July 2019 – State of Innovation Dashboard
Ireland in Rearview, India Up Ahead
Choose New Jersey successfully led its first business and academia-driven mission to Ireland earlier this month visiting Dublin, Cork and Galway. Among the highlights, the delegation met with Irish companies at 4 industry roundtables held by U.S. Commercial Services/Select USA, American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Galway Chamber of Commerce and Cork Chamber of Commerce. Rutgers University signed 3 MOUs between University College Cork, National University of Ireland Galway and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology to solidify research collaborations. Since returning home, our team has been busy following up on nearly 20 leads, while simultaneously planning for our next trip. Announced this month, Governor Murphy will be the first New Jersey Governor to lead a seven-day, six-city trip to India in September. As our State is home to one of the largest concentrations of the Indian-American diaspora, the focus of the mission will be to strengthen trade and economic ties and find new opportunities for synergy with the subcontinent.
New Jersey Economic Trends
0
Jobs Created
YoY +1.1%
0
%
Unemployment Rate
▼ Declined .4% YoY | US: 3.6%
▲
0
%
U.S. Consumer Price Index
YoY
+
0
%
US GPD (YoY)
NJ GDP: 2.4% YoY
Real Estate Vacancy Rates
Industrial
4.3% ▼ declined .1% North
4.7% ▲ increased .2% Central
4.0% ▼ declined .5% South
Office
11.7% ▼ declined .7% North
10.5% ▼ declined 1.6% Central
8.0% ▼ declined .1% South
Bond Rating
Moody: A3
XXX No change over 2018, stable
S&P: A-
XXX No change over 2018, stable
Sources: U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Big Moves
Bet on IT
New Jersey takes its crown as the sports betting capital of the country. Bettors wagered more in NJ than in any other state in May, succeeding Las Vegas sports books by $1.5m.
Power in Progress
PSEG – New Jersey’s largest and oldest utility company – announced an ambitious clean-energy goal: net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
South Jersey Gets Its Wings
Atlantic County Economic Alliance was awarded a game-changing $1.6m federal grant to advance aviation technology in South Jersey.
Board Spotlight
ACCNJ
Associated Construction Contractors of New Jersey’s Annual Construction Industry Career Day, in partnership with SMW 25, LiUNA, IBEW 102 and ELEC 825, introduced high school students to opportunities in the trades, filling NJ’s talent pipeline with skilled workers eager to build.
Gibbons
The 2nd Annual Voice Summit – the world’s largest voice tech event – was held from July 22-25 at NJIT in Newark. Gibbons P.C., sponsor, was eager to showcase the city to 5,000+ attendees as an anchor firm, offering up 6 panelists and hosting a welcome center at their HQ.
CEO Corner – Jose Lozano
It’s officially been one year since I’ve taken the helm as President & CEO of Choose New Jersey. Leading an organization coming up on the tenth anniversary of its founding has been both exciting and challenging. I believe we are now seeing Choose New Jersey rise to its full potential, with renewed focus and energy on international outreach and innovation-driven target sectors. Over the last 365 days, Governor Murphy rolled out his economic development plan, we hosted two Opportunity Zone events, planned two international trade missions, showcased at BIO and SelectUSA and announced our Newark office move planned for this fall. I recently sat down with ROI-NJ to discuss the significant progress that we’ve made, the future of the organization and New Jersey’s business climate. Choose New Jersey is continuing the momentum into 2020, and with a great team behind me and the support of our board, I look forward to shepherding the organization’s growth to best serve our State.
Point of Pride
New Jersey is home to courageous innovators who achieve humankind’s greatest feats. As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing this month, we honor New Jersey NASA astronaut and Montclair native Buzz Aldrin – the second man to step foot on the moon.
Notable & Quotable
“We are delighted to welcome the New Jersey delegation to Cork. Our Chamber [supports our] members to make connections in new markets and helping them expand their international networks. The synergies with New Jersey in terms of our strengths in similar sectors provide an opportunity for collaboration and potential joint initiatives and we look forward to working together in the future.”
-Paula Cogan, President of Cork Chamber of Commerce at the Chamber’s Business Briefing and Roundtable Discussion in Cork, Ireland
NJ Buzz Blog
Rutgers University is leading New Jersey’s fight against climate change. Peggy Brennan-Tonetta, Ph.D., Executive Director, Economic Development and Innovation, New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station pens a guest blog submission highlighting Rutgers’ research centers and programs collaborating with government and industry to optimize clean energy technologies and policies.
Forging Our Clean Energy Future
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