Col. Wes Adams
Adams is the commander of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, perhaps the single largest generator of economic activity in South Jersey. In that role, he provides installation support to more than 80 mission partners at the military’s only tri-service joint base. He is also responsible for providing mission-ready expeditionary airmen, guardians, and sailors to combatant commanders in support of joint and coalition operations. Adams was commissioned in 1999 after completing the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program at The Citadel in South Carolina. He has previously commanded a group and two squadrons and held a variety of positions at the field, depot and headquarters levels including flight line production operations officer, executive officer, commander’s action group, and speechwriter. Among other academic credentials, Adams holds a master of science in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College; a master of philosophy in Military Strategy from the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama; and a National Defense Fellowship at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Leslie Anderson
Anderson is president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority – and the first African American woman in the nation to lead an independent redevelopment financing agency. Starting with her tenure as executive director in the 1990s, Anderson has leveraged over $4 billion in private investment to redevelop many of New Jersey’s economically struggling cities. The funding has been vital for a state agency that lays claim to the creation of more than 15,000 new housing units and over 10 million square feet of commercial and retail space across 66 separate communities. The agency played a key role in several COVID-relief programs for businesses, such as a $10,000 rental subsidy called the Small Business Lease Emergency Assistance Grant Program, for some of the hardest-hit small employers. As the state embarks on its economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession, it’ll be up to figures like Anderson to ensure the benefits of that recovery are enjoyed by everyone in the state.
Ras Baraka
The mayor of Newark has his work cut out for him in the continued efforts to turn New Jersey’s largest city back into a showcase for the Garden State. As the port of entry for several modes of shipping and transportation, it’s the first place many visitors see. Before COVID-19, it only took a walk through the University Heights section – which hosts four separate higher education institutions – to see that the city had a lot going for it. The street life was vibrant, even during the summer when most students from the big educational institutions were away. That’s been made possible through partnerships and work with major anchor institutions such as Rutgers University, Audible, Prudential, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. “For a guy who was seen as a super-radical, the fact that Newark continues to grow” reflects well on his abilities, one longtime Newark-watcher said. Others like long-time Newark resident and activist Larry Hamm, from the People’s Organization for Progress based in the city, felt differently. Gentrification is rampant, he said, and while there are affordable housing, job-training and other employment efforts for Newark residents, Hamm lamented that “whatever these programs [are], they don’t seem to be reaching the bulk of the people that really need them.” Newark was also among the hardest hit by the repeated waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, and became the only municipality in New Jersey to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine in order to gain entry to businesses like restaurants, bars, gyms and theaters. Baraka’s workload remains heavy.
Cathleen Bennett
Since 2017, Bennett has served as CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, the nonprofit trade association representing New Jersey’s hospitals, health systems and other health care providers. The vital role that she and the NJHA played during the pandemic has put her repeatedly on the top of NJBIZ power lists over the past two years. The input and guidelines of Bennett and the NJHA have been essential for hospitals and other health providers to do business during the pandemic, and its ebbs and flows such as the recent omicron wave. Those guidelines affected everything from infection prevention and safety protocols, to hospital visitation, surge planning, and now the vaccine and booster mandates for the state’s health care workers. Bennett previously served more than two years as the state health commissioner during the Christie administration, and she knows the hospital business inside and out. The nonprofit has not been without its critics. Several reports last year by NorthJersey.com delved into the role the NJHA played in lobbying to water down several hospital transparency bills during the pandemic, including ones that would have required hospitals to provide daily updates on the COVID-19 effects on health workers, and how many were being treated for the virus or ultimately succumbed to it. Nonetheless, as the pandemic weakens and becomes more of an “endemic,” it’ll be up to figures like Bennett to ensure New Jersey’s hospitals can meet the evolving challenges.
Marc Berson
Berson’s firm, Fidelco Group, developed, owns or manages several key properties in Newark and he’s a fervent champion of the city’s comeback. Fidelco is in the middle of building a 140,000-square-foot FreezPak facility on the Elizabeth-Newark line, not far away from Audible’s Innovation Cathedral, which Fidelco is leasing to the audiobook giant for 20 years. Over the years, Berson has been engaged in such notable projects as the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Rutgers University’s business school and honors college. The firm’s next big task, the transformation of the 18-story former First National State Bank headquarters at 550 Broad St., is in progress. Fidelco acquired the building in 2019 and has a $30 million overhaul planned, including the creation of a multi-floor restaurant to eat, drink, and be merry.
Cory Booker
The 2020 presidential campaign did not end well for Cory Booker, who’s been a Democratic U.S senator since 2013. But while his presidential prospects never panned out, the former Newark mayor has built a name for himself. His presidential bid was well-received, drawing out large, enthusiastic crowds where he cemented his reputation as a gifted orator. He’s not quite the “workhorse” and local political powerbroker that his colleague Robert Menendez is, but “he cuts more of a national profile than a New Jersey profile,” one observer said. Many of his staff has gone onto bigger and better things at the White House or Vice President Kamala Harris’ communications team, making his office an attractive option for top talent. Whether Booker makes another national bid remains to be seen. His chances of president might be slim, but Booker could nonetheless have a bright political future.
Tom Bracken
In a non-COVID year, the president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce presides over the annual Walk to Washington, perhaps the state’s leading event for business leaders, politicians, developers, lobbyists and journalists. Were it not for the current pandemic, you might be reading this edition from the privately chartered Amtrak train to and from our nation’s capital, or the morning after at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in D.C. Instead this April, the state Chamber is planning to hold its first ever ReNew Jersey Business Summit for two days at the Borgata in Atlantic City, where they’ll focus on many of those same issues of the state’s business climate. A 40-year veteran of the banking and financial services industry, Bracken has been a key advocate for the needs of businesses. That’s been especially relevant when many businesses big and small had to shutter their operations in 2020 at the start of the pandemic and then operate at reduced capacity for the following year. He’ll be an influential figure whose input will be much sought after as businesses navigate the waning omicron variant and potential future waves, mask mandates, vaccine requirements and business challenges like hiring shortages and the rising costs of goods and labor. And as state leaders vow to do more to bring down the cost of living and doing business, it will be figures like Bracken who will lay out just what exactly that entails.
