The attrition in Atlantic City’s casino market appears to paying dividends for the survivors, as the remaining gaming halls recorded a bump in their overall revenue in 2015.The 2.3 percent increase for current casino operators was reflected in a report released Thursday by the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, which identified revenue of just under $3.5 billion. Collectively, the eight casino licensees also notched a 3.1 percent uptick in gaming win, to $2.5 billion, while seeing a 1.2 percent decline in entertainment revenue.
The bittersweet news comes at a turbulent time for Atlantic City, as state and local officials battle over how to rescue the municipality from the brink of insolvency. Meantime, voters are set to weigh in this November on whether to expand casino gaming to North Jersey, breaking the resort town’s longtime monopoly in the Garden State.
Four casinos — the Atlantic Club, Showboat, Revel and Trump Plaza — closed in 2014 amid ever-growing competition from surrounding states. When including those casinos that ceased operations, total revenue for the industry fell 8.2 percent from the $3.8 billion generated in 2014, showing that the market is still shrinking even as the surviving establishments pick up the pieces.
Meantime, the occupancy rate for the city’s casino hotels was essentially flat last year at just under 81 percent, according to the agency. Other indicators, such as total gaming taxes, hotel room fees, sales tax and tourism promotional fees, declined from 2014 to 2015.
The top performer in the market in 2015 was Borgata, which saw just over $1 billion in total revenue, a 6.8 increase from the prior year. Resorts Casino was the lowest-earning operator in the market, at $207 million, but that total represented a 12.1 percent jump from 2014.
Tag: South Jersey
NJBIZ stories taking place in and involving South Jersey businesses, companies and business news.
Mack-Cali leases more than 1M sq. ft. during Q1
Mack-Cali Realty Corp. has completed 82 lease totaling more than 1.1 million square feet during the first quarter of 2016, it announced Thursday.The Edison-based real estate firm said in a prepared statement that its leasing activity has increased by 45 percent, from 758,919 square feet, for the same period last year.
Of the 1.1 million square feet, 386,000 square feet, or 35 percent, were new leases and 740,000 square feet, or 65 percent, were lease renewals and other tenant transactions, Mack-Cali said.
“Our portfolio performed strongly this quarter with significant new leases and renewals. We estimate the GAAP roll up for this quarter to be in excess of 18 percent and cash roll up to be approximately 10 percent,” Mitchell E. Rudin, CEO, said in a prepared statement. “The momentum we are seeing, as exemplified by these leases, is due to real improvement in our key core markets, as well as our continuing focus on providing tenants superior amenities and ideally situated properties with convenient transit options.”
Some highlights of the quarter include:
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch signed a lease renewal for 334,835 square feet and also expanded by 53,372 square feet at 101 Hudson St. in Jersey City.
- Hackensack University Health Network Inc./Meridian Health Systems Inc. signed a new lease for 61,069 square feet at Metroview, 343 Thornall St. in Edison.
- Ferrero U.S.A. Inc. signed a new lease for 50,069 square feet at 7 Sylvan Way in the Mack-Cali Business Campus in Parsippany.
- B&G Foods Inc. signed a lease renewal for 32,024 square feet and expanded by 14,419 square feet at 4 Gatehall Drive in the Mack Cali-Business Campus in Parsippany.
- GBT signed a new lease for 49,563 square feet at 101 Hudson St. in Jersey City.
Saladworks, founded in Cherry Hill, names industry veteran its new CEO
Patrick H. Sugrue — a career food executive with more than 20 years in the restaurant industry — has been named Saladworks’ new CEO and president.“It’s a new day at Saladworks. This company has experienced the kind of headwinds in just 25 months that most brands and managers would take 30 years to achieve. This is a testament to the true resilience of the brand as it has continued to delight guests,” Sugrue said in a statement. “My goal now is to continue building on that foundation and to make the investments needed to create the kind of growth energy that has been lacking for a number of years. I’m very optimistic about the years to come.”
Saladworks — the nation’s largest fresh-to-order salad franchise concept — was founded in Cherry Hill in 1986. Though the company has since relocated to Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, it plans to open 11 new locations this year — four of which will be in New Jersey — in addition to the more than 100 franchise locations it currently operates in 14 states and three countries.
Sugrue, who has worked as a top executive in consumer packaged goods, wine and beverage, food processing and retail, most recently worked with private equity firms — including Centre Lane Partners, the New York-based private equity firm that purchased Saladworks for $17 million last February — to assess dozens of brand strengths and weaknesses.
