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Delaware Economic Development Office

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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 11:07 am

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Hey Fab - I'm also glad to see that you're now using your personal time, and not the State's time (after all, it's my tax dollars that pay you) by posting on this "entertainment" forum as you have several days ago.

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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 11:03 am

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Fab Five - If talking in circles was an art, you would certainly be in the same class as Van Gough or Wyeth.

Fab Five
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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 03:33 am

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I don't "seem to imply" anything. If I mean it, I'll say it.

You have a particular talent for reading between lines when there are no lines there. But you need to do that I guess...

Those with some time here have weathered the storm and continue to set a great example for the new. Some new hires, as in any business, can't cut it. They'll quit or be fired and blame anyone but themselves. If too many people have left to suit you, then maybe inadequate staff should have been retained? One can't be driven by the turnover rate, but what the result of the turnover rate has been. What has been created is a great staff of seasoned veterans who know the ropes, new hires bringing fresh talent and capabilities, and a senior staff with vision. I see it, others see it as well, and we'll continue to work towards that vision.

Last edited on Wed Aug 15th, 2007 03:35 am by Fab Five

LCR
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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 03:20 am

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I think you hit the nail on the head.

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 03:17 am

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Five, you seem to forget that many of the those who have left were NEW hires and were in leadership positions. So, tell us, why did they all leave.

One of them testified in a public hearing that he resigned in part to protect his reputation. A former senior staff member said in the same public hearing that if he had been around when the DEDO 10 were fired, he would have been number eleven (he resigned about six months into his tenor before the firings).

You just wrote:

"I'm sure you wouldn't care to hear about what the NEW people bring...
energy, enthusiasm, a positive outlook, and a great work ethic."

This seems to imply that the long-suffering veterans have no energy, no enthusiam, a lousy outlook and a poor work ethic. Keep working on them though and you might get all of them to leave before the end of this term!

Fab Five
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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 01:47 am

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I certainly won't compare individuals here, certainly not to appease you. But I will say that #45 wanted to leave (as told to anyone who would listen). There will always be those who leave who needed to and those we wish had stayed on longer. Working for a state agency, turnover is always an issue. Private sector jobs often offer better compensation with increases based on performance reviews, more elaborate benefits programs, etc., so any good person leaving shouldn't ever be a terrible shock. It just happens. In economic development circles, agency staff are often in a position to hear about great private sector positions before they're made public.

It also isn't so unusual to have new management, or a new management scheme cause those employees who have "settled in" to become disgruntled when new accountabilities are put in place.

I'm sure you wouldn't care to hear about what the NEW people bring...
energy, enthusiasm, a positive outlook, and a great work ethic.

Last edited on Wed Aug 15th, 2007 01:57 am by Fab Five

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Wed Aug 15th, 2007 01:17 am

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Fab Five - Back on August 6th you wrote the following about DEDO employee number 45:

"Ahhhhh...more dead weight gone, much nicer now. It is great to have professionals here who WORK to keep their jobs."

If I am not mistaken, employee number 45 had more formal education than the Director and anyone else on the senior staff, was an excellent worker, with good common sense and has since found a good position.

Having said that - and as you already know - employee number 46 just resigned after less than 18 months as a cluster leader. This is out of 50 functional positions. This resignation represents the loss of the seventh cluster or market leader since the Director's ill-advised reorganization. Of course the entire senior staff has turned over since the reorg as well.

I will also note that there has not been a biotech cluster leader for several months nor a market leader. No wonder everyone appears to be so busy!

So was employee number 46 dead weight as well?

Fab Five
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Posted: Tue Aug 14th, 2007 03:26 am

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WHAT?!?!?!

A poster with a LIFE!?!?!

LOL!! No problem here... enjoy!

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Posted: Tue Aug 14th, 2007 03:20 am

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Fabfive,

Sorry I didn't have a chance to compile the information from the site. We took our youngest to Philly to catch a flight to FL and then took my Mother In Law home to NJ.

