On Thursday, Senator Coons joined Senator Carper and Congressman Carney at the Delaware Children’s Museum in Wilmington to announce two federal grants awarded to Nemours for a combined total of nearly $6 million to help build healthier communities.
“These grants will serve tens of thousands of Delawareans, helping them live happier, healthier lives,” Chris said. In his remarks, he reiterated the significant impact that these grants will have on preventative care and early intervention, touching upon how it could enact change in areas such as the struggle with obesity and chronic diseases in young children.
For more on Chris’ work on health care, click here.
This weekend, Senator Coons attended the inaugural Lt. Joseph Szczerba 5KRun/Walk at Salesianum School in Wilmington. Lt. Szczerba was a 1985 graduate of Salesianum and a New Castle County Police Officer who died in the line of duty last year. Proceeds from the run will benefit a scholarship fund in his name and assist sons of police officers and first responders who wish to attend Salesianum.
Annie Coons joined around a thousand children from across the state on Friday at Duffy’s Hope Field Day, hosted in conjunction with the Let’s Move initiative. The event took place in Wilmington, an official Let’s Move city, and was the kick-off for Duffy’s Hope 10th Anniversary Celebration. Participants took part in field day activities, healthy lifestyle workshops and a celebrity softball game.
“Staying fit and active is extremely important to your health and well-being. It impacts every part of your life, and has even been proven to help students do better in school,” Annie said. “Let’s Move is a great initiative that is motivating kids to make smart choices, exercise, and have fun.”
Duffy’s Hope Field Day was hosted in conjunction with Let’s Move, a healthy eating initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama. Let’s Move targets childhood obesity and is committed to solving this challenge within a generation. By presenting parents helpful information and providing healthier foods in our schools, Let’s Move work so all families and children develop a more healthy and active lifestyle.
Duffy’s Hope Inc. is a nonprofit that has helped over 2,500 school-aged children. The organization targets underserved, impoverished, and at-risk youth in Wilmington, and provides advocacy and mentoring. The funds from Duffy’s Hope 10th Anniversary Celebration weekend will support their mentoring program, H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Young People Excel).
The News Journal published an article on Tuesday about Andrew Gemmell, the 21-year-old Wilmington native who will represent the USA swim team in the 2012 London Olympics. Andrew, who is the sole Delaware native represented in the 2012 Olympics, will compete in the 1,500 freestyle qualifying heats on August 3. The top eight swimmers will comprise the field in the finals on August 4 at the London Aquatics Centre.
Delaware has not won an Olympic swimming gold since Dave Johnson earned two at Mexico City in 1968.
The Olympics promise to be the culmination of a life-long love affair with the water for the long-distance swimmer.
“I’ve been taking [swimming] lessons since I was 1 or 2,” he said. “My dad was a swimmer and he was sort-of coaching some and he just took me into lessons and I’ve been doing it ever since. He probably started coaching me as my primary coach at around 8 to 10, somewhere in that range.”
Nowadays, those training sessions include 20 hours per week in the water and four to five hours of weight training out of the pool. In all, Gemmell swims 8,000 meters/yards a day, six days a week.
That much training takes dedication and often also takes a team – and Gemmell has found that with his family.
In celebration of Teach For America Week, Senator Chris Coons served as a guest teacher on Thursday at Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington. Leading the Advanced Biology class normally taught by TFA science teacher Ashley Sorenson, Senator Coons spoke with juniors and seniors about the value of education and encouraged the students to pursue a career in the sciences.
“The 21st century economy is taking root in science and technology, and if we want to make our economy stronger and our nation more competitive, we have to give students the skills they need to succeed in STEM fields,” Senator Coons said about the experience. “It’s imperative that our children have positive role models to reinforce the importance of education and encourage them to pursue higher education, and that is what young Teach For America educators do.”
Since its launch in 1997, Teach For America Week has brought hundreds of distinguished guest teachers from across America into our nation’s schools to inspire students and raise awareness about the challenges facing students in low-income communities and demonstrate that when students are given the educational opportunities they deserve, they reach their highest potential.
This weekend, Senator Coons paid a visit to top leadership from Appletree Answering Service, a fast-growing business with offices in Wilmington. A live answering service, Appletree has grown from a two-room office to employ more than 600 people in 22 locations across the United States. As their business grows, Appletree is “insourcing” call center jobs by moving them back from overseas to the U.S.
Chris had breakfast with Appletree’s CEO, John Ratliff, and 130 other company leaders as they held their corporate retreat in Wilmington on Saturday. At the meeting, Chris discussed the business climate in Delaware and heard more about Appletree’s business model, which relies heavily on customer service. John Ratliff told Chris that much of their success is dependent on moving jobs back to America, as their clients are eager for call center employees who are located in the same geographic region as their customers.
At Saturday’s retreat, Chris was also treated to a presentation about Appletree’s internal program, known as “Dream On.” Intended to help the company get to know their employees better and make a positive impact in their lives, the programs grants wishes to employees in need, similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Following a video about the program, Chris told Appletree how grateful he was to have a company so committed to its employees looking to expand in Delaware.
In 2007, Ratliff was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce for his work at Appletree.
Before he left, Chris told the group, "You’re in one of the most exciting, highest potential, highest touch, highest quality customer service businesses in our country. I look forward to coming back when you are ten times bigger, when you have been named one of the fastest growing private companies in America, and when you have been ranked one of the best companies in the world to work for, all of which I am confident will happen. I love great places to work. You’re in one of them. Let’s help it grow together."