Saladworks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February of last year to end longstanding disputes between the company’s founder, John Scardapone, and Saladworks’ major investor, Commerce Bank founder Vernon W. Hill.
Paul Steck, who had been with the company since 2002, was promoted to CEO and president to “undo the damage done during (the last) two years of chaos,” Steck said in an interview with NJBIZ in February of this year.
Since his appointment last June, Steck had worked to create a research and development task force, launch a new menu, roll out the brand’s redesign and increase franchise sales.
Total revenue for 2015 was $80 million — up 8 percent from 2014.
Though the company declined to comment on Steck’s departure, Sugrue has said he plans to further improve Saladworks’ new menu by introducing healthy desserts and beverages; work with five existing franchisees on store remodels and create 11 new stores with the company’s updated brand design this year; and continue increasing franchise sales in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, the Carolinas and Georgia.
“Saladworks is built from a team that triumphs (over) adversity and now, with new leadership, a new store design and a new menu, we’re laying down a foundation that’s stronger than ever before,” Sugrue said. “This strategy — building off of and enhancing our strengths — will influence the kind of substantial growth that Saladworks deserves.”
Prieto posts alternative Atlantic City takeover bill as Christie doubles down on demands
After Gov. Chris Christie held another news conference earlier in the day to again call on Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto to post a bill that would allow for a state takeover of Atlantic City’s finances, Prieto unveiled an alternative measure late Wednesday night that is scheduled to appear in committee Thursday morning.Prieto’s bill, which was set to be heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. Thursday, is similar to the measure backed by Christie and sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) in that it allows casinos to make payments in lieu of taxes to help pay down the city’s debt.
But as Prieto (D-Secaucus) has said he believes the initial takeover bill goes too far and threatens existing collective bargaining contracts, his measure would include the creation of a five-member “Atlantic City Planning Committee” featuring the city’s mayor and council president that would, among other things, be able to negotiate the terms of most public contracts without complete state oversight.
“Collective bargaining and worker rights cannot be the first thing on the chopping block,” Prieto said. “The expert committee created under this bill would be given a year to use its sweeping power to cut spending, save money and restore Atlantic City to sound financial condition. If it does not meet specific benchmarks, more draconian steps could rightly be taken, but worker rights must first be valued.”
Though Atlantic City was set to run out of money Friday, prompting the threat of a municipal government shutdown, the city council voted to temporarily extend its pay period Wednesday night by two weeks, effectively buying the city a little extra time to hammer out a compromise.
But Christie has repeatedly said that unless Sweeney’s version of the takeover bill is presented to him, he won’t sign it. He has even gone as far as to say that if the original bill is not posted by Prieto, he will campaign against a voter referendum this fall to expand casino gaming beyond Atlantic City, an idea he has previously supported.
Christie added that he believes Prieto has placed the interests of public unions ahead of the needs of both the city and state.
“We understand exactly what this is: The speaker does not object to the state coming in and taking over significant responsibility,” Christie said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference in Atlantic City alongside Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. “Just do not hurt his political friends. This is about a much bigger issue, everybody. This is about the full faith and credit of New Jersey’s cities. Atlantic City will just be the beginning. We have a plan to fix it and stop the harm. We need to implement that plan right away.”
Christie also criticized Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, who he says previously agreed to the takeover deal as proposed and then backtracked.
“There’s no purpose in meeting with a liar,” Christie said when asked why he didn’t meet with Guardian on Wednesday.
Still, Prieto thinks his latest bill is one that will satisfy all parties.
“Nothing in the bill prevents the governor from also using his existing authority to help Atlantic City, including using transitional aid agreements to compel financial actions,” said Prieto. “With this bill and the remedial actions it can bring, along with the governor’s existing tools, we can put Atlantic City on the right track for fiscal success and help it transition to the resort destination we all know it can become in the coming years. It is the right compromise for everyone, especially the people of Atlantic City.”
Crosbie tapped to lead NJ Transit
William Crosbie, who previously served seven years as Amtrak’s chief operating officer, has been appointed the next executive director of NJ Transit by the agency’s board of directors.Crosbie, who will assume his new role on April 25, has also previously held top-level positions with Systra USA and the Parsons Corporation.