I'm leaving in the morning for Chicago for a show.

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Posted: Tue Aug 14th, 2007 03:07 am

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LCR wrote: Bluesman wrote: Fab Five,

I did take time to check out both sites you referenced, and I was impressed at the overall content. I don't know who maintains or updates the sites but there were some very basic gammatical/spelling errors on the front page of one site, and some other errors I found in the other site as well.

I truly hope that no one here takes this as a commentary, opinion of negativity or bashing of you or DEDO on my part. Let me state that I am not. The only reason I posted this in the forum is I didn't think you would respond to a Private Message, please accept my sincere apology if I assumed incorrectly.

I am very pleased to live in a State that does take pride in what we do have to offer and as an Artist member of DDOA I can't thank the State enough for promoting the Arts and Artists of this state who choose to be involved.

I would be happy to Private message the exact errors I found so that they can be corrected if you like.

Regards,

Bill Christy

aka Bluesman

LCR wrote:You caught on quickly..................................the rest of us tried to find some redeeming value, but to no avail.

You're an Internet troll.........

I don't think there are to many forum members who would agree with much of anything you ever have to say. Don't insult the rest of the forum members by lumping them in with you, with your "the rest of us" comment. You're so quick to jump on me, your thought the post that Fabfive made, that you responded to was directed at me. It was directed at the Blue hen.

Last edited on Tue Aug 14th, 2007 03:15 am by Bluesman

Fred
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Posted: Mon Aug 13th, 2007 07:44 pm

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I tend to agree with Fab....the read-to-post ratio is very odd. Given as how people tend to be pretty opinionated here about just about everything, I find it hard to believe that there area that many individual hits on this particular subject, which most people, by their not posting any response, generally don't care about.

I put this in the same catagory as the Wesley College posts....yeah, a few people care very passionately about it, a few more are somewhat interested in it, but the vast majority can't even begin to tell what the subject really is about anymore.

Fab Five
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Posted: Mon Aug 13th, 2007 07:34 pm

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The Blue Hen wrote:
Must be pretty good entertainment if over 24,000 people have hit this topic - huh?

...the Hen will continue to provide useful, logical counterpoint to the managment incompetence at what once was one of the best agencies in state government.

I'd suspect you're 22,000 of those, reading your own posts.

...and PLEASE keep up the good work. Don't forget that open invitation for a walk-through, you'd learn a lot, and maybe even adjust your thinking. This is STILL a great state agency to work for, and it gets better every day.

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 06:17 pm

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Five - If the Hen is so meaningless and you are so bored, why keep posting here? Did the Director encourage or order you to do this? That would be just like her.

Must be pretty good entertainment if over 24,000 people have hit this topic - huh?

No matter what venom you spue, the Hen will continue to provide useful, logical counterpoint to the managment incompetence at what once was one of the best agencies in state government.

Have a great Sunday afternoon!

Bluesman
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 03:04 am

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Fab,

I will send them in a PM to you tommorrow. I will work on finding them all in the morning. As someone who does my own website and several others I know all to well that errors do happen. Our eyes/brain unfortunately sometimes read words even though they are spelled incorrectly.

Bill

Fab Five
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:57 am

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LCR, LOL... it's okay... this is a blog. We all use web-grammar, and type quickly to get our responses out. He was afterall being helpful.

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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:55 am

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You caught on quickly..................................the rest of us tried to find some redeeming value, but to no avail.

Fab Five wrote:
So your argument only works in YOUR favor... I see how that works now, thanks. It only took ME two posts to prove it.

Your argument is meaningless, as you ultimately are.

Fab Five
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:54 am

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Bluesman wrote:
I would be happy to Private message the exact errors I found so that they can be corrected if you like.

I could possibly pass those on... please send them. Thanks for the constructive post. I know there is information there from many sources, so I'm not surprised. Post them here or PM, your choice.

