Roundtable: Chambers of commerce Janet Garraty, Director, Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce Dawn Hunter, Executive Director, Greater Vineland Chamber of

®oundtable:

Chambers of commerce

Chamber leaders discuss developments within their regions as well as trends underlying their economies.

Janet Garraty

Director Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce

What separates Gloucester County from other areas in South Jersey? We are right in the center of the eds and meds corridor. We have two gigantic hospitals — Inspira Health and Jefferson Health — and three right on the outskirts. Rowan University is building two medical schools. Our eds corridor is Rowan University and Rowan College of South Jersey. That is where the growth is, where the good jobs are and where the business opportunities are.

How will offshore wind power contribute to the region? This has been a project in the making for a long time. The infrastructure plan coming out of Washington, D.C., is going to be very good for this region as well. Our part of it in Gloucester County is over at Paulsboro, at the port. The planned development is underway. The end result will be about 500 direct, well-paying jobs. By any calculation, if you are talking about spinoff jobs, you would be adding another 1,000 to 1,500 jobs. That is a lot of opportunity for people looking to break into the business or grow their business around those opportunities.

What is your overall outlook for Gloucester County? There is an incredible amount of growth in eds and meds, as well as a certain amount of evergreen to it. You’re always going to need those types of services. Healthcare is going to continue to change and evolve, as is higher education. The ebbs and flows as a result of changes in having one main industry can really adversely impact an entire industry. Other parts of the state are reliant on one industry to keep them going. We are more diverse than that. In the next 18 months, we will continue to be more diverse than that.

Dawn Hunter

Executive Director Greater Vineland Chamber of Commerce

What differentiates the greater Vineland area from other regions? One of the interesting things about this county is that we weathered the COVID crisis a little better than other areas as we have a lot of essential businesses like food processing, healthcare and glass manufacturing for medical purposes. There were a lot of businesses that didn’t even have to shut down. I think that speaks to the diversity of our industries here and that’s a big strength for us. Our ability to adapt is quite strong as well.

What main challenges is the business community facing in Vineland? The No. 1 challenge that everyone is facing is the labor shortage. It doesn’t matter what industry it is. Banks are having trouble getting tellers. Retail and restaurants can’t find enough people to work for them. I have a member that is a high-end pastry manufacturer, for example and he’s offering a $500 signing bonus and he pays good wages above the minimum; yet, he can’t get people. It’s what you hear across the board in every industry.

What significant developments are underway in the region? The Landis Theater was purchased by a new owner prior to COVID and the new owners had a great plan in place. They did a lot of work on the theater and they were about to start their first season but they had to shut down. They almost didn’t survive. But they’ve been able to open their doors this year. The owners even took over ownership of the restaurant that is adjacent to the theater. Seeing something like that is exciting.

Jennifer Jones

Executive Director & COO Salem County Chamber of Commerce

What differentiates Salem County? Salem County is a beautiful place. If you compare us to the rest of New Jersey, you get more home for your money here. Also, we’re close to major metropolitan areas; we’re 20 minutes from Wilmington and half an hour from Philadelphia, so anything you want is close.

What is Salem County’s role in achieving New Jersey’s energy goals? The Wind Port project is incredibly exciting. The last development project of that magnitude was the PSEG Nuclear and artificial island 50 years ago. The new Wind Port project is very exciting for us not just as part of the energy diversity movement but because of the high-paying manufacturing jobs that it will generate here. There are plans to also manufacture the turbines here. We would be the first place in the United States to manufacture wind turbines. Between the wind infrastructure itself, putting it all together and having the manufacturing facilities, plus the other support businesses that will be needed to provide products and services, it’s exciting.

What role is the chamber playing in the local economy? We are heavily involved in economic development. This is a wonderful place to live, it’s rural but also logistically close to major highways for transportation and the international Port of Salem allows for river and ocean shipping. We recognize that some farmland communities don’t want economic development. Areas along the Route 295 Corridor do have planned growth for both commercial and residential development. We’re going to focus on the areas that want development. What differentiates the Bridgeton area and West and South Cumberland County? West Cumberland is not quite as well connected to I-55 as other areas in the region, so our local economy remains heavily weighted toward food processing and production. The Rutgers Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton is a brilliantly successful new incubator that is helping to scale startups in the food processing sector. A new building has been constructed in partnership with the Cumberland County Improvement Authority to help the larger companies in that program continue to grow and create jobs. The center has been a soft-landing area for food manufacturing companies from Europe and elsewhere for the past 10 years. When completed, this expansion will ensure that the companies stay in Cumberland beyond the initial growth and productdevelopment phase.

What major developments concerning local companies would you highlight? Cumberland Dairy, a local company that makes highly pasteurized products, just completed an $80 million expansion at their Bridgeton facility. The company also has a side business called Innovation Foods, which is focused on healthy foods. It started in Bridgeton and is now building a large, new facility in nearby Millville. Companies are continually attracted to Cumberland County. The three main cities are in the Opportunity Zone and there are also five redevelopment areas — Upper Deerfield, Deerfield, Hopewell, Lawrence, and Bridgeton — that offer tax incentives for corporates. We also offer a talented workforce.

Tony Stanzione

Executive Director Bridgeton Area Chamber of Commerce and Cumberland Development Corporation

( ) While certain industries suffered during the pandemic, others experienced explosive growth, namely biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications. As workforces moved to remote working in early 2020, the demand for greater connectivity and new remote networking solutions surged. The New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area is now the sixth-largest market in the United States for telecom facilities. As more companies hunt for increased capacity for data centers, the Garden State’s land availability, much of it in South Jersey, positions it as a main contender to become a national leader.

This ties in with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, in which research and investment has surged in recent years. In fact, science and technology proved to be the key combination that catalyzed the sequencing of the COVID virus’ genome and accelerated the development of a vaccine. New Jersey sits at the heart of pharmaceutical innovation, hosting the laboratories of Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Regeneron and Amgen. South Jersey is also in close proximity to the healthcare research hub in Philadelphia.

Another burgeoning sector in New Jersey is the cannabis business. In November 2020, a referendum was approved with 67% of the vote to legalize cannabis for medical and recreational use. Despite a delay in the effective date to February, marijuana dispensaries popped up during 2021 under the watch of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. Municipalities have until August to opt in or out of allowing cannabis businesses. But New Jersey is now being seen as a hub for the industry, with a two-day conference held in June featuring business leaders and public sector officials.

New Jersey is the 11th-most populous state in the country.