Governor Meyer Signs Executive Orders Aimed at Supporting Small Businesses
In recognition of National Small Business Week, Governor Matt Meyer visited two locally owned businesses in Milford today and signed two Executive Orders aimed at expanding opportunity for small and diverse businesses across Delaware. Executive Order 21 creates an Office of Small Business Access to help entrepreneurs navigate state services, reduce regulatory barriers, streamline inspections, modernize low-risk food business rules, speed up payments to small businesses, and improve access to funding resources. Executive Order 22 strengthens Delaware’s Supplier Diversity initiative to help more small and minority-owned businesses compete for state contracts.
EXECUTIVE ORDER
NUMBER TWENTY-ONE
TO: HEADS OF ALL STATE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
RE: SMALL BUSINESS ACCESS, READINESS, AND CAPITAL
DEPLOYMENT
WHEREAS, small businesses, home-based businesses, and first-time
entrepreneurs are essential drivers of Delaware’s economy, workforce participation, and
community stability; and
WHEREAS, many Delawareans—particularly working-class individuals,
immigrants, and first-time entrepreneurs—face administrative, informational, and
procedural barriers when attempting to start or grow a small business; and
WHEREAS, many of these barriers frequently arise not from legitimate health or
safety requirements, but from fragmented state and federal support programs and state
regulations that are unnecessary or duplicative; and
WHEREAS, Delaware maintains a wide range of small business support programs,
including grants, tax incentives, workforce initiatives, and capital access tools, yet these
resources are often difficult for small businesses to leverage in a timely manner; and
WHEREAS, investment in Opportunity Zones and other underserved census tracts
can be limited by fragmented information, inconsistent coordination, and unclear signals
regarding state priorities; and
WHEREAS, delayed payment for completed public work and services can impose
severe cash-flow constraints on small businesses and micro-contractors, threatening their
viability.
NOW THEREFORE, I, MATTHEW MEYER, by virtue of the authority vested
in me as Governor of the State of Delaware, do hereby DECLARE and ORDER the
following:
1. There is hereby established an Office of Small Business Access (“OSBA”) within
the Division of Small Business (“DSB”). This Office will:
a. Serve as single point of contact for entrepreneurs interacting with state
agencies;
b. In collaboration with the Office of the Governor, track agency compliance
with this Executive Order;
c. Establish a platform to obtain and track small business feedback on
regulatory barriers to entry or growth;
d. Recommend repeal of any regulation that functions primarily as a barrier to
entry or a burden on operations rather than as a protection of health or
safety;
e. Recommend repeal of any regulation that is unnecessarily duplicative of
another regulation, such as reporting requirements; and
f. Maintain and manage the agency Small Business Liaison network
established under Section 2 of this Order, including providing orientation
and guidance to designated Liaisons, coordinating cross-agency
implementation efforts, and escalating unresolved barriers to the Office of
the Governor as appropriate.
2. Each executive branch agency that administers programs, permits, licenses, or
contracts affecting small businesses shall designate at least one employee to serve
as a Small Business Liaison to DSB and the OSBA.
a. Each Liaison shall serve as the designated point of contact between their
agency and OSBA, and shall be responsible for:
i. Coordinating agency implementation of this Order;
ii. Facilitating the development of agency-level processes, workflows,
and internal guidance to reduce barriers for small businesses; and
iii. Responding to referrals and inquiries from OSBA in a timely
manner; and
iv. Suggesting regulatory reforms to reduce barriers to entry and
common hurdles for small businesses.
b. Each agency head shall notify OSBA of the designated Liaison within 30
days of the effective date of this Order and shall notify OSBA promptly
upon any change in designation.
3. DSB, in coordination with all executive branch agencies administering small-
business-facing programs, shall ensure that core materials are provided in plain
language. Newly produced DSB core materials shall be made available in English,
Spanish, and Haitian Creole and additional languages as appropriate based on
limited-English-proficiency data.
4. Within 120 days of the effective date of this Order, the Division of Public Health
(“DPH”) shall exercise its existing statutory and regulatory authority under Title 16
of the Delaware Code to modernize and streamline the regulation of low-risk, food-
based small businesses, in order to reduce unnecessary administrative and
procedural barriers to entry while maintaining robust public health protections.
a. DPH shall expand and modernize Delaware’s cottage food framework to
allow the production of low-risk, shelf-stable foods to operate under a
simplified, registration-based process rather than full commercial food
establishment licensure, where consistent with public health standards.
Such foods shall include non-potentially hazardous foods produced using
non-hazardous processes, including baked goods, candies, honey, dried
herbs, and similar items.
b. DPH shall apply a risk-based approach to oversight of cottage food
establishments and other low-risk food producers, scaling procedural
requirements based on the nature of the food product, production process,
and volume of activity, and relying on objective safeguards such as
sanitation standards, labeling, and reasonable production or sales limits.
c. DPH shall review and update application, registration, inspection, and
approval procedures applicable to low-risk food producers to minimize
time-to-revenue, including by:
i. Establishing clear application completeness standards;
ii. Utilizing streamlined or registration-first approval pathways where
appropriate; and
iii. Conducting inspections or audits post-registration, rather than as a
universal precondition to operation, where consistent with public
health protection.
d. DPH shall clarify by guidance and, where necessary, through rulemaking
that cottage food establishments and other low-risk food-based businesses
are not required to secure a separate commercial lease or undertake a
commercial kitchen build-out solely as a condition of commencing
operations, unless such requirements are necessary to meet applicable food
safety standards.
e. Consistent with the performance-based physical facility requirements of the
Delaware Food Code, DPH shall clarify by guidance and, where necessary,
through rulemaking that a food truck or mobile food establishment may
satisfy applicable sanitation and food-safety requirements through onboard
equipment and operations alone, without reliance on a separate servicing
area or commissary, where the establishment demonstrably meets the
Code’s physical facility and sanitation standards.
f. Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive or diminish DPH’s
authority to enforce food safety standards, require additional safeguards
where warranted based on risk, or prohibit the preparation or sale of foods
that pose a clear or unacceptable public health risk.