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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:52 am

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Bluesman wrote: Fab Five,

I did take time to check out both sites you referenced, and I was impressed at the overall content. I don't know who maintains or updates the sites but there were some very basic gammatical/spelling errors on the front page of one site, and some other errors I found in the other site as well.

I truly hope that no one here takes this as a commentary, opinion of negativity or bashing of you or DEDO on my part. Let me state that I am not. The only reason I posted this in the forum is I didn't think you would respond to a Private Message, please accept my sincere apology if I assumed incorrectly.

I am very pleased to live in a State that does take pride in what we do have to offer and as an Artist member of DDOA I can't thank the State enough for promoting the Arts and Artists of this state who choose to be involved.

I would be happy to Private message the exact errors I found so that they can be corrected if you like.

Regards,

Bill Christy

aka Bluesman

Last edited on Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:53 am by

Fab Five
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:50 am

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So your argument only works in YOUR favor... I see how that works now, thanks. It only took ME two posts to prove it.

Your argument is meaningless, as you ultimately are.

Bluesman
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:47 am

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Fab Five,

I did take time to check out both sites you referenced, and I was impressed at the overall content. I don't know who maintains or updates the sites but there were some very basic gammatical/spelling errors on the front page of one site, and some other errors I found in the other site as well.

I truly hope that no one here takes this as a commentary, opinion of negativity or bashing of you or DEDO on my part. Let me state that I am not. The only reason I posted this in the forum is I didn't think you would respond to a Private Message, please accept my sincere apology if I assumed incorrectly.

I am very pleased to live in a State that does take pride in what we do have to offer and as an Artist member of DDOA I can't thank the State enough for promoting the Arts and Artists of this state who choose to be involved.

I would be happy to Private message the exact errors I found so that they can be corrected if you like.

Regards,

Bill Christy

aka Bluesman

Last edited on Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:49 am by Bluesman

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:33 am

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Every time you write an entry, you keep proving the debating point - no facts, no rebuttal, just attack the Hen.

If the Hen is so boring, why bother to make eleven posts in the last few days? A bit defensive are we? In your position you should be defensive.

Fab Five
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:13 am

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If that's proof to your little mind, sleep well knowing you must certainly be Truth incarnate.

Stop by the office sometime with an open mind (if that's possible), walk around and listen/watch, you'd be amazed at the work, the morale, and the direction. Even better yet, let us know you're coming, we'll give you a tour.

But of course, in your world, NOT doing that certainly proves you're afraid of the truth.

You bore me, and are increasingly not worth the effort.

Last edited on Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:15 am by Fab Five

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 02:04 am

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Five - Thanks for proving my debating rule about attacking your opponent when you can't provide a logical, factual rebuttal!

Fab Five
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Posted: Sun Aug 12th, 2007 12:17 am

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The Blue Hen wrote:
Gee Five, if you can't refute any of the facts that the Hen has presented and there are many of them here, then the facts all stand and all you are relying on is a cheap debating trick, when you can't handle the argument, attack your opponent.

It wouldn't serve any purpose here. All of us know the point of your ranting. We also know you'd never "see the light" or the err in your ways, so why bother?

So if in your feeble little mind, not disproving anything YOU say makes it true, you're even more pitiful than we'd all imagined. But that's okay, WE don't rely on the approval of anonymous posters here who agree with us for validation.

Pardon me while I go back to the real world...

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Posted: Sat Aug 11th, 2007 11:32 pm

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Gee Five, if you can't refute any of the facts that the Hen has presented and there are many of them here, then the facts all stand and all you are relying on is a cheap debating trick, when you can't handle the argument, attack your opponent.

Five said... "For you to disparage the office only proves your ignorance, or at the very least, a lack of current knowledge." I try not to attack the office as there are some competent veterans left. No, I present facts that speak for themselves regarding the management - hurts huh!

Fab Five
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Posted: Sat Aug 11th, 2007 11:18 pm

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I have no need to try to convince you or anyone here of anything, and I'm smart enough to know better. As fas as looking for a job after an administration change, I'm perfectly content letting my work speak for my continued employment, novel concept, huh? No different than any company, you do good work, you keep your job and advance accordingly.

