Notebook: No matter where you go, Jersey always is in the house

He can rattle off his ties to New Jersey like so many others on the governor’s five-day economic-mission trip to the U.K: Born in Oceanport, raised in Cranford, attended school at Pingry.

Daniel Glazer can keep going. Both his parents are Rutgers grads — and his wife, who he met in Hoboken, is a graduate of Rutgers Law School.

What made Glazer different from the other delegates on Gov. Phil Murphy’s five-day economic mission trip to the United Kingdom is this: He’s not a delegate.

Glazer is the founding partner of the London office of Wilson Sonsini, a leading firm in advising UK and European tech and life science companies on how to raise money and expand their business in the U.S. market.

After a roundtable discussion between the governor, the delegates and Wilson Sonsini clients Thursday in London, Glazer told ROI-NJ that he doesn’t necessarily steer all clients to New Jersey (the state sells itself, he said), but he acknowledged his connection to the state makes the discussions easier.

“I can get very granular about it,” he said, making a Jersey joke in the process. “I can talk about, ‘What exit should they choose?’”

Glazer, who moved to London in 2018, remains a part-time (and tax-paying) resident who still has a house at the Shore. He said his knowledge of the state — from the differences in the various colleges and universities, to the impact the Acela line has on doing business from Washington to Boston to where to get good pizza, comes across with clients.

Glazer’s knowledge of New Jersey was not unique on the first day of the trip.

A quick circle of the attendees at the AI Summit sponsored by the Financial Times showed a knowledge of New Jersey that was far greater than has been found on previous economic mission trips.

Most knew, for instance, that New Jersey and New York were two different places (don’t laugh, that’s not as understood as you would think).

Unfortunately, they also got some of their insights into New Jersey from TV: The Jersey Shore, Cake Boss and the Sopranos all came up as answers.

As did another tidbit from a podcast that stunned one attendee: “Isn’t New Jersey the state where you can’t pump your own gas?”

Friday’s Schedule:

• Trip to U.S. Embassy for country briefing;
• Roundtable discussion with Association of British HealthTech industries;
• Lunch meeting with BAB Group (British American Business);
• Meeting and MOU signing with The Climate Group;
• Dinner (and optional pub drinks).

Football Fun

After a long day of meetings, a few members of the delegation took in a Chelsea match, seeing the home squad produce an emphatic 8-0 victory over a team from Armenia in a UEFA Conference League match.

It was a ‘bucket-list’ event for Choose New Jersey Chief of Staff Ryan Fox, a lifelong Chelsea supporter.

It also was the first of two matches the group will take in: On Saturday, they will attend a Premier League match between Fulham and Crystal Palace (which is owned by Harris Blizter Sports Entertainment).

Murphy, a huge soccer fan and supporter who loves to mention that the 2026 World Cup final will be played in New Jersey, also has a planned meeting with the leaders of the Premier League about bringing more matches to the Garden State.

One more thing

The delegation is being led around London in two large vans: One named after Whitney Houston and one named after Jon Bon Jovi.

Sure, they could have chosen the Beatles and the Rolling Stones – that just wouldn’t have been a Jersey thing to do.

Read the article here.