NEW JERSEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.njchamber.com
a quarterly focus on the people and the issues that drive New Jersey business 2Q 2016
GOING INTERNATIONAL
How Banks are Helping N.J. Companies Tap Business Overseas Page 14
Also Inside: Sen. Cory Booker Meets with N.J. Chamber Members How Colleges are Building Tomorrow’s Employees Keeping your Smartphone Humming
table of contents focus on events 04 Hundreds of Members Gather at the
State Museum for N.J. Chamber Open House
06 N.J. Chamber Members Learn about
Organ and Tissue Transplantation
10 Two Legislators to N.J. Chamber
Members: New Jersey Has No Shortage of ‘Looming Disasters’
11 Hockey Pro Nails Hole-in-One at
NJ Chamber Challenge Golf Outing
features 08 Social Media Mavens Share
Their Top Tips for Small Businesses
06
12 Sen. Booker Meets with N.J. Chamber
Members and Tells Them how He Networks in D.C
17 Tips for Keeping Your Phones,
Tables and Computers Humming
19 The CohnReznick – N.J. Chamber
Survey: The Internet is the New Force for Generating Sales
08
14 focus on banking 14 For Companies Going Global, Banks
Help Navigate International Waters
11
focus on news 16 These Outstanding Interns Can Be
Working for Your Company
focus on higher education 18 How Colleges Are Creating
The Next Great Workforce
focus on leadership 20 Knowing the Pulse of Your Team 22 news makers
12
focus on events
Hundreds of Members Gather at the State Museum for N.J. Chamber Open House Business leaders, legislators and state government department heads, including Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, packed the galleries and the outdoor pavilions of the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton on June 9 for the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s 19th Annual Open House. It was the fourth consecutive year the event was held away from the Chamber’s Trenton offices – a result of the growing popularity of the event. As always, there was great food, drink and ample networking opportunities for everyone. ◆
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CHAMBER STAFF
Thomas A. Bracken President and CEO
Donna Custard President, New Jersey Chamber Foundation
Michael Egenton Executive Vice President, Government Relations
Lawrence Krompier Vice President, Member Services
Ray Zardetto Vice President, Communications
Scott Goldstein Communications Manager and Enterprise Editor
Ric Principato Creative Director/ Web Tech Manager
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Staff
216 West State Street Trenton, N.J. 08608 Phone: (609) 989-7888 www.njchamber.com
N.J. Chamber Events July 27, 2016
N.J. Chamber Member Networking Breakfast Seton Hall University Meet the Chamber team, network with over 100 of your fellow Chamber members, and maybe even take home a great door prize. Registration information will be sent to all members via email.
NJCC Board of Directors Officers Chair
Amy B. Mansue President & CEO Children's Specialized Hospital First Vice Chair
Robert Doherty New Jersey State President Bank of America
September 22, 2016
Women in Innovation Reception and Award Ceremony National Conference Center, East Windsor We will celebrate women innovators and present our premiere award to a prominent New Jersey innovator to be announced on July 18.
Second Vice Chair
Linda Bowden Regional President New Jersey PNC Bank Treasurer
Walter J. Brasch Partner & Chief Business Development Officer PFK O’Connor Davies LLP Secretary
Robert Podvey Director Podvey Meanor Immediate Past Chair
Ralph Izzo Chairman and CEO Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc
October 20, 2016
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The Chamber will host a very special Presidential Forum featuring Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton – not really, but the next best thing. Details coming soon.
ENTERPRISE 2Q 2016 | 5
focus on events
“EIGHTEEN PEOPLE DIE EVERY DAY AROUND THE COUNTRY WHILE WAITING FOR A TRANSPLANT. WE ARE FOCUSED ON SAVING LIVES OF THE PEOPLE ON THE WAITING LIST.” — JOSEPH ROTH PRESIDENT AND CEO NJ SHARING NETWORK
N.J. Chamber Vice President of Member Services Larry Krompier; Joseph Roth, president and CEO of the NJ Sharing Network; Elisse Glennon, vice president & chief administrative officer of the NJ Sharing Network; and N.J. Chamber President and CEO Tom Bracken.