“Bill Crosbie brings a depth of background in operations, transportation, engineering, finance and security to New Jersey Transit that is perfectly suited to address the needs facing the agency at this important time,” said board chairman and acting state transportation commissioner Richard Hammer.
Crosbie takes over for Dennis Martin, who has served as the agency’s executive director on an interim basis since December 2015. Martin, who will now return to his past position as vice president of NJ Transit’s division of bus operations, took over last November following the departure of Ronnie Hakim, who resigned after less than two years on the job to become president of New York City Transit.
“I would like to thank Gov. (Chris) Christie and the NJ Transit board of directors for this tremendous opportunity to serve the more than 900,000 people who utilize the New Jersey Transit system each year,” said Crosbie. “I am anxious to roll up my sleeves and stand shoulder to shoulder with the men and women of NJ Transit to address the service, safety, equipment and facility needs of our customers and our infrastructure.”
Rutgers creates a health brand that unites its existing services and has big plans for the future
Rutgers University had two options: lose tens of millions of dollars in the future, or gain tens of millions of dollars in the future. It chose the latter, with the creation of a new brand: Rutgers Health, a clinical arm that will serve as the brand for all existing Rutgers patient services.As the health insurance reimbursement model shifts from fee-for-service to fee-for-outcomes, medical providers stand to lose significant amounts of money by sticking to specialties and silos of care, according to Brian Strom, executive vice president for health affairs and chancellor for Rutgers biomedical and health sciences.
The new, all-encompassing entity was approved Wednesday at the Rutgers board of governors meeting.
The three-part, multidisciplinary plan begins with the branded entity, a clinical arm blueprint, then goes forward to create a 1,000-practitioner-strong group, followed by expanding out into a partnership with hospitals in the state to become an academic medical entity.
The new keys to success in health care are size — bigger under one umbrella is better — and teamwork, removing the silos, Strom said.
With 1,000 practitioners currently on board across all Rutgers campuses in the state, size is not an issue.
This includes ongoing negotiations with the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, which has 18 existing faculty practice groups, Strom said.
“This is not like UMDNJ, this is very different,” Strom said. “We are really preparing for the way medicine is going in the future.”
Rutgers Health will include:
- Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy;
- Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology;
- New Jersey Medical School;
- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School;
- Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey;
- Rutgers School of Dental Medicine;
- School of Health Related Professions;
- School of Nursing (Newark and New Brunswick);
- School of Nursing- Camden;
- School of Social Work;
- University Behavioral Health Care;
- Health Services for Rutgers students.
Integrating all the existing specialties — including dentistry, pharmacists and nurse practitioners — into one clinical entity is unprecedented, said Rutgers President Robert Barchi.
Currently, Rutgers, in a clinical partnership with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, has 1.7 million annual patient visits.
Though negotiations are still in the works, Barchi and Strom said the goal is to create the largest academic medical system in the state, with a partnership with RWJBarnabas Health as well as working with University Hospital in Newark.
The intangible entity officially exists as of Wednesday, with a website launched after the board approval, and sets the blueprint for the next two steps — creating the health group and eventually partnering with hospitals for a health network.
But no immediate changes will be seen, Strom said.
“Physician practices and medical schools coming together is nothing novel,” Strom said. “What is really novel here is this is really multiprofessional.”
The short-term cost to the school for this project is minimal for outside consultants and time spent working on the plans by both Strom and himself, Barchi said, without providing specific numbers.
“This is an organizational structure; we already have the physical structure,” he said. “Will we need to build new clinical facilities in the future? Sure, but remember, we don’t own hospitals.”
Barchi said that, while this was not his first integration of this kind, it was the largest.
One of the benefits of this level and scale of integration, including the future health network, is the application of all the research and other projects in the pipeline at the school.
For example, there is extensive research on smoking and its effects on health, which is responsible for a significant portion of mortality rates in the country, Strom said.
With the clinical integration, application of this information pairs well with the value-based reimbursements that focus on a healthy outcome and preventative care, rather than treating an already-ill patient, Strom said.
Value-based payments require the ability to scale population care, as well as data infrastructure to support that care, and the only way to achieve that is with a team effort, Barchi said.
“If you look at the percent of our (gross domestic product) that we expend on health care, highest by far, even though we have the worst outcomes in health care for our population,” Barchi said. “We just opened a new institution of food and health care. We have an extension system in Rutgers that’s agricultural, but puts us in every county in the state. There is no reason why we can’t be pushing out information on best practices on maintaining health through the same system.”
