As a small business owner, local journalist, community volunteer, and state lawmaker, I have had the privilege of being an active member of our community through a commitment to the people I serve. I truly love the fact that each day I wake up not knowing what to expect, except that each day will be different than the last. From working on major community investments like rehabilitating our infrastructure to creating new playgrounds for local families to addressing very personal concerns including training for job placement and clean drinking water, I have been blessed to have my passion for helping my community and neighbors become my occupation and my calling.
Today, I am announcing my reelection as State Representative for the 36th District in Delaware’s House of Representatives. Together we have made great improvements in expanding our healthcare opportunities, rehabilitating our infrastructure, and rebuilding our local workforce. The foundation has been laid and together we can continue to strengthen our local economy and community by creating an environment that encourages and allows families to discover their own path to success.
To meet these ongoing opportunities in our district it takes community-driven solutions that surpass the usual status quo model. No one person or group of people has a corner on the market of good ideas. As a small business family, my wife and I know what it means to proactively listen to our community, create a plan for the greater good, and make the investment with our own sweat, tears, and time. We have been humbled by the faith and encouragement we have been trusted with over the years and we are grateful to be a part of such a supportive community.
When our community reimagined healthcare with the creation of the Sussex Bayhealth Campus and the Milford Wellness Center we started a new level of health services that had not been seen before in lower Delaware. Foreseeing the demand on our workforce, I worked across the aisle to develop programs to train nursing and healthcare support staff and created a public-private partnership to attract and retain primary care doctors and nurse practitioners in our area. Our partners at Bayhealth started the first physician residency program through the University of Pennsylvania and the SEED plus program I sponsored ensured that members of our community could go back to school to retrain in the medical field at any age, ensuring that medical professionals will be there when you need them.
Like many communities across our nation, we have been hit with aging infrastructure at a period of unprecedented growth. Instead of following the traditional patchwork model of road construction, I decided to develop a plan alongside City and State officials where both teams worked together with private companies to take a comprehensive approach to our public work systems. Essentially, if crews are ripping up a road for replacement, we work as a team to replace any aging water and sewer pipes while removing harmful materials such as lead and asbestos. This holistic approach not only saves taxpayer money through shared partnerships but allows for projects to last several decades longer before repairs are needed. Since I was elected in 2019, over $50 million has been directed to replace aging infrastructure in our district and with the creation of the Downtown Development District in Milford, over $24.2 million in private funding has been invested in our historic business district.
A critical investment that will pay dividends for the future of our community is workforce development. Currently, there are 35,000 unfilled jobs available in the state of Delaware but many cannot be filled due to the lack of training available to our local residents. To fix this, I joined several lawmakers in creating pieces of legislation that support education for training in vocational trades, tuition reimbursement for volunteer firefighters, and expanded local college programs to adults in Delaware. With this training and education, these families will take a giant leap forward in their lives and start to create many more possibilities for their own future.
As we start the 2022 campaign for reelection I humbly ask for your support to help drive our community forward in a positive direction. We must break down the walls of division and build the foundation of community. The opportunities to improve our communities are all around us, we must be bold enough to listen and take action.
Respectfully,
Bryan Shupe