Towns seek edge in attracting employers

One example is Raritan Borough, which hopes to open a development agency in 2010.

“We’re happy to have a big company like Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics here, but we’d also like to reach out to small businesses,” said Mayor Jo-Ann Liptak. “In this trying economy, outreach efforts like this are even more important. We’ll still work with larger organizations like the Somerset County Business Partnership, but it’s also helpful to have local people who are very familiar with the area.”

The local concept is working well in Bridgewater. “I’m the point person for commercial applicants, and even after they get the necessary approvals, I help them work with the county and state agencies,” said Howard Turbowitz, who about five years ago was appointed the town’s first economic development officer.

“Earlier this year, we helped market a former Olivetti Co. site to a Wall Street firm that’s going to develop a 270,000-square-foot data center on the empty lot,” said Turbowitz, a former vice president at Japanese conglomerate Itochu International Inc. “It had basically been unused for more than five years.”

The state Economic Development Authority has financial clout, but a local office can “work closely with applicants to limit their expenses and increase their speed,” he said.

Local business advocates helped spur Stephen Wilson and Jill McClennen to open The Sweet Life Bakery, in Vineland, in September 2007.

“The Atlantic City Small Business Development Center initially helped us, and then we got funding and tax breaks through the Cumberland Empowerment Zone,” Wilson said. “Vineland’s economic development agency also helped us spruce up our store’s façade.”

In 2010, Wilson hopes to hire more employees and expand his 700-square-foot bakery to 3,000 square feet by leasing space next door.

The presence of state, county and local-level economic development agencies doesn’t necessarily result in a wasteful duplication of effort, said John Worrall, an economics professor at the Rutgers University School of Business-Camden.

“The county and state are targeting certain businesses at their respective levels, but a local-level agency may be able to better target a particular town or city,” he said. “It’s important to realize, though, that the payoff may not be immediate. A local development agency may get some press coverage, someone may notice it and suggest the town to someone at a company, and the firm may ultimately open up operations there. But no one at the company could say that the first contact came from the local agency, even though it was their effort that did the trick.”

Hillsborough’s Economic Business Development Commission works with local businesses and acts as “the liaison between the business community and the township,” according to its business advocate, Gene Strupinsky, a former chemical engineer and industry consultant.

“Even in this economy, we’ve brought nearly 60 businesses into the town, including a Walgreens store that opened about two weeks ago,” he said. “We help incoming and existing businesses locate property for lease or purchase, and help them to work with the local zoning and other boards.”

Hillsborough’s economic development team also helps companies find financing, and provides periodic networking events, he said.

“The acid test is the performance of the local agencies,” Worrall said. “If the local taxpayers don’t think they’re getting their money’s worth, they can always vote out the local administration that funds the agency.”

­E-mail to mdaks@njbiz.com