Interview: Phil Murphy, Governor State of New Jersey

Offshore power

Potential of the offshore wind economy is enormous for South Jersey, says Gov. Murphy

Phil Murphy

Governor – State of New Jersey

What differentiates South Jersey’s economy and business environment from other states? When I’m asked about our core attributes as a state, my answer is talent and location. We have the No. 1 public education system in America, the highest concentration of scientists and engineers per square mile in America and we’re the most diverse state in America.

With South Jersey specifically, a number of things jump out to me: offshore wind, gaming, tourism, nuclear plants, agriculture and a tremendous higher education system and institutions. I would underscore in particular the offshore wind economy and its potential; it’s enormous for South Jersey. All the offshore projects, as well as the two ports and manufacturing facilities, will be 100% located in South Jersey. This industry will bring thousands of goodpaying jobs and clean energy that respects commercial fishing and homes on the shore.

What is the state of the business community’s health? It’s a mixed picture; I’d be lying if I said otherwise. On one level, the recent 2020-2021 fiscal year set alltime records in our three main revenue drivers: the corporate business tax, income tax and sales tax. High propensity business applications (applications for new businesses that are likely to have employees) have surged in New Jersey to one of the fastest rates of new business creation in the region. New Jersey is on pace to generate 50,000 new high-propensity businesses in 2021, which is up approximately 40% from the pace seen pre-pandemic.

On this level, you can say folks are doing just fine. The problem is that the pandemic has laid inequities bare. During this pandemic we’ve had 2 million initial claims for unemployment insurance and estimates indicate 30% of our small businesses have gone bust. There is no question that we are recovering but the key will be recovering as quickly and equitably as possible.

What major investments is the state making in South Jersey? We’re making a lot of investments across South Jersey but there are two that stand out. One, we are entirely redeveloping the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, which is desperately needed and will reimagine transportation in the region. Second, we put a ton of money in the budget for our three level-one trauma hospitals, which were our three coordinating hospitals during the pandemic — one of them being Cooper Medical Center. We also have not one but two large port infrastructure projects in New Jersey to support the offshore wind industry. If you add these four investments together, it’s well over a billion dollars in infrastructure.