Senator Coons will host his second free job skills workshop this Thursday, January 26th at 5:30 p.m.at the Goodwill Job Resource Center in Wilmington. Chris hopes that a broad range of job seekers will attend, including those looking to learn the art of networking, fine-tune their resumes and master the interviewing process.
This job skills event is one in a series of workshops Chris is hosting as he continues to focus on helping Delawareans get back to work. Career coach Yusuf Wilson will be on hand Thursday evening to present a seminar titled, “The Art of Networking: Leveraging Traditional and Social Media Networking Strategies to Get Hired.” The workshop was developed in response to feedback received at job fairs hosted by Senator Coons and the rest of the Delaware Congressional delegation earlier this year.
Since taking office, Chris has hosted three job fairs attracting more than 4,900 job seekers and well over a hundred employers total.
If you’re looking for work, please come out this Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. The Job Search Workshop will be held at the Goodwill Job Resource Center, 300 E. Lea Boulevard, Wilmington, DE 19802. No RSVP is required, but if you have questions, please contact (302) 573-6345.
Senator Coons spent Friday morning at the coIN Loft in Wilmington, having breakfast with some of the area’s most dynamic and innovative entrepreneurs. The coIN Loft was started by Steve Roettger and Wes Garnett just over a year ago, and it occupies about 2,200 square feet in downtown Wilmington. Set up as a co-working environment, where tenants pay an affordable fee to use their space and facilities, the coIN Loft gives start up business owners the opportunity to take advantage of meeting space, offices and most importantly, each other's experience.
These innovative business leaders spoke with Chris about the importance of entrepreneurs to the economy and what can be done to strengthen the entrepreneurial environment in Delaware.
Chris discussed some of the legislative successes that came out of Congress last year and listened to feedback about the importance of continuing to encourage entrepreneurship throughout Delaware and the United States. Everyone at the table shared stories about opportunities they found in the private sector and how they dealt with the challenges that come with taking risks and pursuing one’s passion.
In addition to the founders Wes and Steve, Chris was joined by about 12 other entrepreneurs including Tim McIntosh of Fairbridge Venture Partners, Lee Mikles of the Archer Group, Stefun Hawkins and Ron Berry of MyFanCountry, and Zach Phillips of the Spoke Project. The conversation ranged from how to protect intellectual property to the group's interest in Steve Case's Startup America initiative.
Chris came away from the breakfast energized by the passion and excitement of Delaware’s young entrepreneurs. He was particularly impressed by stories of how working in an open environment like the coIN Loft helped start ups become more productive and successful. Chris encouraged the participants to continue building the diverse community of entrepreneurs in Delaware and offered a number of specific suggestions on ways he might be able to help.
NEW CASTLE COUNTY — Senator Coons and the Congressional Delegation visited Fulcrum and Radius Rx Direct Pharmacies in New Castle County on Monday morning to recognize the owner of the pharmacies, Christy Crkvenac, for being named the Delaware Small Business Administration Person of the Year. Crkvenac was also selected by President Obama as a 2011 Champion of Change.
Christy and her husband, Todd, run the day-to-day operations and serve many of the long-term care and correctional facilities in Delaware and surrounding states. The Crkvenac’s pharmacies are recognized as examples of how health care costs can be contained through the use of best practices and innovation. They achieve success in a competitive market and average 12 percent annual growth even during the economic downturn.
Chris was impressed by the Crkvenacs’ drive. The companies were founded in 2003 with the help of a $200,000 SBA loan and six employees — they now employ more than 30. “The Crkvenacs saw a need in the community and turned that need into a successful business,” Chris said. “We need to continue to support small business owners everywhere. They are the ones who we can count on to provide unique customer-oriented services, and they are the ones who are putting Delawareans back to work.”
The SBA’s mission is to maintain and strengthen the nation’s economy by aiding, counseling, assisting and protecting the interests of small businesses. For more information contact the SBA at 302-573-6294 or via the website at www.sba.gov.
Earlier on Friday Senator Coons announced that after days of concern that a federal government shutdown might threaten our job fair planned for Monday, a backup plan was in place that would ensure that the more than 1000 job seekers expected to attend wouldn't be left out to dry.
Thanks to the leadership Governor Jack Markell, Secretary of Labor John McMahon and DEDO Director Allan Levin, the job fair will go on as planned.
“This is just another example of what makes Delaware such a special place,” Chris said. “We’re a team. The support shown by our friends in state government and the dozens of individuals and organizations that have called our office offering to volunteer has been amazing."
Federal law prohibits Senate staff from doing work during a shutdown that doesn’t relate to the Senator’s core legislative responsibilities, making Senator Coons’ excepted staff unable to assist job seekers at the job fair. Excepted and non-excepted staff would also be prevented from volunteering. Instead, employees from the Department of Labor and Delaware Economic Development Office will fill in to make sure Delawareans in attendance get the help they need.
A federal government shutdown would also prohibit the 16 federal agencies planning to send recruiters to the fair from participating. In that event, 16 additional private-sector employers are lined up to take their place.
The job fair, which now has more than 50 confirmed employers scheduled to participate, will be held Monday, April 11th, from 9 am to 4 pm at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington. Job seekers need not pre-register in order to attend, but are encouraged to bring their resumes.
