ARTICLE
In a joint letter sent to Governor Carney and his administration, the Delaware Business Roundtable (DBRT) and Delaware State Chamber of Commerce (DSCC) submitted a number of essential priorities that must be addressed urgently if recovery from the pandemic’s impact is to move more quickly. The letter also expressed that the business community is prepared to immediately assist in the enormous task of vaccinating Delawareans as quickly and efficiently as possible. Last April when it was clear the pandemic would have a significant impact on Delaware, the two organizations recommended several priorities that needed to urgently be addressed, including worker retraining, expanded broadband capacity, and assistance for small businesses and their families. While some progress has been made on many of those recommendations, it is clear that much more needs to be accomplished, since the pandemic’s impact has now been with us for almost a year. The DBRT and DSCC shared with the Governor and the General Assembly a document entitled, The Road to Recovery: Putting Delawareans Back to Work, which will create opportunities for Delaware workers and their families and provide an element of hope in an otherwise challenging time. The recommendations touch many aspects of life in Delaware – providing tax relief to those who received unemployment compensation, retraining workers whose jobs have been permanently lost, focusing on the availability and quality of child care, establishing education equity, protecting our supply of clean water, and creating and maintaining jobs for Delawareans. Most importantly, the DBRT and DSCC believe the hallmark of Delaware’s journey on the Road to Recovery must be collaboration and cooperation – between Democrats and Republicans, between upstate and downstate, between the public and private sectors. There’s never been another time in Delaware’s history where such a heightened level of collaboration and cooperation were required to meet a challenge. Just as this crisis isn’t “business as usual” for Delawareans, it can’t be “politics as usual” for our elected leaders. The letter concluded that the business community stands ready to work with Governor Carney, his administration, and all members of the Delaware General Assembly to move these crucial recommendations forward. The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting an economic climate that strengthens the competitiveness of Delaware businesses and benefits citizens of the state. Founded in 1837 as the Wilmington Board of Trade, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce has a long history as the largest, most influential business organization in the state. The Delaware Business Roundtable is a non-partisan, volunteer consortium of CEOs whose companies collectively employ over 75,000 people in Delaware. Since its inception in 1981, the Roundtable’s broad mission is to enhance the quality of life in Delaware by promoting commerce, job creation and select public policy issues.