Gov. Phil Murphy and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced a strategic partnership between the Newark Alliance and Choose New Jersey on Wednesday that will position and highlight Newark as a major driver of the state’s branding and corporate attraction efforts.

The partnership will seek to align mutual corporate attraction, marketing and branding efforts.

Choose New Jersey and the Newark Alliance will share resources dedicated to research, policy or other agreed-upon priority areas; data sets and analytics; alignment on a comprehensive marketing and branding campaign; the development of corporate attraction strategies and tactics; and the identification of priority areas for real estate development and collaboration around corporate engagement opportunities, including member events and programs, the groups said.

In addition to the partnership, Choose New Jersey will be implementing its “ChooseNJ 2.0” strategy, the Governor’s Office said. This includes creating a stronger organizational brand, greater organizational alignment to the governor’s economic strategic plan and developing a marketing strategy that articulates the benefits of establishing a presence in the Garden State.

Choose New Jersey announced previously that it intends to move its operations to Newark, joining the existing satellite offices of the governor and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

The announcement followed a meeting of approximately three dozen high-level leaders, including Murphy, Baraka, Choose New Jersey CEO Jose Lozano, Newark Alliance CEO Aisha Glover and corporate leaders from across the state. It was hosted by Prudential Financial CEO Charles Lowrey.

Murphy, in a statement, said Newark continues to be a growing economic driver in the state.

“Under the leadership and foresight of Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark continues to grow with unmatched momentum,” he said. “The city is proving to be an economic powerhouse making a compelling case for businesses to take a closer look at what the city and entire state have to offer.

“The city’s inspiring story of urban revitalization strengthens the state brand and helps remind people of the vital assets that are readily available.”

Baraka, in a statement, said the partnership will help Newark grow as a business center.

“Newark’s surge in investment and development and our position as a top Amazon HQ2 finalist have already attracted national attention to our city as the place to be for savvy businesses large and small,” he said. “This comprehensive initiative will enable Newark to build and expand on that momentum.”

Lozano said the move will help the city and state in a number of ways.

“This partnership will allow us to greater position the region for talent attraction and retention, strengthen the state brand, and promote its assets to outside companies and potential employees alike,” he said in a statement.

“With the alignment and collaboration of our organization and Newark Alliance, both the state and the city will see great benefit from our individual and combined efforts.”

Those efforts will include the Newark Alliance launching a comprehensive marketing and branding campaign for Newark, focusing on job-intensive opportunities and promoting the city as an ideal headquarters location to site selectors, the Alliance said.

The organization also will be working to identify priority areas for real estate development, while developing a robust talent pipeline through its existing programs such as “Career Works” and “Newark2020.”

“Where Newark goes, so, too, does the state,” Glover said.

Attendees at the meeting were greeted with opening remarks from Lata Reddy and Ralph LaRossa.

Reddy, chair and president of the Prudential Foundation and a senior vice president of diversity, inclusion & impact for Prudential Financial, also serves as a chair for Newark Alliance.

LaRossa, president and chief operating officer of PSEG Power, chairs Choose New Jersey.

Read full article here.