WILMINGTON — A few years ago, Ayanna Khan was leasing a 900 square-foot office out of the I.M. Pei Building while dreaming of a space that would not only become a headquarters but also a launch pad for Black entrepreneurs in the city. 

“I saw a vision for it. I saw our community, a vibrant community in this building – building, creating and innovating. I saw it and I wanted to make it happen,” Khan told the Delaware Business Times. 

The founder and CEO of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce (DEBCC) finally made it happen by opening the doors to the organization’s new office along with an incubator – all on the third floor of the Elwyn Building on Wilmington’s east side.  

On Tuesday, officials and business leaders gathered to cut the ribbon on the 12,000 square-foot office which comes complete with 10 offices for businesses looking to break into the market. 

The Elwyn Building is a four-story office on 321 E. 11th Street that was bought for $3.2 million in 2023 by the Delaware Affordable Housing Group, the nonprofit arm of the Wilmington Housing Authority, with plans to repurpose the space into a community center. DEBCC signed a multi-year lease with the WHA and reportedly spent $200,000 renovating its offices. 

In addition to administration and incubator offices, the new DEBCC office has three conference rooms and a training room, as well as a kitchen for culinary entrepreneurs. 

“We’re not doing this work in a vacuum at all, we’re community driven. Over the past five years, we have made tremendous and historic impact in the state,” Khan said during the ceremony before the ribbon cutting. “We practice what we preach and it’s not something cute to say, we live by it. We’re leaving no stone unturned and seeking opportunities to drive change and create a future.” 

The business incubator is the most visible new project under the DEBCC’s leadership and there’s a waiting list of 25 companies to date. Participants must be structured as a legal entity and have a business license and insurance in place, although the chamber can help applicants navigate that process. For a monthly fee starting at $800, entrepreneurs have access to education, mentors and DEBCC programming. 

Delaware Affordable Housing Group Vice President Vincent White, who served on Wilmington City Council for years, outlined the shifting vision for the Elwyn Building as a potential anchor for new businesses. 

“As someone who grew up seven blocks from here on Fifth Street, I knew the East Side could be and will be what it once was, which was a private entrepreneurial community. You are standing in the epicenter of deferred dreams, because I’ve been a part of this conversation for years,” he said. “I am so proud to be here, with an organization run by a Black woman.” 

The DEBECC launched in 2020 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic that shut down several businesses due to social distancing requirements, but it also triggered a wave of unprecedented federal and state funds to nonprofits and businesses to hold them over until the global health crisis was under control. Khan, who is a business consultant, saw that Black businesses in Delaware were closing at a higher rate than others, and felt that there needed to be a change. 

Over the first year, Khan worked with the National Black Chamber of Commerce to establish a local chapter and started working with state officials to ensure that Black businesses could have a chance at the millions allocated through the CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan and the Delaware Relief Grant program. 

Now, the DEBCC offers webinars, networking opportunities, training opportunities through Interise, a nonprofit focused on entrepreneurial education, a pitch competition and more. Last year, the chamber launched a collaboration with Del-One Federal Credit Union to offer loans to minority-owned businesses.  

The new office also symbolizes a new era for the DEBCC and its partnerships. Khan said that several partners, like M&T Bank, the Longwood Foundation, the Welfare Foundation and more were incredible partners in the early days, helping to secure funding and provide opportunities for Black business owners. But now, there’s more partners coming to the table to help expand education opportunities for budding business leaders on the East Side. 

For example, Drexel University’s executive director of economic impact and workforce

inclusion procurement services now has an office in the DEBCC offices. He’s on the chamber’s advisory board and is working to help develop more corporate partnerships which can be difficult in the current political climate. 

“There’s room to grow because we’re in the incorporation capital of the world. But unfortunately, we’ve had four corporations this year that backed out of supporting us. We know why, but they don’t say it,” Khan later told DBT. 

One of the most recent partnerships that the DEBCC hopes to leverage for its 700 members is with Western Governors University, a private online college that offers degrees in business, education, health and information technologies. In Wilmington, WGU will offer its business curriculum for DEBCC incubator participants. 

Taking it all in for a quiet moment in her office, Khan said reflected on the work she started five years ago when she wanted to make a difference in her home state. 

“It’s an incredible milestone,” she said, referring to the new office and the incubator. “It represents hard work, perseverance, resilience and everything we have worked so hard for in our mission – even in these unprecedented times.”