SENATOR SWEENEY: “WE ARE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION”
Top Public and Private Sector Officials address NAIOP New Jersey Symposium
EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. – March 8, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — The event’s title was “The New Jersey Comeback: Incentives for Attracting and Retaining Jobs and Tenants,” and the picture painted by top public and industry officials was decidedly optimistic. “We are headed in the right direction,” Senate President Stephen Sweeney told attendees of NAIOP New Jersey’s Public Policy Symposium at the East Brunswick Hilton.
Sweeney credited bipartisanship in Trenton for the turnaround in New Jersey’s image as a place to do business. “We have put partisanship aside because we have to get things done,” he said, noting the dual issues of overcoming both the state’s longstanding image of being unfriendly to business and the residual effects of the recent recession.
Among the ongoing goals he cited was “cleaning up the regulatory process. There is more government reform to be done – we have too much government,” he said, espousing the principal of shared services as one way to accomplish that. He also cited home rule among the state’s 566 municipalities as a roadblock to public sector streamlining. “The cost of government in this state is crushing us.”
But focusing on what has been accomplished to date through bipartisanship in Trenton in terms of incentives for business and regulatory reform, “this is an exciting time in New Jersey,” Sweeney said. “We need to put people back to work, and things have to continue to change to accomplish our goals. We have to continue to change the way we do business.”
One yardstick of New Jersey’s improving business image was offered by Michael G. McGuinness, CEO of NAIOP New Jersey. “Last week’s report from the non-partisan Tax Foundation shows New Jersey’s business tax burden on longer term businesses is now just the ninth highest in the nation,” he noted. “A year ago we were dead last in the 50th spot. Many companies that have come here are doing better than their counterparts in New York and Pennsylvania, thanks to our robust incentive programs, championed by NAIOP New Jersey, passed by the legislature, and implemented by the New Jersey EDA.”
“The New Jersey comeback has begun,” echoed Caren Franzini, director of the New Jersey EDA. “Because of bipartisan support for regulatory reform, projects are starting to go up and New Jersey is getting national recognition for its efforts.”
Moderating a panel discussion of industry and public sector leaders, “financial incentives make a difference when all else is equal,” said Ted Zangari of Sills Cummis & Gross, noting quality of life and related factors. “The current administration in Trenton has gotten the message.”
Focusing specifically on the site selection process for companies seeking to do business in New Jersey, “the most important factor is the workforce,” said David Opper of CBRE. Next on the list are such factors as transportation, another strength for New Jersey, followed by incentives. “Deals have to make sense,” he said, noting recent decisions by Panasonic, Realogy and BASF to remain in New Jersey.
Another company that decided to keep its headquarters and manufacturing in the state is consumer products giant Church & Dwight (Arm & Hammer). The company’s Thomas Mulkeen cited the state’s workforce, infrastructure, and improving tax structure, including the single sales tax factor, for the decision to remain in New Jersey.
“A company wants to be someplace where it’s wanted,” he said. “Business is getting the message that it’s wanted in this state.”
Enhancing New Jersey’s business image is the role of Choose New Jersey, a privately funded entity whose job it is to market the state as a business destination. Labeling the ongoing effort a “re-branding” of the state, Choose New Jersey’s Tracye McDaniel noted that the goal is to “tell the New Jersey story the way it hasn’t been told before.”
A part of that effort is a new customized program by Choose New Jersey to market properties. “We are turning it into a site selection tool to identify sites and combine it with information about labor and the state’s assets, and to ultimately counter negative impressions. We are creating a better, more unified message.”
From a developer’s viewpoint, “the message is resonating from the top down,” said Todd Anderson of The Hampshire Companies, which is developing the new headquarters for Realogy. He credited Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno for her leadership role in delivering that message: “We have a great advocate in Trenton in the lieutenant governor. I’m very encouraged.”
Mayor John McCormac of Woodbridge echoed that thought, citing a “very positive trend” in improving the business climate. “The towns have to be involved in the process – they have to be ‘open for business.’”
Putting the incentive package on the table is the job of the New Jersey Business Action Center, whose Lauren Moore explained that the process focuses on “understanding a project’s scope through a team approach.” Noting that NJBAC’s efforts have evolved through an account management approach, “it is important to develop a relationship” with those involved in each project, including developing “multiple scenarios” for each project.
Zangari emphasized that those in the commercial real estate brokerage community are “the ambassadors for New Jersey” in dealing with the business community, and they “need to know about the incentives the state has to offer. They should all understand the system.”
And Tim Lizura of the New Jersey EDA outlined in detail New Jersey’s prime incentives for business, including BEIP grants aimed at creating new jobs, and the BRRAG program to retain jobs already in place. The Grow New Jersey program, he explained, is a combination of these and other incentives aimed at projects involving at least $20 million of capital investment and 100 jobs.
Finally, Lizura termed the state’s Urban Transit Hub incentives program a “colossal success. It has been a game-changing proposition to create new downtowns focused on our transportation system.”
For NAIOP New Jersey, “the core mission is advocacy on behalf of our members,” concluded McGuinness. “The times are indeed changing, and economic development is job one. Our legislators and other public officials now understand that.”
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Media Contact:
Evelyn Weiss Francisco: evelyn (at) caryl (dot) com, (201) 796-7788, www.twitter.com/carylcomm