N.J. Chamber Members Learn about Organ and Tissue Transplantation One of the most remarkable places the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce has held an event is the NJ Sharing Network in New Providence. On April 20, Chamber members gathered there to exchange business cards and discuss ways to grow their businesses. But there was much more. Members toured the facility and learned about the work done behind the scenes of organ and tissue transplantation, including both the human and the scientific sides. The NJ Sharing Network is a federally designated nonprofit center responsible for the recovery of organs and tissue for the nearly 5,000 New Jersey residents currently 6 |
awaiting transplantation. Matches are made there, organtracking is done there, lab work is done there and touching tributes to donors and the recipients can be seen there. “Eighteen people die every day around the country while waiting for a transplant,” said Joseph Roth, president and CEO of the NJ Sharing Network. “We are focused on saving lives of the people on the waiting list. Our jobs also are to educate the public on the need to sign up as an organ donor.” ◆ A special thank-you to our sponsor Santander Bank and our host NJ Sharing Network.
Continued from previous page
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focus on events
Social Media Mavens Share Their Top Tips for Small Businesses
For some small business owners, keeping up with social media can seem like a daunting task. Creating compelling stories on Snapchat, churning out clever tweets and keeping the Facebook feed fresh – on top of everything else entrepreneurs have to handle on a daily basis – is enough to send anyone into a tizzy.
So how do entrepreneurs stand out on social media? The first step is mercifully easy: simply watch what other companies share to understand what works and – more importantly – what doesn’t, said Shawn Brain, director of strategy and account management at Marriott International. “For people who are afraid to dive into the space, monitoring and listening is half the battle,” she said. “Try to adapt what you learn to your business.” Doug Rashid, a digital strategist and public relations expert at drPR, a consulting company based in Washington, also suggested that entrepreneurs should view social media as an essential part of their growth strategy, rather than a chore to add to their already-full plates. “When people tell me that they’re afraid of social media, I always turn around and say ‘Are you afraid of opportunity?’” he said at the event. “You have to figure out what your target is and then go for the [relevant] platform to stay in business.” For example, small businesses that create products aimed at consumers between the ages of 8 and 16 should consider being active on platforms like Snapchat, he said, whereas businesses that publish content directed at slightly older audiences should probably stay engaged on Twitter. Once small businesses find a platform (or platforms) that works for them and their products, they should make sure their content attracts the right type of attention from consumers. “For you to break through in your newsfeed, you have to be more interesting than your friends,” Brain said. Partnering with established social media influencers is one way to do that, she added, and seeking out or creating highly shareable standalone media is another. One way businesses can increase their chances of being noticed is by integrating video – whether it’s professionally crafted or smartphone produced – into their social platforms and websites. Videos have been shown to attract better overall engagement than regular posts, said Brain, who also helps develop videos for the Marriott chain. She added: “The top five percent of online videos can deliver more Gross Rating Point [an industry tool that measures advertising impact] than primetime [television viewership] on a Thursday.” When it comes down to it, developing a social media presence is a lot of hard work – but experts say it’s well worth the extra effort to do it right. “There’s no easy answer,” Brain said. “You have to get in the game.”◆
Even so, creating a strong digital presence has become less an option and more a necessity for small businesses that want to stand out from the competition and continue to grow, according to experts who spoke at America’s Small Business Summit in Washington. In fact, nearly two-thirds of all Americans now use social media networks, up almost tenfold from 2005, according to a 2015 report from the Pew Research Center. How does that translate into a business imperative? Well, a 2015 Deloitte study found that almost half of millennials (47 percent) used social media at some point in the process of purchasing an item, and one in five non-millennials did the same. Not only can reaching out to consumers on social media generate more brand recognition and sales opportunities, it’s also a mechanism to help small firms compete with larger brands, David Brown, chairman, chief executive officer and president at Web.com, said at the summit. “Consumers have access to more information than ever – they can literally price-shop any product, and that hurts small businesses,” he said. “But small businesses can leverage their real strengths to win – their ability to connect with customers.” In the future, social media is likely to play an increasingly direct role in revenue generation as the industry looks to incor- This article first appeared in Free Enterprise, the electronic porate buy buttons that allow consumers to shop directly from publication of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. a social platform. Read it at www.freeenterprise.com. 8 |
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focus on events
Two Legislators to N.J. Chamber Members: New Jersey Has No Shortage of ‘Looming Disasters’
N.J. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Michael Egenton looks on as Assemblyman Gary Schaer (center) and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon break down some of the state’s most pressing issues at a New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Roundtable Breakfast in East Windsor on May 10.