There are no cronies (t)here, unless they're left over from a previous director. Little by little, our Director is thankfully getting rid of the dead weight and letting us get some real work done. It is great to walk down the halls, offices filled with either new blood or older hires unencumbered by the slackers of yesterday. For you to disparage the office only proves your ignorance, or at the very least, a lack of current knowledge.

Please, continue living in the past and keeping us at DEDO so entertained.

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sat Aug 11th, 2007 03:55 pm

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Ah... Happy to see the Fab Five back and glad the Hen could entertain you and your cronies. This string won't be necessary a year and a half from now when a new governor takes office. Sounds like you might be looking for a job then.

As usual (and like the last time you left some entries here) you do not back up anything you say with facts. Yet you say " this string is not a reputable resource for valid information" - well not from you anyhow. Please refute any fact the Hen has included in any entry here. Go ahead, we're all waiting.

What's the matter? Have you drunk too much of the Cherry cool aid and are in the form over substance crowd?

Bluesman
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Posted: Wed Aug 8th, 2007 04:01 am

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LCR wrote: truer words never spoken Fab (Hab) Five
FabFive wrote:

Here's a news flash...

These blogs are here for entertanment purposes, not news or as a reputable resource for valid information.

ENTERTAINMENT... get it?

What has happened instead is that a handful of disgruntled think-they-knows come here to pontificate (look it up). Stop asking them to explain themselves, becasue they THINK they can. Don't respond at all, and they'll show themselves as the disgruntled whiners they are, and have only themselves as an audience.

...or do as I do, for entertainment, swat the nest every few months to renew their purpose in life. Sorta my little gift to humanity... enabling the intellectually poor.

Bottom line? If you're coming here for respectful dialog and valid information from the anonymous... ooops, your bad. Try a bus station or a bar. Coming here for entertainment? Rock on, rock on.

I didn't mean to offend YOU actually, but that little discussion about "the unemployed and underemployed of Delaware" just begged for a comment, sorry.

And lastly, "a PUBLIC FORUM" this really isn't. It is a blog of anonymous posters. When these who would be kings (or at least wannabe Directors), drop the stupid names and post their REAL names, it would be a true public forum.

Just in case.....

Last edited on Wed Aug 8th, 2007 04:02 am by Bluesman

Bluesman
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Posted: Wed Aug 8th, 2007 03:49 am

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LCR wrote: Times change and competition gets tougher. With any luck they will outsource your department to India in the next administration and we won't have to listen to you complain.
And when you tell your employer to take the union and shove it with any luck they will kick your weak kneed ass to the curb, unfortunately we will still have to read your B/S

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Posted: Wed Aug 8th, 2007 01:59 am

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truer words never spoken Fab (Hab) Five

Fab Five
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Posted: Wed Aug 8th, 2007 01:24 am

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Here's a news flash...

These blogs are here for entertanment purposes, not news or as a reputable resource for valid information.

ENTERTAINMENT... get it?

What has happened instead is that a handful of disgruntled think-they-knows come here to pontificate (look it up). Stop asking them to explain themselves, becasue they THINK they can. Don't respond at all, and they'll show themselves as the disgruntled whiners they are, and have only themselves as an audience.

...or do as I do, for entertainment, swat the nest every few months to renew their purpose in life. Sorta my little gift to humanity... enabling the intellectually poor.

Bottom line? If you're coming here for respectful dialog and valid information from the anonymous... ooops, your bad. Try a bus station or a bar. Coming here for entertainment? Rock on, rock on.

I didn't mean to offend YOU actually, but that little discussion about "the unemployed and underemployed of Delaware" just begged for a comment, sorry.

And lastly, "a PUBLIC FORUM" this really isn't. It is a blog of anonymous posters. When these who would be kings (or at least wannabe Directors), drop the stupid names and post their REAL names, it would be a true public forum.

