Tag: Major Employers

Martin Miller Is a Self-Made American Success Story

Martin Miller Is a Self-Made American Success Story

October 19, 2021 –

What started as a one-man business inside a small backyard garage almost 30 years ago has grown into one of Delaware’s leading manufacturers, Miller Metal Fabrication.


Miller’s privately-owned regional metal fabrication company struggled during its first 15 years of operations. Then Martin W. Miller, founder and owner of Miller Metal, decided to embrace change and expand, he began using the latest state-of-the-art technology. Business took off. The company now employs nearly 100 people and offers a full array of manufacturing services for its diversified client base. Despite its size, Miller Metal has a substantive manufacturing presence in the Mid-Atlantic, where it services local, regional, national, and several international clients in a variety of industries.

Miller Metal now holds a unique position in its industry as a full-service metal fabrication company. Unlike most metal fabricators, Miller Metal provides “turn-key” solutions for its customers, as it designs, cuts, bends, welds, assembles, and ships a wide range of metal components. Serving a large and diverse number of customers throughout the United States, the company specializes in highly sophisticated laser cutting, machining, forming, design engineering, welding, and assembly services.

Miller Has Decided It’s Time to Embrace Change Again.

Miller Metal fabrication company in DelawareDuring a ceremony held Monday, October 18, 2021, at his facility, Miller, along with his CFO Mike Elehwany and Delaware Governor John Carney announced the metal fabrication company’s next major expansion. Located in the Newton Business Park, just west of Route 13 on Route 404 in Western Sussex County, Miller Metal plans to build a 60,000-square-foot industrial /office building on 8.5 acres of land adjacent to its current leased facility. The company plans to bring the total number of employees to 117 within three years.

“Miller Metal Fabrication’s decision to expand their operations and build a new facility in Bridgeville is great news for Sussex County and for Delaware,” said Governor John Carney. “This expansion will create new jobs, and it reaffirms that Delaware is the ideal place for businesses to grow.”

Miller Metal Fabrication is investing almost $7 million in its new facility, including acquisition, construction, and fit-out costs. Supporting the company’s plans are grants it has been approved to receive from the Delaware Strategic Fund by the State Council on Development Finance: a Jobs Performance Grant of $57,350 and a Capital Expenditure Grant of $207,900. Miller Metal previously received a Delaware Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund Grant of $313,000 toward the construction of a new Route 404 entrance to the Newton Business Park, which facilitates future development by other businesses there as well.

Over the Years, the Company Has Experienced a Series of Expansions.

In 1993, Miller left his original backyard shop for a larger space in Harrington. Soon after, Miller Metal teamed up with Delaware-based material handling solutions company, O.A. Newton & Son., to co-exist at Newton’s headquarters site in Bridgeville in Sussex County. In 2014, Miller Metal added a machine shop to its operation, where it has several high-tech milling machines. That same year, the metal fabrication company started a rubber and hose division, the Delmarva Rubber Company, at its Bridgeville location. Delmarva Rubber provides specialty rubber, gasket and hose products to the agriculture, manufacturing, public safety, chemical and food processing industries.

Currently, the company has more than 60 advanced pieces of equipment. It also has one of the largest press brakes on the East Coast.

“Sussex County is excited at the prospect of adding better-paying jobs, thanks to Miller Metal Fabrication’s expansion plans and the approval of these grants,” said Sussex County Council President Michael H. Vincent. “Sussex County has a robust manufacturing sector, one that is thriving with many small and mid-size businesses. This funding will ensure another local company stays hard at work creating products that we can proudly say are made . . . right here in Sussex County.”

Despite its success, Miller Metal stays true to its roots.

Miller Metal has remained a family-owned business with the owner’s three sonsMartin III, Dave and Pauleach retaining management roles within the company. Miller Metal offers competitive wages, full benefit packages that include 401K plan matching and subsidized health insurance. The company also offers on-site and remote technical training to its production workers.

“My employees are the key to our success,” said Miller during the announcement ceremony. “Every one of them views the company as their own, and they take genuine pride in the fact that our success is largely due to their commitment to customer satisfaction.”

