NJBIZ

Murphy’s pool party takes center stage during first night of League of Municipalities conference

At an elaborate party he hosted Tuesday night at the Borgata, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy rallied party support and vowed to take on the kind of “failed special interest politics” that he says Gov. Chris Christie has played in Trenton.And he did it poolside.

“It’s time to give him his walking papers,” Murphy said of Christie, to loud applause of more than 1,000. “Move it aside, turn the page.”

The party corresponded with the opening night of the annual New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference in Atlantic City. The three-day conference, now in its 101^st year, will continue through Thursday.

Murphy’s party was clearly the must-be-seen spot of the opening night. Crowds of people waited in long lines just to get in. Once they did, they found a band, open bars and wall-to-wall people, all trying to get a quick word or a quick photo with the man many feel not only will be the Democratic candidate but the state’s next governor.

The event had the feel of a victory celebration — one for an election that is still a year away.

Much can change in that time. And Murphy noted much can change overnight, telling supporters New Jersey can be a fresh start for the Democratic Party.

Referencing last week’s presidential election that saw a surprise victory for Republican Donald Trump, Murphy, a former Goldman Sachs executive and former U.S. Ambassador to Germany, said he believes New Jersey will play a pivotal role in helping the Democratic Party recover.

“The world and the nation changed last Tuesday,” Murphy said of Trump’s win. “One short week ago, the game changed for the worse.”

No part of the state will be overlooked and no one will take “one single vote for granted,” added Murphy.

“We will win this election one vote at a time,” said Murphy.

Less than two months ago, rumors had pointed to state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop being the Democratic favorites to run for the office, with Murphy perceived as being on the outside looking in.

But Murphy quickly ascended to frontrunner status after Fulop and Sweeney each backed out, clearing the path for the Monmouth County resident as he racked up endorsements.

Still, Murphy won’t be entirely unchallenged, as Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) formally jumped into the race earlier in the day with a pledge to fight for the state’s “under siege” middle class.

“I believe New Jersey deserves the kind of leadership that’s not transactional, but transformative,” Wisniewski said in a YouTube video to supporters Tuesday. “To make sure that the middle class has a fair shot. Nothing’s impossible with the right kind of leadership.”

Wisniewski also worked the crowds in Atlantic City. “How about we have a two-person primary, the way it should be? That would be something,” he said at a different party.

Wisniewski, who rose to prominence in 2014 by leading the legislative probe into the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, said Tuesday night at a Middlesex County Democratic Organization event at the Borgata that the feedback for his announcement had been positive thus far, and that the primary race needed two choices.

Last month, however, Middlesex County Democrats did pledge their support to Murphy, who also briefly attended the second party before making another appearance at a New Jersey Young Democrats event at a separate venue within the Borgata.

On Wednesday, the issue of Murphy’s candidacy and his latest challenge from Wisniewski will be sure to come up on a panel featuring former governors at the Atlantic City Convention Center.

Later in the day, the state’s four legislative leaders will also be sitting for a separate panel discussion.

Andrew George, Anjalee Khemlani and Tom Bergeron contributed to this report from Atlantic City.

The special role of the special fiscal agent

Let’s say you are, or think you will soon be, litigating a claim against the officers and directors of your closely held corporation for mismanagement or fraud. Or you are a minority member or shareholder of an LLC or Corporation whose reasonable expectations of your role in the company have been frustrated by the controlling members of the…The point is you feel you have been the victim of minority shareholder oppression, but you want the business to continue to thrive while you litigate your claims. What can you do? You do not want to disrupt the business by seeking the appointment of a custodial receiver. Instead, to avoid injuring the business and its relations with the public, you need a less drastic remedy. One effective approach may be to seek the appointment of “a special fiscal agent.” This “ingenious equitable” device can afford your business some measure of protection while at the same time minimizing interference with normal operations.

But what can special fiscal agents do and how long can they continue to do it? The fiscal agent’s role is primarily “investigative and protective.” For example, the fiscal agent may be empowered to review all disbursements proposed to be made by the company and report any questionable ones to the parties who can then bring them to the attention of the court for relief. The fiscal agent can also advise the court as to the status of the company and its prospects for survival. The fiscal agent can protect the assets and oversee the operations of the company. The fiscal agent may also act as a mediator to resolve disputes and thus avoid more costly applications to the court. (The fiscal agent, however, may not act in an adjudicative or decision-making role.)

For example, in a case we are handling, our client holds an equitable mortgage on a sightseeing boat. The boat was operating, but the mortgage was not being paid. We successfully sought the appointment of a special fiscal agent to oversee the boat’s operation, collect the revenues, and recommend what disbursements should be made, including payment of the client’s mortgage before distributing any income to the owner of the boat.