State leaders have no shortage of “looming disasters” to solve, ranging from a dwindling fund to pay for road, bridge and mass transit maintenance to an insolvent fund to pay public workers’ pensions that is spiraling further into debt at a pace of $10 million per day, Assemblyman Gary Schaer told N.J. Chamber members. And that doesn’t include other issues bouncing around the Statehouse, such as education funding, higher education funding and how to address Atlantic City’s budget issues, the assemblyman added. “The common theme is nothing is getting done,” said Schaer, a Democrat, who spoke at a New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Roundtable Breakfast in East Windsor on May 10. “We are talking about solving so many issues in such a short period of time, that it leads to questions about how well it will get done and the mistakes that may be made because we are moving so fast.” Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, a Republican, joined Schaer as a speaker at the breakfast and suggested that work is getting done. “There is real progress by leadership going on in the background,” O’Scanlon said. 10 |
Pension Crisis O’Scanlon took aim at the public pension crisis, which he characterized as “staggering,” since it costs New Jersey $6-8 billion per year. “Our pension payments are a moral obligation,” said O’Scanlon, but he criticized a Democratic proposal that would constitutionally mandate the state to make quarterly payments into the fund, because it does not identify where the state would get the money. “That [proposal] would dramatically increase our short-term borrowing and would likely hurt our state’s credit rating,” O’Scanlon said. “There is no answer for revenue.”
O’Scanlon added, “Some version of [pension] reform is necessary and it must involve shifting health benefits for [public workers] from ‘ultra-platinum’ to simply ‘gold.’ We can’t cut (state budget) expenses across the board to solve this problem and we can’t tax the wealthy to solve this problem. It will take reform.” Schaer said, “The question is, ‘Do we rely on government imposing change or do we rely on negotiations, which is more evolutionary change?’ I would side with evolutionary change. We need to talk with each other and not at each other.” The change must come quicker, O’Scanlon responded. “Responsible legislative leaders need to know when the system is broken,” he said. “If we don’t recognize the problem and take actions, [the state] will go bankrupt. We will be out of money.” State Minimum Wage The two legislators also had a brief exchange regarding the prospect of the state minimum wage increasing to $15 per hour. “To increase the minimum wage to $15 would (cause) a real problem,” O’Scanlon said. “We would lose jobs. We would actually hurt the people we are trying to help.” Schaer said with the state’s next governor likely to be a Democrat, New Jersey probably will adopt both a $15 per hour minimum wage and a measure that would require employers to offer paid sick leave. “They are going to happen,” Schaer said. “The question is, ‘How do you implement them so they are not draconian?’“ ◆ A special thank-you to Archer & Greiner and South Jersey Industries for sponsoring the breakfast event.
focus on event
Hockey Pro Nails Hole-in-One at NJ Chamber Challenge Golf Outing BY SCOTT GOLDSTEIN
Pro athletes in every sport seem to have two things in common – they love to golf and they are good at it. Former New Jersey Devils goalie Chris Terreri supported that notion by nailing a hole-in-one on hole 13 at the New Jersey Chamber Challenge golf outing at The Bedens Brook Club in Skillman on May 16. Terreri, who played the NJ Chamber Challenge with a group from RWJ Barnabas Health, must have struck the ball magnificently. He said other members of his foursome almost immediately remarked, “That ball is going in.” He watched as the ball bounced once, rolled about ten feet and then – in one of golf’s most gorgeous sights – disappeared into the hole. It was the first-ever hole-in-one in the history of the N.J. Chamber Challenge. It also was Terreri’s first ever hole-in-one. He said he has come close previously, including a heartbreaking drive in which the ball bounced off the side of the tin and into a sand trap. Needless to say, Terreri won “closest to the pin” on Hole 13, and he helped his foursome – his teammates were Lou Lasalle, Larry Londino and Byron Yake – capture third place in the team net category. That was one of the highlights of the NJ Chamber Challenge, where business leaders ply their skills on 18 holes at the elegant Bedens Brook Club. While awards were presented to the top performing foursomes, it was the networking that took place at the brunch, on the course and finally at a post-golf dinner reception – attended by New Jersey Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean Jr. – that made the day a success. “This was a great way to get to know each other better and to network with people representing diverse interests,” said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. James Benton, the director of the New Jersey Petroleum Council who served as chairman of this year’s NJ Chamber Challenge, said the event has grown into one of the state’s best golf outings, as evidenced by how quickly slots sold out. Each participant received a series of gifts including an umbrella, a baseball cap, a golf shirt and a wood framed photo of his or her foursome as a keepsake. The Chamber Challenge trophy etched with the names of each year’s champions, remains on permanent display at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Trenton. The winning team in the “lowest gross” category was comprised of Nina Anuario, Mark Tasy, John McDonough and Steve Toal, representing OceanFirst Bank. The members of the winning team in the “lowest net” category were Jim Schulz, Leslie Hayling, Terry Sawyer and Glenn Smeraglio, representing the New Jersey Dental Association. ◆ A special thank-you to Investors Bank, the golf outing’s premier sponsor. Additional thanks to event sponsors Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and Verizon. ENTERPRISE 2Q 2016 | 11
feature
Sen. Booker Meets with N.J. Chamber Cornerstone Members for Breakfast By Scott Goldstein
Sen. Booker praised the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce for its work to stimulate the economy. “The Chamber is so important,” Booker said. “When the Chamber weighs in on issues, folks listen. You have a profound voice.”