Last edited on Wed Aug 8th, 2007 01:29 am by Fab Five

Fab Five
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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 04:00 am

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edited by the poster

Last edited on Wed Aug 8th, 2007 01:24 am by Fab Five

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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 03:53 am

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Fab Five wrote: And posting here helps the unemployed and underemployed? Talking and doing NOTHING but talking helps who?

I go to work every day and make a difference.

Jobs come, jobs go. The economy changes. If I'd stayed in the same field years ago, I'd be out of work and blaming someone else too. Luckily I evolved.

Well, MY posting here has nothing to do with the unemployed or underemployed. I don't have a dog in this hunt. However, you on the other hand, apparently are claiming to work there so it matters (or should) for you.

I'll add to that my opinion that you are really being a jackass. Prior to the one where I suggested your attitude is inappropriate for a public forum, I’d only posted one comment on this topic, and it was critical of the continued postings of Blue Hen.

I'm curious, you paint the current leadership in very negative terms.

What can the group of 10 that you are referring to point at as successes that they can undeniably take credit for? It seems to me that after DE got the jump on the tactic of friendly incorporation and locked in a good portion of the early business, there hasn't been much come out or that office except milking the same old cow.
What strokes of innovation and visions have I overlooked?

Your most recent remark linking my to the poster Bigg Dog should therefore give you another hint that you are stepping over the line in your reaction.

I'm sure you are proud of your accomplishments and it it difficult to be constantly denegrated, however your reaction on this PUBLIC forum, and your implicit acknowledgement that you are one of a specific set of 5 state employees doesn't demonstrate very good judgement, IMO.

Fab Five
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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 03:15 am

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I wouldn't expect anything different from you. You all are SO predictable. If one of you says, "jump", the other says, "how high?"

(yawn)

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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 02:44 am

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Fab Five: I must agree with Taos Eddy. Your ranting and sarcasm has only added to validate what Blue Hen has been saying. Very sad.

Fab Five
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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 01:18 am

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Stop with the rational explanations will ya? That 3.3% must be a lie started by DEDO, right? That recent DEDO resignation must surely have pushed a current figure up to 8 or 9 percent!!!

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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 01:12 am

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Gosh the unemployment rate in DE is 3.3%, substantially below the National average. What's the issue? It is very difficult to attract business to DE with the trolls we offer as employees.

Taos Eddy wrote:
I'm sure your amusement will be a point of great comfort to the unemployed and underemployed in our state.

I know next to nothing of the DEDO but, you aren't helping the image at all.

Last edited on Tue Aug 7th, 2007 01:22 am by

Fab Five
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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 12:45 am

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And posting here helps the unemployed and underemployed? Talking and doing NOTHING but talking helps who?

I go to work every day and make a difference.

Jobs come, jobs go. The economy changes. If I'd stayed in the same field years ago, I'd be out of work and blaming someone else too. Luckily I evolved.

Last edited on Tue Aug 7th, 2007 12:46 am by Fab Five

Taos Eddy
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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 12:32 am

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I'm sure your amusement will be a point of great comfort to the unemployed and underemployed in our state.

I know next to nothing of the DEDO but, you aren't helping the image at all.

Fab Five
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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 12:26 am

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What we all know is that posting a rebuttal would only subject us to another rebuttal, etc., etc., ad nauseum. Reasonable intelligence tells us that repeating the same act and expecting a different result is one of the indicators of insanity. None of us ever expect Blue Hen, or you similar posters to EVER say, "you know, you're right.. I've been wrong about Director Cherry all these years..." so why bother?

I learned early on to "never try to teach a pig to sing, it just wastes your time and annoys the pig", and this is the perfect illustration of that addage.

I was seriously thanking Blue Hen for the entertainment, we get great laughs out of the posts, they make great jokes around the meeting tables, and it helps us know people still care!

