Page 21 - Innovation Delaware 2021

why DELAWARE
Entrepreneurs share how Delaware, with its strong infrastructure of support groups and easy access to power players, has helped them innovate and thrive.
Romer Labs, a global leader in pathogen, allergen and toxin testing for the food and agricultural industry, has offices and labs around the world. But its U.S. location in Newark developed a relationship with the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership (DEMEP) that has
made a major difference to the company’s operations.
TIM LAWRUK
“We were transferring a project from our headquarters in Austria to our office in Delaware, and about a year in, we were having a lot of issues making products in a timely fashion,” says TIM LAWRUK, senior director of operations.
The project involved producing a test strip to check for the presence of a potent fungal toxin, but demand for the product
was high, and the Newark location needed to improve its efficiency of operations to meet
that demand. An acquaintance connected Lawruk with DEMEP, a unique public-private partnership that provides training and other assistance to manufacturers.
Through DEMEP, Lawruk and another Romer employee underwent training in Lean Six Sigma, a method of collaboration that helps reduce inefficiencies in work processes. Lawruk and his colleague applied the strategies they learned during the training to identify several redundant and unnecessary production steps that did not add value to the product.
“Since then, we’ve sent all our production employees through the Principles of Lean Manufacturing training at DEMEP,” Lawruk says. “Now, when we talk about continuous improvement and eliminating waste, it’s not foreign or threatening to them.”
DEMEP’s training paid off for Romer Labs in a major way: “We were able to reduce by half the cycle time to make the material for the test strips,” Lawruk says. “Just by cutting out unnecessary steps and getting more efficient, we got it down from six to eight weeks to three to four weeks.”
Biden Jr. Railroad Station in Wilmington is Amtrak’s 15th busiest, with frequent service to Washington and New York as well as points between and beyond. As far as logistics and supply chain access go, a third of America’s population is within a 10-hour drive of the Port of Wilmington.
Delaware and the adjoining Greater Philadelphia region are home to one of the largest talent pools in the U.S. A lot of those workers are graduates from the region’s 100 or so colleges and universities, which include the University of Delaware, a nationally renowned research institution; Delaware State University, an HBCU with a growing reputation for scientific excellence; Delaware Technical Community College, which offers a wide range of certificate and associate degrees to help workers sharpen their skills; and Goldey-Beacom College and Wilmington University, both of which offer well-regarded programs that help working adults gain additional credentials.
World-class health care is another perk of being located in Delaware: The First State has been ranked No. 1 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report for hospital quality.
Supportive Environment for Businesses
Another important item on the list of benefits: more than a dozen programs and tax credits for Delaware businesses, such as the R&D Tax Credit and the Angel Investor Tax Credit. (See page 35 for more details.)
In 2020, Verizon considered access, talent, capital and three other resources to rank the best small cities in the U.S. to launch a business. Wilmington came in at No. 17, out of 300 cities between 50,000 and 75,000 in population.
The other factors in Verizon’s rankings were income (Delaware’s is 8% higher than the national average, according to the partnership), tax burden (Delaware is ranked No. 13, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank) and high-speed internet access, which has been a major focus of Gov. John Carney’s administration.
INNOVATION DELAWARE 19
JUSTIN HEYES/MOONLOOP PHOTOGRAPHY