A Manufacturing Cabinet has been formed by accounting and tax firm WithumSmith Brown, the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, Somerset County Business Partnership and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program.A Manufacturing Cabinet has been formed by accounting and tax firm WithumSmith Brown, the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, Somerset County Business Partnership and the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program.

The cabinet consists of Jim Hannan, practice leader of Withum’s Manufacturing, Distribution & Logistics Service Group; Paul Boudreau, president of Morris County Chamber of Commerce; Michael Kerwin, president and chief executive officer of Somerset County Business Partnership; and John Kennedy, chief executive officer of NJMEP.

This is part of a concerted push to prepare workers for jobs in manufacturing and coincides with job growth and favorable tax reform incentives.

These organizations say New Jersey has more than 10,500 manufacturing businesses and more than 360,000 jobs and that these fields are growing.

Manufacturing jobs encompass pharmaceuticals, metals, plastics, production technology and scientific instrumentation. This sector is a leading contributor to the strength of office, industrial and residential real estate performance in Morris and Somerset counties.