Mitch Cahn
If it’s got to be Made in America, there’s a good chance it was made in Newark. That’s where Cahn‘s company Unionwear is based. The manufacturer makes uniforms, hats and other promotional clothing, serving as the go-to source for political candidates who cannot be caught wearing or hawking anything marked Made in Some Other Country. Like many, Unionwear saw higher-than-average turnover during the past year, dropping its employee count down to 155. But, Cahn said the company is aiming to get to 180 employees by May. While local partners work to build manufacturing capacity here in New Jersey, a measure making its way through Congress could lend support to the industry at large. Following the breakdown of supply chains over the past year, Cahn – who also serves on the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program’s board of directors – explained the proposal could help to move certain manufacturers out of the shadows. “It is easy to find products,” he told NJBIZ this month. “It is next to impossible to find capabilities. When there is a national emergency and the federal government needs supplies immediately, there is currently no way to locate who has the capability and capacity to fill gaps in critical infrastructure.”
Mark Clouse
Campbell Soup Co. has delivered 10 consecutive quarters of share gains in condensed soup with millions of new and younger consumers. Its classic red and white cans added 5 million new millennial households. After years of declining soup sales, perhaps it was the pandemic and the need for comfort food that reintroduced the hot liquid meal to consumers; or perhaps it’s a result of the brand’s focus on its core business following billions in divestitures that ended in December 2019. Campbell looks quite a bit different than it did when Clouse took the reins in 2018, and it’s leaning into innovation while focusing on the soup and snacks business as it promised: Goldfish crackers, for example, have reached 10% more households without kids through a range of innovations, including limited time flavor mashups with Frank’s RedHot and Jalapeño Popper varieties; “the snack that smiles back” was recently named one of TikTok’s 14 top culture drivers of 2021.
Joseph Colalillo
Colalillo is about as big as they get in the grocery world, running the largest family-owned cooperative in the nation. Wakefern Food Corp. feeds countless customers daily at its approximately 350 grocery stores, and in fiscal year 2021 sold $17.8 billion in grocery items. The co-op’s been around for 75 years and Colalillo’s family joined in 1954 when his father opened a grocery store in Hunterdon County. “As we reflect upon the rich legacy of our cooperative – and the history of our family businesses – we also focus on the future, mindful that we are here today because working together, our founding families had the foresight, determination and grit to always look forward,” Colalillo said at the company’s annual meeting in October. “Seventy-five years later, we are still made up of family-owned businesses with deep roots in the communities where our stores operate.” Even without the pandemic, the last year and change would have been a busy one at Wakefern, which has revamped and rolled out several owned-brands.
Kevin Corbett
Corbett is president and CEO of NJ Transit, an agency that was pummeled by declining ridership and revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it dependent on federal rescue money. If there is a silver lining from the pandemic, transit officials say the reduction in ridership during the lockdowns enabled them to fast-track projects and repairs. As the primary means of transportation for anyone in New Jersey without a car, the agency has absorbed a good deal of criticism. Cancellations and delays frustrated thousands of commuters in Murphy’s early days in office. And the agency has been transferring funds from its budget to operational expenses – a practice that could continue without a dedicated source of funding approved by the state Legislature. Still, NJ Transit’s most recent budget includes the lowest level of such transfers in 15 years. In addition, new rolling stock of locomotives and passenger cars, and new graduating classes of engineers to remedy staffing shortages, are all meant to lessen delays and cancellations. And the eventual completion of the Portal North Bridge and the new Gateway tunnel under the Hudson River could help New Jersey become even more mobile. Corbett is in a position now to finally bring the agency around.
Craig Coughlin
For several years, the usually mild-mannered Assembly Speaker was seen as a mediator between Gov. Murphy and the brash Stephen Sweeney. But while Sweeny is out of the picture for the next few years, Coughlin remains a key figure in New Jersey politics, and one of two main gatekeepers for anything Murphy wants to achieve in his second term. Like many Democrats, Coughlin asserted that the party’s defeats in November were due to voter frustration over what they saw as a lack of focus by the state’s leaders on the high cost of living and affordability. “People told us they feel vulnerable and often helpless in the turbulent and ever-changing economy,” Coughlin said in January as he began his new term as the Assembly’s top lawmaker. “New Jersey told us that government doesn’t appreciate the line between well-off and struggling that so many families juggle with each day.” Coughlin was credited with helping to usher in a deal on the millionaire’s tax, and in prior years a $15 minimum wage. But his counterpart in the upper house – Nicholas Scutari – is likewise relatively laid-back compared to Sweeny. “His deliberate approach to politics and issues continues to win him friends,” said one Trenton insider. “There’s something to be said when you’ve been in the leadership role for a period of time now.”
Max Crane
Crane’s been managing partner at Sills Cummis & Gross in Newark for more than a decade, and he has not slowed down. Profits per partner grew more than 20% over the last year. Fiscal year 2021 turned out to be one of the most profitable years in the firm’s 50-year history; and the firm is growing in numbers. Six members joined in the last year alongside 20 associates and of counsel. The whole group’s been busy: litigation work never stopped and transactional work — corporate and real estate — also increased over the past year. The firm’s bankruptcy attorneys continue to handle matters across the U.S. – and they have developed a niche in health care insolvency related work.
Gary Cross
Gary Cross is the president and chief executive officer of Maher Terminals LLC – a container terminal operator at Port Elizabeth. He began his career at Maher Terminals in 1978 in the company’s Safety Department. For the first 18 years, Cross held various positions in operations, rising to vice president and general manager. In 1996, he moved to the commercial side, ultimately being appointed to the top job 2013. Maher Terminals operates the largest privately held marine terminal in North America loading and unloading nearly 2 million containers annually, while employing nearly 1,500 International Longshoremen’s Association members and management staff. Virtually every resident in New Jersey and the greater metropolitan region consumes a product that was unloaded from a vessel at Maher’s facility. As one observer puts it, “all the stuff that gets on the trucks doesn’t get on the trucks without his cranes.” In December, as concern grew over shipping delays, Gov. Phil Murphy went to the waterfront to praise the ports for keeping goods moving. Referring to scenes of empty store shelves, Murphy said “those stores and those images have all come from ports on our Pacific Coast. Here at Port Newark and Elizabeth, especially, you’re not going to find those images.” Maher has purchased state-of-the-art equipment and implemented operating processes to allow the business to continue to grow, investing over $300 million in Port Elizabeth in the last five years. The company also has electrified all of its ship-to-shore container cranes and has upgraded its container yard equipment to reduce emissions by 62%, using 750,000 fewer gallons of diesel fuel annually. With respect to emissions, Maher mapped a plan to be Net Zero by 2040, a full decade ahead of the Paris Agreement, and achieving New Jersey’s Energy Master Plan targets.
