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During my first year as Director of the Office of
Economic Growth, I had the privilege to join with many
of
New Jersey’s local leaders in working to create a
vibrant climate for economic growth throughout the
state. Through our many conversations and meetings and
conferences, I discovered that perhaps no one has a
better understanding of the importance of economic
development than our mayors. Whether governing a small
town, an older suburb, or a large urban city, the
mayors of the state of
New Jersey
share common aspirations—to retain local companies,
expand jobs and ensure smart, sustainable growth in
their communities.
Governor Jon S. Corzine has tasked the Office of
Economic Growth to lead and support these objectives.
In September, we rolled out the Governor’s Economic
Growth Strategy, which identifies a number of
priorities and approaches for unlocking
New Jersey’s economic potential. At the heart of our
plan, we are building partnerships between state and
local government and the business community in an
effort to grow the state’s economy and create
well-paying jobs.
Through the numerous opportunities afforded to me to
listen to our state’s local leaders, I heard them
explain the needs of their communities and their
efforts to bring desirable economic development
projects to their towns. These are just some of the
issues that mayors say they are grappling with:
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Attracting and retaining businesses to create a
reliable and sustainable ratable base
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Encouraging the development of industrial zones and
keeping warehouses and industrial facilities in
operation
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Upgrading infrastructure and energy resources
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Energizing downtown areas and revitalizing urban
areas
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Promoting and attracting women- and minority-owned
businesses
Meeting these challenges is essential to creating
strong and sustainable economic growth for the entire
state of
New Jersey. Through the Governor’s efforts to balance
the State’s budget and his work with the Legislature
to create meaningful property tax reform, we have made
great strides in creating a stable and predictable
business environment and a more affordable place for
our residents and businesses. We also have developed a
set of tools to address the issues and concerns that
you have conveyed to us.
In September, we launched the New Jersey Urban Fund
and are building the state’s initial $185 million
contribution and with additional investment from
private resources. The NJUF is designed to target
businesses and nonprofits in underserved and
distressed urban areas. We need to invest in projects
that have economic potential, but might not otherwise
be attracting private capital.
Responding to our mayors’ requests for help in
marketing our state’s assets to businesses, we
successfully completed the second iteration of our new
“one-stop shopping” business web portal (http://www.state.nj.us/njbusiness/).
In addition to refining our business registration and
filing process, the website provides a mapping
function allowing businesses to search for locations
by categories including regulatory requirements,
resources, and tax-rates. Since the Governor
introduced the web portal in September, we’ve had an
increase of more than 71 percent in visitors, with
nearly 3,000 visits a day. And our Call Center is
getting 3,600 calls a month, an increase of 250
percent since we consolidated our business outreach to
one toll-free number (866-534-7789) to help companies
navigate our government agencies.
We developed the Edison Innovation Fund to support
research and development in the growth and core
technology industries that are vital to sustaining and
growing high-paying job opportunities for
New Jersey residents. We aim to build the capacity of
our state’s research colleges and universities and
encourage an entrepreneurial environment throughout
the state.
Most importantly, we have been working to establish
partnerships with the mayors of our state in order to
support our local businesses, whether that local
business is a small manufacturer of auto parts with
high energy costs, a mom-and-pop delicatessen looking
to expand, or an international pharmaceutical trying
to attract a highly-skilled workforce. Partnering with
our municipalities allows us to do the essential
planning needed to link local issues with the state’s
economic growth strategies. Working with our municipal
governments, we can raise the quality of life in our
communities, which is often at the top of the list of
reasons as to a business’s decision for locating in
New Jersey.
Our collaboration with mayors extends to the rest of
state government, and we have developed an interagency
team to be responsive to the business community that
includes the Department of Environmental Protection,
the Department of Transportation, New Jersey Transit,
the Port Authority, and the Office of Smart Growth in
the Department of Community Affairs.
The New Jersey Conference of Mayors has actively
engaged in partnership building with the Office of
Economic Growth by co-sponsoring educational events on
the strategy and its impact on suburban communities.
NJCM also announced that it will focus its upcoming
annual conference in April on the mayor’s role in
economic development.
Together, we have our work cut out for us. Preliminary
estimates show
New Jersey
added jobs in 2006, but not at the rate of the
employment gains of 2005. Working with Governor
Corzine, the State’s Marketer-in-Chief, we will be
doing more outreach this year, to create relationships
with companies around the world to bring more jobs and
business opportunities to New Jersey.
The Office of Economic Growth must demonstrably
support the expansion of private sector job growth in
New Jersey, and we will measure our progress in
absolute and relative (vs. our peer states) terms, as
well as in terms of the quality of jobs we help
create. We need the help of our state’s mayors to
continue to promote
New Jersey’s tremendous assets, to collaborate with us
on development strategies in the areas where
revitalization is needed most, and to encourage
innovation and entrepreneurship to bring more
high-paying jobs into our communities.
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