Hi. I’m Dave. I am passionate about big ideas, local economies, and using technology to make the world better. I live to develop great ideas and put them into practice, and I believe that local independent small businesses and local living economies are the building blocks of a better tomorrow. (Read my local business manifesto.)

I have been a local entrepreneur for over 14 years, most recently as the co-founder of MilfordLIVE.com, an online-only news operation serving Milford, DE. I also help local, independent businesses create and improve their marketing and digital operations.

In addition, I publish The Retriever, a weekly email that extracts the very best content on the Web for independent local business owners and delivers it to them in an easy-to-read format.

A FAMILY LEGACY

Small business is in my DNA. My great-grandfather on my father’s side started a small food wholesaling company, which my grandfather grew into Burris Logistics, one of the largest frozen food distributors in the country.

My great-grandfather on my mother’s side started a company in New Jersey, Wheaton Brass Works, that was an industry leader in fuel distribution systems for cars. (See a 1920′s-era Wheaton Gas Pump.)

My father took a small tire company and turned it into a multi-state operation before leaving in 1990 to serve for 10 years as the President of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

So my fate was sealed from the very beginning.

ENTREPRENEURIAL ADVENTURES

Since 1998, I have been an entrepreneur at the Delaware beaches in the fields of real estate, restaurants, marketing and media. Life as a local business owner hasn’t always been easy, but every day has been rewarding. And the education provided by the experience has been incredibly meaningful.

I have also enjoyed instructing and mentoring in the field of online communication and social media. I have advised local business owners and nonprofits, as well as local business membership organizations on the use of online services such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and on the spirit and mindset of the new economy. It probably sounds corny, but I love helping small businesspeople succeed.

LOCAL SERVICE

My family has a rich history in the Milford, DE-Milton-Lewes area where I live. My ancestors were farmers in Lincoln & Milton and river pilots in Lewes. So I feel strong ties to the area and a calling to serve. I have served my local community as a member of the board of directors of Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, a founding member of Slow Food Delmarva, creator of the Sussex Lunch Mob, a member of the United Way of Delaware’s Young Impact Professionals Society and a volunteer soccer coach for the Henlopen Soccer Club.

PUBLIC ACTIVISM

As a public activist, I have been at the forefront of change on issues like transparency in government spending, budget reform and ethics reform. In 2007, I created the Delaware Taxpayer Coalition to lobby for transparency reform in state spending. In addition, I have been published numerous times in the Wilmington News Journal and on various blogs and have made many radio and TV appearances on various public issues.

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A 12th-generation Delaware native, Dave Burris was born and raised in Milford, DE and lives outside Lewes, DE with his wife and two children.