The Delaware Business Roundtable supports the report released today by the Delaware Economic Development Working Group on “Rethinking Economic Development in Delaware.”

The report includes a recommendation to rethink Delaware’s approach to economic development by creating a public-private partnership model, which is consistent with proposals the Roundtable made in its Delaware Growth Agenda released in 2016.

“By working together, the public and private sectors can make the state a global magnet for leading-edge technologies, talent, and investment,” said Robert Perkins, executive director of the Delaware Business Roundtable. “This report is an important first step in that direction.”

The report recommends taking four key functions of the state Department of Economic Development Office out of the agency and placing responsibility for them in a new 503(c)3, which will be co-chaired by the Governor and a leading business executive. The four functions are Business Marketing and Attraction; Entrepreneurship and Innovation; Talent; and Market Intelligence.

Funding for this new public-private entity would come from the state ($1.5 million) and the private sector ($1 million) each year.