Delaware's Backbone

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

November 3, 2025

Almost all businesses in Delaware are small businesses. The variety and size of these organizations are incredibly diverse, and these companies serve almost every imaginable market. From your favorite pizza parlor to a small law or accounting firm, that auto dealership you drive by on your way to work, or all those unknown names back in that commercial or industrial park you got lost in one afternoon, each contributes to our economy in meaningful ways. Seldom, if ever, will you read about them on social channels or in the news, but they account for 98 percent of the businesses in our state and employ 57% of all working-age Delawareans.

These businesses don’t have a government affairs team or a legal department of their own. They depend upon the State Chamber, larger companies with similar interests, and other associations to articulate their concerns to policymakers. It is with these businesses in mind that we celebrate our Superstars in Business awards program later this week, recognizing organizations with as few as five or ten employees to a couple of hundred, who accomplish great things and employ most of our friends and neighbors.

Here are the outstanding organizations we’ll celebrate on Wednesday: Grey Fox Wealth Advisors (1-10 Employees), JLAM (11-50 Employees), Boulden Brothers (51-150 Employees), and Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County (Nonprofit).

News You Can Use

We start a busy first week of November with September construction spending results, followed by October auto sales. Tuesday brings us factory order data from September, job openings numbers from September, and U.S. trade deficit numbers. ADP employment figures are out on Wednesday, while Q3 productivity results are released on Thursday. Several Fed luminaries are giving speeches on Thursday, too, including Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson. On Friday, New York Fed President John Williams will offer remarks while U.S. employment and unemployment figures for October become public. September consumer credit numbers are out on Friday, too.

There's a large sampling of companies with earnings calls this week. Later today, CNA Financial, Freshpet, Palantir Technologies, Boise Cascade, Cabot, Clorox, Eastman Chemical, Insperity, JELD-WEN, Simon Properties, and Williams Cos, are among a very long list. ADM, ADT, Ball Corp, Fortis, Harley-Davidson, Marriott, Pfizer, Uber, and Voya Financial are a few of the many with calls tomorrow. McDonald’s headlines Wednesday and is joined by Brinks, Iron Mountain, Southwest Gas, AMC Entertainment, Deluxe, DoorDash, Lyft, Met Life and others. Air Products, AstraZeneca, DuPont, US Foods, Fluor, KKR, Wendy’s, and many others round out the Thursday and Friday schedule.

Michael J. Quaranta

President

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce

Uniquely Delaware

Delaware's Small Business Makeup

Small businesses are the backbone of Delaware’s economy, making up 98% of all businesses and employing 57% of the state’s workforce, or more than 241,000 jobs. Collectively, they generate $14.2 billion in wages, representing half of all wages paid statewide. Delaware is home to 28,657 small businesses, including 17,224 in New Castle County, 4,641 in Kent County, and 6,271 in Sussex County. Read more >

Weiner Benefits Group has served the insurance and financial needs of individuals and businesses since 1938. It is one of the oldest and most well-respected Delaware-based insurance firms in the region.

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