5 named picked as Business Leaders Hall of Fame Laureates

This year’s class of Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame Laureates has been announced.

Five Delawareans have been selected as the 2024 Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame Laureates.

Picked by the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Delaware and Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame
board, the recognition honors those who serve as role models to thousands of Delaware youth.

This year’s class focuses on the arts and Wilmington Riverfront, and inductees include art entrepreneurs and advocates and a riverfront development leader.

Here’s who is honored:

• Tina Betz, artist/advocate: Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of Wilmington
• Christian Kanienberg, artist/entrepreneur of Wish Painting
• Eunice LaFate, artist/entrepreneur and advocate of Lafate Gallery
• Cleveland Morris, founder of the Delaware Theatre Company
• Michael Purzycki, former Riverfront Development Corporation director

There will be an induction ceremony the night of Oct. 8 at the Delaware Theatre Company in Wilmington to honor the class of five.

“I am honored to be named a 2024 Delaware Business Leaders Hall of Fame Laureate,” Betz said. “This recognition underscores the vital role of the arts in enriching individuals, strengthening communities, and contributing to the world.”

LaFate said she is “very delighted with the news” that she’s have been chosen as one of the Laureates.

Kanienberg said he’s over the moon for this personal milestone.

“I have been an ‘artist in residence’ at JA of Delaware for the past 20 years,” he said, “with countless fit-outs, new builds, murals and creative upgrades over the past two decades with several happening at present.”

Jarek Rutz

Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNN’s Michael Smerconish’s YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.

Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz