In a move business leaders had been advocating for years, Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday signed an executive order establishing a new Economic Council which will provide a regular forum for the business community and state government to discuss, collaborate, and solve issues important to the public and private sectors, and stimulate economic growth and prosperity.
The Council, which has long been pushed by New Jersey Chamber CEO Tom Bracken, will be supported by a newly established Development Coordination Committee which will support the Council’s work in advancing development projects that require multiple state, county and local government approvals.
“The Economic Council will ensure that we continue to have a healthy collaboration between the business community and the state government,” Murphy said. “Deepening our administration’s strong relationship with various sectors across our state will stimulate growth within our economy. I look forward to the forum for ongoing dialogue, collaboration, and problem-solving to advance our shared economic goals.”
Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Growth Eric Brophy and N.J. Economic Development Authority CEO Tim Sullivan will serve as co-chairs. They will designate representatives from the industry to participate in working group discussions. Along with the co-chairs, the council also consist of the governor’s chief of staff Tim Hillman, whoever succeeds Parimal Garg as chief counsel, Chief Policy Advisor Dennis Zeveloff, State Treasurer Liz Muoio and Business Action Center Executive Director Melanie Willoughby.
Within the Council, the executive order also establishes a Development Coordination Committee as a subcommittee that will focus on ways to streamline the intergovernmental review of complex development projects, improve communication amongst state, county and local government financing and permitting entities with respect to projects that require a coordinated review. This will enhance information sharing by and between government agencies and project developers.
Bracken obviously was thrilled by the announcement.
“Addressing the future economy of our state is vitally important to unleashing our enormous economic potential — as is the need to generate additional organic, reliable revenue to fund our growing state budgets,” he said.
“The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce has been advocating for the creation of an economic council for many years to accomplish that goal. Today’s announcement, hopefully, will put in place a mechanism to bring together government and the business community to address collective thoughts and strategies to create a more vibrant, competitive economic landscape.
“With the Economic Council and Development Coordination Committee structure in place, it will now be up to its organizers to ensure it will quickly and effectively deliver the results we desperately need. We thank Gov. Murphy for creating this forum that we hope transcends administrations – and we look forward to working with the administration and being part of this opportunity.”
Sullivan and Brophy said they are eager to lead.
“New Jersey’s economy has grown stronger under Gov. Murphy’s leadership, and the Economic Council will build upon the progress we’ve made over the past seven years,” Sullivan said. “I’m honored to co-chair the Economic Council and look forward to working with our government partners and key stakeholders to help meet the ambitious economic goals of the administration.”
Brophy said the establishment of the Economic Council is a giant step forward in Governor Murphy’s relationship with the business community.
“Over the past several years, at the governor’s urging, we have made doing business in New Jersey easier,” he said. “We learned early on that working closely with the business community and legislators is the best way to grow New Jersey’s economy. The Economic Council will further cultivate our ambition to make business in New Jersey less complicated.”
Since 2018, New Jersey has seen small businesses increase by over 40,000 or 19%, despite the effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic.