A High-Tech Hub

With a major university and booming tech scene, Newark is a robust employment center. “The city is the hub of a high-tech, transit-oriented development area,” says Maureen Feeney Roser, Newark’s director of planning and development. The University of Delaware’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research campus, sited on 272 acres at the old Chrysler plant, is a growth center. It is the site of UD’s Health Sciences Complex, the eV2g project and the East Coast fuel cell manufacturing facility for Bloom Energy of California.

Bloom alone is expected to employ 900 people when its 50-acre site is running at full capacity. The eV2g project is focused on establishing a positive spark between electric cars and the grid. The Health Sciences center leverages strategic partnerships between UD and private companies. “Doctors and physical therapists provide real-time, hands-on education for students and cutting edge treatments for patients,” Roser says.

Delaware Technology Park (DTP) is a partnership between the government, UD and the private sector. The nonprofit research park provides resources and connections to development-stage companies in life science, information technology, advanced materials and renewable energy. Since 1992, DTP has been home to more than 80 companies, including 25 businesses that have graduated from the incubator.

“We have a number of assets that we place here at the technology park that are very much focused on small business,” says J. Michael Bowman, state director of the Delaware Small Business & Technology Development Center and president of DTP. “Our experience is that when you start businesses around here, they tend to stay here.”

That’s good news for Newark. “Businesses will go from the technology park incubator and branch out,” Roser says. “Our goal is to build a foundation so that they can expand and stay here.” That vision includes educated young professionals locating in Newark. There also will be a ripple effect as suppliers spring up to serve businesses.

One of the brightest success stories is SevOne, a homegrown leader in software monitoring and managing big data. “They went from a garage on Main Street to the technology park to a large space in the STAR center,” Bowman says. Newark also is on track to become a transportation magnet, with ready access to Philadelphia and Maryland. Bowman notes that four train companies have expressed interest in the STAR campus, both passenger and commercial lines.