Chris Paladino

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Paladino is a mainstay at the top of these types of lists, and with good reason.

Since the New Brunswick Development Corp., which Paladino leads as president, was established in 1976, it has overseen and managed more than $3.5 billion of redevelopment activity in New Brunswick.

And Paladino continues to churn out transformative projects, such as the $750 million Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, which is expected to be complete next year, and the New Jersey Health + Life Sciences Exchange, or HELIX.

That latter project received a jolt just before this list went to publication, as the NJEDA approved its first award under the Aspire program to an entity of DEVCO for $271 million in tax credits over the next 10 years toward the first phase of HELIX.

“The creation of H-1 at the HELIX represents a singular opportunity to create a first-in-class ecosystem to fuel New Jersey’s innovation economy, allowing the state to reclaim its leadership of the American innovation economy,” Paladino said. “This ecosystem will allow academic translational research to expand its connection to the innovation economy, state of the art medical education to lay the groundwork for a healthier New Jersey, the attraction of more National Institute of Health research funding, and the NJ Innovation HUB’s establishment of a collaborative platform where companies will accelerate innovation and commercialization.”