DuPont era ending; effects will be felt statewide

It’s hard to overstate the importance of DuPont to Delaware history.

At one time, DuPont was practically synonymous with Delaware. In 1972 activist Ralph Nader even issued a report called “The Company State,” which detailed the way DuPont dominated Delaware.

The report was critical, calling Delaware an oligarchy ruled by the DuPont company and the du Pont family.

But I’ve never gotten the impression that many Delawareans resented either the company or the family.

The company provided thousands of workers with good jobs, even for those with only a high school diploma.

If DuPont had a good year, so did the state finances. Taxes stemming from DuPont company bonuses helped fill Delaware coffers.

Also, various du Ponts showered the state with philanthropic projects.

Motorists may have noticed that U.S. 113 is also called DuPont Boulevard. (The northern portion of DuPont Boulevard is U.S. 13.) It wasn’t named that to honor the company’s role in Delaware.

The road was a personal project conceived and built by T. Coleman du Pont. Running from Selbyville to Wilmington, it was the state’s first modern roadway. Who does that?

The road was more than just a convenience. It was a boon for the lower Delaware economy, especially farmers in Kent and Sussex counties. They were no longer dependent on the railroads to bring their goods to northern markets.

T. Coleman’s cousin, P.S. du Pont, built schools up and down the state, including high quality brick buildings for African-Americans. Some are still in use nearly a century later, such as the Booker T. Washington Elementary School in Dover.

The glory days have been over for some time. DuPont once employed 26,000 people in Delaware, including 5,000 in Seaford, the one-time Nylon Capital of the World.

DuPont now has 7,000 workers in Delaware; none remain in Seaford.

Still it was a huge blow, economically and emotionally, when it was announced last week that DuPont would merge with Dow Chemical and then split into three separate companies.

It’s entirely possible that none of those three companies will be headquartered here. For the first time in more than two centuries, there may be no DuPont company in Delaware.

And here’s the horrible part: Why would they choose Wilmington?

Yes, there are good reasons. People and facilities are already here.

But, unfortunately, Wilmington - once famous as the worldwide headquarters for industrial giant DuPont - is becoming better known as one of the most violent small cities in the country.

A planned ABC drama, starring Jada Pinkett Smith, is set in Wilmington. It’s called “Murder Town.”

That follows a designation, by Newsweek magazine, of Wilmington as “Murder Town USA.”

Public relations nightmare barely begins to describe what that means for the city, and, by extension, the entire state. What company wants to announce that it’s opening its headquarters in Murder Town USA?

City leaders, understandably, have pushed back, calling on ABC to change the show’s location.

I agree with the effort, though it has the unfortunate effect of calling attention to Wilmington’s more recently acquired reputation.

A few months back, when I interviewed Sam Calgione of Dogfish Head, he mentioned the challenges Wilmington faces as being among the few drawbacks for the state’s economy.

Overall, he was very bullish on doing business in Delaware. But he recognized that crime in Wilmington could affect the entire state.

And so far, nothing has worked to stem the tide of violence. In March, Wilmington police announced a “zero tolerance policy” for all infractions as a way to reduce gun violence.

It sounded like a good idea but so far it hasn’t worked. Last year, there were 114 shootings and 23 gun homicides. This year, with two weeks left, there have been 122 shootings and 24 gun homicides.

For the past seven years, I’ve thought that Gov. Jack Markell came in at a very difficult time, just after the crash of 2008. Every year, it’s been a struggle to balance the state budget.

But the next governor may face even more daunting challenges. The state will still be facing tight budgets, and they will likely be made worse by the loss of DuPont company jobs - jobs that will be almost impossible to replace.

It’s been a long time coming, but it’s the end of an era.


Don Flood is a former newspaper editor living near Lewes. He can be reached at floodpolitics@gmail.com.