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Somerset County launched a new website to help build its reserves of business’s No. 1 consideration when deciding where to invest: talent.

To roll out what the team says is a first-of-its-kind campaign from a county government, the Somerset County Office of Economic Development updated its business card. The back is now emblazoned with a QR code introducing the new talent attraction tool: Why Somerset.

“We had been looking to move in this direction for some time,” explained Manager of Economic Development Jessica Paolini. “It’s really the way that a lot of economic development practice has shifted — to a focus on talent.”

The idea is that if you move your focus to attracting people, you’ll ultimately attract the companies: If you build it (the workforce), they (employers) will come. For the Somerset County economic development team that thesis was reinforced by its collaborations.

“Having conversations with Haleon and similar companies really crystallized for us the need to move forward in developing this tool,” Paolini explained. She said they’ve received the same feedback from events as well as HR teams across industries and companies. “They’re getting questions today that they weren’t getting maybe five, 10 years ago.”

The new queries go beyond salary and benefits details. Now, Paolini said common inquiries can include: What school should my child attend; or, what’s the best town for a local commute?

“These [are] types of questions that your HR staff maybe was not as comfortable or familiar being able to answer,” Paolini said. “So we had conversations with [consumer health company] Haleon and others about, what are the questions you’re receiving? And then, is there information that the county can provide to help your HR teams be able to answer those questions?”

Being able to provide answers via an easy-to-use website gives Somerset County another leg up, beyond the attributes it has to promote. The platform is segmented into three channels: set for work, set for life and set for fun.

The Somerset County Office of Economic Development is housed within the Office of the County administrator. In addition to Paolini and Economic Development Specialist and Film Sector Lead Ben Nanna, the team includes County Commissioner Director Shanel Robinson, County Commissioner Deputy Director Sara Sooy and County Administrator Colleen Mahr.

The OED highlighted the importance of being proactive about recruitment, retention and outreach to the business community, including with tools such as Why Somerset.

Ideal users include: students, young professionals, mid and senior level talent; HR, recruitment firms; real estate brokers; high schools; coworking spaces; tourism partners; state partners; and industry groups and conferences.

Competition has increased, even locally, with attempts to lure companies to other counties or states.

In a May 2024 blog post, Montclair-based public relations and communications firm Violet PR advised that when it comes to talent retention, “Regions and companies alike need a strategy to find the right people. As unemployment rates continue to remain at historic lows, many economic development organizations spend as many resources marketing to talent as they do to businesses.”

Economic development is one of Violet PR’s main service lines, with clients including the New Jersey Business Action Center.

Other economic development groups are also putting talent in their sights. Last fall, the state of Michigan launched its “You Can in Michigan” talent attraction program. According to AP’s reporting at the time, the $20 million nationwide marketing campaign is the largest state-led initiative of its kind in the U.S.

It aims to grow Michigan’s population and workforce “by promoting its innovative industries, adventurous landscape and welcoming, affordable communities,” the state’s Economic Development Corp. said in its October 2023 campaign announcement. The group went on to emphasize the weight of the mandate, identifying it as “an essential part” of the state’s larger economic development strategy.

Building momentum

Coming out of the pandemic, Somerset County was hit hard due to a loss of business travel, but it’s rebounding. The OED pointed to projects like Natirar as indicators. After it relaunches this fall, the upscale venue will be able to host corporate events or retreats. The Somerset County Business Partnership also recently opened a new business hub in the region, located in downtown Somerville. New industries, such as film, also present opportunities too, and Somerset achieved its state certified Film Ready designation in March.

The county’s momentum is also evident in the emerging companies and established operators it’s recently attracted.

In Bedminster, fast-growing pet food company Freshpet broke ground on a new headquarters this summer, making the move out of Secaucus. Led by Advance Realty Investors, the 30,000-square-foot, eco- and pet-friendly office project will have space for approximately 100 employees. It will also add 20,000 square feet of retail space, helping Bedminster to maximize its infill locations.

Speaking during a groundbreaking for Freshpet’s new base over the summer, Mayor Larry Jacobs said the township believes this Bedminster Village Square project will help spur further growth in the township’s commercial corridors. Meanwhile, Freshpet leadership highlighted the area – and accessible location – as a strong draw for its team and operations.

Biotechnology company Biocon Biologics celebrated its recent moved to Bridgewater with a September ribbon-cutting ceremony. The biotech is the fourth-largest insulin provider in the world. “We are excited to establish our first North America headquarters within the hub of the biopharma sector of New Jersey where we can leverage the strong life sciences ecosystem of innovation, talent, and excellent quality of life for our employees and be well-positioned for future growth,” Biocon Biologics Head of North America Josh Salsi said at the time.

Another innovator, Cellares, also recently moved to Bridgewater. The first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization in the world launched its inaugural Smart Factory in February. Speaking to NJBIZ recently, Cellares CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus echoed the region’s stature within the life science’s industry.