Last edited on Tue Aug 7th, 2007 12:26 am by Fab Five

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Posted: Tue Aug 7th, 2007 12:08 am

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Fab Five wrote: I just wanted to thank The Blue Hen, and his/her cronies for the great fun over the past few months. A few of us here at DEDO were discussing the breadth of your ignorance to what actually IS getting done around DEDO and Delaware and thought we should at least thank you for the entertanment value you provide. Please keep up the good work.

I'd love to stick around and argue with you ad nauseum, but those of us who make a difference here have distinct accountabilities and deliverables, and frankly I have better things to do than try to convince a hapless curmudgeon that progress is here for the seeing.

Bluehen makes a good argument, where you seem to only be able to call them names and blow smoke. If you have a valid rebuttal please post, but as far as this and you last post you only lend more creedence to what Bluenhen has been posting.

If you can please rebut the most recent posts and the difference in spending, maybe provide a reason for the difference in the dollars spent to get or retain quality professional positions

Fab Five
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Posted: Mon Aug 6th, 2007 11:24 pm

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The Blue Hen wrote:
Employee number 45 just resigned!

Ahhhhh...more dead weight gone, much nicer now. It is great to have professionals here who WORK to keep their jobs.

Last edited on Mon Aug 6th, 2007 11:27 pm by Fab Five

Fab Five
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Posted: Mon Aug 6th, 2007 09:52 pm

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I just wanted to thank The Blue Hen, and his/her cronies for the great fun over the past few months. A few of us here at DEDO were discussing the breadth of your ignorance to what actually IS getting done around DEDO and Delaware and thought we should at least thank you for the entertanment value you provide. Please keep up the good work.

I'd love to stick around and argue with you ad nauseum, but those of us who make a difference here have distinct accountabilities and deliverables, and frankly I have better things to do than try to convince a hapless curmudgeon that progress is here for the seeing.

Last edited on Mon Aug 6th, 2007 09:54 pm by Fab Five

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Posted: Sat Aug 4th, 2007 12:47 pm

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LCR - I can understand why you would think that the Hen is complaining. I would ask that you look closely again at what Hen really is really talking about - the administration and spending of YOUR TAX DOLLARS by the current administration. We need people like Hen to make us aware of the waste and incompetence in State government. It is very apparent that Hen’s area of expertise just happens to be Economic Development and Hen is willing to tell us what to real bottom line is. I wish there were more in State government like Hen. Maybe the State budget wouldn’t have ballooned out of control under RAM.

LCR
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Posted: Sat Aug 4th, 2007 02:42 am

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Times change and competition gets tougher. With any luck they will outsource your department to India in the next administration and we won't have to listen to you complain.

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sat Aug 4th, 2007 02:04 am

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There was an article today in the News Journal that a business magazine ranked the state as being in the top ten states for attracting businesses. The DEDO director chimed in with kudos on our economic development posture.

For once the Hen agrees, the state's location is favorable, it's financially sound, it's business taxes are comparatively low and it's tax policy is predictable, it's infrastructure is not bad and is comparatively cheap, it's legislature is pro-business and sympathetic to economic development legislation, it's workforce, drawn from three states, is productive and well educated, and the state's quality of life is much better than many states.

In other words Delaware should be a relatively easy sell when competing against our neighbors for retention or recruiting projects.

So if we all agree that we have a great economic development profile, then why is it that this director has had to use so much grant money per job (translate - our tax money or bond money) to retain or recruit businesses? Did we need to give a company $30,000 per job to retain 350 jobs or $14,400 per job to recruit 90 jobs or $8,000 per job to recruit 750 jobs?

Are we Mississippi?

The previous administration used no incentives for many bank retention or recruiting projects and between $3,000 and $5,000 per job to do a substantial amount of other business retention and recruiting. Why is that? Could it be that the expertise and skill of those negotiating incentive packages in this administration have deteriorated? Good question for the DEDO director and Rasputin?