The appointment of a special fiscal agent is limited in its duration. In another case, the fiscal agent had been appointed to manage rental properties owned by the litigants as tenants in common and had held the position for eight years. The court held that the fiscal agent’s function must be limited not only with respect to the fiscal agent’s role, but also the duration of that role. The exercise of the fiscal agent’s duties is limited to the pendency of the litigation.⁵

In conclusion, whenever the need arises to monitor the revenues or expenses of a company, prevent suspicious wrongful behavior, or prevent inequitable self-dealing, the appointment of a special fiscal agent should be considered because of the great flexibility this remedy possesses while at the same time avoiding more stringent measures.

Based in Atlantic City, Mark Soifer is a partner at Cooper Levenson with more than 30 years of experience litigating commercial and business disputes.

WCRE represents Giralda Properties in leasing, marketing office space in Turnersville

WCRE announced it has represented Giralda Properties LLC, an affiliated entity of Starkman Properties, in leasing and marketing an office suite in Turnersville.The 3,000-square-foot suite was leased by Serenity Home Healthcare & Nursing Solutions LLC. Serenity will be located at the Cross Keys Campus; 110 American Blvd.

Serenity provides short- and long-term care, including skilled nursing, certified home health aides, respite care, personal/companion care, homemaking services and physical, occupational and speech therapy.

Chris Henderson, senior associate at WCRE, represented the landlord in the transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Building the future Industry icon Sanzari constructing new headquarters in Hackensack

Sitting at the head of the table and flanked by his son and daughter — both senior leaders in the construction company that bears his name — Joseph Sanzari proudly talked about the new headquarters he is building on a lot in Hackensack his company has owned for nearly four decades.

HQSI names new CEO

Healthcare Quality Strategies Inc. announced Friday that its board of trustees has appointed the organization’s next CEO.Mary Jane Brubaker, who currently serves as HQSI’s chief operating officer, will succeed Martin P. Margolies, the company’s founder and CEO who retired on Sept. 30.

“The board is pleased to have found the best individual to assume leadership of this long-standing quality improvement and consulting organization,” David I. Kingsley, chairman of the HQSI board of trustees, said in a prepared statement. “Mary Jane exemplifies the values of this organization, and she brings strong leadership abilities and a commitment to innovation. Combined with her deep industry knowledge and institutional tenure, this makes Mary Jane uniquely qualified to lead HQSI successfully into the future.”

“I’m honored and I’m grateful to the board for the opportunity to lead this exceptional organization of dedicated and talented professionals,” said Brubaker. “For more than three decades, HQSI has been an important partner and improvement catalyst in New Jersey. We look forward to continuing this rewarding work in ways that are relevant and meaningful in this dynamic health care environment.”

Brubaker joined HQSI in 1987 and held various management positions during that time.

Logistics firm opens Sewell warehouse

A Philadelphia-based third-party logistics firm has opened a warehouse fulfillment center in South Jersey, it announced recently.The 25,000-square-foot facility, located at 390-394 Tylers Mill Road in Sewell, includes a warehouse management system that enables clients to check inventory online 24/7, Associates Warehousing Inc. said in a news release.

“With this additional location, we are offering more modern warehouse space to the B2B wholesale fulfillment trade,” Bill Parker Jr., president of Associates Warehousing, said in a prepared statement. “We are hoping this center will attract companies that are taking advantage of the recent Panama Canal expansion and shift their products to the Port of Philadelphia/New Jersey region for distribution.

“This food-grade fulfillment center will complement our Philadelphia warehouses and enhance our position as a centralized gateway from the port to your customer.”

NJBIZ ranks state’s fastest-growing companies slideshow

NJBIZ hosted its Fast 50 Awards on Thursday morning, where it ranked the 2016 edition of the state’s 50 fastest growing companies.About 300 people attended the event at The Palace at Somerset Park, where these rapidly growing New Jersey businesses’ order from No. 50 to No. 1 was revealed before a cheering crowd.

The Fast 50 were determined and ranked based on their dollar and percentage growth over the past three years. Winners will be profiled in a special supplement inserted in the Nov. 14 edition of NJBIZ.

For more information about NJBIZ events, click here.

Two sign leases at Cherry Hill office property, including publisher

Two tenants have signed leases for offices at a property in Cherry Hill, according to real estate firm NAI Mertz.Two Executive Campus is a 102,591-square-foot Class A property located on Route 70 in the township’s Golden Triangle section.

The first tenant, Newspaper Media Group LLC, is a recently formed publishing company that signed for 15,127 square feet of office space to serve as its new headquarters. Newspaper Media Group publishes 23 papers in central and southern New Jersey, including the recently purchased Greater Media Newspapers, which owned 10 weekly papers in three New Jersey counties.

