5 Questions With New Jersey’s EDA Head: Murphy, Economy, Business

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — When Bergen County’s Tim Sullivan took over as CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) last winter, he said that it was an honor to return to his home state and join Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.

But now that the Maywood native has been behind the wheel of the EDA for almost a year, what does he think about the state’s economic future?

Patch recently posed five questions to Sullivan. Here’s what he thinks about the governor’s plans, higher education’s role in business and making New Jersey a “hub of innovation.”

PATCH: You took over as CEO at the EDA on Feb. 20. What have been the agency's biggest/most interesting achievements since then?

SULLIVAN: We’ve made significant changes at the NJEDA to support Governor Phil Murphy’s plan for a stronger and fairer economy New Jersey economy. This includes organizational changes such as the creation of the NJEDA’s Office of International Trade and Investment (OITI), which is charged with increasing Foreign Direct Investment into New Jersey. The Office of Economic Transformation (OET) was created to support Governor Murphy’s goal of making New Jersey the State of Innovation by accelerating the growth of New Jersey’s economy by developing and implementing initiatives and programs that will enhance the State’s long-term economic competitiveness in sectors such as clean energy, infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, technology, and life sciences.

Other changes have been made at the NJEDA to support the pillars of the Governor’s economic development strategic plan, including making government work better. Early in November, the NJEDA announced the realignment of its operations to better foster a dynamic, supportive environment for New Jersey’s entrepreneurs and small businesses, including the creation of a dedicated small business unit. The NJEDA’s new small business unit is charged with providing robust financial, workforce, and technical support to the State’s small business community, with a focus on historically underrepresented firms, including women, minority, veteran, disability, and LGBTQ-owned enterprises.

PATCH: Gov. Murphy has called for NJ to become a "hub of innovation", a goal that you supported. Can you tell us more about what this means in terms of actual policy and programs that the NJEDA will roll out?

SULLIVAN: Governor Murphy’s vision for making New Jersey the State of Innovation is driven by the power of the innovation sector to create more and better jobs across the State. A stronger and fairer economy will focus on growing our innovation economy and capturing the economic multiplier effects of those industries – up to five additional jobs are created by each job in the innovation economy.

To achieve the Governor’s vision, we have renewed our focus on supporting key growth sectors, including life sciences, information and high tech, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, advanced transportation, logistics, finance and insurance, food and beverage, and film and digital media. We have proposed smarter, more targeted incentives and programs to bolster high-wage, high-growth sectors that bring money into the state and support sustainable jobs for our residents.

Several initiatives announced during the year are helping to advance Governor Murphy’s goal of reclaiming the state’s preeminence in innovation including NJ Ignite, which provides rent support to technology and life sciences startups considering a move into incubators, accelerators, or coworking spaces.

In mid-November, we began accepting applications for a new round of funding for the Innovation Challenge, which helps municipalities and counties develop plans to build or augment their local innovation ecosystems. This second round follows an impressive response to round one of the Challenge, under which nine New Jersey communities were each awarded $100,000 to advance their planning projects in partnership with higher education institutions and other strategic partners. Approved applicants include the City of Bridgeton, City of New Brunswick, Passaic County, City of Trenton, Atlantic County, City of Atlantic City, Camden County, Union Township, and Monmouth County.

We recently began accepting applications for the 21st Century Redevelopment Program, which will provide grant funding to assist communities with developing solutions for repurposing local vacant or underutilized commercial and retail properties. The 21st Century Redevelopment Challenge was created in response to several demographic and economic trends that have resulted in an outmigration of jobs and population, leaving many office parks and shopping malls that once thrived now underutilized or vacant.

The proposed New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund (NJIEF) would raise capital by competitively auctioning state tax credits (over five years) to New Jersey corporations and partnering with private venture capital firms to co-invest these funds. Venture capital firms and the Evergreen Fund would then make joint investments in New Jersey-based startups, targeting life sciences, financial technology, digital media, and cybersecurity startups in particular. The NJIEF would reduce risk through diversification of managers and sectors, and would support diverse founders and entrepreneurs, reflective of New Jersey’s rich cultural makeup. The Governor and the EDA are particularly excited about the NJIEF proposal and its potential to make New Jersey the most inclusive innovation economy.

PATCH: What are the New Jersey business community's biggest concerns right now? How does the EDA plan to address these concerns under your tenure as CEO?

SULLIVAN: Governor Murphy recognizes the priority that must be placed on talent development and higher education for the goals of his economic development strategic plan to be achieved. Investment in people will serve to create opportunities for viable careers for New Jerseyans, while feeding the pipeline of skilled talent employers seek today and anticipating the skills that will be needed in the coming decades.

Since taking office, Governor Murphy has advanced initiatives for creating more and better career opportunities for New Jerseyans. In June, he launched the New Jersey Apprenticeship Network to bolster on-the-job training in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and other high growth sectors and strengthen the connections between our education and workforce systems. The Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Department of Education, and the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) will lead the buildout of this network.

In May, the Governor announced two initiatives that will help ensure New Jersey’s labor pool keeps pace with new career opportunities by strengthening the link between industry and academia: The Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Loan Forgiveness Program will reduce State and Federal student loan obligations for college graduates in high-growth STEM occupations that choose to work in New Jersey. For current students, the NJ Career Accelerator Internship Program offers paid internships to be administered through the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

Another initiative designed to drive economic activity by connecting industry with the academic community is Research with NJ, an online database spearheaded by the NJEDA and OSHE. Research with NJ provides local, national, and international commercial enterprises, ranging from entrepreneurs and start-ups to global corporations, with insight into groundbreaking research taking place within the state’s network of six research universities. This includes information on subject matter experts, facilities, publications, intellectual property, news, and events that can help Research with NJ users forge partnerships and build innovative new businesses and products based on the latest scientific and technological breakthroughs. Research with NJ currently includes nearly 3,500 faculty profiles from five public and private universities — New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rowan University, Rutgers—the State University of New Jersey, and Stevens Institute of Technology. Additionally, data from Montclair State University, which was designated as a research university in 2017, is now being integrated into the Research with NJ database. The portal can be found at www.researchwithnj.com.

To read Governor Murphy's full economic plan, please visit: https://www.njeda.com/pdfs/StrongerAndFairerNewJerseyEconomyReport.aspx

PATCH: The NJEDA has recently been criticized for giving out more than $8 billion in special tax breaks since January 2010 under the Economic Opportunity Act. Does the NJEDA have any plans to reel in the program, as some critics are asking? Or should New Jersey expect the program to expand in the coming years?

SULLIVAN: The NJEDA has made significant progress in 2018 toward advancing projects in support of Governor Murphy’s economic development strategic plan. As we move into 2019, we are excited about the many initiatives currently in development, and we look forward to rolling them out so New Jersey businesses and residents can begin to benefit from the opportunities they are expected to create.

Under the leadership of the Governor and Legislature, this is likely to include new, more targeted incentives, which will serve as an economic development tool and not a standalone strategy. The proposed new programs will increase the focus on targeted industries, global/U.S. headquarters, R&D activities, and foreign direct investments. New job creation will be prioritized over job retention, and job creation and investment in urban centers and other distressed communities, including brownfield sites will be encouraged. The proposed programs will include an annual award cap and enhanced measures to ensure financial sustainability and transparency. The incentives the Governor will propose will reward companies that invest in employee skill development and other community-focused supports, including infrastructure investment and revitalizing historic buildings.

PATCH: Enough gloom and doom... Give us one ray of sunshine that the NJ business community can look forward to in 2019.

SULLIVAN: Since joining the NJEDA, I’ve been struck by New Jersey’s incredible assets and resources – from its world-class institutions of higher education, to a talented workforce, and infrastructure that connects millions of people and businesses to our strategic location in the heart of the Northeast Corridor. Under Governor Phil Murphy’s leadership and with his plan for a stronger and fairer New Jersey economy, we have a vision and a strategy that will position the Garden State to maximize the value of those assets for the benefit of every resident. The NJEDA will be rolling out many new initiatives in the coming year in support of this plan.

The Governor’s economic plan will set New Jersey on a path to once again be a leader in our national and global economy. A stronger and fairer New Jersey economy is a single goal – not two goals in tension with each other. By joining these goals, we can achieve enhanced success across measures that matter to all New Jerseyans.

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Photo: Governor Phil Murphy and Tim Sullivan (via New Jersey Economic Development Authority)