Strom said this announcement places Rutgers in a position to lead the state.
“This is really moving from a system that was (a) 20 (to) 30 years ago system … to a national leader,” he said. “We are establishing something that is anticipating where things are going in the future. We have leap-frogged the intermediate steps and we will be the model of the people who are copying rather than the other way around.”
The gender pay gap exists, but how does N.J. stack up?
In one particular episode of 30 Rock, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is worried her colleagues in the male-dominated comedy world treat her differently because of her gender. Approaching a frustrated breaking point, she marches into her boss’ office and asks him if he treats her any differently because she’s a woman.In one particular episode of 30 Rock, Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) is worried her colleagues in the male-dominated comedy world treat her differently because of her gender. Approaching a frustrated breaking point, she marches into her boss’ office and asks him if he treats her any differently because she’s a woman.
“Of course I do,” he says. “I pay you less.”
It’s a great piece of comedic timing and writing, but it’s also indicative of a serious issue. And it’s costing women some serious money.
According to data from the National Women’s Center, women lose $430,480 over the course of a 40-year career on average. But things are even worse when you add the lens of intersectionality:
For Latinas, the career losses amount to approximately $1 million; for African American women the losses are $877,480.
How do women in New Jersey fare?
Compared to the lifetime earning of a white male, women make just over $477,000 less over a 40-year career. By the same metrics, the wage gap costs a black woman $1.2 million, a Latina $1.7 million, a Native American woman $1.2 million and an Asian American woman $417,000.
For more information on the study, visit The National Women’s Law Center’s website.
Christie N.J. filing lawsuit against Atlantic City over school district payments
Gov. Chris Christie held a news conference Monday to announce that the state has filed a lawsuit against Atlantic City in an effort to mandate that the financially depleted city uses its remaining funds to make a series of upcoming scheduled payments to its school district.According to Christie, Atlantic City’s government has just about $10 million left on-hand and owes the school district roughly $34 million through July. The lawsuit seeks to not only make sure that the city follows through on an $8.4 million school payment later this month, but also hopes to block the municipality from making a $3.2 million payroll payment scheduled for Friday.
The move was just the latest in an ongoing stalemate between Christie and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) over a bill that would pave the way for a state takeover of Atlantic City’s finances.
Though Christie supports the measure, which was already passed by the Senate last month and strongly supported by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), Prieto, alongside Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, has contended that it goes too far and threatens existing collective bargaining contracts.
Christie and Prieto also reportedly met on Monday, but no agreement could be reached.
“What the Speaker wants to do is, he has made a very clear position here, that there is nothing more important than rich public sector union contracts,” Christie said. “Not Atlantic City’s school children, not the rightful debts that are owed to bond holders who have helped finance this large asset on the part of the Atlantic City government, not the casinos who have been overtaxed over the years and a court has made a judgement that they’re owed over $200 million to the city took by force from them with the right to tax illegally. None of that stuff matters more than a lifeguard getting a pension. Nothing else matters more than a deputy police chief getting a $320,000 pay out, on their way out the door, by the way after they’ve been making $198,000 a year.”
The lawsuit was filed in Atlantic County in the name of state Department of Education Commissioner David Hespe.
Christie has repeatedly called on Prieto to at least post the bill for a vote before the next scheduled Assembly voting session on Thursday. That was echoed by an open letter sent to Prieto over the weekend by 13 South Jersey Democratic Assembly members.
“The Speaker has put himself in line with the public sector unions,” Christie added. “This administration is putting itself in line with the taxpayers of Atlantic City and the taxpayers of the state of New Jersey who will not bail this out any longer and we are just not going to do it.”
Prieto fired back on Monday, criticizing Christie and calling on Sweeney to mediate a compromise.
“Gov. Christie, rather than blaming others, should be using his existing authority to help Atlantic City avoid fiscal disaster, but in the meantime Senate President Sweeney needs to negotiate a compromise that protects core Democratic values such as collective bargaining and fair labor practices,” Prieto said.
Sweeney applauds 15 minimum wage laws in Calif., N.Y.