Kevin Cummings
Investors Bank, where Cummings is president and CEO, reported total assets of $27.81 billion as of December 2021. Total net loans for the same time totaled $22.34 billion and total deposits were $20.82 billion. Under Cummings’ leadership, Investors signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the eight New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania branches of Berkshire Bank, the wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc., with approximately $639 million of deposits and $308 million of consumer and commercial loans. The acquisition adds approximately 8,000 new retail and commercial customers and nearly doubles Investors’ market share in the Trenton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Additionally, Investors signed a deal with Citizens Financial Group last summer to be acquired for $3.5 billion. Joining Citizens “opens exciting opportunities for our combined company,” Cummings said at the time. “Citizens shares Investors’ deep commitment to serving customers, supporting colleagues and giving back to local communities. Our local-market expertise and personal touch will align well with Citizens’ approach and together we will drive long-term value for all our stakeholders.”
Robert Davis
Davis is chief executive officer and president of Merck, a position he stepped into in April 2021 after former CEO Kenneth Frazier took on the role of executive chairman. Davis previously served as Merck’s president, responsible for the company’s operating divisions including Human Health, Animal Health, Manufacturing and Merck Research Laboratories. Merck, which has its U.S. headquarters in Kenilworth, is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country and brought in approximately $47 billion in 2021.
Joseph DeCotiis
DeCotiis is a co-managing partner of the politically connected law firm DeCotiis, FitzPatrick, Cole & Giblin. The firm’s roster includes Hunterdon County Democratic Committee Chair Arlene Quinones Perez and DeCotiis himself, a founding member of President Joe Biden’s New Jersey Lawyers for Joe. He serves as general counsel to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, where he provides advice on the consolidation of the New Jersey Highway Authority with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the refinancing of more than $2 billion of debt; and he also provides counsel regarding ongoing roadway projects related to the operation of the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. He’s also general counsel at Bergen Community College, where he advises on procurement and governance issues and counsels the board on disciplinary actions. BCC is the state’s largest community college with more than 13,000 students.
Ed DeVeaux
DeVeaux co-founded the New Jersey CannaBusiness Association in 2016 amid coffee table talks with colleagues at public affairs outfit Burton Trent, including the association’s first president Scott Rudder. DeVeaux was named president of NJCBA last year and in this role gets to do something Rudder never got the chance to: represent members of a legal adult-use cannabis industry. DeVeaux hosts weekly Lunch & Learns each Friday to educate New Jerseyans on the legal cannabis space and will undoubtedly become an even more prominent figure as the state’s legal cannabis space grows.
Linda Doherty
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation and so it has a lot of mouths to feed. It only makes sense that those who feed the state should be represented by a dedicated veteran to the cause. Enter Doherty, who’s been running the New Jersey Food Council for almost 15 years. The organization represents 1,500 members in the food retail, wholesale and manufacturing sectors that comprise the state’s $136 billion food distribution industry, including some of the largest employers around.
Shereef Elnahal
As the state’s health commissioner, Elnahal appointed an independent monitor to oversee University Hospital after the Newark facility’s credit rating was downgraded several times and questions were raised about the quality of care being provided. That monitor was Judith Persichilli, who eventually took over as CEO and later succeeded Elnahal as New Jersey’s top health official. And Elnahal was appointed as CEO at University Hospital in August 2019. Since then, the hospital’s finances have been on the mend. EBITDA is up 10% from 2018 and according to Elnahal, an institution that was once losing $12 million is now $48 million in the black. Its Center for Advanced Liver Diseases and Transplantation ranked first in New Jersey by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients with a one-year patient survival rate of 98.7%. And Newsweek magazine named it to its list of Best Maternity Care Hospitals in 2021, the only one in the New Jersey-New York metropolitan region to be so recognized. The turnaround is going so well that University Hospital recently hired an architecture firm to create a master plan for the development of a new facility. In a statement, the hospital said the move is part of a process that began with the pledge of $500,000 from the state to support planning efforts for a new hospital campus; one that would not only bring new facilities, but also serve as a modern, transformative investment into the health of local residents.
Franceline Ehret
Ehret is the New Jersey state director for one of Garden State’s most powerful labor unions, the Communications Workers of America, which represents 145,000 employees in New Jersey. Its members include more than 35,000 state workers, 15,000 municipal and county workers, and thousands more in the telecommunications, higher education, health care, manufacturing and media sectors. Ehret has big shoes to fill after her successor, Hetty Rosenstein, departed for Murphy’s reelection campaign last year. The governor has been closely aligned with the CWA and its policy agenda. Their longtime opponent – who pushed cuts to their retirement and health plans, former state Senate President Stephen Sweeney – is now out of a job. With state leaders nonetheless looking at how to cut costs, and Murphy touting negotiations on public worker’s health and retirement plans as a means to achieve that goal, Ehret is certain to be a key voice at the table.
Jim Fakult
Last spring, as the state began its lurch back from the pandemic, Fakult, the president and CEO of Jersey Central Power & Light, started a two-year term as chair of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. “We are extremely fortunate to have Jim’s leadership at this crucial time,” chamber President and CEO Tom Bracken said when the appointment was announced. A 33-year veteran of FirstEnergy, Fakult has served in myriad roles at the company, overseeing JCP&L’s operations – which includes 1.1 million customers – since 2013. And as the conversation around energy has evolved in that time, so too has JCP&L’s approach to it. “FirstEnergy and JCP&L believe that carbon-free power sources are important,” Fakult said in March. “We believe climate change is among the most important issues of our time. We are committed to doing our part to ensure a bright and sustainable future for the communities we serve.” In New Jersey, that means figuring out how to get energy generated by offshore wind developments from the ocean to customers—a problem that JCP&L submitted a proposal to try to solve in the fall. In 2021, the company also filed with the state Board of Public Utilities for approval of a $49.92 million program that aims to help New Jersey reach its goal of getting at least 333,000 electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2025. In July, the company launched a number of energy efficiency programs that it said are projected to reduce electricity use by more than 480,000 megawatt-hours through June 2024. According to JCP&L, the programs could also help mitigate annual emissions equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions produced by approximately 74,000 passenger vehicles each year.
