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Corzine to seek business
Plans to name czar for economic development
BY STACIE BABULA BLOOMBERG NEWS
Gov. Jon Corzine, speaking to a group of mayors in his first full day on the job, said he will appoint an economic development czar to help attract and expand business in the state.
The appointee will report directly to Corzine, who took the oath of office Tuesday. The new governor said he has some people in mind for the job, though he didn't say when he would announce his choice.
''We have got to turn around the growth of business in the state," said Corzine, former chief executive of Goldman, Sachs & Co. The Democrat pledged during his campaign to use his Wall Street experience to expand the state's economy.
Other states are wooing companies looking to open or relocate business, Corzine said. Attracting them will help New Jersey create jobs and increase the tax base, he said.
New Jersey was once the leader in telecommunications, and it still has more jobs in drugmaking than anyplace else in the world.
AT&T and Merck & Co. are among the large employers in New Jersey that have shed thousands of workers during the years because of mergers and business reversals.
Corzine, 59, said during his campaign that economic growth is the only way to generate the billions of dollars needed to end chronic budget deficits, rebuild decaying highways and reduce the highest property taxes in the nation.
Corzine said he supports the mayors' call to overhaul the state's system of property taxation, which has driven residents out of the state and hurt small businesses.
''To put it simply, we are growing too few jobs, losing high-paying, value-added jobs and replacing them with lower-paying service work," Corzine said Tuesday in his inaugural address. ''To meet this challenge we will embrace pro-growth and pro-business initiatives."
Corzine credited his predecessor, Richard Codey, with working to keep Verizon Communications in the state.
Last year, Verizon considered locating its operations center in New York and Virginia before deciding on the Basking Ridge section of Bernards, a decision that state officials said retained 2,000 jobs and added another 1,750. Verizon decided on New Jersey after the state's economic development authority approved a $63.8 million grant for Verizon and exempted the company from a sales and use tax for the cost of its expansion and retention of employees.
Corzine, in his inaugural address, said the state has done too little to fight for the jobs in sectors including biotechnology, energy and finance. He also scolded lawmakers for ignoring or neglecting issues such as the state's child welfare system and the funding of schools and employee pensions, and said ''that neglect is sometimes rooted in private or political gain, at the expense of public interest."
Corzine to seek business
Plans to name czar for economic development
BY STACIE BABULA BLOOMBERG NEWS
Gov. Jon Corzine, speaking to a group of mayors in his first full day on the job, said he will appoint an economic development czar to help attract and expand business in the state.
The appointee will report directly to Corzine, who took the oath of office Tuesday. The new governor said he has some people in mind for the job, though he didn't say when he would announce his choice.
''We have got to turn around the growth of business in the state," said Corzine, former chief executive of Goldman, Sachs & Co. The Democrat pledged during his campaign to use his Wall Street experience to expand the state's economy.
Other states are wooing companies looking to open or relocate business, Corzine said. Attracting them will help New Jersey create jobs and increase the tax base, he said.
New Jersey was once the leader in telecommunications, and it still has more jobs in drugmaking than anyplace else in the world.
AT&T and Merck & Co. are among the large employers in New Jersey that have shed thousands of workers during the years because of mergers and business reversals.
Corzine, 59, said during his campaign that economic growth is the only way to generate the billions of dollars needed to end chronic budget deficits, rebuild decaying highways and reduce the highest property taxes in the nation.
Corzine said he supports the mayors' call to overhaul the state's system of property taxation, which has driven residents out of the state and hurt small businesses.
''To put it simply, we are growing too few jobs, losing high-paying, value-added jobs and replacing them with lower-paying service work," Corzine said Tuesday in his inaugural address. ''To meet this challenge we will embrace pro-growth and pro-business initiatives."
Corzine credited his predecessor, Richard Codey, with working to keep Verizon Communications in the state.
Last year, Verizon considered locating its operations center in New York and Virginia before deciding on the Basking Ridge section of Bernards, a decision that state officials said retained 2,000 jobs and added another 1,750. Verizon decided on New Jersey after the state's economic development authority approved a $63.8 million grant for Verizon and exempted the company from a sales and use tax for the cost of its expansion and retention of employees.
Corzine, in his inaugural address, said the state has done too little to fight for the jobs in sectors including biotechnology, energy and finance. He also scolded lawmakers for ignoring or neglecting issues such as the state's child welfare system and the funding of schools and employee pensions, and said ''that neglect is sometimes rooted in private or political gain, at the expense of public interest."
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 10:44 AM
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