Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

New Castle County launches tool to help startups

Courtesy of New Castle County

New Castle County launched a new economic development initiative last week focusing on small businesses and startups.

NCCinnovateswill provide small cash and in-kind grants as well as data to small business owners and entrepreneurs.

 

A new interactive web portal merges data from a variety of sources. It aims to help entrepreneurs evaluate the business climate, customer demographics, workforce and competition for their particular industry. It also has a for-sale property search.

Tamarra Morris, director of New Castle County’s Department of Economic Development, says the new web portal is the only one like it in the area.

“We sat down with entrepreneurs, they expressed to us that there was just not a mechanism that they could find out more about what they need to be doing, whether or not their idea would actually make money, if the customers were here,” she said.

Morris adds the new web tool not only provides entrepreneurs with data, but explains why the information is important in developing a business plan or feasibility assessment.

The grants of a few thousand dollars each and in-kind resources will be distributed through partnerships with existing pitch competitions.

“The goal is to use those small grants to target those companies who are just trying to either take their first steps or move into a company who’s really walking or running,” said County Executive Matt Meyer.

Meyer notes the state Strategic Economic Development Fund and the Delaware Prosperity Partnership already fill the niche of providing larger grants to larger companies.

The public web portal with information about zoning, for-sale properties, available workforce, target audience and industry competition can be found at www.nccinnovates.com.

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
Related Content