Jason Feldman
Feldman is the founder and CEO of Vault Health. Most New Jerseyans likely know that they can get a free COVID-19 at-home test. While the program is made possible by federal funds, the government is not actually distributing the tests, evaluating the samples and returning the results. Those tasks are being handled by Vault, a telehealth startup that once focused on testosterone therapy. After some early hiccups — including an outbreak at the company’s lab in Piscataway that required a shift of work to the Midwest, the program does seem to be working as advertised. New Jerseyans can call or go online to get a test, sign up for a Zoom call during which a Vault staff member walks them through the process, mail in a saliva sample and await the results. All at no cost. Not a bad deal. But there’s more to Vault than COVID testing. “We’re successfully growing our life sciences business working with biotech and biopharma,” Feldman told NJBIZ. “We’re not distracted by the fact that COVID continues to grow and continues to perform for us. It’s allowing us to build new software, new capabilities and expand into new markets. I’m very focused on international expansion at this point — we’re going to move into somewhere between 50 and 70 countries.”
John Fitzgerald
A century ago, a group of Hungarian business leaders opened the Magyar Building & Loan Association in New Brunswick to support their community’s banking needs. In 2022, Fitzgerald leads that institution, Magyar Bank, which turns 100 in August. He joined the bank in 2001, served as COO, established its Commercial Lending Department, and took on his current role in 2010. Magyar reported net income of $6.12 million for fiscal 2021, besting the prior year’s $2.19 million. Then the company reported a 27% increase for the first quarter of 2022, which ended on Dec. 31, 2021, to $1.69 million. “Our fiscal year 2022 is off to a very strong start,” Fitzgerald said in a statement. “Continuing on the momentum that was generated in 2021, we increased our net interest margin over the same period last year despite the continued low-rate environment and continued to improve our balance sheet with a 22% reduction in non-performing assets. We expect to continue the positive earnings momentum through the rest of the year.” Last June, Fitzgerald was installed as chair of NJBankers, a trade association that represents 72 banks and 172 service providers. He also serves as chair of the board of trustees for State Theatre NJ.
Dale Florio
Florio has occupied a central place in New Jersey politics dating back to his early days as a novice Republican sitting on the Somerville Borough Council. As managing partner at the lobbying firm Princeton Public Affairs Group, Florio brings three decades of government affairs expertise to his clients. The firm has consistently scored around $10 million of receipts from big-name clients over the years. Those have ranged from Google to AT&T Solutions, and BP America Inc. to Ernst & Young. One Trenton insider previously described Florio as a “force to be reckoned with” and a “go-to lobbyist” in New Jersey politics. “There are so many things that are active that aren’t necessarily in the news, and he’s in the middle of [them].” As a longtime heavy hitter in Somerset County’s Republican circles, Florio has been a close ally for years to former state Assemblyman and gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, who nearly unseated Murphy in November. Ciattarelli said he plans to have another go at governor in 2025, and many Trenton insiders have kept an eye on the relationship between the two.
Steve Fulop
Jersey City has a lot going for it. A waterfront location with fast, one-seat access to Manhattan and, after years of decline, the city is now a hot residential destination, with towers along the Hudson drawing critical raves and throngs of buyers and renters. Acclaimed and trendy restaurants and other nightspots followed the throngs. That put Fulop in a strong position when he clinched his third term as mayor, a first in the city’s history. And the Fulop-allied Coalition for Progress Super PAC has raised millions of dollars in recent weeks, fueling speculation in Hudson County’s political circles that Fulop might be eyeing another bid for governor in 2025. He dropped out of the Democratic primaries in 2016, ultimately clearing the way for Murphy – a fellow Goldman Sachs and Ivy League alumnus – to secure the Democratic nomination. “For someone who is not a team player when it comes to politics, he has built an unbeatable coalition,” one insider said. “He’s certainly learned how to play the game.”
Frank Giantomasi
Giantomasi is one of the most prominent real estate players in the Newark-Elizabeth corridor, serving as redevelopment counsel to several notable mixed-use projects in the area. His work includes the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s signature master plan for a mixed-use redevelopment on 6.1 acres surrounding the cultural institution that would create a new arts neighborhood, along with several marquee projects in the industrial marketplace in the region. Giantomasi has represented developers on projects including Panasonic Corp.’s North American headquarters and its eventual sale to KFH Capital Investment Co. for $165 million; the $35 million Newark Courtyard by Marriott hotel; the Newark Hotel Indigo; seven historic building conversions on Market Street developed into 35,000 square feet of retail with over 80 residential units in a $35 million mixed-use project; and much more. Giantomasi chairs the board of trustees of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, and he also sits on the board of advisors for Saint Peter’s University’s Guarini School of Business in Jersey City.
Carl Goldberg
Goldberg is the founder and managing member of family-owned real estate consulting and development firm Canoe Brook Associates. He was also a founding partner of Roseland Property Co., which was sold to Mack-Cali – now Veris Residential – in 2012. Since helping to establish Roseland, Goldberg has been involved in the development of communities throughout the Northeast with a special emphasis on the state’s urban waterfronts. With Roseland, he directed production of more than 1,500 homes annually and oversaw the company’s flagship endeavor, Port Imperial. To date, approximately 4,500 rentals – apartments, townhomes and condos – have been completed or are under construction there, along with more than 150,000 square feet of retail. In 2021, Harrison’s Dey & Bergen – developed by Canoe Brook with partner Hornrock Properties – hit the 90% leased level ust three months after its debut along the waterfront. Goldberg has a long history of political and industry-wide activism in New Jersey, with relationships with leaders throughout the state. He served as chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority under four governors and is the current co-chair of the Rutgers School of Business Center for Real Estate Studies, where he is also a professor of real estate development. He is the chairman of the New Jersey Builders Political Action Committee and a former president of the Community Builders Association. In addition, he has been at the forefront of transit-oriented development, a movement many experts see as critical to smart, sustainable economic development that has picked up steam in the aftermath of COVID-19 as people opt for optionality in their living arrangements. In the sharp-elbowed New Jersey real estate community Goldberg is recognized for his low-key approach — but his success suggests that he’s no pushover.
