It was Oct. 1, 2018, and Phil Murphy, the new governor of New Jersey, laid out what he called a path toward an “innovation economy” that was “stronger and fairer” for the state, its businesses and its residents.
At a crowded, two-story auditorium on the ON3 campus, straddling the Nutley-Clifton border, the first-term Democratic governor spelled out a series of new incentive programs he said would spur economic growth for New Jersey.
Many of Murphy’s sweeping proposals were ultimately enacted in December 2020: an incentive program for companies eyeing a move to the state or thinking of leaving New Jersey, called NJ Emerge, and an incentive program meant to spur redevelopment projects, called NJ Aspire…
Federal spending kept the national economy afloat during the COVID-19 closures and recession and helped fuel the state’s recovery, said James Hughes, an economist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
That’s not to say state-level actions have not made difference in New Jersey’s economy. The state and private investors are pouring $4 billion into the New Jersey Health + Life Science Exchange, or HELIX, in New Brunswick.
Once completed, the complex will house lab and office space for Nokia Bell Labs, Rutgers Health, RWJ Barnabas and Princeton University.
“That really will be a statewide hub, not a local hub,” Hughes said. “Hopefully it will evolve into a national hub. It’s bringing together a lot of the players.”