When Sen. Cory Booker arrived in Washington a few years ago, he was a national figure with a huge Twitter following and a personal mission to reach across the aisle to get things done. You can say he still has national credibility. When there is a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy, his name comes up. When there is talk about Hillary Clinton’s running mate, his name comes up. “Those are flattering political moments in my life,” he said during an exclusive breakfast for New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone members at The Nassau Club in Princeton on May 23. “My mom says, ‘Behind every successful child is an astonished parent.’“ The junior senator let out a big laugh when a N.J. Chamber Cornerstone member asked whether he would consider an invitation to be Donald Trump’s running mate. He suggested just the thought is surreal. He swiftly turned senatorial. “I have the greatest job,” he said. “I deal with broad state, national and international issues. Every day, I go to bat.” Dealing with D.C. Gridlock Working in a city with a reputation for partisan gridlock, Booker said he tries to never miss an opportunity to connect with fellow senators on the opposite side of the political spectrum, whether it’s in the halls of Congress, at a prayer session in a senator’s office or in the senate gym. “There are ways to get things done if we don’t focus on our differences,” he said.
Sen. Booker with Jeff Le Benger, chairman and CEO of Summit Health Management/ Summit Medical Group.
Transportation Infrastructure The nation’s transportation infrastructure is an area that needs immediate attention, Booker said. “We used to have the best infrastructure on planet Earth,” he said. “Now we have fallen out of the Top 10. We have seen our country get surpassed by competitor nations in the speed of trains, the strength of ports and the reliability of roads.” Regulations and Innovation The country’s thicket of regulations can choke progress and innovation, he said. The red tape in America, he said, would have stopped the Wright Brothers from making their breakthroughs in aviation. “They would have had to go elsewhere,” Booker said. “We need to grow innovation, and grow jobs and grow the economy,” Booker added. “When the economy grows, we all benefit.”
Sen. Booker and Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.
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Accomplishments Booker noted that when he last addressed the Chamber
Sen. Booker and Amadou Diarra, vice president of Global Policy for Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Sen. Booker and Mike Schweder, president of AT&T Mid-Atlantic States.
Sen. Booker and Greg Choi, senior vice president and relationship manager at Capital One Bank.
Wendy Lazarus, director of government relations and public affairs at Pfizer (left) and Linda Bowden regional president — New Jersey of PNC Bank.
Cornerstone membership in July of 2014, he was focused on prioritizing the extension of R&D tax credits, changes to the medical device tax, pushing Congress to pass a long-term highway funding bill and continuing Sen. Lautenberg’s legacy of reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act. By working with his colleagues, Booker said he has been successful in moving all of these priorities forward.
The N.J. Chamber of Commerce Booker praised the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce for its work to stimulate the economy. “The Chamber is so important,” Booker said. “When the Chamber weighs in on issues, folks listen. You have a profound voice. I value our relationship.” ◆ A special thank-you to Wells Fargo for sponsoring the event.
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focus on banking
For Companies Going Global, Banks Help Navigate International Waters BY DIANA LASSETER DRAKE
New Jersey’s strong ports, its major airports and its diversity have long helped to make the Garden State an ideal place for companies to enter international partnerships. For those global companies, especially those new to international trade, it is critical to have a bank serve as a sort of advisor and ambassador to help Linda Bowden
14 |
Caroline Wharton
Cathleen Callahan
them move money globally and recognize their risk.
Currency volatility can impact a company’s ability to compete internationally and can also affect earnings, said Caroline Wharton, regional vice president of global banking for the Northern New Jersey market of Wells Fargo Bank International. “If you’ve worked only in U.S. dollars before expansion, then shareholders need to understand the risk they’re taking on.” Wells Fargo uses its expertise in foreign markets to help clients navigate the nuances. “We put them in contact with people on the ground in places like China,”Wharton said. Wells Fargo is building a greater presence in Singapore, which has become a treasury center in Asia for multinational companies thanks to its less complex legal system. Wells Fargo has spent a lot of time developing trade expertise in
“IF YOU’VE WORKED ONLY IN U.S. DOLLARS BEFORE EXPANSION, THEN SHAREHOLDERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE RISK THEY’RE TAKING ON.” — CAROLINE WHARTON REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL BANKING, NORTHERN NEW JERSEY, WELLS FARGO BANK INTERNATIONAL For many companies, “overseas markets are very important, not just in terms of product placement but in terms of their products being built,” said Linda Bowden, New Jersey regional president of East Brunswick-based PNC Financial Services. “They need a partnership manager at their bank who understands their business and understands how their needs will be changing.” Good advice from a bank is becoming more in demand in the wake of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement signed by 12 countries in February that is expected to boost global opportunities. “The primary concern for our clients when they start looking at international markets is how they move their money globally,” said Cathleen Callahan, commercial banking market executive for Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Cranford, a global institution with access to 140 currencies and some 200 countries and territories. “The second piece is global liquidity management, or managing liquidity across currencies and locations. How do you move in and out of different currencies without creating negative balance sheets?”
areas like letters of credit that are commonly used in trade agreements – and issued through banks – as assurances for aspects of a deal, Wharton said. “The biggest challenge for a company is having the capacity to really dig into risk,” she said. “We can be leveraged to help guide or even highlight the risks that we see in a particular market so (our customers) go in with their eyes wide open.” Callahan, of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, also stresses the need for firms to recognize their international exposure. “Companies are accepting currency risk because it’s part of the transactions they have with foreign vendors and clients,” she said. “You need to take a holistic approach to analyzing your operations and how they fit into the global economy.” And don’t overlook changes in the regulatory landscape, added Bowden of PNC Financial Services. “Our regulations are different than other countries in areas like anti-money laundering rules,” she said. “You really need a partnership manager at your bank who understands the issues.” ◆ ENTERPRISE 2Q 2016 | 15
focus on news
These Outstanding Interns Can Be Working for Your Company As a leader in workforce development throughout the state, the New Jersey Chamber
of
Commerce
These interns were named MVPs of their teams:
Foundation
constantly receives requests from school administrators and directors of communitybased organizations to place young adults in internships. Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough internship opportunities to go around, and those that do exist often don’t allow the interns to roll up their sleeves and
Guerschom P.
get their hands dirty in a meaningful project. That is why the foundation created the Remote Internship Experience (RIE), in which teams of young adults served as “remote interns” for their communities. The teams launched social entrepreneurship projects that they conceived, planned, executed and presented to a panel of business judges. The projects’ objectives were to benefit the environment, or improve the lives of peers, children, seniors or animals. Students were challenged to stay on time and remain under a $100 budget, as they work collaboratively and resolve unexpected obstacles. At the end of the two-month projects, one team wins, and each member of the winning team receives a prize. In addition, the top performing members of the groups are selected as the MVPs, as determined by their peers, counselors and foundation staff. This past winter a group of 20 young adults youth (ages 16-24) participated in the program, made possible by a federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) grant through the United Way of Greater Union County. The Chamber Foundation worked with a consortium of community-based organizations, such as Jefferson Park Ministries and the Urban League of Union County. If your company has scholarships, internships or employment opportunities for these MVPs, please contact Donna Custard at Donna.Custard@njchamber.com or 609-7895274. ◆ 16 |
GUERSCHOM P.: It was obvious from the first day of the REI that Guerschom would become his team’s de facto leader. He jumped into the project with both feet, carefully evaluating ideas during the brainstorming session, determining viable options and exhibiting tenacity. His team coordinated a special Christmas event for children in the community, during which he and his teammates prepared and served chicken and rice. He was moved by the gratitude expressed in the children’s smiling faces as they enjoyed their meal. Guerschom, currently in his first year of college in a “patient care technician” associate’s degree program, aspires to be a nurse practitioner.
“FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I WAS ABLE TO WORK IN A GROUP AND SERVE OTHERS. IT WAS FUN AND VERY FULFILLING.” — GUERSCHOM P.
Dante B.
DANTE B.: Dante dares to dream big, and it was apparent at the first meeting that he planned to go above and beyond the parameters of the REI. His team considered multiple project ideas before deciding to work with children at a local preschool. He and his team brought in games and activities designed to develop math skills and teach shapes, colors, numbers and pattern recognition. To date, his was the only team to extend the deployment phase of the project beyond one day. Dante has plans to work as a U.S. air marshal in order to detect, deter and defeat hostile acts against the U.S.
“I WAS SURPRISED AND INSPIRED WHEN I BECAME AWARE THAT I HAD AN AMBITION TO HELP MY COMMUNITY, STARTING WITH THE CHILDREN.” — DANTE B.
