NJ ChamberEdge
NJ ChamberEdge Sponsor
Business Insights & Inspiration
Business Insights & Inspiration
NJ ChamberEdge Sponsor

The Edge for February 2024

An Exclusive Article for NJ ChamberEdge

NJCC Reporters Forum Panel

New Jersey's top business and political reporters engaged in a candid and wide-ranging discussion during a Feb. 15 Reporters’ Forum hosted by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. The Forum, moderated by ROI-NJ Owner and Editor Tom Bergeron, tackled pressing issues including World Cup soccer in New Jersey, funding for mass transportation, the state’s disparity study, the future of artificial intelligence, and the prospects of tax increases in the upcoming state budget. See what they said below.

 

FIFA World Cup Final is Coming to New Jersey

Brent JohnsonBrent Johnson
Politics Reporter
The Star-Ledger & NJ.com

Everybody celebrated the big announcement that Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford was chosen to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final, and seven other games. Now, reality is kicking in. Gov. Murphy announced that the state needs to raise $100 million to $150 million from the business community to cover the hosting responsibilities.

“It’s a lot of money and it will be a challenge,” said Brent Johnson, politics reporter for The Star-Ledger & nj.com. “Part of the reason (New Jersey/New York) got this bid is because Gov. Murphy is so invested in soccer. So he is going to be invested in getting that money.”

Bergeron suggested that being part of eight warm-weather soccer matches with enormous global appeal will be attractive to companies. For perspective, he noted that New Jersey raised $100 million for the 2014 Super Bowl “which was a one-game-event in the cold.”

The eight soccer matches at MetLife Stadium over 39 days in the summer of 2026 are projected to generate over $2 billion in economic impact for the New York/New Jersey region, and support over 14,000 jobs, according to projections from FIFA, soccer;s international governing body.

Matt FazelpoorMatt Fazelpoor
Staff Writer - Gov./Economic Development
NJBIZ

“It’s a huge win,” said Matt Fazelpoor, staff writer-government/economic development at NJBIZ. “Even if the numbers don’t come to close to projections, the economic impact and cultural impact for the area is huge.”

Stacie Sherman, senior editor-Americas News Desk at Bloomberg News, said it is irritating that FIFA is calling the stadium ‘New York, New Jersey.’ 

“The stadium is in New Jersey,” Sherman said. “On the other hand, the only way New Jersey got the deal was to partner with New York. You have to wonder how much of the benefit will go to New York and how much to New Jersey. People will stay at hotels and eat at restaurants. You hope that’s going to be on the New Jersey side, but you don’t know.”

There are economic benefits for South Jersey too, said John Reitmeyer, budget & public finance writer at NJ Spotlight News. “There will be six games just over the river in Philadelphia including a July 4th game on the nation’s 250th birthday,” Reitmeyer said. “So there are big opportunities for hotels and for a lot of economic activity in South Jersey.”

A hot topic is whether NJ Transit will have the ability to transport thousands of fans to and from the stadium – as the transportation agency deals with a structural deficit that seems to grow more dire every year. “We’ll see if Gov. Murphy on one hand proposes a boost in the subsidy for NJ Transit in the upcoming state budget, and, on top of that, there is talk of creating a dedicated funding source for NJ Transit so it does not have to rely on whatever is in the budget from year to year,” Reitmeyer said. “You’d think he’d want NJ Transit firing on all cylinders” in time for the World Cup.

State Budget and Taxes

With federal pandemic aid ending and state tax revenue currently coming in lower than projected, the state has challenging budget years ahead, the reporters said. The deadline for the next stat budget is June 30.

There is chatter about raising revenue through tax increases in next year’s budget – such as increasing the state Corporation Business Tax, the sales tax or the gas tax, Johnson said.

Stacie ShermanStacie Sherman
Senior Editor - Americas News Desk
Bloomberg News

“This is going to be a tough budget,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to say (we are looking at a budget fight) that leads to a state shutdown,” Johnson said. “But we are dealing with those kind of issues.”

Sherman cautioned that the public response was not pretty when Govs. Florio and Corzine proposed sales tax increases. Any sales tax increase “is politically fraught,” Sherman said. “It is a sensitive topic because it effects everybody. It has proven to tick people off.”

“While wealthier people probably pay more in (total) sales tax, lower-income people probably pay bigger share of their income,” Reitmeyer said.

“Politically, these fiscal issues may be more of a concern next year, but it’s already effecting this year’s budget,” he added.

Disparity Study

The recent release of a state Disparity Study by the Murphy administration has confirmed that a substantial majority of state-awarded contracts for goods and services go to businesses owned by white men, leaving insufficient opportunities for minorities and women. This disparity places New Jersey behind other states that seem to be more effectively addressing the issue.

“To me, the big news story is absolutely nothing has happened since the release of the study,” Bergeron said. “They haven’t even announced a blue ribbon committee that’s going to look at things. The silence has been surprising.”