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Delaware’s W. L. Gore & Associates Ranks 2nd on Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators List

Delaware’s W. L. Gore & Associates Ranks 2nd on Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators List

W. L. Gore & Associates innovators in Delaware

September 22, 2021 –

In 2021, following the year of the pandemic, one might have expected a short list of most innovative companies to have focused exclusively on COVID-19. But, in a year like no other we have experienced in our lifetimes, 60-plus-year-old W. L. Gore and Associates ranked second in Fast Company magazine’s 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of pride,” says Anand Narayan, leader of Gore’s Innovation Center of Expertise (iCOE). “To be recognized for innovation, to be a place where innovators want to be, that’s really motivating.”

The center that Narayan leads was created over six years ago to counter a problem growing companies often face. When he arrived in 1994, the company had about 5,000 employees and annual revenues of $800 million. Today, there are about 11,000 employees and revenues are over $3.8 billion, with manufacturing sites in five countries and offices in 20 more.

“One of the challenges as you become bigger and bigger is that innovative practices can stall. We were still innovating, but a bit more cautiously,” Narayan says. “We needed a place where we can make bigger changes, take bigger chances. You need to be thinking about the next big thing in the spaces that you’re not in today.”

“One innovation can happen because you have one outstanding innovator,” Narayan explains, and that’s how Gore began its rise to prominence. But sustaining capability for innovation requires a supportive ecosystem, like the one Gore has created. 

Founded in 1958 by the husband-and-wife team of Bill and Vieve Gore, the company initially served the electronic products market. Then, in 1969, their son Bob discovered expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), a versatile polymer that would have applications in medical, fabric, biotechnology, oil and gas, aerospace, semiconductor and many other industries.

But Bob Gore was not just an outstanding innovator. He and Bill Gore fostered an environment that attracted and grew other innovators. Over time, its Associates have been responsible for more than 3,400 unique inventions in a wide range of fields, including electronics, medical devices and polymer processing – putting the company, and Delaware, on the global map as a premier venue for innovation.

A Workplace Empowering Innovators


Gore built its success – and continues to do so, Narayan says – because of its ecosystem, one that is driven by advanced materials, a desire to solve challenging societal problems and a deep belief in the potential of every individual to make a difference. Gore has a flat management structure that some have called a “workers’ democracy.” There still are individuals in leadership roles and some Gore Associates are responsible for making executive decisions, but all Associates are empowered to sign on to projects that pique their interests, align with their capabilities and are supported with investment by businesses.

“The world is full of opportunities,” Narayan says. “Ideas can come from anywhere. The question is how to decide which opportunities to take on.”

He offers this example:

“Someone from our Fabrics team went to a conference on probiotics, and he heard about the need to improve seaweed production. He came to the iCOE and said, ‘I heard something at the conference that looks interesting. Maybe we could explore this further.’”

innovators products at W. L. Gore DelawareThe Center paired a couple of Gore Associates with the Fabrics Associate – one from the business side, the other from the technical side. They looked more deeply into the idea and decided it was worth a try. Within months – and this was the blurb cited in the Fast Company listing – Gore had begun running commercial trials showing that their new process could improve yield by 40 percent in what is now a $16 billion global seaweed market.

“On the front end, it’s just a couple of people exploring,” Narayan says, and that exploration has several facets. Studying megatrends – climate change or population growth, for example – and brainstorming how the inventions of Gore Associates can be applied to solving some of the problems the megatrend presents is an important step in the process. “We look at market spaces that our divisions might not be involved in today, but where there could be a potential fit. Places where material science and technology can solve huge challenging problems in society are places where Gore is willing to take on high-risk opportunities.”

The preliminary research includes talking to current and prospective customers, for there’s little reason to proceed with developing a product that doesn’t solve a critical problem for potential customers. What the Associates learn from their exploration guides the Innovation Center in its decisions on whether to proceed, Narayan says. The end goal, he says, is “to make hard choices between good opportunities and great opportunities.”

