Matt Halls Toilet Table is a new invention by Delawarean Matt Hall. (Ken Mammarella photo)

Matt Halls Toilet Table: ‘You didn’t know you needed’ it

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Headlines

Matt Hall has an idea that is so unusual that Amazon has to create a category for his invention. Yet it’s an idea that might appeal to the 90%-95% of people who bring cellphones into the bathroom. It’s Matt Halls Toilet Table, which ToiletTable.com describes as “the table you didn’t know you needed.”   IN THE NEWS: Coolest Thing Made …

Delaware DNA

Delaware’s DNA life sciences conference returns after boffo debut

Betsy PriceBusiness, Headlines

A wildly successful state biosciences conference returns this year when Delaware’s DNA returns May 9. Sponsored by Delaware BIO, last year’s conference was notable for its energetic vibe, notable speakers and visible networking. “That was the first time we’d ever put on a full day event like that, focused on really highlighting and showcasing the depth and breadth of the …

tire port of delaware

Year after tire pile helped topple port operator, solution nears

Karl BakerBusiness, Headlines

The massive tire piles at the Port of Wilmington’s Edgemoor property that last year stoked fears among neighbors of mosquito infestations and rubber fires may finally be getting removed in the coming month, port officials said during a public meeting Friday. Yet, why tires still remain and how many have been removed to date is not entirely clear. That is, …

A Centreville estate called Shadowbrook has set a record for Delaware property sales. (Courtesy of Steve Crifasi, Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate)

Exclusive: Record $18M for Delaware residential property

Ken MammarellaBusiness, Culture, Headlines

A Centreville estate with a 10-bedroom house, five rental properties and two barns on 152 acres has just been sold for $18 million. That’s a record for Delaware, according to Steve Crifasi, the listing agent with Christopher S. Patterson, both of Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate. “It’s drop-dead beautiful,” he told DelawareLive. “What makes the property so unique is that it is …

amtrak spotlight

Amtrak to invest millions in controversial Wilmington site

Karl BakerBusiness, Headlines

In 2022, a government watchdog said a Wilmington office building Amtrak bought for a lofty $41 million was structurally unfit for its intended use, and that the rail company’s goal of saving money by moving hundreds of workers to the site rested on unrealistic assumptions. In spite of the critique from the Amtrak Office of Inspector General, rail company executives persisted …

agilent

Agilent, Incyte seek way to predict effectiveness of drugs

Betsy PriceBusiness, Headlines

Agilent Technologies and Incyte have begun working together to create tests that will help a patient understand how good a candidate he or she may be for Incyte’s immunotherapy treatments. Incyte, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Delaware, specializes in drugs that treat unusual and rare cancers. Agilent, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with a campus near Greenville off Lancaster Pike, …

FFI Ionix Hydrogen

Decarbonization, hydrogen company expands in Kent County

Betsy PriceBusiness, Headlines

An international company has chosen a site in Kent County to base its operations to support global decarbonization and the hydrogen economy. FFI Ionix will move from its 15,000-square-foot site in Harrington to 60 Starlifter Ave. in Dover . More than 22,000 square feet of the new facility’s $57,000 square feet will be lab space. The site will be the …

Bloom Spotlight Delaware

Bloom Energy plans to move some Delaware jobs to Mexico

Karl BakerBusiness, Headlines

Bloom Energy, the fuel cell producer that a decade ago promised to revitalize the state’s manufacturing sector, announced last week that it will move a slice of its Newark operations to Mexico at the end of 2024. The decision is one part of the California company’s plan to restructure amid increasing debt and continuous financial losses, according to its annual …

Coolest thing manufacturing

Coolest Thing Made in Delaware offers 50 choices for voters

Betsy PriceBusiness, Headlines

A contest meant to highlight the diversity of Delaware’s manufacturing — and raise that business sector’s profile — has opened its first round of voting. Fifty items  — including candles, Dogfish Head beer, doggie doughnuts, eco-plastic tables, and an outer-space habitat — have been entered in The Coolest Thing Made in Delaware contest. It received more than 100 nominations. “This …

Women-owned

State programs like EDGE help women-owned businesses grow

Peter OsborneBusiness, Headlines

WILMINGTON — When Ashlee Cooper was offered the opportunity to return to the teaching job she lost during the pandemic, she declined because her toddler’s school hadn’t reopened yet. She opted instead to open an event-planning company. Her “ah-ha” moment came when someone saw her standing on a chair to photograph a balloon sculpture and suggested she use a drone …