Jenny McMillan, the President of JennyGems, speaks with Troy Mix, Associate Director at the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration, about her path to entrepreneurship and the challenges she's tackled since launching the business. 

JennyGems is a Delaware-based business focused on designing, making, and selling original wooden signs and other home décor items. Before officially launching in 2015, Jenny and her husband Dave began the business as a part-time hobby selling antiques and collectibles to supplement their income. This June 2, 2022 conversation focuses on Jenny's transition to full-time entrepreneurship and how the JennyGems team confronted trade war and pandemic challenges by moving forward as a manufacturer of their own products and realizing strong growth in the process. To learn more about JennyGems, visit https://www.jennygems.com/.

This episode is presented as part of the Delaware Founders' Stories series—a collection of conversations with underestimated entrepreneurs focused on documenting entrepreneurial journeys, recounting successes and failures, and reflecting on lessons learned for moving beyond the obstacles along the way. Listen to all episodes in the series at https://soundcloud.com/first-state-insights/sets/delaware-founders-stories.

For more information about the Institute for Public Administration, visit ipa.udel.edu.

Opening and closing music: "I Dunno" by Grapes, used under Creative Commons 3.0 License.

Making It in Delaware (And the USA)

Joseph Kane,  Senior Research Associate and Associate Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, speaks with  Troy Mix, Associate Director at the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration (IPA), about his research on the nation's infrastructure workforce and IPA's ongoing study of workforce development needs and opportunities associated with infrastructure in Delaware. 

For more information on the Brookings Institution, visit brookings.edu. Mr. Kane's research related to infrastructure and workforce development needs can be reviewed here: https://www.brookings.edu/author/joseph-kane/?type=research.

This episode was recorded on June  4, 2020. For more information about the Institute for Public administration visit www.bidenschool.udel.edu/ipa.

Workforce Development for Infrastructure

Information, perspectives, and analysis for public policy, management, and community and economic development in Delaware.

Presented by the Institute for Public Administration (IPA), a research and public service center in the University of Delaware's Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration.

Making It in Delaware (And the USA)

First State Insights

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