Improving the odds of those choices doesn’t mean eliminating the risk involved but it does call for “de-risking,” or reducing the odds of failure.

Of course, in the world of science, success can never be a certainty. A rule of thumb in the profession, Narayan says, is that “only one out of 10 things you work on will probably be successful.”

Nonetheless, careful research within the iCOE has led Gore to continue its exploration of some high-risk opportunities.

Improving seaweed production is one example. So is the current work on creating an artificial cornea, a project now in its experimental stage in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. Damage to the cornea is the fifth-leading cause of blindness, according to a 2017 study, and successful development of an artificial cornea would reduce the need for cornea donations. 

“If we’re successful, there’s a whole body of patients who are blind who would benefit,” Narayan said.

Delaware – the Ideal Location for Innovators

The collaboration with Johns Hopkins calls attention to another of Gore’s assets – its location in Delaware.

Not only is the state well-regarded for its business-friendly climate, but its central location on the northeast corridor facilitates collaborations with research institutions in Baltimore and points south, not to mention Philadelphia and other science hubs to the north. The location is also a boon for recruitment, with Gore regularly reaching south to schools like Virginia Tech as well as from the University of Delaware, practically around the corner from the company’s home base in Newark.

Delaware is also an ideal place for a company like Gore to grow.

“Our plants are not usually very big, and so we tend to build multiple plants,” Narayan says. “In Delaware there’s plenty of space for us.

“We’re far enough from the big-city hullabaloo, but we have access to everything we need.”

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Amazon Builds on 20 Plus Years of Investments in Delaware

Amazon Builds on More Than 20 Years of Investments in Delaware with
New, State-of-the-art Fulfillment Center in Wilmington, Delaware

New facility will create more than 1,000 new, full-time jobs,
on top of the company’s current 2,500 employees across the state

WILMINGTON, Del. (May 19, 2020) — Gov. John Carney and Amazon formally announced today that the company will launch a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Wilmington, creating more than 1,000 full-time jobs. Amazon first launched operations in New Castle in 1997 with its first fulfillment center in the network and launched its second Delaware fulfillment center in Middletown in 2012. The company has now grown to more than 110 fulfillment centers in North America and 185 globally, fulfilling millions of customer orders every day.

“Amazon already employs more than 2,500 Delawareans, and we welcome additional investment that will result in more jobs for Delaware families — especially at vacant industrial sites that are ideal for redevelopment,” said Delaware Governor John Carney. “Delaware has a world-class workforce, a central location and a quality of life that is second to none. For those reasons and more, Delaware is a great place for businesses of all sizes to grow and create jobs.”

Amazon will lease a built-to-suit building, developed by Dermody Properties, at the site of the former General Motors’ Wilmington assembly plant, which closed in 2009 and was demolished in 2019. This is Dermody Properties’ – a premier e-commerce, logistics real estate development firm’s – first venture in Delaware. Jeffrey A. Zygler, a partner at Dermody Properties said, “Delaware officials and regulatory agencies have been very responsive to our needs, which is paramount in projects of this magnitude. Their collaborative approach and commitment allowed us to attract Amazon to our project.”

Amazon’s new operations facility will span more than 820,000 square feet on the ground floor. Employees at the site will work alongside innovative Amazon robotics technology to pick, pack and ship smaller customer items such as books, electronics, small household goods and toys. In addition, Amazon will hire for roles in human resources, operations management, safety, security, finance and information technology.

“The First State was home to Amazon’s first fulfillment center 23 years ago,” said Ryan Smith, director of Amazon robotics fulfillment centers in North America. “I’m proud to see the continued growth and investment in Delaware with our newest fulfillment center in Wilmington. Amazon has found an outstanding, passionate workforce, strong state and local support and incredible customers across the state. We look forward to creating 1,000 new, full-time jobs with industry leading pay and benefits, starting on day one, in a safe, innovative and quality work environment. I know first-hand the opportunity and support network we provide employees for long-term, career success, and I’m excited to provide that same opportunity for thousands of current and future Amazonians.”

