To start, I want to emphasize the recent change, that DCA meeting rooms are now free for member use. We want to remove the rental fees to help you get more value for your DCA membership and to get more people into our amazing building.  Please call us at 302-994-7442 or email msheldon@e-dca.org to reserve a room.

We know that as a DCA member you are busy running and growing your business. That's why we take the time to monitor and attend meetings of interest to the construction community.  Last week I had the chance to attend a committee about improvements to legislative hall.  A project to construct a new parking garage is nearing the 60% design submission phase.  The parking garage project is fully funded so look for bid solicitations later this year.  Separately, planning is going on for an expansion of the legislative hall building, but that project is not currently funded.  As planning and funding issues progress, DCA will monitor this issue.

I was also able to attend a meeting put on by a civil engineering trade group where DelDOT presented some plans for projects under its resiliency improvement plan.  This program focuses on changes needed to adapt roads to flooding and sea level rise. With the change in Federal administrations there have been some changes in Federal funding and priorities in the resiliency space.  There are currently 3 projects (SR1, SR299 and Port Mahon Rd) in the planning stages here in Delaware.  DelDOT says they look to go out with bid solicitation coming within 2 years.

This week, I met with representatives of a group working to bring the concept of a “Recovery Friendly Workforce” to Delaware.  Bryon Short was very involved in this work and I look forward to picking up the ball in this arena and working to support policies in this area of substance abuse and the implications on workforces in Delaware.  The representatives are looking for several large companies to be “early champions” or “early adopters” of programing to better support substance abuse and mental health issues in the workplace with a focus on best supporting employers who in turn can help their workforces.

Also, this week I met with the State Chamber of Commerce.  We discussed ways in which DCA and the state chamber can work together on broad based issues to support a positive business climate in Delaware.  On Tuesday, I attended a legislative hearing in Dover where the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Department of Agriculture presented their annual budget requests.  Both agencies have new Secretaries and some changes in senior staff.  I know many DCA members have interactions with these agencies, so I am working to cultivate relationships with that agency on your behalf.  On more a fun fact note, the Delaware Geological Survey briefly presented their work and if you are interested, they have significant mapping and data on Delaware here: https://www.dgs.udel.edu/

On Thursday, I went to a conference where a Delaware-based company that works to help employers halt the trend of rising costs and eroding value in healthcare presented was to allow companies to gain real access and proactive control over their claims data.  If your company is self-insured and interested in this topic, please reach out.

Lastly here at the DCA offices, the staff are working to evaluate our operations and roles to ensure we are most efficiently working for you.  We are also starting a staff book study on customer service so we can double down in our service first approach to you and your employees.

As always please reach out if you have any questions. Please continue to schedule an in-person or virtual meetings with me (Calendly link for virtual meetings here: https://calendly.com/smatthews-e-dca/30min).