Delaware Prosperity Partnership CEO Kurt Foreman named as a top economic developer

Delaware Prosperity Partnership’s (DPP) president and CEO, Kurt Foreman, has been recently named as one of North America’s top 50 economic developers.

The distinction comes from Consultant Connect, a Michigan consulting firm that works to connect economic developers and site location consultants.

The 50 unranked honorees come from across the United States and Canada, with only a few, including Foreman, Jayson Knott of the Maryland Department of Commerce and RJ Ball of Empire State Development, representing the Mid-Atlantic region. Only five of the honorees were from state-focused economic development organizations, while the majority are from city or county organizations.

Foreman was recruited in 2018 to lead the then-new DPP, a public-private economic development partnership formalized by the General Assembly in August 2017. DPP’s mission focus includes, in the words of the organization, “attracting, growing and retaining businesses and building a stronger entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem as well as supporting private employers in identifying, recruiting and developing talent.”

Kurt Foreman. (Courtesy photo)

Since its launch, DPP says it has completed 30 projects, resulting in 3,068 new jobs in Delaware, retention of 1,193 jobs in Delaware and generation of $733 million in capital investment from companies choosing to locate or grow in Delaware.

Some of DPP’s recent projects include a diverse talent pipeline project; Startup302, a virtual pitch competition that focuses on local underrepresented founders; and a $3 million pilot program that will help put local bio startups into lab spaces. Some projects, like Startup302, had to be modified due to COVID-19 — the competition was originally going to be a component of the postponed neoFest — but the organization has not slowed down during the pandemic.

“Despite the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership team has continued without interruption,” Foreman said. “We’ve had the good fortune to be very busy and working on numerous promising opportunities that could result in more jobs and investment for our state.”

For the full list of honorees, check out the Consultant Connect Top 50.