Lower Alloways Creek, NJ – Governor Phil Murphy today joined U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, President of the New Jersey State Building & Construction Trades Council Bill Mullen, AECOM Tishman Community Relations Director Flora Ramos, elected officials, union leaders, environmental advocates, private sector partners, and representatives of the offshore wind industry for the groundbreaking of the New Jersey Wind Port, a first-in-the-nation infrastructure investment that will provide a location for essential staging, assembly, and manufacturing activities related to offshore wind projects on the East Coast.

In addition to the groundbreaking ceremony, the event also included the signing of a project labor agreement (PLA) for the project between AECOM-Tishman and the United Building Trades Council of Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO.

The largest economic investment in Salem County in decades, the New Jersey Wind Port has the potential to create up to 1,500 manufacturing, assembly, and operations jobs, as well as hundreds of union construction jobs in New Jersey. Manufacturing and marshalling projects supported by the Wind Port will drive economic growth in Salem County, in South Jersey, and throughout the state. Through the PLA signed today, the Murphy Administration has delivered on its commitment to use union labor to construct the Wind Port while setting a new standard for inclusion of minority and women workers and business owners.

“Investing in offshore wind is vital to building a stronger, greener economy that creates high-paying jobs to support a robust recovery from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and paves the way for long-term, equitable growth,” said Governor Murphy. “The New Jersey Wind Port will create thousands of high-quality jobs, bring millions of investment dollars to our state, and establish New Jersey as the national capital of offshore wind.”

“The New Jersey Wind Port represents the kind of technological innovation, broad-based partnership, and bold investment that we need to meet the climate challenge and create good jobs and an inclusive workforce in our country,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh. “This project and the good jobs that come with it serves as an important model for future infrastructure investments in this country.”

“Today’s groundbreaking represents the first step in a new era of economic development and job growth in South Jersey, with the ability to produce economic benefits for generations to come,” said Senate President Steve Sweeney. “Wind energy is our future – it’s clean, it’s safe, and it offers the opportunity for New Jersey to be a dominant leader in creating a new sector for our nation’s economy. Bringing offshore wind manufacturing to New Jersey is key to making the state a hub of the supply chain for wind energy products and services. The collaboration between the public and private sectors to get this done is a powerful reminder of what we have to do to create economic opportunities and what we can do to promote offshore wind energy.”

“The urgency of clean, renewable energy has not been greater than it is in this moment,” said Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin. “Turning New Jersey into the hub of our nation’s offshore wind industry, this groundbreaking marks the beginning of a more resilient environmental and economic future for us all, delivering on our state’s promise to be a bold and ambitious leader and innovator.”

“Today’s groundbreaking event marks one of the best examples yet of Governor Murphy’s bold new approach to economic development. This is a historic investment to support one of the newest and fastest-growing industries in the world that will address the climate crisis head-on and create thousands of good jobs throughout New Jersey,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “The New Jersey Wind Port will establish New Jersey as a global leader in the high-growth offshore wind industry while focusing from day one on ensuring local communities and historically disadvantaged groups benefit most. This is what stronger and fairer economic development looks like, and I am proud to work with Governor Murphy and the many other partners here today to make this project a reality.”

“NJBPU is proud to invest in this initiative. As a major component of our Energy Master Plan, offshore wind will be a pillar of achieving the Governor’s goal of 100 percent clean energy. The New Jersey Wind Port will be a critical project and can ensure our communities are able to access the full economic and environmental benefits of this growing renewable energy industry,” said New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Joseph L. Fiordaliso. “Today’s groundbreaking ceremony is an important step forward for this project that will cement New Jersey’s position as a leader in offshore wind development and pave the way for job creation and supply chain growth while lowering the future costs of offshore wind.”

“As New Jersey redoubles its efforts to reduce climate pollution and increase our State’s resilience to climate risks, we have the opportunity to build new and greener industries and the family-sustaining jobs that come with them,” said Shawn M. LaTourette, Commissioner of Environmental Protection and Co-Chair of Governor Murphy’s Council on the Green Economy. “The New Jersey Wind Port will stand as an example of New Jersey’s commitment to building a greener, more sustainable future that provides new economic opportunity for residents as we protect our environment and one another from the risks of climate change. I am proud of the role the Department of Environmental Protection has played in ensuring the responsible development of this project, and I look forward to many more like it in the years ahead.”

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