Amazon jobs are great jobs with great benefits. On top of the company’s industry-leading $15 minimum wage, full-time employees receive comprehensive benefits, including full medical, vision and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) with 50 percent company match, starting on day one. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternal and parental paid leave and innovative benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families. At Amazon, these benefits and opportunities come with the job, as does the ability to communicate directly with the leadership of the company.

“The Amazon location announcement says something about the state of our economy, but also about the spirit of our people in New Castle County,” said County Executive Matt Meyer. “When you have one of our largest commercial sites, one that hasn’t created any jobs, barren for more than a decade, it speaks to the neighbors and the community here. Now we’re going to have the retail operation of the future, creating more than 1,000 jobs, and we’ll have a workforce that will deliver for them.”

In addition, Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in-demand jobs. Programs will help Amazonians from all backgrounds access training to move into highly skilled roles across the company’s corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retails stores and transportation network or pursue career paths outside of Amazon.

“At Amazon, we want to help our employees get the skills they need for today’s – and tomorrow’s – most in-demand jobs,” said Smith. “All associates go through hours of safety training and ongoing coaching and have access to continuing education opportunities through Amazon’s upskilling programs, such as Career Choice, in which the company will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. Since the program’s launch, more than 25,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.”

An Amazon presence in Delaware means more than just the jobs provided within its four walls. In addition to full-benefit, great jobs inside the building, the company has brought thousands of jobs in construction and services. Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $2.5 billion in Delaware through its customer fulfillment infrastructure and compensation its employees. Amazon’s investments in Delaware have contributed an additional $1 billion into the state’s economy, and, using methodology developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created an additional 700-plus indirect jobs on top of the company’s 2,500 direct hires.

Amazon’s fulfillment network supports millions of businesses of all sizes worldwide through its Fulfillment By Amazon offering. There are more than 6,000 authors, small and medium-sized businesses and developers in Delaware growing their businesses and reaching new customers with their products and services on Amazon.

There are nearly 3,500 nonprofit organizations in Delaware that Amazon customers can support simply by shopping on Amazon Smile. Amazon supports local nonprofits and local public schools through both monetary and in-kind donations in the communities where associates live and work. Amazon associates regularly volunteer in the community with a wide range of activities from building homes, hosting game nights at senior centers and supporting community events and schools. Amazon has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Delaware nonprofits, including the Appoquinimink Community Library, the Delaware Boys & Girls Club, the Poly Tech High School Robotics Club and the Food Bank of Delaware. The company also donated more than $20,000 in STEM learning items and toys to children battling cancer at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital.

###

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.


About Delaware Prosperity Partnership

Created in 2017, Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) is a nonprofit that leads the state of Delaware’s economic development efforts to attract, grow and retain businesses; to build a stronger entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem; and to support private employers in identifying, recruiting and developing talent in the state of Delaware. For more information, visit choosedelaware.com.

Contact:

Susan Coulby
Delaware Prosperity Partnership
302.983.5710 (cell)
scoulby@choosedelaware.com

Rachael Lighty
Amazon
Amazon-pr@amazon.com

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FMC Announces $50 Million Investment in Newark Facility

FMC announces $50 million investment in Newark facility

25 JUNE, 2019

FMC Corporation is planning to invest $50 million in its Stine Research Center in Newark, officials announced late Monday.

The Philadelphia-based agricultural sciences company acquired the 515-acre site on Elkton Road from DuPont in 2017. Stine serves as FMC’s global research and development center.

“We will invest nearly $2 billion in research and development through 2023 as a cornerstone of FMC’s long-term growth strategy,” Mark Douglas, president and chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement. “FMC employees at the Stine Research Center will lead much of this critical discovery and development work to serve our global business and customers. We’re pleased to partner with the State of Delaware to further our investment in the area.”

 

FMC will receive $1.6 million in incentives from the state’s Delaware Strategic Fund, though that money is contingent on the company meeting employment benchmarks, according to Sarah Kenney-Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Delaware Prosperity Partnership.

FMC is expected to hire 13 new employees over the next three years, including professional scientists and skilled associates, adding $1.3 million to the payroll. The Stine site already employs approximately 600 people, including support staff and contractors.

