Lisa St. Clair, the President and CEO of Tail Bangers, and Michelle Harris, the District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Delaware Office, speak with Troy Mix, Associate Director at the University of Delaware's Institute for Public Administration, as part of National Small Business Week. This May 2, 2022 conversation focused on the growth of Tail Bangers and the personal characteristics, business practices, and public-private partnerships that can help make business success a reality.

Lisa St. Clair founded Tail Bangers in 2003, and she was named the 2022 Delaware Small Business Person of the Year. Tail Bangers is a dog treat bakery based in Millsboro, Delaware, that produces fresh, healthy dog treats made exclusively from US-sourced ingredients. 

Michelle Harris is the District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Delaware Office, a role she assumed in February 2022. Earlier in her career, she was Regional Assistance Division Manager for the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, an SBA Lead Business Opportunity Specialist, and Executive Director for the State of Delaware's Office of Supplier Diversity.

To learn more about Tail Bangers, visit tailbangers.com. To connect with Delaware's SBA office, browse to www.sba.gov/offices/district/de/wilmington. 

This episode is presented as part of the Delaware Founders' Stories series—a collection of conversations with underrepresented and 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.

Tales of Small Business Success

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.

Tales of Small Business Success

First State Insights

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