Brian Gragnolati
To close out 2021, Atlantic Health System – where Gragnolati serves as president and CEO – and CentraState cleared the last regulatory roadblock on their way toward an expanded partnership. Under the unique agreement, a model Gragnolati helped to create, Atlantic Health will become the majority corporate member in CentraState, which will join the former’s network. With $3.3 billion in revenue, that network includes an 18,000-member team serving 11 counties and a region covering 4.9 million New Jerseyans. A recognized voice in the national health care conversation, Gragnolati is one of the most influential executives in the state. The former chair of the American Hospital Association still exerts influence, currently serving on the organization’s nominating committee, which helps to identify future leaders. In 2021, AHS’s Morristown Medical Center was ranked as the No. 1 hospital in New Jersey on US News & World Report’s Best Hospitals list for the fourth year in a row. In the beginning of 2022, Morristown and Overlook Medical Center were the only Garden State hospitals to make Healthgrades 2022 America’s Best 50 Hospitals list, placing the system in the top 1% of nearly 4,500 hospitals nationwide. Gragnolati’s influence has also made him one of the faces of New Jersey’s response to the pandemic. AHS said in April it was among the first in the region to be able to quickly screen for COVID-19 variants. “You know I think we’re clearly at a good point right now, particularly relative to the journey that we’ve been on for the last 16 months,” he told NJBIZ last spring, anticipating what played out in the fall with the spread of omicron. “I’m not sure I describe it as close to the end because I have this very suspicious nature about these variants and the fact that we still need to be careful because we don’t have enough of the population vaccinated yet.”
Perry Halkitis
In the early days of the pandemic, Halkitis, the dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health was handpicked by the Murphy administration — along with his colleague Brian Strom, the chancellor of the Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences — to lead the effort to trace the spread of the virus. In the months since, Halkitis has become one of the leading sources of information about the pandemic and the efforts to bring it to an end. In media appearances, he calmly presents facts and data on what government officials and individual residents should be doing to smother the outbreak. In fact, outlets outside of New Jersey also seek his counsel on the latest news. And as the debate over whether to provide boosters shots heat up, Halkitis will become even more in demand. “It’s not a supply issue. There’s plenty of vaccine out there,” he said recently. “We’re beyond the point where we’re reaching for immunity in this country.” Halkitis is also not afraid to wade into controversial subjects. For example, he’s clear on the issue of requiring vaccinations in public places. “What I think is the right thing” for “entry into any enclosed venue, to require proof of vaccination. That is just good public health,” he told NJBIZ. “In a civil society, when you agree to be part of a society, you give up certain things in order to establish the well-being of the whole.” And he has become a prominent voice on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, for example serving as the founding editor in chief of Annals of LGBTQ Public and Population Health, which published its first issue in 2020. In addition, he is the author of Out in Time: The Public Lives of Gay Men from Stonewall to the Queer Generation, published in 2019, and The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience, which was released in 2013. The latter was a 2014 Lambda Literary Award nominee and both books received the American Psychological Association Distinguished Book Award in LGBT Psychology.
Jon Hanson
With more than 60 years in the industry, Jon Hanson, the founder and chairman of The Hampshire Cos., is one of the most well-known developers in the state. Under the Bergen County native’s leadership, Hampshire helped bring to fruition two of New Jersey’s largest developments: American Dream and the Atlantic City Gateway Redevelopment project. In the past, Hanson’s negotiations brought the New York Jets and New Jersey Devils to the Meadowlands. In the first half of 2021, Hampshire and Diversified Properties snatched up a 40,000-square-foot industrial building in an off-market sale – a hot commodity at a time when industrial demand is unprecedented. Over the summer, another project, RIVET26 in Jersey City – collaborators on the master-plan community situated in the city’s West Side include New Jersey City University – opened to strong leasing demand in June. Hampshire has grown into one of the nation’s leading privately held, fully integrated real estate firms and investment fund managers with over $2 billion in assets currently under management totaling more than 11.75 million square feet, and a development pipeline throughout the East Coast across the multifamily, self-storage, industrial, and retail sectors. Hanson is chairman of the New Jersey Hall of Fame – to which he was also inducted in 2018 – and chairman of A.C. Devco. He is a director of Yankee Global Enterprises, the owner of the N.Y. Yankees.
Debbie Hart
Hart is the founding president and CEO of BioNJ, the 400-member trade association for research-based life sciences companies in New Jersey–an industry that has an annual economic impact of $83.4 billion in the state with 3,200 industry players and more than 300,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs. “Forty percent of FDA drug approvals in 2020 came from companies with a footprint in New Jersey and over 25% of all cell and gene therapies in development are being worked on by companies here,” she said last January. “We also lead the nation with 159 FDA-registered biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities.” This past October, the group she heads entered into an agreement with an association representing the Indian biotechnology sector, stemming from the governor’s 2019 trade mission to the county, to build a research collaborative in New Jersey and India. In addition to leading BioNJ, Hart also serves as vice chair – and is currently acting chair – of the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, which provides grants to early stage entrepreneurs in the life sciences, technology and clean tech industries. She was appointed to the group by Gov. Phil Murphy.
John Harmon
Harmon is the founding president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, which aims to ensure the success of the more than 80,000 Black-owned businesses across the Garden State. COVID-19 laid bare just how challenging that might be. The recession and business closures took a heavy toll on minority-owned businesses, and many people of color faced more obstacles in obtaining federal Paycheck Protection Program loans compared to their white counterparts. “New Jersey is already one of the most diverse states in the nation,” Harmon said in November. “The time is now to make it the most economically inclusive state in the nation.” Over the course of the pandemic, the AACNJ has partnered with state agencies and various nonprofits on COVID-relief programs for businesses. The organization made similar efforts on Ida relief to businesses following the tropical storm last September; a $100 million investment fund for minority-owned businesses across the state; financing minority-owned real estate projects; and a bid to get more state contracts to Black-owned businesses. “Empowering businesses owned by blacks, women and people of color to vie for state and federal contracts is key to reopening our post-COVID economy in an equitable and inclusive manner,” he said.
Dianna Houenou and Jeff Brown
Cannabis Regulatory Commission Chair Dianna Houenou and Executive Director Jeff Brown, along with the other four members of the CRC, are the regulators at the top of the state’s legal cannabis industry. Brown was previously head of the medical cannabis program within the Department of Health and Houenou spent three years championing the end of cannabis prohibition while leading the ACLU-NJ. Together, they lead the charge to make New Jersey’s adult use market equitable and sustainable. While it’s likely that the state’s adult use sales will miss a February start deadline, the CRC began accepting applications for adult use licenses in December.
