On the list this week: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hill International, Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center and more …
Each week in Face Time, NJBIZ editors approximate Chris Christie’s mood and facial expressions based on the news.
FACE TIME: UP AND DOWN
It’s the way it goes when you’re a politician — especially an undeclared candidate for the highest office in the land. The good news: 60 percent of those surveyed in a recent poll feel the GW Bridge investigation has run its course. The bad news: Christie’s approval rating fell below 50 percent (to 46).
CHEERS
Meridian Health
Neptune-based Meridian Health’s acquisition of Raritan Bay Medical Center is the latest domino to fall in the world of hospital consolidation. You can argue whether bigger truly is better for health care, but there’s no debate as to whether this will be the last merger. It will not.
Bristol-Myers Squibb
There are plans for a 650,000-square-foot office building in Lawrenceville. We’re not sure who gets the biggest win from this: the company, the industry or the state. We just know it’s a much-needed check in the plus column for all three.
Higher ed
Four New Jersey schools are in the Top 25 of the “50 Great Affordable Colleges in the Northeast” list: Rutgers (18), Princeton (20), The College of New Jersey (21) and Rowan (23). The business community can only hope this alleviates some of the brain drain the state deals with on an annual basis.
JEERS
Hill International
We’re not going to blame the company for its move from Marlton to Philadelphia. Philly gave them a better offer — who wouldn’t do what’s best for the bottom line? Folks should remember that the next time there’s a debate over incentives.
Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center
The loss of Neil Sullivan as general counsel is a big one for the troubled Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center. Sullivan, the former deputy state insurance commissioner, is the second key leader at the center to come and go in less than a year (Tom Considine lasted as CEO for just three months). That’s not good.
The economy
A Rutgers study shows just how bad it’s been for the unemployed. Here are just some of the depressing numbers: One in five workers has been laid off in the past five years. Nearly four in 10 of these laid-off workers searched for a job for more than seven months before finding another one.
