Page 19 - Innovation Delaware 2019

FOSTERING A COLLABORATIVE
ECOSYSTEM
HELEN STIMSON
BILL PROVINE
WHY DELAWARE?
When Helen Stimson speaks with people from other states, she always appreciates how willing Delawareans are to connect with others — whether they’re industry peers, policymakers, researchers or complete strangers.
“People here do want to make
a difference and collaborate,” says Stimson, president and CEO of the Delaware BioScience Association (Delaware Bio). “That doesn’t happen everywhere.”
To illustrate her point, she tells the story of Dr. Eric Kmiec, who runs the Gene Editing Institute at Christiana Care. In 2016, Kmiec attended the annual Delaware Bio gala and made
a connection with someone from Wilmington-based Analytical Biological Services (ABS). As a result of the meeting, Kmiec and his team started providing gene-edited cell lines to
ABS, which it was able to market to pharmaceutical companies.
“If I don’t know somebody, I can make a phone call and, within 30 minutes, I can have a connection that helps people move forward,” Stimson says.
Other examples of game-changing
connections abound:
u A University of Delaware professor
whose company created dozens of jobs
after an assist from U.S. Sen. Chris Coons. u An entrepreneur who launched one of Delaware’s fastest-growing companies
after being introduced to a new business
partner by former Gov. Jack Markell.
u Contract research organization QPS,
which went from startup to global enterprise with help from Delaware Technology Park President Mike Bowman. (For more on these examples, see #DelawareConnected, throughout this section.)
It’s quite natural for Delaware to have a strong network that can help businesses and entrepreneurs build relationships necessary to thrive. After all, public and private officials have worked hard to nurture a climate that promotes collaboration.
“There are many partnerships across the Delaware landscape,” says Bill Provine, president and CEO of the Delaware Innovation Space in Wilmington. “It’s
not a competitive back-and-forth. It’s a dynamic of how we can use all of our assets
INNOVATION DELAWARE 17
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