“We appreciate the support that we are getting from the local community. New Jersey is known for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. We fit right in. New Jersey and Bridgewater in particular, they are used to biopharmaceutical manufacturers setting up shop there,” he said. “So, it’s not like we have to do a lot of explaining.”

That renown and awareness could alleviate some burden on the county’s part to pitch the region as aggressively to certain businesses. That allows both partners to focus on prioritizing talent.

One of Cellares’ cell shuttles is included as a featured image on Why Somerset’s “work” page. “Somerset County is an ideal location for the life science industry as it is strategically located with access to key talent and resources,” Cellares Vice President of Operations John Tomtishen told NJBIZ. “We have been engaged with the Somerset County Office of Economic Development from the beginning. They have been great partners with us in our mission to accelerate access to life-saving cell therapies through the buildout and launch of our Bridgewater IDMO Smart Factory.”

Ultimately, the company expects to create 350 new jobs at the facility.

Other criteria

According to Paolini, the primary goal of Why Somerset is to help people make the decision to work in Somerset County.

It’s sort of like a regional recruitment effort. Instead of building or targeting just one company’s workforce, Somerset County is casting its net wider – looking to attract the employees whole industries – and multiple companies – need.

While the focus puts work at the front, Paolini points out that, especially post-COVID, “a lot of people are making decisions about where to work based on other criteria than just the position.”

Practically, segmenting the county highlights on the website reinforces its clean presentation and helps to keep the site user-friendly — allowing individuals to zero in on areas at their discretion. “We wanted it to … answer the questions in the way a person would likely seek them,” Nanna explained.

It was important, too, that Why Somerset offered something unique and complementary to – not duplicative or competing with – other available resources.

“We wanted it to be sustainable,” Nanna added. “A lot of what’s there is evergreen, sort of deliberately to give you a taste of a bigger picture because we don’t have to solve for everything with this website.”

The Somerset County OED wrote and provided all content for whysomersetnj.org, including photos. Imbue Creative of Lambertville built the site.

To determine what to feature, the team used data to gain insights as to why people make decisions about where they’re going to move.

With a central location between New York City and Philadelphia, Somerset County said 26% of its residents are young professionals (20-39 years old), making home-buying, schools’ information and recreation important touchstones.

On Why Somerset you can find information about utility service providers (PSE&G provides electricity to 16 of the county’s 21 towns, while handling all gas service) as well as childcare options, area hospitals, what to do for fun and where to buy a house. An interactive map allows users to hover over a region to quickly learn more about the municipalities that comprise the Central Jersey county and where they sit in relation to each other.

Somerset leads the website touting its No. 1 ranking by Niche as the best county in New Jersey. In addition to its overall A+ grade, the region also earned high marks for public schools, family life and health and fitness (A+) as well as nightlife, diversity and outdoor activities (A).

Why Somerset also highlights the county’s position as the No. 2 county in N.J. to buy a house and the home of the state’s No. 1 college for career training, Raritan Valley Community College.

Ten of the top global companies for biotech, medical devices, snack & bakery, cosmetics and fragrance call Somerset County home. Based on existing density of industry presence, OED says its targeted business sectors include: Life Sciences (biopharma, medical devices, cell & gene therapy manufacturing); Cosmetics & Personal Care; Advanced Manufacturing (chemicals, packaging); and Film.

According to Somerset County, the life sciences sector employs nearly 10,000 of its residents while advanced manufacturing boasts a more-than 15,000-member local workforce.

Why Somerset aims to stand out from similar tools in what it provides, how it’s packaged, and the audiences it serves. The site is interactive, linking to area companies via their logos and references, as well as to additional resources.

COVID concerns

Why Somerset also aims to increase awareness about the number of Fortune 500 companies that already operate within the county. The list includes Johnson & Johnson, Amazon, MetLife, PVH and more.

“For Haleon and others, it’s really a tool that their HR teams are sending out directly to individuals who they’re working to recruit to come work for their local office,” Paolini said.

Haleon was formed in 2022 following GSK’s offloading of the GSK Consumer Healthcare business. The banner’s brands include Sensodyne, Tums, Centrum and others. The OED’s conversations with the company, which has a location in Warren, began in 2022.

In January 2023, the office published a print brochure offering basic information and stats for each of the county’s 21 townships. By October, they began work to expand Why Somerset.

“I think pre-pandemic, the county was really a hub for headquarters, office headquarters locations. We had a lot of companies that established these isolated corporate campuses, maybe in what felt like more of a suburban rural area,” Paolini said. “And everything was at that campus … the idea was that workers would come in the morning, and they would never have to leave because everything was there.”

All that changed with COVID.

The pandemic “shifted the way people are working, of course with more hybrid and remote work and just in general with people placing greater emphasis on life-work balance; wanting to decide where to live based on factors like outdoor amenities,” Paolini said.

That’s where her office steps in.

“Somerset County is uniquely positioned, and the same thing that attracted these companies originally to build these secluded campuses was our landscape. We had the land, we had the access to the highways — that all still exists,” Nanna pointed out, adding that people moved to places like Somerset County to be closer to nature and out of the cities amid COVID. As that continues to evolve, “we also have the desirability of our downtowns [too]. So we kind of have everything as trends shift.”

