Wise Young
02-10-2006, 03:40 AM
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Corzine faces tough job in boosting state business
Sunday, February 5, 2006
By HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER
Special Report: Forecast '06
The day Jon Corzine became New Jersey's governor, his counterpart in Pennsylvania sprang a nasty surprise.
Gov. Ed Rendell said he had lured 116-year-old Lenox Group Inc. -- one of New Jersey's oldest manufacturers -- from Lawrenceville to a new home in Bristol, Pa.
The china maker's move across the Delaware -- from under Corzine's nose -- demonstrated the challenge facing the new governor in his effort to boost the state as a center of commerce.
For years, business leaders have complained that New Jersey is an unfriendly, expensive and difficult environment in which to operate. Lately, however, those complaints have conveyed a more urgent message: The state could face some hard times if something is not done.
Yet some business leaders are confident that Corzine's two-pronged experience -- as a senator in Washington and chairman of Goldman Sachs -- makes him the right man at the right time.
"For the first time in years I am feeling very hopeful," said Maxine Ballen, president and CEO of the New Jersey Technology Council, a trade group.
She reeled off a list of changes needed to make the state more business friendly. They include the creation of a simpler process for getting permits and licenses, state support in getting capital and a more visible business advocate.
Then she added, "I think this man gets it."
For his part, Corzine has frequently said that job creation and economic growth is a high priority to help plug the state's $6 billion budget gap with more tax revenue.
He cites an estimate that 55,000 new jobs would add $300 million to state coffers. But he has offered only a few ideas on how to get there.
His suggestions include moving the task of job growth and economic development into the governor's office; creating the position of foreign trade representative; and consolidating 16 job growth functions under the state Economic Development Authority.
He faces a difficult task.
A study released in November by Rutgers University economists James Hughes and Joseph Seneca found a "startling erosion" in the state's well-educated, well-paid workforce.
The pair found that globalization, deregulation and technological change had "reshaped" New Jersey's economy, eating into its position as the "leading technological edge of the American economy."
The attrition, they said, affected 10 key technology-based industries that once helped the state transition from a waning manufacturing hub to a modern center of information and knowledge jobs.
In 1990, for instance, New Jersey had 20 percent of the jobs in the nation's pharmaceutical and medicine industries. But that had shrunk by 2004 to 13.8 percent.
The state's share of telecommunications jobs went from 5.8 percent to 3.9 percent over the same period. And its share of computer systems design and related services went from 6.4 percent to 4.3 percent.
Hughes and Seneca said what's needed is a sustained, well-funded plan that would do three things: boost growth through university research projects; promote entrepreneurial activity with incubators; and assist research in existing businesses.
That could prove difficult, however, given the state's budget crisis.
Another report -- released in January by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce -- found the state's effort to attract and retain companies far short of what's needed.
The chamber commissioned the report after New Jersey fell from 26th to 44th in an annual index reflecting the relative competitiveness of the states.
more...
Corzine faces tough job in boosting state business
Sunday, February 5, 2006
By HUGH R. MORLEY
STAFF WRITER
Special Report: Forecast '06
The day Jon Corzine became New Jersey's governor, his counterpart in Pennsylvania sprang a nasty surprise.
Gov. Ed Rendell said he had lured 116-year-old Lenox Group Inc. -- one of New Jersey's oldest manufacturers -- from Lawrenceville to a new home in Bristol, Pa.
The china maker's move across the Delaware -- from under Corzine's nose -- demonstrated the challenge facing the new governor in his effort to boost the state as a center of commerce.
For years, business leaders have complained that New Jersey is an unfriendly, expensive and difficult environment in which to operate. Lately, however, those complaints have conveyed a more urgent message: The state could face some hard times if something is not done.
Yet some business leaders are confident that Corzine's two-pronged experience -- as a senator in Washington and chairman of Goldman Sachs -- makes him the right man at the right time.
"For the first time in years I am feeling very hopeful," said Maxine Ballen, president and CEO of the New Jersey Technology Council, a trade group.
She reeled off a list of changes needed to make the state more business friendly. They include the creation of a simpler process for getting permits and licenses, state support in getting capital and a more visible business advocate.
Then she added, "I think this man gets it."
For his part, Corzine has frequently said that job creation and economic growth is a high priority to help plug the state's $6 billion budget gap with more tax revenue.
He cites an estimate that 55,000 new jobs would add $300 million to state coffers. But he has offered only a few ideas on how to get there.
His suggestions include moving the task of job growth and economic development into the governor's office; creating the position of foreign trade representative; and consolidating 16 job growth functions under the state Economic Development Authority.
He faces a difficult task.
A study released in November by Rutgers University economists James Hughes and Joseph Seneca found a "startling erosion" in the state's well-educated, well-paid workforce.
The pair found that globalization, deregulation and technological change had "reshaped" New Jersey's economy, eating into its position as the "leading technological edge of the American economy."
The attrition, they said, affected 10 key technology-based industries that once helped the state transition from a waning manufacturing hub to a modern center of information and knowledge jobs.
In 1990, for instance, New Jersey had 20 percent of the jobs in the nation's pharmaceutical and medicine industries. But that had shrunk by 2004 to 13.8 percent.
The state's share of telecommunications jobs went from 5.8 percent to 3.9 percent over the same period. And its share of computer systems design and related services went from 6.4 percent to 4.3 percent.
Hughes and Seneca said what's needed is a sustained, well-funded plan that would do three things: boost growth through university research projects; promote entrepreneurial activity with incubators; and assist research in existing businesses.
That could prove difficult, however, given the state's budget crisis.
Another report -- released in January by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce -- found the state's effort to attract and retain companies far short of what's needed.
The chamber commissioned the report after New Jersey fell from 26th to 44th in an annual index reflecting the relative competitiveness of the states.
more...