“FMC is making a significant new investment in Delaware, and in a campus that has long been a center of world-class biotechnology and agriscience research,” Gov. John Carney said in a prepared statement. “This investment in Newark will support good-paying jobs for Delawareans and their families, and the continued growth of our state’s economy. It’s more true than ever that Delaware has a world-class workforce, and a quality of life that is second to none. And these investments by FMC help reaffirm that our state is a great place for businesses of all sizes to put down roots, grow, and create good-paying jobs.”

Emily Parenteau, a spokeswoman for FMC, said the work will include a state-of-the-art reconfiguration of a greenhouse as well as improvements to a research building and the purchase of additional equipment and infrastructure.

FMC produces a number of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides for farming, though the Newark site is used for research and development, not manufacturing.

“Over the years, FMC has been a leader in developing agricultural products that our farmers need,” Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse said in a prepared statement. “As a global agricultural leader, we are excited to have their research facilities based in Delaware and their continued investment in the First State.”

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FMC Corporation Plans $50 Million Investment in Global Research and Development Headquarters in Newark, Delaware

FMC Corporation plans $50 million investment in Global Research and Development Headquarters in Newark, Delaware

(Wilmington, Del.) FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC), a publicly traded agricultural sciences company, plans to invest more than $50 million over the next three years in capital improvement projects, including a state-of-the-art reconfiguration of a greenhouse and research facility at the company’s Global Research and Development headquarters in Newark, Delaware.

FMC acquired the 515-acre Stine Research Center campus as part of its acquisition of a portion of DuPont’s crop protection business in 2017.  The transaction was the largest in FMC history and retained more than 500 jobs in Delaware, transferred 45 employees from a nearby state and created 19 new positions.

“FMC is making a significant new investment in Delaware, and in a campus that has long been a center of world-class biotechnology and agriscience research,” said Governor John Carney. “This investment in Newark will support good-paying jobs for Delawareans and their families, and the continued growth of our state’s economy. It’s more true than ever that Delaware has a world-class workforce, and a quality of life that is second to none. And these investments by FMC help reaffirm that our state is a great place for businesses of all sizes to put down roots, grow, and create good-paying jobs.”

“Over the years, FMC has been a leader in developing agricultural products that our farmers need,” said Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse.  “As a global agricultural leader, we are excited to have their research facilities based in Delaware and their continued investment in the First State.”

FMC plans to reconfigure an existing structure at the facility to enhance its global research and development (R&D) efforts.  In support of the project, the company plans to hire 13 employees over the next three years, which would bring its total of full-time R&D employees at the Delaware campus to approximately 375.  The new positions include professional scientists and skilled associates, adding approximately $1.3 million to its annual payroll.  The site’s total workforce of nearly 600 includes support staff and contractors.

“We will invest nearly $2 billion in research and development through 2023 as a cornerstone of FMC’s long-term growth strategy,” said Mark Douglas, president and chief operating officer.  “FMC employees at the Stine Research Center will lead much of this critical discovery and development work to serve our global business and customers.  We’re pleased to partner with the State of Delaware to further our investment in the area.”

To support its expansion, the Council for Development Finance (CDF) approved a grant for $1,642,500 from the Delaware Strategic Fund, including $142,500 for a performance grant and $1.5 million for a capital expenditure grant.  The grant supplements the company’s own investment over a three-year period.  Both grants are contingent upon meeting employment benchmarks.

About Delaware Prosperity Partnership
Created in 2017, Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP) is the nonprofit that leads the state of Delaware’s economic development efforts to attract, grow and retain businesses, including agribusiness companies. DPP works with site selectors, commercial developers and business executives focused on where to locate or grow a business. The team helps with reviewing potential sites, cost-of-living analysis, quality-of-life intel and funding opportunities, including available tax credits and incentives. For more information, visit www.choosedelaware.com.

