The Engineers Without Borders - Delaware Chapter are committed to “designing and implementing sustainable solutions to problems in international developing communities and bridging cultural, economical, and political divides.” Their summer time excursion to Cameroon is detailed in their blog, which is filled with pictures of the chapter in action.

I’ve heard of Reporters Without Borders before, as well as Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres. Given the University’s very strong engineering program, I’m happy to hear that there are students actively engaged in the international developing community like this.

The group is a partnership between the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce and local business and government leaders, and was founded earlier this year.

Part of its mission was to identify and plan for problems, such as the closing of the local Chrysler plant in 2009 and the Avon distribution center. Another part was to plan for opportunities, such as the addition of many new high-tech jobs arriving at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, about 25 miles away, because of the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan.

During summer conversations with business folks in the area, the City of Newark created an “economic development” electricity discount rate for industrial businesses last week. Another topic that seems to be on the agenday involves economic development initiatives involving education, especially in finding potential employees from the University of Delaware, and in quality educational systems for children.

The jobs related to base realignment will bring thousands of civilian workers and their families to a part of Maryland that isn’t very distant to Newark. Some percentage of those families may seek homes or work in the Delaware area.

The forum may work by splitting participants into small groups to discuss issues surrounding economic development with a moderator. Suggestions from these groups may help to map the organization’s future initiatives.

Greater Newark Network Meeting
A Public Conversation on Economic Development in the Greater Newark area
Thur., October 25, 2007
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Embassy Suites Hotel
654 S. College Ave., Newark, DE 19713
No charge to attend and participate - pre-registration requested.
For more information or to register, contact Bob Chadwick at (302) 294-2058
or e-mail chadwickb@ncccc.com

Related:

• NCC Economic Development Network
• October 9, 2007 - Expanding companies get electric discount
• Aug./Sept. 2007 - A conversation with…Judy McKinney-Cherry, Director, Delaware Economic Development Office
• July 20th, 2007 - BRAC Action Plan Cecil County (pdf)
• June 19, 2007 - Tax Cuts in Newark?
• May 3, 2007 - Economic network for Newark

Not too much after snapping that picture, I turned on Academy Street past the Aetna firehouse just as the fire truck was making its way out of the building:

Hopefully they won’t have a run in with Frank.

The Aetna Hose, Hook, and Ladder Company has a blog of sorts, where they provide some information in the form of incident reports on the front page of their site.

The group was founded in 2001, and their efforts are aimed at reflecting the tradition of “harambee,” Swahili for “pulling together.”

The News Journal is reporting on their latest efforts in a story titled Local group to create children’s center in Kenya

This year’s fourth annual Dining for a Cause is to be held Saturday, Nov. 17, at University of Delaware’s Clayton Hall on Del. 896 in Newark.

The theme of the event, which starts at 6 p.m., is “Bringing the children home” or “Karibu watoto nyumbani” in Kiswahili, inspired by the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, especially of ending extreme poverty and hunger, the association says.

A couple from Kenya living in Newark, donated their home in Kenya to the organization, and the group is turning it into a youth entrepreneurship center, for needy and bright children, with the hope that it will be a model center duplicated in other parts of the country.

The event at Clayton Hall is looking for sponsors and donations for an auction to raise money to help in the transformation of the building. It is a black tie affair with traditional Kenyan clothing invited. One of the items donated so far is dinnter for 10 with Kenyan Ambassador to the US Peter Ogego at his home in Washington, DC.

Some more details on the event:

Ticket prices vary for the night of food, music and fellowship, a black tie affair with traditional Kenyan clothing invited.

For more information, including details on how to donate items for the raffle or become an individual or corporate sponsor of Dining for a Cause, visit www.delka.org or call 444-9266.

The Delaware Kenya Association also welcomes tax-deductible donations toward its youth center, which may be sent to DELKA, 1222 Wharton Drive, Newark, DE 19711.

I’m finding myself proud that fellow Newarkers are working so hard to make such a difference.

The thread spans a couple of pages, and there are posts from past and present Newarkers on the Condos, and on living in Newark. The conversation covers a number of other campuses, and similar development happening on many of those.

I’m going to have to take some photos of the construction at the site tomorrow and add them to this post. (Have done that now.)

This is the new condo building, on the former grounds of the Stone Balloon, in Newark, Delaware.

Even partially built (It is going to get taller), the building dominates the space around it on Main Street. It’s also the only building on the street that stretches from Main Street to Delaware Avenue, which runs parallel to Main Street. As far as buildings on Main Street go, it may be the largest.

I’ve been wondering if this building will inspire similar projects upon Main Street. There’s a lot of new construction happening on Elkton Road, too, which I’ll probably write about next week.

The picture on the Washington House Condos website shows two more stories than what we see in my photos. This really will be a big building. There are five different styles of condos available, with floor plans on the Washington House Condos web site. A mix of retail and office space are being advertised on the banner in front of the construction zone, and rumor has it that one of the first floor occupants will be a wine tasting room.

I don’t know if this is a sign of a broken promise, but I recall a commitment made to the City to try to use stones from the facade of the Stone Balloon in the Main Street facing part of the new building. While the stone being used looks fine, it’s not the facade promised.

Thanks to everyone from Something Awful who have stopped by.

I’m encouraged by this announcement. Some of that hope that I mention above is mine, but I think that there’s a chance for the University to be the center point of some innovation in business and technological development for the State.

The focus of the advertisment is a day long conference featuring:

• Chad Holliday of DuPont
• Abbey Joseph Cohen of Goldman Sachs & Co.
• Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner, and
• UD President Patrick Harker

There will also be panel discussions on a number of subjects, including:

• Corporate governance
• Alternative energy
• Life sciences
• The environment
• Agriculture
• Advanced Materials

The list of speakers in that discussion is pretty impressive, including state and federal government officials and representatives, University Faculty, and business leaders from the community, including the heads of some pretty large corporations.

The conference will be held on Friday, November 2, 2007 at Clayton Hall (directions) on the University of Delaware Campus.

The cost is $25, and they note that space is limited, so if you want to attend, you may want to act quickly.

The sponsors of the announcement include:

• The University of Delaware
• The Office of the Governor
• Delaware State Chamber of Commerce
• Delaware Public Policy Institute
• Delaware Business Roundtable
• First State Innovation
• Select Greater Philadelphia
• The News Journal

This conference looks like a great idea. The homepage for the Conference calls it the “first” in the series, which is even more encouraging.

We will post as news demands and time permits over the summer.  Until the new school year begins, we wish you a happy summer.