WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senator Chris Coons will host three roundtables with constituents in the next two weeks to listen to Delawareans’ concerns about the economy and their ideas for creating jobs. The roundtables will focus on Delaware’s veterans, its high-tech and R&D sector, and its community-based businesses.
“Helping our neighbors get back to work continues to be my top priority,” Senator Coons said. “After working for years in the private sector and local government, I know that the best ideas for creating jobs are going to come from the people on the front lines of the economic recovery. I talk with out-of-work Delawareans and small business owners just about every day, but these roundtables will facilitate a more dynamic group discussion that I hope will generate new ideas that we can apply in Washington to help create jobs for Delawareans.”
Three roundtables have been scheduled for before the Senate reconvenes in early September:
Monday, August 22 at 1:30 p.m.
Senator Coons’ Roundtable on Jobs for Delaware's Veterans
The unemployment rate for young veterans just back from Iraq or Afghanistan is 22 percent and amongst all veterans, it is over 13 percent. What can Congress do to help our nation’s heroes come home to job opportunities worthy of their sacrifice?
Location: Delaware National Guard Headquarters Building, Loeffel Room, 2600 Spruance Drive, New Castle, DE 19720
Thursday, August 25 at 10:00 a.m.
Senator Coons’ Roundtable on Jobs in Delaware's High-Tech and R&D Sector
Delaware’s most innovative emerging businesses have the opportunity to drive the next generation of our state’s manufacturing economy. What can Washington do to help Delaware’s young high-tech firms grow and create jobs?
Location: Delaware Technology Park, 15 Innovation Way, Newark, DE 19711
Wednesday, August 31 at 3:00 p.m.
Senator Coons' Roundtable on Jobs in Delaware's Community-Based Businesses
The locally owned small businesses that line Delaware’s main streets feel every bump in our nation’s economy while employing tens of thousands of our neighbors. What are Delaware’s small businesses doing to survive and thrive in the recession and what can Washington do to help them create jobs?
Location: Newport Town Hall, 226 North James Street, Newport, DE 19804
Participants at each of the roundtables are being invited by Senator Coons’ office and local organizations. All three are open to press. More information, including press logistics, will be provided prior to each roundtable.
Since taking office, Senator Coons has hosted two job fairs that combined have attracted more than 3,500 job seekers and over 100 employers. A third job fair will be held at Delaware Technical and Community College in Georgetown on September 26th.
“The economic recovery of our communities is directly tied to levels of employment,” Senator Coons said. “We must ensure that we are doing everything we can to help out-of-work Delawareans have opportunities to get back to work and that those who are employed are able to keep their jobs.”
In Washington, Senator Coons has introduced a series of bills designed to stimulate job creation, including the Job Creation Through Innovation Act, which is designed to jumpstart domestic manufacturing and create conditions to help businesses grow and create high-quality, high-paying middle-class jobs. The Job Creation Through Innovation Act would expand, simplify and make permanent the Research & Development Tax Credit, create a new Small Business Innovation Tax Credit and a new Domestic Manufacturing Tax Credit, extend the 1603 Treasury Grants Program, and invest in the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit.