Sussex Today & Tomorrow Conference looks at affordable housing
The theme for the 2023 Sussex County Today & Tomorrow Conference, held Oct. 26 at Delaware Technical Community College Owens Campus in Georgetown, was Workforce Housing: Addressing the Crisis, Identifying Solutions and Implementing Strategies.
Dr. Bobbi Barends, vice president and Owens Campus director, welcomed attendees and emphasized that this issue was going to take collaboration and resources from everyone in the county.
The conference was a hybrid event, with in-person seating as well as a livestream option for attendees. The keynote speaker was Jacob Day, Maryland Housing & Community Development secretary. Day’s presentation focused on how his department has been tackling the housing issue, recognizing that it is an affordable housing issue for different population groups, and an issue that arose due to a variety of historical issues. Day also touched on some of the plans his department has coming up in the near future to work on alleviating this issue.
Sean O’Neill, policy scientist at the University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration, started the event by helping put the workforce housing issue into context for all attendees.
The event had two panel discussions moderated by Kevin Gilmore, Sussex County Habitat for Humanity CEO. The first focused on the economic and industry impacts of workforce housing. Panelists included Ashley Foster, Beebe Healthcare senior vice president and chief people officer; PFC Nicholas Lano, Bethany Beach Police Department recruitment officer; Mike Dickinson, SoDel Concepts president; Trina Joyner, Coldwell Banker Premier broker/associate broker; Dr. Kevin Carson, Sussex Technical High School superintendent; Bill Pfaff, Sussex County Economic Development director; and Preston Schell, Ocean Atlantic Companies president and co-founder.
The second panel discussion focused on practices and solutions, and featured Brandy Nauman, Sussex County Community Development & Housing Department director; Lillian Harrison, Elevated Community Development Corp. executive director and founder; Matthew Kraeuter, Great Outdoor Cottages CEO; and O’Neill.
Mike Nally, founder and CEO of Nally Ventures, led two sessions focused on solutions and developing a blueprint, which allowed attendees to work together to come up with how to tackle the housing issue and what steps could be implemented in the future.
This year’s conference was sponsored by the Carl M. Freeman Companies, Sussex Economic Development Action Committee, Delaware Electric Cooperative, Sussex County Association of Realtors, County Bank, Lyons Companies, Artisans’ Bank, TidalHealth, Mountaire, Community Bank, WSFS Bank, Del-One, and Jefferson, Urian, Doane & Sterner, PA.
For more information, go to sussexcountyconference.com.