Ralph Izzo
As chairman and CEO of the Public Service Enterprise Group, Izzo heads the parent company of Public Service Electric & Gas, one of the country’s largest utilities. In his 15 years on the job, Izzo has advocated for clean energy and conservation and just months ago spoke at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP26 . “With more than 9 million residents, New Jersey is similar in size to many of the nations represented at COP26, and getting hit by the climate crisis means we need to take immediate action not only to address the causes of climate change, but also to reduce and reverse its long-term impacts,” Izzo said in November. “New Jersey’s rapid progress toward its clean energy and climate goals provides a role model for the rest of the U.S. and the world.” In June, PSEG closed its last coal-fired power plant; and in February, the company committed $35 million to funds managed by Energy Impact Partners, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technologies to combat climate change.
Jill Johnson
During its “The Future is Women” summit in the fall, Berkeley College honored Johnson, the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, with its “Women’s Empowerment Award.” And while Johnson is an advocate for women, that’s certainly not the only focus of her work. Particularly as minority-owned businesses struggle to cope with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, Johnson’s leadership will be crucial. With the help of a grant from Verizon, IFEL’s Small Businesses Need Us initiative engages volunteers to lend their business acumen to entrepreneurs-in-need during hackathons that address those concerns. Companies involved with the program include Gibbons PC and Santander Bank. Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, a similarly intentioned program, offers a digital curriculum for small business owners in eight major U.S. cities. “The majority of small businesses are ill-equipped to sustain through a crisis the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Johnson said when the program was announced. “Government aid and small dollar grants are not enough.” Luckily, those in need have Johnson. She has nearly 30 years of experience as a business strategist with expertise in financial analysis, marketing and business development. An advocate for community businesses and microenterprise, she is a leading authority in the area of minority inclusion in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In January, she was appointed to the New Jersey Equity in Commercialization Collective (NJECC) Advisory Board, the organization aims to address the equity issues in academic technology commercialization.
Woody Johnson
Yes, THAT Woody Johnson, owner of the historically downtrodden New York Jets. The team has always played second fiddle to the other NFL franchise in the northern New Jersey region, the New York Giants. But the two clubs are apparently heading in different directions, with the Giants firing yet another head coach and general manager after a series of questionable draft picks and free agent signings. The Jets, on the other hand, seem to have settled into a period of stability, with a respected coach and a quarterback who may possess all the tools necessary for success in the modern game. For those reasons, the green tenants of MetLife Stadium have a much brighter future than Big Blue. Johnson is also a longtime Republican donor – so prominent that he served as ambassador to the U.K. under President Donald Trump. Giants fans just have to take the L on this one.
Don Katz
Katz is the executive chairman of Audible, one of Newark’s most prominent corporate citizens. But Katz’s influence extends further. He is also the founder of Newark Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm based in Newark and backed by major New Jersey businesses, which has invested tens of millions of dollars into dozens of technology startups. A revitalization of the state economy, including through the creation or expanding of the technology sector, will be a crucial facet of the state’s economic comeback. And Katz continues to act as one of Newark’s biggest individual benefactors. To cite an example, Newark Working Kitchens, a COVID-19 response that kept Newark restaurant employees working while delivering meals to low-income seniors and families, delivered its 1 millionth meal in June. NWK was launched by Audible in 2020, and its efforts were expanded with a $2 million grant it received through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s Sustain and Serve NJ program. “This milestone is a testament to the amazing restaurant owners and workers, city and state leadership and operational partners who have worked tirelessly to make a significant positive impact on Newark’s restaurant ecosystem and community members without enough food,” Katz said at the time. “Our restaurants and communities still need us, so we welcome donors at all giving levels to support NWK and urge private sector decision-makers and government officials in other cities to consider how programs like these can sustain jobs, businesses and lives in their own communities.”
Michael Kempner
MikeWorldWide, formerly MWWPR, is one of the largest public relations firms in the world, founded by its current CEO Michael Kempner. The East Rutherford-based firm continues to expand, having bought the London-based agency Chameleon in 2021. But his real influence is as a top Democratic fundraiser. His standing was demonstrated early in the Biden administration when he was reinstalled as a director on the corporate board of three federally funded broadcasters. Biden moved quickly to replace appointees at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. Kempner’s status in the industry was reaffirmed in 2020 when he was named to the PRWeek Hall of Fame. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce.
Thomas Kendris
Like many of his peers at other major drugmakers in New Jersey – nicknamed the “Medicine Chest of the World” – Kendris was forced to completely shift focus during COVID-19. The company had to make sure its staff were working safely and not at risk of getting COVID-19, while at the same time researching drugs and other treatments for the virus. With new variants emerging – delta being the chief strain in circulation and omicron dominating news headlines – every drugmaker will have to devote at least some efforts to the lingering pandemic. East Hanover-based Novartis is developing an orally ingested pill that could be used for treatment against COVID-19, and has partnered with Pfizer to produce tens of millions of vaccine doses. With the resignation of Novartis’ chief legal officer, Kendris has been appointed to fill the role on an interim basis.
Douglas Kennedy
Kennedy has been on the board of directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since last January. The Fed has been keeping an eye on American households and businesses through the pandemic, confirming an expected surge in debt, with home loans jumping 5% and crossing the $10 trillion threshold for the first time. At Peapack-Gladstone Bank, where Kennedy is president and chief executive, he’s made it his mission to transform the institution and its wealth management division, Peapack Private, into a financial services powerhouse, able to compete at the highest level. The bank has been recognized by American Banker as a “Best Bank to Work For” since 2018, one of only two New Jersey banks on the list. The New York Fed remains perhaps the preeminent regional bank in the system and its importance will only grow as the economy recovers.
John Kennedy
Kennedy is head of the NJMEP, a consortium of some of the Garden State’s largest manufacturers, and a face of New Jersey’s manufacturing sector. New Jersey manufacturers played no small part last year in pulling the state through some of the worst of the pandemic. “The work you did with creating and making [personal protective equipment] supplies [for] our health care industry saved lives,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in his recorded remarks to attendees at the group’s “Made in New Jersey” Manufacturing Day 2021. And now, shipping delays, supply chain upheavals and shortages of both labor and raw goods are forcing businesses to rethink their entire strategies if they hope to stay afloat. “A lot of people are talking about ‘let’s go back to normal.’ I don’t want to. Normal failed,” Kennedy said recently. He recently announced that he will retire soon from NJMEP, but his efforts are finally showing some concrete results, with action on both the state and national levels.