Senate President Steve Sweeney issued a statement Monday congratulating California Gov. Jerry Brown and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for signing $15 per hour minimum wage bills in their respective states.California’s law will gradually raise the minimum wage from its current $10 per hour mark to $15 per hour statewide by 2022. In New York, the current $9 per hour minimum wage will gradually increase to $15 in New York City by the end of 2018 and in Long Island and Westchester County by the end of 2021. In other parts of New York, the wage will only jump to $12.50 per hour by 2020.
“I congratulate California Gov. Brown today for enacting the first statewide $15 minimum wage law in the country and New York Gov. Cuomo for signing legislation to bring a $15 minimum wage to New York City and its suburbs and a $12.50 minimum elsewhere in New York state,” Sweeney (D-West Deptford) said.
Sweeney is currently attempting to lead the charge for a $15 per hour minimum wage in New Jersey, but faces opposition from Gov. Chris Christie. He has repeatedly said that Democrats will work to place the measure on the ballot as a voter referendum if Christie refuses to support it.
“If the governor follows through on his threat to veto the bill, we will put the proposal on the ballot for voter approval as a constitutional amendment,” Sweeney said again Monday. “He will have the opportunity to do what is best for workers and the economy, but we won’t allow his opposition to stop us. This is an issue of financial fairness and greater economic equality.”
In 2013, voters passed a constitutional amendment to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $8.25 per hour and tie all future increases to the consumer price index. The state’s current minimum wage is set at $8.38 per hour.
“There is a nationwide movement to ensure that all workers are given a living wage to support themselves and their families and to try to close the gap of income inequality that has grown worse in recent years,” Sweeney added. “New Jersey will play a leadership role but these are not political victories, they are steps of economic progress for working people.”
Touch and go BIO-key feels Microsoft deal will be huge
For the first time in its history, Microsoft has included biosecurity software in its newest operating system, Windows 10. This update gives Microsoft’s 200 million Windows 10 users the opportunity to integrate biosecurity into their personal computing.It also gives Wall-based BIO-key a whole new set of consumers in need of its product, according CEO Michael DePasquale.
“We have native integration with the Windows 10 platform, so a Windows 10 user can take one of our sensors and basically plug it to their USB port and automatically replace their PIN or their password to access their device,” DePasquale said. “This is a very powerful testament to biometrics and to the replacement of passwords and PINs.”
By working as the exclusive biometric partner to Microsoft, BIO-key hopes it can directly access these users to nearly double its revenue.
“Their plan is to have over a billion Windows 10 users over the next 18 months,” DePasquale said. “So, we’re going to ride along with them on this adventure.”
In the last months of 2015, the company engaged in a 12-city tour with the Seattle-based software company that was called “Ignite Your Business.” The events were used to introduce Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016 to its enterprise customers.
“Microsoft is a very big believer, now, in moving everybody off to a more secure authentication medium,” he said. “As a result of those events, we generated well over 600 qualified leads and opportunities with Fortune 500 companies that are interested in replacing their passwords and making their authentication for their employees and customers more secure.”
To augment this push, the company also announced some new additions to its hardware offerings, including SideTouch, an updated version of the company’s mini fingerprint reader known as SideSwipe, which it debuted at the end of February.
“Instead of swiping your finger along the sensor, you just touch it,” he said. “(The reception) was outstanding.”
That development, DePasquale said, came from market demand.
“People prefer touch these days,” he said. “You look at the iPhone, it has what’s called ‘Touch ID’ on it.”
The company hopes to best capitalize on this momentum by taking these technologies to the retail market sometime this year.
“This is the first time in our history that we’re looking at the consumer markets as well as the enterprise and government (markets), which is where we’ve really cut our teeth,” he said. “Because Windows 10 has that native support for biometrics, there’s no reason you couldn’t go into a Microsoft store or Amazon and order one of these to replace your password.”
At $39.99, DePasquale believes the company has found the right price point for the consumer, calling the product “very inexpensive, very high quality.”
To further bolster this momentum the company has garnered through its new products and relationship with Microsoft, BIO-key also has just acquired $19.5 million in financing from its Chinese partner, China Goldjoy Group.
Much of the deal was finalized in October 2015, DePasquale said.
“We did a financing with private, commercial investors in China who are our partner with some of the hardware we were making,” he said. “So, we had a longstanding relationship with them for more than two years and they decided it was the right time for them to make an investment in BIO-key and ratchet up our relationship.”
“That’s a seminal event for the company because it really gives us the resources to build out our business and do it in a much more aggressive manner,” he said.
