At his first public forum, Republican Bobby Williamson of Bridgeville joined Democratic candidates Lt. Gov Bethany Hall-Long and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer to discuss how they would support Delaware’s business industry within their respective administrations.
The Spur Impact gubernatorial candidates forum on entrepreneurship, hosted in conjunction with the 2024 MILLSUMMIT leadership conference, gave the three candidates the opportunity to explore topics like bridging the three Delaware counties, increasing state support for starting up a business, leveraging public-private partnerships to support the growth and sustainability of local startups, improving opportunities for minority business leaders, among other business-themed questions.
Hall-Long focused largely on building better communication between the government and business leaders regarding where existing resources can be found, saying she would fulfill a Kent Sussex Leadership Alliance request for the governor’s office to have an ombudsperson to handle business affairs, as well as open an online portal for entrepreneurs to find relevant information.
“A concierge housed in my office that will make sure to filter through— working with you at Spur Impact, working with you innovators, young entrepreneurs or senior entrepreneurs, that you have a person or two that you can go to working with our larger Delaware Prosperity Partnership or small business office so that you have those resources," she said.
Meyer also touched on creating an ombudsperson, but adds that he plans to bolster loan programs that help small businesses expand existing operations — like the Encouraging Development, Growth & Expansion (EDGE) Grant Competition — as opposed to continuing to provide tax breaks to larger companies entering the state.
"We're giving away too much taxpayer dollar to big companies out of state shareholders who are gonna come here anyway," he said. "We need to take that money and invest it in the kind of [small businesses] you're talking about, if we do it intelligently, like we're doing with NCC GROWS."
The GROW NCC Fund provides existing businesses in operation for at least two full years with 10 to 500 full-time employees loans ranging from $250,000 to $1,000,000 to help stretch cash flow.
Hall-Long and Williamson both expressed similar sentiments to providing aid to existing businesses, but Williamson is not keen on providing support to startup companies or for expansions unless certain profit thresholds are met.
"If a business wants to expand, they need to do their part. It's up to the state to help assess the resources needed, maybe having the structural building needed for them to participate in — that sort of thing — not to finance expansion of businesses. Businesses need to go and grow on their own," he said.
Instead, Williamson says the state should invest more in vocational and STEM-focused schools to teach students about workforce innovation, financial literacy and entrepreneurship. He also believes the public should be able to provide input.
“The people should decide – do I want to help this business? Can I see the advantage in my neighborhood if this business is awarded a grant to expand?”
Meyer also says he will create an Office of New Americans, which would aim at helping Latino and Haitian entrepreneurs, as well as small business owners, navigate business startup if English is their second language.
Hall-Long made references back to the importance of early education, funding for education in arts and humanity, universal childcare and supporting teachers — all of which she says will translate to better financial literacy and more successful business ventures.
The three candidates who were absent from the forum include Republican candidates Jerry Price of Lewes and House Republican Leader Mike Ramone, as well as Democrat and former Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Collin O'Mara.
The candidates will face each other in the Sept. 10, 2024, primary election, where one candidate from each party will go head-to-head in the Nov. 5, 2024, general election.