“The merger of these newspaper groups was a major transaction in the South Jersey/greater Philadelphia media industry, and the newly formed company needed an attractive office space to call its home,” Rebecca Ting of NAI Mertz said in a prepared statement. “The west Cherry Hill office market is experiencing a recent uptick in leasing momentum, and this transaction is a testament to this trend.”

The second tenant, which was not disclosed, signed for 13,923 square feet of space.

Ting, a vice president, and Julie Kronfeld, a sales associate, represented building owner 1930 NMT Owner LLC in the deals.

“The new ownership has an excellent sense of the qualities that constitute a superior office building, and they know how to deliver these conditions to their tenants,” Kronfeld said in a statement. “Two Executive Campus is professionally managed and will be phasing in improvements to the common areas as part of their continuous beautification initiatives.”

Ting, Kronfeld and Fred Meyer, vice president-corporate services, have served as exclusive leasing agents for Two Executive Campus since 2013, and brokered the sale of the building last year to the current owner.

NAI Mertz has offices in Mount Laurel and in Pennsylvania.

Modern water infrastructure is critical for New Jersey’s economic growth

Our water infrastructure is failing us.Consider the following:

In some communities, as much as 30 percent of clean drinking water is lost through pipe leakage before it ever gets to your tap. That’s water that utilities have invested in treating, but can’t charge for.
Some of the water infrastructure in our older cities dates back to the Civil War. Old water and sewer mains break, shutting down businesses, making travel and commerce difficult, and necessitating costly emergency repairs.
In 21 of our older communities, rainstorms regularly overwhelm antiquated combined sewer systems. As a result, diluted raw sewage flows into nearby waterways – and sometimes backs up into neighborhoods and basements. The state Department of Environmental Protection has issued permits to those cities and treatment utilities requiring them to institute plans to remedy this problem.
EPA estimates of the cost to upgrade New Jersey’s water infrastructure will top $40 billion over the next 20 years.

That’s a huge price tag.

However, the state’s economic competitiveness depends on modern, safe, reliable water management. No one solution will be sufficient for a problem so large and complex, and fortunately, a new coalition of organizations and individuals with a vested interest in upgraded water infrastructure is working on a broad range of approaches.

Jersey Water Works is a unique public-private collaborative that includes private-sector water utilities, engineering firms and contractors, regulators at the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, municipalities, public water and sewer utilities, environmentalists, and community organizations. Their goal is to forge a suite of solutions that collectively can help upgrade the water infrastructure in cities and towns across New Jersey. Their work to date is focusing on:

Encouraging the use of business-like systems for managing water infrastructure assets so that repairs and upgrades are scheduled before costly and unpredictable emergency breaks occur;
Helping water utilities and community groups to educate and engage ratepayers and elected leaders so that they understand the value of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater systems and support necessary investments;
Promoting the use of “green infrastructure” features such as pervious pavement, bioswales and rain gardens, all of which collect stormwater before it hits the sewers and help prevent flooding while beautifying neighborhoods and raising property values.

And while the inadequacy of New Jersey’s water infrastructure is a serious and long-term problem, the economic benefits of solving it will start to become evident almost immediately. A United States Conference of Mayors report estimates that every dollar of investment in upgrading water infrastructure adds almost $9 to the economy through wages and additional activity in related industries. Just as significant, the American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that nationally, the decline in service and reliability that comes with failure to invest will result in additional costs of $147 billion to small businesses and $59 billion to households over the next 20 years. These are costs we can’t afford, but we can avoid.

One of the biggest benefits to our cities and towns of investing in upgrades to our water infrastructure will be in the form of added value and opportunity. The installation and maintenance of green infrastructure will provide local jobs and job training, including in places where the need for them is greatest; waterfronts will be cleaner and more available for recreation and tourism; neighborhoods will be healthier, more vibrant and more attractive, and property values will rise; and employers looking for places to expand or relocate will give places with 21^st-century water infrastructure an edge in their considerations. In other words, such upgrades will contribute to the sustainability of our communities and result in triple bottom line benefits – economic, social and environmental.

With all of this on the table, why wouldn’t we invest?

The Dodge Foundation is supporting Jersey Water Works because we believe that a broad-based response is needed to the problem of our aging water infrastructure, and we know that addressing the problem will open the door to greater economic growth for the state.

I encourage anyone interested in helping to address this problem to attend Jersey Water Works’ second annual water conference on Friday, Dec. 2 in Newark, where national and state experts will convene to identify new strategies and opportunities that drive economic growth in our communities. Please join us and help make New Jersey a national model for water infrastructure innovation.

Chris Daggett is CEO and president of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which provides financial support to the Jersey Water Works collaborative.

Select Region or Brand

Upcoming Event

Tag: South Jersey

CONNECT

DIGITAL EDITIONS

More from Day 1 of the conference

Related Story