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Office of Economic Development keeps strategic fund, boosts DBE tracking and wraps loan partnerships in FY2026 request
Summary
The Office of Economic Development told the Finance Committee its FY2026 budget holds steady overall while expanding minority-business outreach, DBE certification tracking and continuing strategic fund investments and loan partnerships that have supported local firms.
The Wilmington Office of Economic Development (OED) told the City Council finance committee it is proposing an FY2026 operating budget of about $1.17 million that maintains staffing at five full-time equivalents and preserves set-aside funds to support small and minority-owned businesses.
Director Sean Park said the office will continue to prioritize increases in the city's tax base by attracting private investment and advancing the recommendations of a recently completed disparity study. "Our priorities as an office are to increase the city revenue tax base through new jobs and private investments and improve the quality of life for residents," Park said.
OED said it will continue a $350,000 minority-business set-aside (approved by council in the prior fiscal year) and budgeted $22,600 for the Small and Minority Business Enterprise Office (SMBEO) operating costs to run events and programming tied to disparity-study implementation. The department also added consulting funds to provide one-on-one business needs assessments, social-media coaching and application support for competitive state programs.
A key technical upgrade in OED's plan is a $40,000 subscription to the B2Gnow contract-compliance module to capture subcontractor data. Park said capturing subcontractor activity is critical because many disadvantaged-business enterprises (DBEs) participate as subcontractors rather than prime contractors; he and SMBEO staff reported a 15 percent increase (46 new certifications) in DBE certifications in calendar 2024 after moving to an automated processing system.
OED briefed council on revolving loan activity tied to the Grow Wilmington Fund, a loan partnership seeded by UDAG and leveraged with the Grow America Fund and Discover Bank. Since 2014 the Grow Wilmington Fund has backed eight loans totaling $4.287 million and associates the financing with 78 retained or created jobs; Park said $481,773 remains available for new investments. The department also said Grow Newcastle County and WEDCO have committed additional loan resources that Wilmington businesses may use.
The office described ongoing use of the strategic fund for incentive agreements and property investment (facade work, infrastructure studies, site improvements) and noted successful pairing of planning studies with state transportation funds. Park also outlined outreach and procurement-training events, and a new series of "DBE day" meet-the-department events to introduce minority vendors to procurement staff in city departments.
Councilors questioned OED on metrics and outreach. Park said the office can better quantify DBE growth once the new contract-compliance dashboards are in place and pledged quarterly reporting. He also encouraged councilors to refer prospective entrepreneurs to the office and partner organizations such as the Hispanic Chamber and the launcher/incubator ecosystem. No formal votes occurred during the session.
