Del-Mar-Va Council Boy Scouts honors Kershner

Delaware State News
Posted 7/15/21

DOVER — The Del-Mar-Va Council Boy Scouts of America is honoring Vance Kershner, president and chief executive officer of Labware, Inc., as the recipient of the 2021 Citizen of the Year Award, …

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Del-Mar-Va Council Boy Scouts honors Kershner

Posted

DOVER — The Del-Mar-Va Council Boy Scouts of America is honoring Vance Kershner, president and chief executive officer of Labware, Inc., as the recipient of the 2021 Citizen of the Year Award, the BSA’s highest community honor and flagship fundraising event on Delmarva.

The event is chaired by Vaughn Hardin, special operations director for LabWare. Mr. Kershner will be honored on Tuesday, Oct. 19, in a celebration at Labware’s Oberod Estate near Wilmington. This will be the first ever Citizen of the Year event outdoors.

Mr. Kershner will be presented the Citizen of the Year Award in recognition of his extraordinary community leadership and service as an exemplary role model for our community’s youth. This awards ceremony, in its 17th year, has honored many notable community leaders including Dr. Janice Nevin, Chip Rossi, Paul McConnell, Gary Stockbridge, Rob Buccini, Brian DiSabatino, Alan Levin, Fred Sears, Connie Bond Stuart and many others.

Mr. Kershner was born in 1955 and grew up in Huntingdon Valley, a suburb of Philadelphia. He moved to Delaware to attend the University of Delaware, and graduated with honors in Mechanical Engineering in 1978, as a member of Tau Beta Pi. DuPont recruited him directly from the university to work in their Engineering Department. Mr. Kershner worked for DuPont for thirteen years, and then left to form his own company, LabWare.

LabWare develops and implements LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Software) for automating laboratory operations to streamline workflow and automate and track laboratory processes. LabWare is a global company with over 500 employees, offices in 15 countries, employees in over 40 countries and customers in about 130 countries.

LabWare is privately held, with its’ Worldwide HQ in Wilmington. LabWare operates in a niche market with about 50 competitors and enjoys about a 20% market share. Health care represents the largest opportunity for growth and has been a focus for several years.

Mr. Kershner expresses his engineering and artistic sides via special construction projects. He lives in a 100-year-old home on Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, which has been painstakingly renovated. Kentmere is also the home of Kershner’s extensive art collection.

Some of Mr. Kershner’s other interesting projects include restoring the Oberod Estate; operating a 15,000-acre game farm in South Africa (complete with a botanical garden in the bush); and is a partner in Scrub Island – the largest resort project ever undertaken in the British Virgin Islands. Mr. Kershner also owns Buckley’s Tavern and Goober’s Diner.

Mr. Kershner enjoys running to relax and stay in shape, is an avid car collector and his current extracurricular focus is land speed racing, having personally broken the 200 mph mark several times. Since giving up TV a few years ago, he now has time to read books. He enjoys wine and imports many bottles each year from South Africa.

Funds raised by this event support a variety of Scouting programs including workforce development, programs for low-income youth, STEM and conservation programs, and much more. All funds raised by this event will help to further the mission of the Boy Scouts of America - to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. To reserve a spot to attend, learn about sponsorship opportunities, or purchase an advertisement in the program, please visit the website or contact Ray Teat, director of finance, rteat@dmvc.org at 622-3300.

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