Paul Profeta

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Profeta founded his West Orange-based real estate investment company Paul V. Profeta & Associates Inc. in 1976. Elsewhere in Essex County, Profeta is a heavy hitter in Newark, where his insights on business, commercial real estate and economic development also ensure greater economic opportunity for residents.

The Profeta Urban Investment Foundation, which works with The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at the Rutgers Business School in the city, aims to assist revitalization efforts by helping businesses owned and operated by Newark’s minority communities. So far, it’s launched 15 enterprises and created about 250 jobs.

Also an accomplished educator, if Profeta’s name looks familiar it might be because it appears elsewhere on this list; his endowment and efforts are responsible for the creation of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate. His name is also tied to two new research centers at NJIT, one focused on real estate and the other on entrepreneurship, made possible by a gift from his foundation that marked the single largest in school’s history.