By Laura Walter

It’s time for leaders in community, business and education to gather for the 2023 Excellence in Education. The program highlights Kent County educational assets, plus promoting workforce development. The annual meeting of movers and shakers will be a luncheon on Tuesday, Oct. 31, at 11:30 a.m. at Maple Dale County Club in Dover.

Highlights of this year’s event include guest speaker Jennifer Cohan, a former cabinet secretary of transportation and now the CEO of Leadership Delaware, Inc. “I think she has a unique perspective of both educational pursuits and the impact it has on economic development,” said Tonda Parks, a founder of the Excellence in Education Fund and the newspaper’s marketing/community outreach director. “Created in 2019, the purpose of the program is to brand and market our educational initiatives to attract businesses, but also provide residents with educational opportunities to increase their skills and earning power—that’s through our grant program,” Parks said. Job training initiatives help Kent County retain young people and increase overall workforce stability for students and underemployed members of the community.

Besides meeting, lunching, and viewing displays by the educational marketing partners, the Oct. 31 event will include an exciting announcement regarding the Excellence in Education Grant.

For more information, visit www.delmarvaevents.net. Individual event tickets are available through Oct. 23 at dsnevents@iniusa.org or (302) 741-8200.

For information on how your company or organization can be involved in furthering workforce development and educational assets, contact Tonda Parks for sponsorship opportunities at tparks@iniusa.org or (302) 270-8663.

“Excellence in Education is focused on supporting innovative ways to train the workforce our business community needs,” said Shelly Cecchett, of the Kent Sussex Leadership Alliance.

“The number of open job positions in Delaware is a significant challenge on our local community and economy. Our business partners are often unable to find enough workers to run at peak capacity,” said DSN Publisher Konrad LaPrade. “I’m proud of the number of businesses who have invested in this grant program. Delaware’s such a great place to live, work and play, and when you have all these businesses that care about their community to fund a scholarship like this, it really says something … And as we offer these good jobs to people, they’re becoming part of this economy and living, working, playing in this area.”

To meet the region’s collective needs, the Excellence grants are awarded by a county-wide partnership between the Kent County Levy Court, Kent Sussex Leadership Alliance (formerly the Greater Kent Committee), Kent Economic Partnership, the Daily State News and the community.

“I can’t overstate the importance of the partnership between these organizations. It’s enabled us to raise more funds and now award over $40,000 in grants that have had an impact on projects that directly serve Central Delawareans,” Parks said.

“The Excellence in Education program is extremely important to Kent County. We are constantly searching for employers to open or expand their business in Kent County. This program not only displays how we can ‘think out of the box’ but also support businesses when they settle here,” Kent County Commissioner Terry Pepper has previously said.

“When attracting companies, one of the major questions that they ask is: How is your workforce? Are they trained? … And the Excellence in Education grant allows us to do that: to create the programs we need, to create our pipeline for the workers of the future,” said Linda Parkowski, executive director of the Kent Economic Partnership.

The Excellence grants are also special because the committee has leeway to award useful ideas rarely eligible for grants. Over four years, groups have received awards for various projects: work skills for at-risk youth; computer certification testing; STEM curriculum development; marketing for an apprenticeship program; and much more. several projects have directly responded to Kent economic needs identified in the Rockport study of economic development opportunities.

With community support, the Excellence in Education Fund has raised over $100,000 in donations and pledges. Multi-year marketing partners include Delaware Department of Education, Capital School District, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical Community College, Milford School District, POLYTECH School District and Wilmington University. Support also comes from signature sponsor Delaware Solid Waste Authority and multi-year sponsors Axia Hotel Group, Hawkins & Associates at Merrill Lynch and Mountain Consulting.

The Fund’s assets are managed by the CenDel Foundation (www.cendelfoundation.org) and administered by the Excellence in Education Advisory Committee.