5. Led by DSB, the State Fire Marshal, DPH, DNREC, DelDOT, and any other agency
with site-level inspection authority for physical business premises are directed to
create a Small Business Joint Inspection Pilot. Within 120 days, these agencies
shall:
a. Publish a standard list of the most common new small-footprint businesses;
b. Publish a single, public-facing checklist for each business type describing
all state requirements, in plain English;
c. Offer coordinated inspection scheduling so that, upon request of the
applicant, all required inspectors visit in one coordinated window rather
than sequentially; and
d. Agencies shall not condition scheduling on other agency sign-off first,
except where prohibited by health and safety constraints.
6. All State agencies are directed to ensure the timeliness of payment for small
businesses within 15 days of the invoice approval. The Department of Finance’s
Division of Accounting shall track and report to the Office of the Governor average
payment times by agency.
7. The Delaware Prosperity Partnership (“DPP”), in coordination with DSB and
relevant agencies, is requested to establish and maintain a centralized Small
Business Opportunity & Capital Clearinghouse.
a. The Clearinghouse shall include state capital programs, EDGE grants,
workforce programs, tax incentives, and relevant federal programs
including SBA loans, SSBCI-aligned products, Opportunity Zones, and
New Markets Tax Credits.
b. The Clearinghouse shall include a guided intake tool and clearly state
eligibility, documentation, and timelines.
c. Executive branch agencies administering programs included or eligible for
inclusion in the Clearinghouse shall, upon request of DPP or DSB, provide
program information, eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and
EMBARGOED UNTIL: May 7, 2026, 2:30 PM Eastern Time
timeline data necessary to maintain the accuracy and completeness of the
Clearinghouse.
d. The DPP is requested to regularly report to the DSB on inquiries to facilitate
collaborative responses when necessary.
8. DSB shall seek to enter a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) to partner with
the Small Business Development Center (“SBDC”) to perform the following:
a. Publication of standardized capital and program readiness materials.
Materials shall include accounting templates, financial statement formats,
and program-specific readiness checklists aligned with state and federal
capital programs such as the State Small Business Credit Initiative and
Opportunity Zones; and
b. Identification of measurable performance metrics and a process for tracking
participating businesses from initial engagement through program
outcomes, and provision of regular joint review of those outcomes by DSB
and SBDC.
9. DSB shall solicit public feedback on Opportunity Zones.
a. DSB shall recommend to the Governor:
i. Priority Opportunity Zone tracts for active capital deployment;
ii. Opportunities to align EDGE grants, workforce funding,
infrastructure, and site readiness investments to Opportunity Zone
tracts; and
iii. A plan for the creation of a clearinghouse that lists projects with site
control, zoning clarity, and preliminary financial feasibility. The
clearinghouse will be used to support outreach to investors and
alignment of state resources.
b. Recommendations shall be submitted to the Office of the Governor by June
15, 2026.
10. OSBA shall regularly report to the Office of the Governor on implementation of
this Executive Order and identify any statutory changes required. OSBA shall also
prepare an annual report that shall be coordinated with, and incorporated as a
supplement to, the annual report of the Office of Supplier Diversity filed pursuant
to the Governor’s Executive Order Number 22 on Supplier Diversity.
APPROVED this 7th day of May, 2026.
Matthew Meyer
Governor
ATTEST:
Secretary of State
Additional Information from the Office of the Governor:
In recognition of National Small Business Week, Governor Matt Meyer visited two locally owned businesses in Milford today and signed two Executive Orders aimed at expanding opportunity for small and diverse businesses across Delaware.
“Small Businesses are the life blood of the economy. At a time when small businesses are getting squeezed, this is about making sure small businesses get a fair shot,” said Governor Meyer. “When our small businesses succeed, Delaware succeeds.”
Governor Meyer began his visit at Living Well Nutrition, where he met with owner Stephanie Kerns, who opened the community-focused nutrition club in October 2025. The downtown Milford shop offers high-protein shakes, energy teas, and healthy snacks while fostering a welcoming space centered on wellness, connection, and healthy habits.
He then visited Stone Nation Granite & Marble, a woman- and minority-owned business led by owner Biriviana De Leon. Operating in Milford for six years, the company specializes in residential countertop and cabinet installation and is working to expand into commercial projects.Â
During the visit, Governor Meyer toured the company’s workshop and showroom before signing two Executive Orders focused on strengthening small business support.
Executive Order 21 establishes an Office of Small Business Access within the Division of Small Business to serve as a single point of contact for entrepreneurs, coordinates an agency-wide Liaison network to identify and remove regulatory barriers, modernizes Delaware’s cottage food and low-risk food business framework, creates a joint inspection pilot for small businesses, requires 15-day payment of small business invoices, and requests that the Delaware Prosperity Partnership build a centralized capital and program clearinghouse, including for Opportunity Zone resources. Executive Order 22 reinforces Delaware’s Supplier Diversity initiative, helping more small and minority-owned businesses compete for and win state contracts.