Delaware Gov. John Carney said the revitalization of the city of
Wilmington was of the utmost importance to his administration and
getting attractions like the University of Delaware on the Market Street
Mall will help the city to be successful.
We need some ice cream downtown number one, and we need business
here on the Market Street Mall, said Carney. Weve been working since I
was sworn in as your governor three and a half months ago on doing
everything that we can to strengthen the neighborhoods in our city, to
strengthen our central business district and to make Wilmington strong
and vibrant again. You are the folks that are going to make it happen by
coming down here on the Market Street Mall, so thank you for coming
today.
Wilmington Mayor Michael Purzycki, a 1967 UD graduate, said it is
truly exciting to have the Creamery in Wilmington, both because ice
cream is an admitted guilty pleasure and it is a unique attraction for
the city.
Everybody wants the city to grow in big leaps and bounds, but the
city grows in small increments of quality, Purzycki said. Its the
small things that make a city great. Its the little individual things,
the things that are special that nobody else has that make your city
great, and we welcome you with open arms.
Michael Hare, senior vice president of the Buccini/Pollin Group
(BPG), said his firm couldnt be prouder to have UD as a partner. BPG
has been the driving force behind the revitalization of downtown
Wilmington and its historic Market Street corridor. The firm partnered
with UD to bring the Creamery to Wilmington and owns the site where the
Creamery Market Storefront is located.
The key to getting people to want to work in Wilmington, to want to
live here, is to add amenities for our residents who are already here
and to make this a compelling city is to bring exciting attractions to
our city, and this is an exciting attraction, said Hare. We in the
city have been working for years to expand the Universitys footprint,
and I cant think of a more delicious way to do that. On behalf of the
lactose-intolerant in our community, myself included, this is a risk
worth taking.
Hare noted that his uncle majored in agriculture at UD and milked the
cows on UDs College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR)
campus. He said it was a privilege to watch the full trajectory of cow
to cone now that this ice cream is in Wilmington.
CANR Dean Mark Rieger highlighted the UD students who helped put
together the business plan for the Creamery Market Storefront,
specifically Keith Medwid, a senior majoring in food and agribusiness
marketing and management and the assistant manager intern at the
creamery.
Keith Medwid worked at the Creamery on campus for two years, and he
is going to go on to a wonderful career in agribusiness or food science
because of his experience in the Creamery, said Rieger. The reason
that were here, and the product of that place across the street is a
better educated student.
Rieger also thanked Melinda Shaw, director of Creamery operations,
LeeAnne Ahamad, manager for the Creamerys Wilmington location, Jen
Rodammer, manager of UDairys Newark location, and Grace Wisser, CANR
event coordinator, for all their work with the Creamery and with putting
the opening event together.