About FMC
FMC Corporation, an agricultural sciences company, provides innovative solutions to growers around the world with a robust product portfolio fueled by a market-driven discovery and development pipeline in crop protection, plant health, and professional pest and turf management. This powerful combination of advanced technologies includes leading insect control products based on Rynaxypyr® and Cyazypyr® active ingredients; Authority®, Boral®, Centium®, Command® and Gamit® branded herbicides; Talstar® and Hero® branded insecticides; and flutriafol-based fungicides. The FMC portfolio also includes biologicals such as Quartzo® and Presence® bionematicides. FMC Corporation employs approximately 6,500 employees around the globe.

FMC, the FMC logo, Rynaxypyr, Cyazypyr, Authority, Boral, Centium, Command, Gamit, Talstar, Hero, Quartzo and Presence are trademarks of FMC Corporation or an affiliate. Always read and follow all label directions, restrictions and precautions for use. Products listed here may not be registered for sale or use in all states, countries or jurisdictions. Hero® insecticide is a restricted use pesticide in the United States.

 

Statement under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:  FMC and its representatives may from time to time make written or oral statements that are “forward-looking” and provide other than historical information, including statements contained in this press release, in FMC’s other filings with the SEC, and in reports or letters to FMC stockholders.

In some cases, FMC has identified forward-looking statements by such words or phrases as “will likely result,” “is confident that,” “expect,” “expects,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “will continue to,” “believe,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “predicts,” “forecasts,” “estimates,” “projects,” “potential,” “intends” or similar expressions identifying “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the negative of those words and phrases.  Such forward-looking statements are based on management’s current views and assumptions regarding future events, future business conditions and the outlook for the company based on currently available information. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement.  These factors include, among other things, the risk factors included within FMC’s 2018 Form 10-K filed with the SEC.  FMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made.

This press release contains certain “non-GAAP financial terms” which are defined on our website www.fmc.com.  In addition, we have also provided on our website at www.fmc.com reconciliations of non-GAAP terms to the most directly comparable GAAP term. 

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M&T Commits to Tech Jobs, Other Roles in Delaware

M&T commits to tech jobs, other roles in Delaware

3 APRIL, 2019 | DELAWARE BUSINESS TIMES

M&T Bank and its Wilmington Trust subsidiary will hire hundreds of tech talent over the next few years, including 50 new “technologists” over the next nine months and reinforce its commitment to downtown Wilmington by housing them in a space that will embed technology teams with the people driving the growth of the bank’s business.

In addition, the bank hopes to fill more than 100 open positions in 2019 throughout the state — nearly half in Sussex County — as it continues to grow through all lines of business. It will also be establishing a technology development program at the University of Delaware and University of Maryland for professional positions and internships as well as filling jobs through partnerships with organizations like Zip Code Wilmington, which offers a 12-week coding boot camp with job placement assistance upon completion of the program.

The bank has quietly consolidated 130 employees over the past few months on two floors of the 10-story Wilmington Plaza building at 301 W. 11th St.

We need to be less dependent on outsourcing,” said M&T Chief Information Officer Mike Wisler. “Buying other people’s products mutes your ability to compete and create differentiated experiences.”

Wisler said M&T plans to add 1,000 technologists — software engineers and designers, UI/UX and web developers, database and cybersecurity experts, and technical team leads — over the next five years to its two primary technology centers in the company’s hometown of Buffalo, New York and in Wilmington, with Wilmington expected to get about 200 of those jobs.

The Wilmington Plaza building offers “puts everyone together, creating collisions that will allow us to operate at the speed of our competition,” Wisler said. “The physical environment plays a big role in our efforts to be transformational and agile. We’re trying to create a community [feeling] and align various initiatives with the bank’s mission, purpose, and vision.”

Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki praised the decision to locate the new jobs downtown as proof that “M&T believes in the city. It’s important because people look to the future to make financial decisions so when people make decisions like this to invest in the city, it’s great for confidence.”

Purzycki said he likes the idea of more people walking along Market Street shopping and experiencing the “grit, humanity and personality” of the city.

“Generally speaking, people love to be in cities. As long as you don’t scare them away for the wrong reasons, announcements like this demonstrate we can overcome” structural issues like parking and the wage tax, he said. “I want employers to tell their people that Wilmington is a great place to be. The more people who live here, the more things change.”

