Delaware Commercial Corridor Initiative

The Delaware Division of Small Business is requesting proposals to administer the Delaware Commercial Corridor Initiative, a statewide investment program pairing targeted grant funding with private capital across New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties, with proposals due October 2, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Division anticipates three awards total—one per county—to ensure statewide coverage.

This RFP targets qualified financial institutions or partnerships with demonstrated capacity in small business lending, CDFI operations, and commercial corridor revitalization. Selected administrators will manage program administration and implementation, financial deployment and capital coordination, business engagement and outreach, and project eligibility verification and geographic targeting within qualifying commercial corridors.

Total program funding is $4.5 million in Delaware Strategic Fund resources: New Castle County receives $2.5 million, Kent County $1 million, and Sussex County $1 million. Each administrator must ensure a minimum of 85 percent of funds deploy within their awarded county. DCCI funds represent approximately 10 to 25 percent of total project costs and cannot exceed $25,000 per business.

The contract term is one year with two optional one-year extensions. Vendors must maintain general liability insurance of $1 million per occurrence and errors and omissions insurance, and submit monthly usage reports and quarterly subcontracting reports detailing diversity supplier participation.

Evaluation weighs experience in small business lending, CDFI operations, and commercial corridor revitalization (30 points); capacity to deploy capital within county allocations and execute program timelines (25 points); administration, compliance, and reporting capacity (25 points); and ability to reach underserved and minority-owned businesses and expand access to first-time borrowers (20 points). Questions are due September 18, 2026; responses will be posted September 23, 2026. Award notification is anticipated within 90 days of proposal receipt.