Feature
Tips for Keeping Your Phones, Tablets and Computers Humming ever, that leaves you susceptible to hackers. And once hackers have gotten into one account, with the same password, they can get into multiple accounts. The best advice in this case is to use those random passwords that a site will assign to you. The randomness of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols makes hacking more difficult. How to remember all those passwords? Install a password manager on your computer that will take care of this.
Just like so many people do a spring cleaning of their homes, yards and offices, you should undertake a similar cleaning of your electronic devices to keep them humming and safe from hackers. Here are ways to keep your main sources of communication clean and safe: Smartphones and Tablets Just like computers, phones get clogged up due to heavy use. To keep your phone running, take these actions: • Clean out web browser history. Open up your browser and delete all the sites you’ve visited. This will speed up your next browsing session. • Block cookies. This will help you keep what you do private. • Update your security. Make sure the security on your phone is working and that you encrypt yourself. This will make hacking much more difficult to anyone trying to get into your phone. • Back up photos to the cloud. This will speed up your phone and allow room for more. • Make sure you download any updates to your phone. You’ll get the benefits of different apps and all the latest in safety and security.
Computers The internet seems to have been taken over by viruses. There are phishing scams, ransomware, malware and other things that could take out your computer. Here are ways to avoid these: • Clean out your email regularly. Delete unneeded emails, and empty your trash folder. Your computer will run much faster. • Don’t open emails from sources that you don’t recognize. This is a prime way to get a virus that could shut your system down, and make your private information available to hackers. If you are even slightly unsure of who the sender is, don’t open the email. Either check with the alleged sender to be sure the email is legitimate, or simply use the delete button. You should also report suspicious emails that have allegedly come from a corporate or government entity. Companies like to know about these issues so they can alert all customers. • Use random passwords – and don’t use the same one for every account. Many people like to use the same password for all their accounts because it is easier to remember. How-
Email Email is one of the main sources of both business and personal communication. A lot of private information passes through email – things that are meant for only the senders’ and recipients’ eyes. Here’s how to protect your email messages: • Look at using secure email that you pay your carrier for. This service encrypts email so that no one but the sender and receiver can read it. • Delete accounts that you don’t use. If you have old email accounts, the best idea is to delete them. If they are still used, change their passwords and forward those emails to address you do use. • Delete emails from any unrecognized sources. And remember, no reputable company will ask you for private information like a social security number or password via email. If you see a message like this, delete it immediately. Give your devices a good spring cleaning, and they will work fast and protect you from business or personal nightmares. ◆ Contact FITECH today at 973-575-832 and info@fitechllc.com, or visit www.fitechllc.com to find out about the best IT solutions for your business. You can also find us on social media. ENTERPRISE 2Q 2016 | 17
focus on higher education
NJ Colleges Create The Next Great Workforce EMPLOYERS WANT TEAM PLAYERS AND PROBLEM SOLVERS WHO CAN WORK THE PHONES BY DIANA LASSETER DRAKE
When New Jersey colleges held their commencement ceremonies in the spring, luminaries like President Barack Obama at Rutgers University urged students to engage, debate and “stand up for what you believe in.” Those are wise words to live by, but those recent graduates still face challenges in the workplace: a slow recovery in the job market, R. Barbara Gitenstein Dennis Bone and a skills gap. Sure, Millennials are tech-savvy, but they also struggle to navigate some of the most common workplace tools – like the telephone. And an increasingly global and technology-driven business world is demanding they possess new skills and approaches, in addition to traditional ones like conversation skills, punctuality and eye contact. “Students need to know how to make a connection with people face-to-face,” said Brian Maher, vice president of career services for Berkeley College in Woodland Park. “With the advent of technology, texting and video games, this skill set has eroded.” New Jersey’s colleges and universities are addressing these and other workplace realties as they prepare tomorrow’s workforce. Their first step is to understand the companies doing the hiring. “We take what is happening in the real world and bring it into the classroom,” Maher said. “We think of ourselves as an incubator.” “We’re reaching out as much as we can to different industries and corporations to get a better understanding of the applied skill sets that the industry and employers are expecting,” said Christopher Capuano, presidentelect at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) in Madison. Berkeley College has recently expanded its career management seminar course into a professional development series for students, which covers critical skills, such as oral presentation and conflict resolution. These requirements are also built into other courses. Similarly, Fairleigh Dickinson is making key curricular changes. 18 |