M&T Delaware Region President Nick Lambrow says the bank is moving toward an “integrated model with lots of initiatives that provide us with different ways to look at and serve our client base.”

M&T retained the Wilmington Trust brand for its wealth and institutional business after acquiring the bank in
2011. Wilmington Trust now employs about 2,000 people in 54 locations with a little more than half in Delaware, according to Executive Vice President Bill Farrell, who oversees the Wealth and Institutional Services Division.

“We’ve developed new products and grown market share across our businesses,” Farrell said, noting as an example that Wilmington Trust’s structured finance (securitization) business has increased its market share over the past five years from 1.3 percent to 16.9 percent to become the third-largest in that market niche.

“Adding these technologists to our team alongside our product managers will enable us to continue developing products like Wilmington Trust FastTrack, which makes it easier for our Merger and Acquisition Escrow business to get people paid more efficiently and WT Connect, which created a new front end for investors to self-serve in the structured-product area,” Farrell said.

“We take pride in operating much like a fintech in accelerating our speed to market,” Lambrow said. “We realize that our competition is no longer just large banks, and we’re of a size where we can act or react like a fintech.”

It’s generally accepted that there is an industrywide shortage of tech jobs, giving rise to organizations like Zip Code Wilmington and Year Up.

“It’s the scarcest resource on the planet with lots of competition. But we feel that our story is an advantage.
One big differentiator for M&T and Wilmington trust is that its size allows employees on both the tech and operations side to have an impact on our business. That may not be the case at a larger institution.

“University programs are not producing the talent we need so we have to create other pipelines while still making a meaningful investment in local universities,” Wisler said, adding that there is a growing opportunity to attract experienced professionals from the traditional big-city tech hot spots. “We are focusing on professional recruiting and relocation as we find lots of people from this area who would like to return.”

“It’s never been more important to create a sense of belonging and inclusion,” Lambrow said. “We still think of ourselves as a community bank and we’re committed to our branch system. But we must provide alternative ways to connect with our customers” who don’t need to come into the branch.

This article was originally posted on the Delaware Business Times at: https://www.delawarebusinesstimes.com/mt-commits-to-tech-jobs-other-roles-in-delaware

Kurt Foreman

PRESIDENT & CEO

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Chemours Opens New Global HQ in Renovated DuPont Building

Chemours opens new global HQ in renovated DuPont Building

16 JANUARY, 2019

The Chemours Company, a global chemical firm, opened its renovated company headquarters on January 15 within the historic, 106-year-old DuPont Building on Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington — the former headquarters of DuPont, which spun off Chemours in 2015.

“This is a place that our team can be proud to call home,” Chemours President and CEO Mark Vergnano told the gathering of local dignitaries. “Our renovated office is a perfect metaphor for Chemours – a company grounded in its legacy, but transforming into an agile, innovative and collaborative enterprise with a bias for actions and growth.”

Now in his fourth year as leader of the new company, Vergnano expressed continued confidence about Chemours’ future growth in a time of market turmoil. In an interview with Delaware Business Times after the ceremony, Vegnano said, “People recognize that we’re the world leaders in our fields, and the market gets that,” he said, referring to the decentralized firm’s three operating units – Titanium Technologies, Fluoroproducts and Chemical Solutions.

The new headquarters will occupy 280,000 square feet in an 11-story segment of the building that is owned by the Buccini/Pollin Group (BPG), which also oversaw the 20-month renovation. Chemours’ share of construction costs was $30 million.

Vergnano said his company made a conscious decision not to change the building’s name to the Chemours Building out of respect for the company’s heritage, which dates back to the founding of DuPont on Brandywine Creek in 1802.

U.S. Sen. Tom Carper, Gov. John Carney, Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki and BPG Co-President Christopher Buccini were among the speakers at the ceremony and ribbon-cutting event that took place in the ornate Nobel Room on the 11th Floor.

Buccini purchased the building, including the Hotel du Pont, from Chemours in 2017 and set about revitalizing the structure, including adding residential units.

