As the 2024 Reinventing Delaware process nears completion, we’re spotlighting the top three ideas. This week’s featured finalist is Repetto Writing Solutions, championed by William Repetto. In the following interview, Repetto shares more about his concept:
PDFF: How would you describe your idea in a 30-second pitch?
Finalist Answer: Repetto Writing Solutions is looking to launch a project that brings together stakeholders from across the state to increase the quantity and quality of grant applications that both for-profit and non-profit businesses produce and submit. This consortium, which will include small- and large-sized entities, will offer a forum for natural mentorship between members supplemented by programming and proposal development provided by the Repetto Writing Solutions team.
PDFF: In what ways will your idea benefit Delaware?
Finalist Answer: Delaware tends to receive a low percentage of grant funding that originates from outside the state. There are many reasons for this, including Delaware’s size, the number of colleges and universities in the state, and the quality/quantity of applications entities in the state produce. While increasing the state’s size and opening new universities may prove impossible, this project will enable entities in the state to produce a higher number of grant applications with exceptional quality.
The success of this initiative may prove invaluable for the state. Further grant funds for businesses and enterprises in Delaware can result in more jobs and higher employment, while further funding in the technology space will continue Delaware’s legacy of being a place where cutting-edge inventions and innovations are produced. Crucially, too, additional funds for the state’s nonprofit organizations will demonstrate Delaware’s leadership in solving complex social issues, issues whose solutions can then be exported throughout the country.
PDFF: What difference will your idea make in the community or the world?
Finalist Answer: Delaware’s communities stand to benefit immensely from Repetto Writing Solution’s efforts, especially communities that have been historically underserved. Many Delaware nonprofits gear their efforts toward resolving problems that arise specifically in these communities due to various systemic and historical injustices. By establishing a new, collaborative approach to producing grant applications, the consortium stands to generate a new, higher amount of funding for these causes.
The long-term vision becomes exporting the solutions that our nonprofits create. Of course, this process will build the reputation of Delaware, but, more importantly, these solutions promise to offer relief to many individuals throughout the country and the world who struggle with the most pressing issues of our times—including income inequality, educational disparities, and access to essential resources.
Other kinds of grants provide valuable support for businesses, some of which are developing critical technologies. If we ensure that our most promising startups and our most established partners in the industry are consistently bringing in crucial grant funding, we also ensure that Delaware invents and produces important innovations in medicine, chemicals, and green technologies, to name a few. These inventions and innovations, in turn, provide a pathway to a healthier, happier, and more ecologically viable future.
PDFF: How are you planning to achieve your idea’s purpose?
Finalist Answer: As you can tell, the project has a diverse set of objectives that will require different types of expertise. I have been fortunate enough in my professional and academic life to have been surrounded by people with amazing talents who have not only supported me in the initiatives I wanted to accomplish but have pushed me to be and present a better version of myself than I previously thought possible.
My frequent collaborator Ioannis Chremos, PhD, and my academic advisor Sean Zdenek, PhD, especially come to mind. Fulfilling the central purpose of this current project—obtaining more grants for Delaware to better our communities and advance the world—will require me to be intentional about surrounding myself with equally talented individuals. I feel up for the challenge and hope the state will see the benefits of my efforts.
PDFF: Will you or someone other than yourself champion this idea should it continue to move forward, and why? If applicable, who else is on your team?
Finalist Answer: I will continue to champion this cause moving forward. I went to middle school at St. Edmond’s Academy, high school at Archmere Academy, and am now pursuing a PhD in English at the University of Delaware. The First State has helped me develop into the person I am today, and I am beyond ecstatic to finally give something back involving my biggest passions—writing and communication.
PDFF: What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
Finalist Answer: I took what I like to call a “skills-based” approach to entrepreneurship. Many books and guides to entrepreneurship will instruct you to find some problem in the world or in the way people do things and devise a way to fix it, which is also a method of making money. Instead, a “skills-based” approach involves asking deep questions of yourself concerning what motivates you and what skills you enjoy developing.
After you’ve identified these things (writing and communication for me), you can start the process of talking to people across industries who might know which areas would benefit from an intervention that involves your particular skills and passions. From there, do all the legal groundwork of establishing a business and begin charging a fee.
Celebrate Our 2024 Reinventing Delaware Winner at the Pete du Pont Freedom Award
The Top Idea of the Year will be announced at the highly-anticipated Pete du Pont Freedom Award 2024 event at the Hotel du Pont on Tuesday, October 22. Buy your ticket today, or to join us as a sponsor, contact Stephanie Johnnie at [email protected].