The company also licensed software from an affiliate of its Chinese partner, which will serve as the basis for a new platform the company is building to be used in the payments industry.
“We’re going to be integrating our biometric technology with the technology that we have acquired to go after the payments business, first in China, then throughout Asia (before) we move here to Europe and North America,” he said. “That will, in and of itself, it will change the dynamics of the company.”
But what about the competition? As this tech sector grows, is BIO-key worried about other companies encroaching on the biosecurity market?
“Our form factor and our price really give us a huge competitive advantage,” DePasquale said. “And, with our Chinese partner, our manufacturing capability is significant and far less costly than what our competitors may be able to produce.”
That doesn’t mean the company isn’t watching the clock.
“There’s no rush to get to market because we’re concerned about competition, but there’s a rush to take advantage of that uptick that Microsoft is experiencing by upgrading all those customers to Windows 10,” he said.
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South Jersey’s Assembly Democrats call on Prieto to post Atlantic City takeover bill
Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald penned an open letter to Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto over the weekend urging him to post a bill allowing for a state takeover of Atlantic City’s finances for a vote.The letter, which featured the signatures of 12 other South Jersey Assembly Democrats in addition to Greenwald (D-Voorhees), called on Prieto (D-Secaucus) to at least consider the measure and allow legislators to decide its fate.
“A failure to act in response to this dire circumstance is not an option,” the Assembly members wrote in the letter. “The majority of the New Jersey General Assembly cannot stand idly by and passively watch the collapse of one of our greatest cities and the financial impairment of an entire county and region of our state.”
Already passed by the Senate last month and strongly supported by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), the takeover bill would grant the state greater power and responsibility in the restructuring of Atlantic City’s finances for a five-year period.
Prieto, alongside Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, has rejected the measure on the grounds that it goes too far and threatens existing collective bargaining contracts.
Gov. Chris Christie, a supporter of the takeover bill, chimed in late last week in a news conference, during which he accused Prieto of “playing gubernatorial politics with the public-sector unions” and placing the entire state’s financial well-being at risk.
Christie doubled down by saying that if Prieto doesn’t post the bill for a vote, he’ll work to campaign against a voter referendum this fall that seeks to expand casino gaming beyond Atlantic City.
Prieto fired back with a statement noting that while he is “still willing to compromise,” it “must be a real compromise that protects core principles.”
The letter issued by Greenwald also warned that the stalemate threatens the entire state’s economy.
“The crisis of Atlantic City unfortunately does not stop at the city’s borders,” the letter said. “Atlantic City’s financial ruin will have a significant impact on other New Jersey governmental entities. These entities and all taxpayers will suffer as the costs of borrowing skyrocket because lenders will now be on notice that the state may not stand behind other financially distressed governmental entities. These are the ramifications that will be felt throughout the state if the majority of the New Jersey General Assembly continues to passively watch this financial destruction unfold. The course of inaction you have chosen for us will not allow for a faithful discharge of our duties as members of the New Jersey General Assembly.”
But just as some of South Jersey’s Democratic Assembly members have dug in, counterparts from North Jersey have largely sided with Prieto.
“I stand with Speaker Prieto in urging the governor to act or come to the table and listen to new ideas before it’s too late,” said Assemblyman James Kennedy (D-Rahway).
“Now is the time to work together,” added Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D-Bayonne). “I hope the governor will forget all the political theatrics and work with Speaker Prieto and the Assembly on a sensible solution that doesn’t do more harm than good.”
South Jersey law firm expands through acquisition
A South Jersey law firm has acquired a boutique workers’ compensation practice, it announced Monday.Freeman Huber Sacks Brennan & Fingerman, located in Haddonfield, will now be part of Westmont-based Brown & Connery LLP. The deal adds seven attorneys and an office to Brown & Connery, which will now have 44 lawyers and five offices in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
William T. Freeman, managing partner of the smaller firm, will become a partner with Brown & Connery, leading its workers’ compensation defense practice.
“We are very pleased that the Freeman firm has agreed to join Brown & Connery,” Stephen J. DeFeo, Brown & Connery’s managing partner, said in a prepared statement. “Their workers’ compensation focus and experience makes them a perfect fit for us. This addition will expand the range of services available to clients served by our employment law department. It will also provide their existing clients with a full array of employer-related representation.
“We are excited to have them join us and we look forward to providing additional services to our clients and theirs.”