Sherrill Signs 'New Jersey Means Business' Order Setting State's Economic Plan Through 2030

A company trying to open, expand or simply stay in New Jersey can end up dealing with several state departments, authorities and programs at the same time. On Tuesday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed an executive order her office says is meant to pull that work into one plan.

Executive Order No. 28, signed Nov. 10, creates what the administration calls the New Jersey Means Business Economic Development Strategy, an economic development agenda that runs through 2030, the governor's office said. Sherrill signed it at a press conference in the Statehouse media room in Trenton, according to the governor's office. In a video released by her office, Sherrill says she is calling the strategy "New Jersey Means Business" and walks through its four goals.

"State government needs to match that ambition with a clear strategy and commitment to make our economy more competitive and dynamic," Sherrill said in the announcement.

The four priorities

The order tells state agencies to line up their economic development work behind four pillars through 2030:

• Business climate: make it easier to attract and grow businesses, including cutting costs and barriers, simplifying permitting and state services, preparing development sites and keeping existing employers in the state.
• Key industries: pick sectors where New Jersey is strong or can compete, and focus incentives, financing and workforce programs on them.
• Research and innovation: speed up the path from research to new companies and jobs, using state resources such as the New Jersey supercomputer initiative.
• Growth in every community: make state services, capital and contracting easier to reach for businesses of all sizes, and focus state action on communities facing persistent economic challenges.

The problem the order points to

The order itself lays out the issue. Businesses looking to locate, stay or expand in New Jersey may have to work with multiple state departments, authorities and programs, and the order says clearer points of contact and more coordinated state processes can reduce "unnecessary cost, delay, and uncertainty." It also notes that access to jobs, investment and business opportunity "vary significantly" from one New Jersey community to the next.

The order does not, on its own, change taxes, fees or incentive programs. It directs state agencies to study them and send recommendations to the governor, and it says it will be carried out subject to available funding.

Who is in charge

The order creates the New Jersey Means Business Economic Development Council, which reports to the governor's chief operating officer and is chaired by the governor's senior director of strategic initiatives and economic opportunity. Its members are the leaders of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the New Jersey Innovation Authority, and the departments of State, Labor and Workforce Development, Community Affairs, and the Treasury. The council must meet at least once every three months.

The order also ties the new strategy to the permitting reform effort Sherrill launched earlier this year under Executive Order No. 5, directing the state's permitting council to align that work with the plan within 90 days.

"After months of conversations with business leaders and entrepreneurs, the signing of today's Executive Order represents a bold step forward for New Jersey's economic future," NJEDA CEO Evan Weiss said in the governor's announcement.

What's next

The order sets a series of deadlines, counted from Nov. 10:

• Within 45 days: the governor's office convenes state agencies to line up revitalization efforts in Trenton and Atlantic City with the strategy.
• Within 90 days (by early February): initial recommendations to cut the cost and complexity of starting, running and growing a business; a statewide site readiness plan; plans for business retention and business attraction; a unified state brand for business marketing; a performance framework with statewide outcome measures; and work to align permitting, procurement and workforce efforts with the strategy.
• Within 120 days (by early March): a short list of priority industries for intensive state support, a review of the state's business incentive and funding programs, a statewide research and commercialization strategy, a plan to make Business.NJ.gov and other state services easier for small businesses to use, a new advisory group focused on small and midsized businesses, and a strategy for communities facing persistent economic challenges.
• Within 150 days (by early April): a cross-agency business and permitting navigation service for qualifying projects.

The council must publish an annual summary of progress on the strategy's website. Other reports and recommendations created under the order are treated as confidential advisory material for the governor and are not subject to the Open Public Records Act, except where the order requires information to be made public.

View the original video from the Office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill

Watch the original video from the Office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill | Read the governor's announcement | Read Executive Order No. 28

Video: Office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill (govsherrillnj). Photo: Office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, official portrait.

Source: Office of Gov. Mikie Sherrill.