New Wilmington STEM hub brings workforce development to local communities

The Chemours STEM Hub at Eastside Charter School is up and running right on schedule.

When Technical.ly toured the under-construction site in June 2024, it was a skeleton of what it is today — a modern education complex with classrooms, a makerspace, multiple science labs, a robotics lab, an esports arena and recording studios.

The $26 million STEM Hub serves not only the middle school students at the Eastside Charter Upper School but the whole community. With the help of Wilmington Library, which runs the hub when school is not in session, people across Greater Wilmington can now access its resources, including new mental health services.

“We think this is a terrific maximization of use of the public facility,” said event speaker Charlie McDowell, CEO of project partner First Community Foundation.

The STEM Hub, a culmination of public, private and nonprofit partnerships and support, including a $4 million Chemours grant and a $2.1 million Congressionally Directed Spending grant supported by US Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, aims to bring workforce development starting from a young age to historically underresourced areas of Wilmington such as Riverside, where Eastside Charter is located.

“We know that the students who we expose to STEM education and readiness programs from a young age are best positioned to succeed,” said Delaware State Senator Nicole Poore, “and when our students succeed, Delaware succeeds.”

Keep reading to check out the ribbon cutting and photos of the space.