Karen Kessler
If some high profile and not-so-great news about you is out or about to be, Kessler should be your first call. She and her team at Kessler PR Group – formerly Evergreen Partners – have spent the last 25-plus years working with clients on reputation control, and making sure you don’t hear her—Kessler’s—name in the process. Her firm is increasingly engaged by national and regional law firms on behalf of clients facing high-profile litigation or reputational issues, and though it’s in their DNA as a crisis firm to stay mum on most of their clients, they were publicly instrumental in the launch of the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, including organizing and supporting the Jersey4Jersey Bruce Springsteen telethon. The firm has also seen an expansion of its international client footprint, from big corporations to celebrities with 30 million-plus followers. NJBIZ recognized Kessler’s career with a Lifetime Achievement award during the 2020 Best Women in Business program.
Jim Kirkos
The Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce represents a tight geographic area, but that doesn’t mean its reach – or Kirkos’ influence – is limited. He’s had his hand in finally bringing American Dream to the masses; working with “New Jersey’s” two NFL teams; and focusing energy on the former Izod Center, which was retrofitted to serve as a studio for NBCUniversal. Kirkos is pushing for a conference center to be established there that would bring a business function to the area, alongside the shopping and entertainment destinations. A proposal unveiled by the Meadowlands 2040 Foundation, an economic development affiliate of the Chamber, and prepared by Hunden Strategic Partners, calls for 300,000 square feet of exhibit space – including a 100,000-square-foot ballroom and a 40,000-square foot arena that could seat between 2,000 and 5,000 spectators – at the Meadowlands Arena. There would be an additional 60,000-square-foot ballroom and 100,000 square feet of meeting spaces, which could be split into as many as 75 meeting rooms. Kirkos told NJBIZ that the new facilities could compete with the 3.3 million-square-foot Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. “We have all the benefits … without the cost,” he said. Looking ahead, Kirkos is also sounding the call about the area’s potential as a 2026 FIFA World Cup host. Anticipating access difficulties that often accompany large events in the area, Kirkos is backing a potential light rail proposed by state transportation officials that would connect the Secaucus Junction train station with Meadowlands entertainment hubs. “This is exactly what we need … creative ways to do a secondary means of transportation from Secaucus transfer into the sports complex and American Dream,” he told NJBIZ last month.
Jonathan Koppell
Koppell took over as president of Montclair State University last August as the state battled the delta variant. Since then, universities like MSU have tried to regain some sense of normalcy, even if it did entail requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine and booster, and a delayed opening during the worst of the omicron surge. Koppell arrived at Montclair state after a decade as dean of Arizona State University’s Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions and vice provost for public service and social impact. Under his leadership, the Arizona college more than doubled its enrollment, becoming the nation’s largest comprehensive public affairs college, serving more than 9,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs. Koppell has said boosting enrollment of local students from Essex County and the surrounding area is a priority.
Greg Lalevee
Lalevee is the business manager of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 and vice president of the IUOE’s general executive board. And his members – which number more than 8,000 – may be the first beneficiaries of a renewed focus on infrastructure, like the previously stalled Gateway rail project, because they’ll be doing a lot of the work. “He’s spent years training members at [the union’s] big training facility to build Gateway,” a person close to Lalevee noted last year. In the fall, officials announced a projected 2023 start date for construction on the project’s rail tunnel, validating all the ground work Lalevee has laid. Meanwhile, his union has been on a “slow and steady growth path” for the past decade, but with the passage of the infrastructure package, Lalevee said the trend will likely pick up. “We know that the [century-old] Portal Bridge replacement project will likely start by the end of this year … President Biden is signaling that the federal government wants to be a partner in these kinds of projects, and there’s a lot that can be done in New Jersey and across the nation,” he told NJBIZ in May. Potentially helping that growth will be an articulation agreement the union signed with Hudson County Community College in November. His organization also stands to benefit from the governor’s “clean energy economy.” Other projects that Local 825 members would build include improvements at the South Jersey wind port and the Newark Penn Station rehabilitation. The New Jersey Building Trades vice president and member of the state’s License Crane Operators Advisory Board also keeps a close watch on the economy as a whole, with his membership sensitive to shifting winds as the pandemic begins to recede.
Thai Lee
IT solutions provider SHI International generated a record $5.5 billion in revenue in the first half of 2021 with 5% year-over-year growth. SHI’s Professional Services division posted the most growth within the company with a 25% year-over-year jump, while the Public Sector business jumped more than 18% and the Commercial sector grew more than 16%. As employees of many companies continue to work from home, the company’s Security business rose 16% as attention remained focused on cyber threats. Lee founded the company, which is now the largest women-minority owned business, in 1989.
Teik Lim
Lim, the first member of his family to earn a college degree, will become the ninth president of the New Jersey Institute of Technology in July. He currently serves as the interim president of the University of Texas at Arlington, where he is also professor within the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Lim previously was the university’s provost and vice president for academic affairs from 2017 to 2020. Before joining UTA, he spent approximately 15 years at the University of Cincinnati in both academic and administrative roles, including as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. He told NJBIZ that NJIT is a natural destination for someone with his background. “The most attractive feature is the diversity of the campus,” he said. “I think we can make full use of the diversity here to really strengthen NJIT’s academic and research enterprises and then use that diversity to make NJIT a supercharged engine.”
Charles Lowrey
Lowrey is CEO of Prudential Financial, a Fortune 500 company that calls Newark home, making it one of the most important corporate entities in the Garden State’s largest city. The logo for the financial services giant is emblazoned on the city’s evolving skyline, greeting visitors to what’s widely characterized as an up and coming community just outside of New York City. Prudential bought the naming rights in 2007 to Prudential Center, an entertainment landmark in Newark, home of the New Jersey Devils professional hockey team, and host to many concerts and community events. Needless to say, Prudential has established itself as an anchor institution in Newark. In 2019, under Lowrey’s watch, Prudential committed more than $180 million through 2025 to support young people aged 15 to 29 worldwide who lack access to school, training or regular jobs—a segment of the global population known as opportunity youth. Then in 2020, Lowery and his counterparts at some of New Jersey’s largest companies — Merck, Verizon, RWJBarnabas Health, BD, PSEG, Campbell Soup and Johnson & Johnson – pledged to train or hire a combined 70,000 New Jerseyans by 2030 and spend an additional $500 million on local goods and services by 2025.