John ReitmeyerJohn Reitmeyer
Budget/Finance Writer
NJ Spotlight News

“It will take a while to fix, as more contracts are awarded,” Sherman said.

“There are eye-opening stats in that report for sure, especially for a state like New Jersey. The state Treasury is trying to do a better job with a new data base to keep track of some of this so we can be more aware going forward,” Reitmeyer said. “There have been bills already introduced and attempts to whittle away at this, but probably not as ambitious as the problem demands. We don’t have to re-invent the wheel. They could check on what New York, Philadelphia and other places are doing where they are more successful at (conducting) a fair contracting process.”

“More damning in the report,” Reitmeyer added, “are some of the narratives from individual contractors who were seeking to do business with state, and how disheartened they were with accusations of political favoritism. It’s tough to read. It’s like punching against a wall from their perspective.”

The Future of Artificial Intelligence

Tom BergeronTom Bergeron
Owner, Editor and Chief Content Officer
ROI-NJ

Gov. Murphy and Princeton University recently announced plans to create an artificial intelligence innovation hub at Princeton University. It is expected to bring together AI researchers, industry leaders, startup companies and other collaborators to advance R&D in the field.

“At the very least, it is good to be at the ground floor with this,” Fazelpoor said. “Beyond the potential economic impact, it’s good to be a thought leader and it is vital from a societal point of view to have a research hub like this. To have Princeton on board gives instant credibility to the project.”

Added Sherman, “AI has potential. It was a huge business story in 2023 and will be a big business story in 2024. New Jersey has a lot going for it and it is doing the right thing by trying to taking advantage the early research and development of AI.”

Responses for this article were edited for space and clarity.

Search the Edge Archive

Newsmakers

Thomas BisignaniHackensack Meridian Pascack Valley Medical Center appointed Thomas Bisignani as CFO. Bisignani most recently served as CFO at the Moses Taylor Foundation in Scranton, Pa.


Johnson & Johnson announced Aug. 20 it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire V-Wave Ltd., a privately held company that develops treatment options for heart failure. Under the terms of the deal, the New Brunswick-based pharmaceutical giant will purchase V-Wave for $600 million. The transaction also incudes the potential for additional milestone payments of up to approximately $1.1 billion. If approved, the acquisition is expected to close before the end of 2024.


Kenvue, the Johnson & Johnson spinoff that is the world’s largest pure-play consumer health company by revenue, announced that it has appointed Kathleen Pawlus and Kirk Perry as new independent directors.


Delta Dental of New Jersey announced that its 34th annual Golf Classic raised $133,000 for Special Olympics New Jersey. The event has netted more than $1.8 million over the past 30 years, making it possible for thousands of Special Olympics athletes to pursue their athletic dreams through year-round sports training and competition.


New Jersey Institute of Technology will rename its College of Science and Liberal Arts to the Jordan Hu College of Science and Liberal Arts in recognition of a historic gift from the alum. Hu, Class of 1989, is the founder and CEO of RiskVal Financial Solutions and a former member of the university’s Board of Trustees. The amount of the gift was not disclosed but university officials said his contribution marks the single largest philanthropic commitment ever made by a NJIT graduate to the school.


Under its Student Leaders program, Bank of America has placed a group of high school upperclassmen in paid, eight-week internships at local nonprofit organizations.


Sandy CurkoNew Jersey Institute of Technology named Sandy Curko to serve as general counsel and vice president of legal affairs, effective Oct. 2. Curko brings over 25 years of extensive legal experience, having represented corporate entities and educational institutions throughout her career.


William BradyNew Jersey Institute of Technology named William Brady to serve as the new vice president of human resources, effective Oct. 1. Brady brings two decades of HR experience and leadership. He previously served as chief human resources officer at both Boise State University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.


Kelly ConawayKelly Conaway has been promoted to managing director for CBRE‘s Greater Philadelphia region, which includes oversight for southern New Jersey, as well as downtown and suburban Philadelphia, Delaware, Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley and Central Pennsylvania. Conaway previously led the marketing department in the Northeast for nearly two decades.


Sills Cummis & Gross Member Thomas H. Prol has been elected to the American Bar Association (ABA) Board of Governors for a three-year term.


Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC is launching an alternative dispute resolution group, to be led by chairs Joseph Dickson, a former federal magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and Nicholas Grieco, a member of the litigation group and an experienced mediator.


Stephanie OlivoStephanie Olivo, the longtime director of compliance at the N.J. Election Law Enforcement Commission, has joined McCarter & English, the law firm recently announced. Olivo, in her position at ELEC since 2015, will advise corporate clients on compliance.


Rowan University has named Matthew Sarkees the dean of the Rohrer College of Business. Sarkees, who comes to the school from Villanova, is a professor of marketing and a certified public accountant. He has held various management and marketing roles, including positions at Ernst & Young and IBM.