“After having renovated the Nemours and Brandywine buildings earlier, we had the knowledge of what worked and what didn’t work,” Buccini said. “This project stressed tested our company’s capabilities.” In his prepared remarks, Buccini noted that “Chemours’ decision to be based in this historic building is a fitting tribute to their heritage, while their 21st Century workspace points boldly to their future. We are proud to have been on this journey with them.”

Approximately 850 Chemours employees and contractors will work in the headquarters, which has 125 meeting rooms, 73 conference rooms and one café per floor of the building. The structure’s open-concept design features ergonomic chairs and sit/stand desks. In addition, 500 marble panels were recovered during renovation– about 50 tons in all – and reused in the building.

Carney noted that “this is probably the happiest day I’ve had in my two years as governor,” crediting the work done toward keeping Chemours in Wilmington and Delaware by his predecessor, former governor Jack Markell. “The state of Delaware can’t be successful without Wilmington being successful, and Wilmington can’t be successful” without a strong business base.

Purzycki, who followed Governor Carney to the podium, said, “If John is happy, you can’t imagine how happy the mayor of Wilmington is.”

Business analysts continue to be bullish on Chemours, most rating it a “buy” or “strong buy” to potential investors. Vergnano expressed confidence in the strength of the American economy, while noting that global market volatility continued to make the company’s stock undervalued. “I was given the advice by other CEO’s when I took over not to check the stock price every day,” he said. “We can’t control market volatility, which is a reflection of the fact that the market hates uncertainty.”

He re-stated his opinion that Chemours, with its worldwide manufacturing and marketing capabilities, is positioned better than most companies to weather this uncertainty, which includes tariff wars, the slowdown of the Chinese economy and what will play out with Brexit, the UK’s planned withdrawal from the EU.

“We’re not interested in acquisitions or new business outside the three areas where we have a strong presence,” he said. “Second, we will continue to invest in ourselves [through normal business expansion]. And, we will continue to provide cash back to our stockholders.”

Chemours had annual revenue in 2017 of more than $6 billion and with 45 manufacturing and laboratory sites worldwide, serving customers in over 130 countries.

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Top Trending: INC 5000 List Includes 12 Delaware Companies

Top Trending: INC 5000 List Includes 12 Delaware Companies

23 AUGUST, 2018

A dozen companies in Delaware made the annual INC 5000 list of the nation’s fastest growing small companies.

The closely watched list ranks companies based on their three-year sales performance. The list was expanded to 5,000 companies from 500 several years ago by the small business magazine and website.

HomeStar Remodeling, Wilmington, topped the list at No. 53. The company posted $5.3 million in annual sales was the top-ranked construction company on the entire INC 5000 and was listed as the fastest growing company in the Philadelphia region.

According to INC, companies must be U.S.-based, privately held, for-profit, and independent – not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies — as of December 31, 2017.

The list features a high turnover of companies in Delaware and elsewhere year to year. Many fast-growing companies are acquired by competitors and a few move on to become publicly traded corporations.

Other small companies ranked by growth were:

  • 418: TECSPLUS, Newark, Information technology, $3.3 million.
  • 583: Empire Flippers, Wilmington, sales of online enterprises, $16.5 million.
  • 604: Extreme Scale Solutions, Newark, information technology, $16.5 million.
  • 864: Shipsound, Wilmington, online retail, $4.2 million.
  • 2, 060: Placers, Newark, human resources, Newark, $9.3 million.
  • 2,325: Tangentia, Wilmington, information technology, $2.1 million.
  • 2,363: Careerminds, Wilmington, outplacement and related services, $2 million.
  • 2,697: Chesapeake Plumbing and Heating, Frankford, construction,$26.1 million.
  • 4,127: Karins and Associates, Newark, engineering services, $6.4 million.
  • 4,217: The Siegfried Group, Wilmington, accounting $177 million.
  • 4,863: Biomedical Research Laboratories, Wilmington, Food and Beverage $4.9 million.

Click here to explore the 2018 list.

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