Gov. Phil Murphy announced a Restart and Recovery Advisory Council — a group of New Jersey business and municipal leaders who will help organize plans to restart the state’s economy.
The council, which will be divided into nine sector-based groups, will report to the governor as well as his 16-member Restart and Recovery Commission, which he announced last week. It will be co-chaired by Secretary of Higher Education Zakiya Smith Ellis, Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan and Choose New Jersey CEO Jose Lozano
Murphy, during his daily COVID-19 briefing Friday, explained it this way.
“If you think of the Restart and Recovery Commission as the ‘strategy,’ then the Advisory Council will be the ‘tactics,’” he said. “This is where the varied voices of those on the ground, in our small businesses, in our communities of faith, in our educational communities, among many others, will come together advise us on the issues from the local level.
“This is a boots-on-the-ground, real-world approach to how we move forward. This council is as diverse, smart, and hard-working as New Jersey’s economy was before the pandemic —which is why they can help us get on, and stay on, our road back.”
The advisory council will begin virtual meetings next week. The nine committees:
- Facilities and Construction;
- Government;
- Health Care;
- Main Street;
- Manufacturing and Supply Chain;
- Professional Services;
- Social Services and Faith;
- Tourism and Entertainment;
- Transportation and Infrastructure.
The list of the members of the nine groups can be found here.
“We understand that we need a smart and granular approach to recovery,” Murphy said. “Reopening the restaurants and Boardwalk shops down the Shore is far different from, for example, restarting retail in downtown Morristown, Lambertville or Collingswood, or anywhere else.
“Moreover, the advisory council will not only help us gather the local intelligence we need to get our economy running again, but its members will help us create the framework for coping with our new long-term economic realities.”
The advisory council also will get significant assistance from the New Jersey Business Coalition, a group of more than 80 business that has come together under the direction of the NJBIA to gather best practices recommendations.
