Page 64 - Innovation Delaware 2018

BY BOBBY MCMAHON
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CHEMISTRY
Established Players, Ambitious Newcomers Make for a Thriving Industry
In many ways, chemistry as a discipline seeks to understand the interaction between things and how those interactions can produce change. It’s a fitting reflection of the chemical industry in Delaware, which also finds itself in a period of change.
The First State has been a major nerve center of chemical innovation since the du Pont family began making black powder along the Brandywine Creek two centuries ago, but it has not remained static by any means. Smaller companies are coming to the fore and shaping the next chapter of Delaware’s chemical sector, while established players are evolving to seize opportunities in the current business climate.
Relative newcomers like White Dog Labs and ThruPore Technologies are gaining traction and eyeing steps to scale their business, while companies like Adesis and Chemours are set to expand their operations in a big
way. At the same time, long-standing players like Ashland and DowDuPont are reinventing themselves to help serve customers and thrive amid the changing landscape.
In some cases, change begets more change. As DowDuPont moves in a new direction, a number of former DuPont scientists and chemists have come together to form STRIDE, a consultancy focused on R&D and innovation. DuPont’s Experimental Station, which hosted the development of transformation substances, is also now home to the Delaware Innovation Space, an incubator cultivating new technologies and discoveries for startups and developing companies.
At the same time, Delaware’s chemical industry continues to benefit from an educational infrastructure that includes the University of Delaware’s renowned chemical and biomolecular engineering programs as well as science-focused incubators such as STAR Campus. ID
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COMPANY TO WATCH
The name that has become synonymous with the chemical industry in Delaware is getting a new identity in 2019, with officials pledging to focus on growth areas in the year ahead.
In February, DowDuPont announced that its specialty products division would continue under the DuPont
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name when it separates
into an independent company prior to 2019. The announcement followed the closure of the $130 billion merger in September 2017 between DuPont and The Dow Chemical Company.
The new DuPont will be based in Wilmington, according to DowDuPont. Wilmington will also
DowDuPont