Professional Career and Community Involvement
Copeland was one of only a handful of state legislators to own and operate a family business. When he first assumed management of Associates Graphic Services in 1994, the small Delaware printing company in Wilmington had only ten employees. Since then, AGS has grown to over 50 employees and evolved into a high tech business. In June 2008, AGS was internationally recognized in Düsseldorf, Germany for innovation and exception in the industry by CIP4, an international industry association. In 2009, AGS won the "Best in Show" Award at the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association annual dinner, and it won the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for upholding high corporate ethics.
In 1997, 5 years before first deciding to run for public office, Copeland co-founded the Challenge Program, a Wilmington-based vocational-training program for at-risk youth in the city. In the program, young men receive job training in construction and are afforded the opportunity to develop a marketable skill set. Upon graduation, participants are placed in construction jobs with local companies. Throughout training, participants renovate and repair homes which the Challenge Program then turns over to Habitat for Humanity, Wilmington Housing Partnership, the Wilmington Housing Authority and other local charities. Copeland sits as the Board President of the Challenge Program. In addition, he remains involved with the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, and the Mount Cuba Center.
Since 2007, he has been working to start a Charter High School in the city of Wilmington Delaware Academy of Public Safety and Security.
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