“We have a new seminar that begins to prepare students for professional life in their first year as freshmen,” Capuano said. The four-course program involves everything from career building and leadership to understanding global issues. “We are trying to establish a value set that is critical to the world remaining stable,” Capuano said. “The world is more than what is in front of students; it is interconnected in so many ways.” Dennis Bone, director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship at Montclair State University in Montclair, has worked to make workforce development in New Jersey synch up with the demands of today’s employers. Bone is also chairman of the New Jersey State Employment & Training Commission, and he spent many years as president of Verizon New Jersey. He brings that lens to entrepreneurship at Montclair. “We are preparing students to problem-solve, be innovative and think outside the box through teamwork and design-thinking,” said Bone, who visits companies like Facebook to explore today’s workplace dynamic. He connects students with mentors from startups who can help guide them through their own entrepreneurial endeavors. This type of experiential learning is critical to workplace preparation, noted R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing. TCNJ’s curriculum “emphasizes immersive learning from the day our students arrive on campus in their first year,” she said. “Faculty (members) function as mentors, working with their students on innovative projects that have real-world applications beyond the classroom.” With this in mind, Berkeley College has embraced the power of the internship by making it more accessible to all students. “We recently introduced project-based internships,” Maher said. “Students work as a group and are given a company partner. They work remotely to solve real-life issues like advancing brand awareness in a geographical region.” FDU has expanded its cooperative learning, which allows students to spend months in the workplace. In the quest for a well-trained workforce, Maher encourages New Jersey companies to bridge the gap between academia and the business world. “Engage with your higher-ed partners, get on campus, be a visiting lecturer, attend career fairs,” Maher said, adding that companies should mentor young employees. “This generation comes with a skill set that we don’t have,” he said. “And they might have some deficiencies that require training at the company level.” ◆
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The CohnReznick – N.J. Chamber Survey: The Internet is the New Force for Generating Sales THE WEB EQUALS OR SURPASSES TRADITIONAL FACE-TOFACE OR PHONE CONTACT FOR FINDING NEW CUSTOMERS The internet’s profound effect on business is clearly illustrated in the recently released CohnReznick – New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Spring 2016 Business Climate Survey of New Jersey business leaders. More than a third (34 percent) of the business leaders surveyed said their company now generates most of its new customers via the World Wide Web, making this approach equally productive as the more traditional face-to-face contact (35 percent of respondents said face-to-face was how they typically generated customers) and more productive than phone contacts (29 percent). Executives responding to this survey also reported a slightly more optimistic attitude about New Jersey’s economy over the next 12 months compared to the survey last spring. Customer Data Challenge Most business leaders (58 percent) believe their companies provide customers with a seamless experience whether they contact the company in person or via mobile device. But most (57 percent) of them believe their companies are not effectively collecting customer data. “Even businesses that believe they are providing customers with a great web/mobile experience are missing an opportunity if they are not collecting customer data,” said Philip Mandel, regional managing partner NY/NJ at CohnReznick “Without an effective way of collecting, analyzing and applying customer data, it becomes a significant challenge for businesses to provide customers with the personalized offers they demand.” Tech Spending is on ‘The Cloud’ All the business leaders surveyed indicated their companies have budgets to invest in technology. When asked to pinpoint where they are spending, nearly two thirds (63 percent) said their companies plan to invest in “the cloud” for storing, managing and processing their company data offsite. And 38 percent said their companies plan to invest in mobile technology to increase their customers’ ability to do business with the company through their mobile devices. Another 38 percent said their businesses would be investing in “analytics” to help crunch customer data. For this question, respondents were permitted to choose more than one area of investment. “It’s remarkable to see how quickly electronic technologies have transformed the entire business process, from marketing and generating customer leads to fulfilling demand for prod-
ucts and services,” said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber. “For any business, the survey results reinforce the idea that innovation is an investment with a tremendous upside, and warns us of the dangers of not keeping up with technology and trends.” Facebook Leads the Way When asked to rank the social media platforms their companies use for promotional purposes, Facebook was ranked first most frequently (31 percent), followed by LinkedIn (ranked first by 25 percent of respondents), Google+ (ranked first by 15 percent of respondents) and Twitter (ranked first by 8 percent). Executives Remain Mostly Upbeat Despite the state’s challenging issues, business executives in New Jersey remain optimistic about the future. More than four in ten respondents (46 percent) said they expect the state economy to improve over the next 12 months, while only 18 percent said they expect it to worsen. This is a slightly improved outlook from the N.J. Chamber survey results from the same period a year ago, when only 42 percent of respondents said they expected the economy to improve. A large majority of respondents – 81 percent – said they expect their companies will either maintain or increase their staffing levels over the next 12 months. And more than eight in 10 (83 percent) of the respondents said they expect their companies’ revenue to stay even or increase. Survey Details The CohnReznick – New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Business Climate Survey is designed to measure the outlook of the state’s business leaders, ranging from single entrepreneurs to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in a wide array of fields. A total of 118 business leaders were surveyed between May 16 and June 6. Most said they are presidents and CEOs, or senior level executives. ◆ ENTERPRISE 2Q 2016 | 19
