen technology. We have a real opportunity here to grow a business, to produce clean energy, to export it to the rest of the world, and I'm fighting hard, working with Democrats and Republicans to prevent the shutdown of our hydrogen hub.' Governor Meyer added that the state is working on a plan to make the state both energy independent and run on clean energy. 'Within a decade, we [plan to] go to 100% renewable Delaware produced energy,' Meyer said. 'It will not be easy to achieve.' A major roadblock, the governor said, is gaining regulatory support for the beleaguered offshore wind projects that have been in the works for years. 'There is outright opposition to many of these things from the federal government,' Meyer said. 'In spite of that, we're going to do everything with solar, potentially with wind, hopefully with hydrogen, and maybe even with a little nuclear to make sure we are moving forward.' Watch the full town hall here. More Moves: Merk's $1 billion complex at Chestnut Run will be the main production plant for cancer drug Keytruda. Biotech clinical research organization QPS Holdings is making a $16.6 million expansion at Delaware Technology Park in Newark. Futures First Gaming — and the State of Delaware — hit an esports milestone last month when it hosted the first-ever Delaware Scholastic Esports League Mario Kart High School State Championships at Theatre N. Cleantech startup KiposTech took the top prize in the 2025 Startup302 Environmental Impact Finals, held during the CleanTech Innovation Ecosystem Summit at the Delaware Innovation Space on April 24. The Tech Council of Delaware returned to DC for the 2025 Technology Councils of North America Fly-in, and got some face time with Sen. McBride. TechForum's AIinDE event returns May 14 at Theatre N in Wilmington with the theme 'How Local Businesses Are Leveraging Artificial Intelligence,' featuring four speakers from Delaware's tech community. May the 4th be with you! If you're spending this Star Wars Day weekend in Rehoboth, Taco Reho will have themed specials, including Vader's Taders topped with 'darkside salsa.'
Technical.ly
26-03-2025
- Technical.ly
Tech Council of Delaware is officially a nonprofit after 2 years of growth
Moves is a recurring series where we chart big and notable changes for people and companies in Delaware. Got a tip? Email us at delaware@ This month saw milestone moments in Delaware's tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The state's major organization for technologists rang in two years — just months since it became a post-incubator independent entity. Founders and owners of qualified small businesses interested in doing business with the state government now have a more efficient tool to get certified and Delawareans from Wilmington to Millsboro made powerful moves this month. Keep reading to get the details, after the chart showing recent Delaware data on the most desirable tech skills for regional jobs, how many job postings request each skill and how much those hired make. Tech Council of Delaware celebrates two years The Tech Council of Delaware celebrated its second birthday with a virtual event on March 21, bringing together members of the state's tech ecosystem from up and down the state. The last year brought big change for the organization, as the council's three-year incubation with the Rodel Foundation (including developing the org, which officially launched in March 2023) ended last July when it launched its new strategic plan. It officially spun out from Rodel to become an independent nonprofit. 'We're one of the newest tech councils and associations in the country, but we're doing some really great things,' said the council's Executive Director, Zakiyyah Ali during the event. 'So we're super proud of Delaware and its ecosystem and all of you.' Among the announcements during the event was that the council had completed the process of becoming a 502(c)(3) nonprofit organization, a major step as it moves forward independently. Some of the council's accomplishments since its first birthday celebration include: Attending the Tech Councils of North America (TECNA) fly-in in Washington, DC and meeting with the Delaware delegation Ali's attendance at TECNA's Summer Conference and CEO Retreat Continuing and evolving the YES We Tech! summer internship program The graduation of the first class of the American Dream Academy, a tuition-free technology training program, and the redesign of the American Dream Academy into Tech Ready Delaware The release of three issues of Tech Council Chronicle (in collaboration with The annual Tech Ecosystem Conference, including the tech startup symposium and AI-focused day Leading the regional America Achieves Good Jobs Economy Initiative with partners including the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and Ben Franklin Technology Partners Continuing local in-person networking events like Tech Thursdays 'We do try some new and innovative things here in Delaware so that we can say, here's a model that we want to replicate or continue to invest in,' Ali said. 'We are a new and burgeoning kind of hub, if you will. And so it's going to take repeated times for folks to hear these messages before they start to get that, yes, this is available to them.' Upcoming for the council is the annual Tech Ecosystem Conference, which will take place on May 20 at Wilmington University in New Castle. A new online portal for the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity On Monday, the Delaware Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD) launched a new online portal to streamline the certification application process for diverse businesses. OSD, which is part of the Delaware Division of Small Business (DSB), offers two types of certifications that can enhance economic opportunities for small businesses in Delaware: the Diverse Business Certification, which includes veteran, minority, women and individuals with disabilities-owned businesses and the Small Business Focus Certification which applies to uniquely-sized small businesses. 'I've heard from small business owners for years that they wish our application process was automated, and now I'm thrilled to let them know we heard them and to be able to give them this tool,' said OSD Director Shavonne White. 'We should be exploring any opportunity that can make it easier for businesses to become certified and advance their opportunities to obtain contracts with the state.' More Delaware Moves: Amanda Irwin, who first started at Mountaire Farms in Millsboro as an intern, was named the new president of the poultry processor — one of the three major players in the Delmarva peninsula's $4 billion chicken industry. Irene Rombel, founder of BioCurie and a 2024 RealLIST Connector, was elected to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals Technical Activities Committee. Bertrand Hankoua, an assistant professor in the department of human ecology at Delaware State University (DSU) and Ayalew Osena, a former DSU postdoctoral researcher who is now at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, were awarded a series of patents for a plant propagation innovation that could lead to an increase in the production of biofuels and bioenergy. The Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce is holding the final pitch event for its inaugural Pitch Perfect Competition on March 27 at CSC Station, featuring five Black women-owned businesses. Digital marketing agency First Ascent Design was officially recognized for its contributions to the city's entrepreneurial community by the Wilmington City Council in honor of its 10th anniversary.
Technical.ly
07-12-2024
- Technical.ly
3rd Annual Thanks-A-Brunch! Celebration
Join the Tech Council of Delaware for its third annual year-end Thank-A-Brunch Celebration acknowledging the many sponsors, members, strategic partners, and supporters who contributed to the success of the Council in 2024
