No. 2: Chris Paladino

As president of the New Brunswick Development Corp., Paladino has set the standard for what it means to be a developer in New Jersey. Under his leadership, DEVCO has initiated, developed and managed nearly 5.4 million square feet in residential, commercial, academic and institutional activity valued at over $2 billion by focusing on a unique brand of public-private joint venture partnerships.

– AARON HOUSTON

With Paladino at the helm, DEVCO and Pennrose LLC opened the $172 million, 23-story New Brunswick Performing Arts Center and residential tower in September 2020 — a partnership with Rutgers University, the George Street Playhouse, Middlesex County, the Crossroads Theatre and American Repertory Ballet.

Paladino is also in the midst of completing the $220 million Atlantic City Gateway project, now at Phase 2, which includes a new dorm for Stockton University. The public-private partnership includes a city campus for Stockton, and the headquarters for South Jersey Industries—a utility giant whose board of directors Paladino joined this year.

New Jersey’s nine casinos shut down for three months at the height of the first wave of COVID-19 outbreaks over the spring, reopening at only 25% of capacity. The closures drove up Atlantic City’s unemployment, still dependent on gaming and hospitality, to the highest in the state.

The collapse of five casinos in the past decade prompted city and state officials to broaden the local economy beyond just gambling, so as to avoid a financial shock during another recession. That was after all, what ultimately triggered the 2016 state takeover, which will continue until at least 2021.

But the local financial pain ultimately played out in 2020. Despite that, local and state officials, as well as Paladino, were confident that the pandemic was but a brief delay of the city’s inevitable renaissance.

“We need to find a way to … take that one note and make lyrics out of it, to be able to get small businesses and get people to actually live here, work there long-term,” Paladino said in a recent interview.