For companies looking for accessible downtown locations by public transportation options, as well as food and entertainment — Somerset County can deliver. It is served by the Raritan Valley Line of NJ Transit, with service leading to Manhattan from bustling areas like Somerville and growing towns like Bound Brook.

The county is uniquely positioned to meet “those hybrid work needs because they can get to the train, they can get to the city, they can get to an office hub, and then they can go for a hike, they could walk downtown, they could go to the mall. So, it’s kind of like that bit of a microcosm of everything,” Nanna highlighted.

For employers that want to offer a more “traditional” corporate campus opportunity, AT&T’s former Bedminster office is now being marketed as multi-tenant space. Beyond that, Cushman & Wakefield puts the available office space in the region at more than 5 million square feet, as of the second quarter.

“Why Somerset … is really speaking to people that now have all of these choices about where they can live and work and helping them to make that decision to come and work here and perhaps live here in Somerset County,” Paolini said.

In addition to hybrid and work-from-home arrangements, post-pandemic companies are also employing a more contracted hub-and-spoke approach to operations. The concept involves a central headquarters as well as several regional hubs.

Paolini highlighted AT&T as an example of Why Somerset at work on both the recruitment and retention fronts within that context. “They now have maybe six locations around the country where before maybe they had 20” for employees to choose from. “And so they’re asking all of their workers to choose which corporate hub they want to work out of,” she explained.

One of the options is Bedminster.

“And so we had conversations with AT&T about this tool to help their existing workforce make the decision to want to work out of the Bedminster hub. … So, as we see more of these workforce models, this is really a tool that our existing companies can leverage to help retain the workforce out of their hub.

“And then for workers who can make a decision to live anywhere, this can really help make the case for them to work and live in Somerset County,” she added.

Retain the brains

Retaining talent is also a key focus of Why Somerset and young professionals have been a part of the process since the outset.

Paolini said they worked with Rutgers University students early on to gather input from people within the county about what they liked about living there. “We had a lot of great information about the kind of content that we should populate the site with, and then developed all that content,” she explained.

Working with RU also offered the OED the opportunity to get direct input from one of its target audiences.  “That was really exciting for us, to get to partner with Rutgers with their entrepreneurship students through the business school,” Paolini said. “And now that we have this tool, the students are one of the groups that we will be directly reaching out to let them know that when they graduate, they don’t have to leave the area to find the type of job that they’re looking for — that you have these Fortune 500 companies in your backyard, all of these opportunities for great paying jobs.”

Beyond Rutgers, she said they plan to do outreach to RVCC and Princeton University, as well as other universities throughout the state and region.

“Of course, we want to keep students here in New Jersey, but also we could be attracting students from elsewhere,” Paolini added.

Early engagements show Why Somerset is already making that kind of impact. The OED soft launched the tool at Bio International’s June conference in San Diego. The largest global life sciences conference had 39 participants from Somerset County in attendance.

Citing an experience with midwestern students Paolini described the tool as “really eye opening for them.”

“They hadn’t really considered New Jersey at all as a place to look for work … they were familiar with the Midwest and the companies that were there, and that’s where their networks were based,” she explained. “But sharing this tool with them, they were saying, ‘Oh, I never thought to look here; I didn’t realize this company was here.’ And so, they were excited to then be able to add another state to their list of looking. [Now], they would include jobs in New Jersey on their list in a way that they may not have considered before.”

Why Somerset’s accessibility makes it easy for others to leverage too, whether that’s local partners or others.

Paolini said the New Jersey Economic Development authority has expressed interest in sharing the link. “So when they’re out talking with companies in the county or companies that may be thinking of moving to Somerset County, this is another tool that they can share. According to her, Why Somerset has also hit the road with introductions at BioNJ events.

“Because all of us in the economic development space, regularly, are hearing from companies that they’re looking for talent,” she added.

For companies that are already in the area, it’s also a tool they can use in their own recruitment efforts.

Work in progress

Paolini said they’re taking a targeted approach with Why Somerset. “When we’ve gone out to companies to share the link, we’ve asked all of them to share feedback with us. We want to make sure that this site is speaking to the questions that HR teams are receiving,” she said. “We want to be able to continuously update it. So, one of the pieces of feedback is directly from companies that are utilizing it, ‘Is this answering the questions that you’re getting from people you’re recruiting?’”

The OED’s work with Why Somerset is just getting started, and the office intends to keep a close watch on how the tool is utilized and where it can be adjusted. In addition to qualitative and anecdotal feedback from individuals, organizations and companies, the office is also tracking quantitative data through Google Analytics.

By gaining insights on what engages users, the team hopes it can further finetune its offerings and information to keep the tool relevant and relatable.

“We want to make the process as seamless as possible for them to get to the company and that job; we don’t want to stand as a barrier in between that they have to go through,” Paolini explained. “A lot of this is about facilitating information and connections to our business community, and they can do that directly through our website.”