Michael Maron
As the CEO of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, Maron bore the full brunt of the pandemic’s early, most frightening days. The hospital was at the center of the first serious outbreak in the state, and it seemed then as though the health care system could be overwhelmed. That perception only deepened when Maron himself contracted COVID-19. He recovered and Holy Name mustered a strong response to the virus. Maron is now turning his attention to the post-pandemic future. One challenge will be handling the fallout from the departure of the hospital’s chief medical officer, a controversy that dimmed the glow from Holy Name’s triumphs during the pandemic. An internal investigation cleared Maron and he remains in charge – another feat of survival.
Mike McGuinness
McGuinness heads NAIOP’s New Jersey chapter, the trade group for the state’s commercial real estate industry. He is a registered legislative agent, directs the organization’s advocacy program and manages the Developers Political Action Committee. As the industrial marketplace continues its meteoric growth, McGuinness finds himself at the center of the action. “New Jersey is both a logistics state and a home rule state, and that has consequences,” he told NJBIZ in the wake of a move by some legislators to reign in the activity. “It is likely that a streamlined regional planning approach could better address local concerns, but given our location, wealth and population density, New Jersey is both the first and last mile in the bullseye for the explosion in consumer-driven demand for warehouse and distribution centers,” McGuinness said. A measure that would have curtailed what its sponsors referred to as “warehouse sprawl” fizzled at the end of the last legislative session. All of its sponsors lost their bids for reelection in November, and the legislation has yet to be introduced again in Trenton, for now. McGuinness currently serves as a member of the Council on Port Performance, administered by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, is a founding member of the Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition and as a trustee and environmental chair of the New Jersey Society for Environmental, Economic Development.
Kevin McCabe
McCabe is a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and head of public affairs at the influential Trenton consulting firm River Crossing Strategy Group. And he chairs the Middlesex County Democratic Party, where he holds considerable sway in Central Jersey politics. McCabe has connections with some of the key power players in the state Legislature, and he’s on good terms with the governor. With his Woodbridge ally Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin a Middlesex County resident, and the new Senate President Nicholas Scutari hailing from neighboring Union County, the Central Jersey voting bloc now holds even more sway in New Jersey politics. Meanwhile many powerful committee chairs hail from Middlesex County. And if the governor’s hometown of Middletown counts as Central Jersey, then all three of the state’s top elected officials hail from the perhaps illusory region between North and South Jersey. As former New Jersey labor commissioner, and former president of the multi-state Carpenter Contract Trust, McCabe boasts years of advocacy for organized labor.
Carlos Medina
Medina heads the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey – the largest chamber in New Jersey with 4,100 members, according to NJBIZ lists. Overall, Hispanic-owned businesses represent 120,000 companies, large and small, generating more than $20 billion for the economy. But if COVID-19 made one thing clear, it’s the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on people of color as evidenced by higher case numbers and fatalities, more serious effects on minority-owned businesses and uphill battles for pandemic-related assistance. But back in the spring, Medina told NJBIZ he saw the glass as half-full. “We’re used to running through quicksand and being battle-tested,” he said. “It’s tough, I’m not going to say it’s not a tough journey. But there’s an optimism that people are coming back.” In the wake of devastation brought by Tropical Storm Ida in the fall, SHCCNJ teamed up with the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey to provide technical assistance for affected businesses applying for federal relief. In the spring, SHCCNJ threw its support behind the 9-mile Essex-Hudson Greenway project–before the state announced its $65 million investment. The project will connect a string of municipalities reaching from Jersey City to Montclair. “Decisions about walkable areas determine much more than where roads or bridges will be built,” Medina said at the time. “They determine the connections that people will encounter and the ecosystem of diverse resources benefiting every aspect of our lives. It is the convergence of equity, opportunities, and growth for our small business community.”
Robert Menendez
Last year, Menendez worked with staff of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program to create a national manufacturing supply chain database, an effort that finally appears to be paying off. The measure would give manufacturers hope that the U.S. might become less dependent on foreign materials, a vulnerability exposed by the pandemic. Menendez said the bill offers a “critical tool that could give us reliable information about American manufacturers’ capabilities and inventories in order to prevent future disruptions should a future crisis arise. … Future pandemics, natural disasters, cyber-attacks, raw material shortages, and even trade disputes could cripple our supply chains right when we need to engage them most in order to deliver critical goods to the American public,” he said. Menendez is also the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after Democrats gained control; and New Jersey is, after all, a state of immigrants.
Audrey Meyers
Meyers joined Valley Hospital in 1980, was named president and CEO in 1999, and assumed that role for Valley Health System in 2003, making her one of the longest-serving CEOs in the state. A new 372-bed hospital campus in Paramus is slated for completion in 2023. Valley Health was the big winner in this year’s NJBIZ Reader Rankings, earning the top spot in five categories. Valley Hospital was voted the No. 1 hospital, cardiac care center and nonprofit organization; Valley Health was the No. 1 system; and Valley Medical Group was the top physician group. “We are delighted that Valley Health System has earned the top spot in each of the five categories in which it was nominated, and are grateful for the support of all those who voted for Valley in this year’s poll,” Meyers said. “The survey results are a reflection of the compassionate, high-quality care and service we provide to our patients and their families each and every day.”
Patrick Murray
Murray just finished an extended period in the media spotlight during the 2020 presidential campaign and the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Both produced some stress for Murray, the director of the Monmouth University poll. The poll is one of the most closely watched surveys of public opinion and Murray is a sought-after political analyst able to dissect poll results in a way anyone can understand. But polling in general has been subject to criticism after some misses. In New Jersey, many polls – including Monmouth – showed Gov. Phil Murphy with a commanding lead late in the campaign. The actual vote, of course, was much closer, preventing Murphy from declaring victory on election night. Murray has been forthright about the failure, writing in an op-ed for nj.com that he got it wrong. But he can also serve as a leader in reforming the process. “If we cannot be certain that these polling misses are anomalies then we have a responsibility to consider whether releasing horse race numbers in close proximity to an election is making a positive or negative contribution to the political discourse,” he wrote in the op-ed. “This is especially important now because the American republic is at an inflection point. Public trust in political institutions and our fundamental democratic processes is abysmal. Honest missteps get conflated with ‘fake news’ — a charge that has hit election polls in recent years.”
Update: The profile of Kevin Corbett in this article was amended on Feb. 22, 2022 at 3:30 p.m. EDT to note that NJ Transit has reduced its capital to operational transfers to the lowest level in 15 years.