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sun Jul 29th, 2007 07:24 pm

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In April, The DEDO Director had this to say publicly (in Out & About magazine) about the 1999 AstraZeneca $18 million incentive package that saved 2,000 high-paying jobs and helped the company relocate another 2000:

"Your observation is a really solid observation. We know the costs of that project (the AstraZeneca project), including transportation, were over $400 million. I can’t find any evidence we required them to keep a certain number of jobs in Delaware for a particular time period or that they be at a certain salary level. Today, not only do we have time frames, but we have very specific requirements—for number of jobs, at specified salaries, for specified periods of time, and if you don’t do it we have recapture provisions."

A few days ago in a News Journal article, the DEDO Director said this about the deal:

"Not only did they (AstraZeneca) fulfill the agreement, they went way beyond it," said McKinney-Cherry, noting that the company's Delaware work force is now about 5,000. "Their value to the community has far exceeded their investment."

Sounds like sometime between April and July she found the agreement which contained a comprehensive clawback section based on three factors. She also must have found the annual jobs and salary reports sent by senior AZ officials to her directly as part of the clawback requirement.

Sounds like a bit of a 180 to me. What do you think? Do you think that the visit the Director and her boss had from senior AZ officials after the outrageous Out & About comments changed the Director's mind on this project?

A little bird told the Hen that the Director was seething as she was unaware that one of her staff members was promoted to Deputy Director. How could that happen?

The Blue Hen
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Posted: Sun Jul 15th, 2007 12:11 am

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Here are a few:

Recruited AMTRAK's national operations center from Philadelphia to Wilmington's Riverfront. This company was the pioneer at the riverfront.

Recruited ING Direct from Canada - no incentives - This US start up now employs over 1,000 in Delaware.

Saved the 1,000 Playtex jobs in Dover the first time.

Saved 1,200 Chase card jobs following a merger and increased our tax take from their operations by convincing their senior management to move more earning assets to Delaware - no incentives.

Saved 600 bank jobs in Dover for seven or eight years - no incentives.

Saved 2,000 high-paying jobs and at the same time recruited 2,000 more for Astra-Zeneca in the largest and most efficient economic development project in state history so far.

Oh and by the way this deal was done using $4,500 per job vs. over $30,000 (of our money) per job to save 350 jobs by the current DEDO director.

Taos Eddy
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Posted: Sat Jul 14th, 2007 08:56 pm

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I'm curious, you paint the current leadership in very negative terms.

What can the group of 10 that you are referring to point at as successes that they can undeniably take credit for? It seems to me that after DE got the jump on the tactic of friendly incorporation and locked in a good portion of the early business, there hasn't been much come out or that office except milking the same old cow.
What strokes of innovation and visions have I overlooked?

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Posted: Sat Jul 14th, 2007 02:42 pm

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Today marks the second anniversary of the execution of the DEDO 10. The brave DEDO director carried out the firings on a day when the legislature was not in session and most of the key legislators were on vacation. Happy Bastille Day!

She apparently didn't check too closely with state personnel as three of the ten had to be rehired to avoid lawsuits (two temporarily, one permanently). The ten fired employees (20% of the staff) had close to 100 years of successful economic development experience and seven out of 10 were over 40 years old.

A senior level DuPont executive who was on the senior staff of DEDO for about six months before resigning (and before the employees were fired) stated in the public hearing following the event that if he had still been at DEDO when the firings occurred, he would probably have been number 11. A very senior level MBNA executive who was loaned to DEDO for up to two years, went back after nine months realizing how disfunctional the place had become and how he could not help.

No reasons were given for the firings other than a generalized comment about how the agency was going in a different direction. In restrospect I think one of the reasons was the fact that most of the more experienced of the fired employee were identified as Carper hires and supporters. If you don't already know RAM dislikes Carper (to put it mildly).

Oh well, less than a year and a half to go for the few survivors. In the mean time, enjoy all the goofy consultants that are being brought in and the goofy courses. Hang in there. Help will eventually arrive.

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