focus on leadership
Lessons in Leadership KNOWING THE PULSE OF YOUR TEAM BY STEVE ADUBATO, PHD Leadership is an art, not a science. Not everyone on your team can be motivated the same way. They are moved and motivated differently by all kinds of people, events and circumstances. So how do you keep your people happy and productive? Here are some ideas: Check in with your people. Seek out your employees’ thoughts on finding new ways of doing old tasks. The more input team members have in the way they do their job, the more motivated they will be. Catch employees doing something right. It is so easy to be blinded by people falling short or not meeting expectations that we miss when they get it right. Look for employees’ successes and let the employee know exactly how much you personally appreciate them, and how the organization benefits from their efforts. Establish trust among team members. You can’t force team members to like each other or to be friends, nor should you try. But promoting a collaborative workplace will put them in situations where they can interact, connect and find common ground. Allow team members to voice their opinions. Encourage team members to make presentations and reward them
for it. Just because you may be the official leader of a team doesn’t mean you should be doing all the talking. In fact, when you are the only voice, you send the message to your team that you believe you are the only one that has something to say. Plus, you lose touch with team members because they’re convinced you have no confidence in them. Don’t make every decision. Ask team members to find their own solutions to difficult challenges. They may propose options and alternatives that you haven’t considered. In the process, you not only will engage and motivate team members, you will get to know them better – including the way they think about strategic issues and decision making. What specific steps do you take to monitor the pulse of your team? Write to Steve Adubato at sadubato@aol.com. ◆ Steve Adubato is a leadership trainer and anchors three public television broadcasts produced by the Caucus Educational Corporation: “Caucus: New Jersey,” “New Jersey Capitol Report” and “One-on-One with Steve Adubato.” To read more Lessons in Leadership visit www.Stand-Deliver.com.
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news makers
The School of Health Studies at BERKELEY COLLEGE in Woodland Park has launched an accelerated program for licensed practical nurses to earn their bachelor of science degrees in nursing in less than three years.
Lisa Chalkan
Robert V. Puccio
Three New Jersey companies – HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF NEW JERSEY, PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL and ADP – were announced among Working Mother magazine’s 2016 “Best Companies for Multicultural Women.” Lisa Chalkan was promoted to executive vice president, chief credit officer and Robert V. Puccio was appointed to serve as managing director, commercial private banking at PEAPACK-GLADSTONE BANK.
Elizabeth Petite
Eleanor J. Lipsky
Michael J. Locke
Darrell K. Terry Sr
Craig Cetta
In other PEAPACK-GLADSTONE news, the bank, in conjunction with Junior Achievement of New Jersey, hosted 75 high school students from Union County for a financial literacy and workforce readiness event at which employee mentors shared their knowledge of personal finance and entrepreneurship. Sharon Gordon, a partner in COHNREZNICK’s Roseland office, was honored alongside 37 other trailblazing women at Executive Women of New Jersey’s Salute to the Policy Makers Gala. Darrell K. Terry Sr. was named president and CEO for NEWARK BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER and CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF NEW JERSEY in Newark.
Sharon Gordon
The Bridgewater-based law firm of NORRIS MCLAUGHLIN & MARCUS P.A. is pleased to welcome three new associates: Elizabeth Candido Petite, Eleanor J. Lipsky and Michael J. Locke. Petite joins the Estate Planning & Administration Group while Lipsky and Locke join the firm’s Litigation Group. Ethan L. Silver has joined the law firm LOWENSTEIN SANDLER as a partner in the Investment Management Group. New Jersey-based SUMMIT MEDICAL GROUP partnered with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, making Summit the first physician-owned multi-specialty group to partner with MD Anderson. Craig Cetta has joined Asbury-based J.G. PETRUCCI COMPANY INC., the development and design/build organization. ◆
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NEW JERSEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 2016 DIGITAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES
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> MEMBER DIRECTORY highly used business directories for N.J. businesses listings opened on average 13,000 times per month
and each other. We call these electronic communications the “N.J. Chamber e-Vantage” platform because they reach the inboxes and the web browsers of the state’s top movers and shakers – senior corporate executives and decision makers, leading entrepreneurs, state government and legislative leaders and the news media.
> THE COMPASS our regular electronic update to members reaches 5,000 senior executives per issue
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