“The Commission will set forth a blueprint to enable New Jersey to not simply compete in the new economy, but to thrive and prosper in the coming decade,” McGreevey said. “We have the ability to make New Jersey the premier state for research, development and innovation -- and to encourage companies to build facilities here and create high-paying jobs for skilled workers.”
The Governor said the Commission will create jobs by maximizing the unparalleled advantages and resources New Jersey offers to the business community.
“We are located in close proximity to major financial centers in New York City and Philadelphia, and we offer access to a premiere transportation network,” he said. “We have a world-class industrial base, leading academic research universities and a commitment to making New Jersey a national model for education. We also have a highly skilled work force and a critical mass of research talent at our pharmaceutical, telecommunications and high tech companies.”
McGreevey will co-chair the Commission with Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, retired Chief Executive Officer of Merck and Co., and Shirley Tilghman, President of Princeton University.
The panel will:
· Make New Jersey’s university research sector a strong partner for industry.
· Ensure that New Jersey has policies and programs in place to support research and development and make government more responsive to business needs.
· Develop plans that will attract additional federal funding for research, support new businesses and ensure that New Jersey’s workforce is trained to fill the new jobs created by the new knowledge-based economy.
· Identify emerging technologies of strategic importance to New Jersey as well as the resources needed to support them.
· Examine every level of the state’s educational system and identify the strategies necessary to ensure that teachers, students and facilities are prepared for the innovation economy.
“This Commission will provide the foundation for innovation which will ensure the long-term competitiveness of the State of New Jersey,” McGreevey said. “By working together, we will increase the research engine in our universities, enhance the collaboration between our universities and our industries, and create a more dynamic economy converting laboratory ideas into marketplace realities.”
Commission members include:
|
Governor James E. McGreevey |
|
|
Dr. Roy Vagelos |
Retired Chairman Merck & Co. |
|
Dr. Shirley Tilghman |
President, Princeton University |
|
|
|
|
Dr. Richard McCormick |
President, Rutgers University |
|
Dr. Stuart Cook |
President, UMDNJ |
|
Dr. Robert Altenkirch |
President, NJIT |
|
Dr. Saul Fenster |
Past President, NJIT |
|
Dr. Donald Farish |
President Rowan University |
|
Peter Contini |
Pres., Salem Comm. College |
|
Jon Corzine |
United States Senator (NJ) |
|
Al Koeppe |
President and CEO, Public Service Electric and Gas |
|
Dr. James Hughes |
Professor, Rutgers University |
|
Patricia Russo |
President and CEO, Lucent Technologies |
|
Dr. Satyam C. Cherukuri |
President and CEO, Sarnoff Corporation |
|
Daniel Schulman |
CEO, Virgin Mobil USA |
|
George Abercrombie |
President and CEO, Roche USA Operations |
|
Cecil Pickett |
President, Schering-Plough Research Institute |
|
Terry Burnette |
Chairman and CEO, Novartis |
|
Jennifer Lobo |
President, Biotechnology Financial Corporation |
|
Dr. Berton Malkiel |
Professor, Princeton University |
|
John Ferguson |
President and CEO, Hackensack Medical Center |
|
Ronald DelMauro |
President and CEO, St. Barnabas Medical Center |
|
Charles E. Sessa, Jr. |
Chair of Board, Cooper Health System |
|
Rev. Dr. William Watley |
CEO & Secretary, NJ Commerce & Economic Development Commission |
|
Anthony Coscia |
Chairman, Port Authority of NY/NJ |
|
Al Kroll |
Commissioner, Department of Labor |
|
John Heldrich |
Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Rutgers University |
|
Rush Holt |
Congressman (NJ-12) |
|
Dr. Marc Holzer |
Chairman, Department of Public Admin., Rutgers University |
|
Debbie Hart |
President, Biotechnology Council of New Jersey |
|
James Coleman, Jr. |
Member, NJ Commission on Science and Technology & Chairman International Matex Tank Terminals |
|
Maxine Ballen |
President, New Jersey Technology Council |
|
Anthony Johnson |
Chairman, Physics Department, NJIT
President, Optical Society of America |
|
James Davy |
Chief of Management and Operations |
|
Caren Franzini |
ED, NJ Economic Development Authority |
|
John McCormac |
NJ State Treasurer |
|
Joan Verplank |
Pres., NJ Chamber of Commerce |
|
Charles Wowkanech |
President, NJ AFL-CIO |
|
Mario Casabona |
Chair, NJ R&D Council |
|
Phil Kirschner |
Pres., NJBIA |
|
Larry Downes |
Chair, NJ Higher Education Commission |
|
Richard Goldberg |
Pres., Commerce & Industry Assoc.
Member, NJ Commission on Science and Technology |
(Copies of the Executive Order and the Governor’s remarks are attached.)
Photos and audio and video clips from Governor McGreevey’s press conferences are available on the Governor’s web page at http://www.state.nj.us/governor/. Links are located in the Governor’s Newsroom section of the page.
REMARKS PREPARED FOR
GOVERNOR JAMES E. McGREEVEY
COMMISSION ON JOBS, GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
APRIL 15, 2003
New Jersey has resources and advantages that are the envy of other states.
We are located in close proximity to major financial centers in New York City and Philadelphia, and we offer access to a premiere transportation network.
We have a world-class industrial base, leading academic research universities and a commitment to making New Jersey a national model for education.
We also have a highly skilled work force and a critical mass of research talent at our pharmaceutical, telecommunications and high tech companies.
We are investing in processes such as nanotechnology to capitalize on a revolutionary wave of scientific discovery that will have limitless applications.
All of these factors place New Jersey in a natural position to benefit from the new economy.
We have the ability to make New Jersey the premier state for research, development and innovation -- and to encourage companies to build facilities here and create high-paying jobs for skilled workers.
But to succeed in the information and innovation economy of this new era, we need an entirely different paradigm to guide us.
We must establish an innovation triangle of partnerships between the private sector, the research university community and the State of New Jersey.
We have begun our efforts to strengthen the triangle with our proposal to restructure our public research university system.
The restructuring is a first and vital step in preparing our universities to do the best research -- research that will provide a foundation for the life sciences and high-tech industries here in New Jersey.
But with the opportunities we have in New Jersey, we must do more to fulfill this potential.
As the renowned Harvard Professor Michael Porter documented in his New Jersey Life Sciences Cluster Initiative study, New Jersey is not fully exploiting our advantages.
We have one of the largest life sciences industries in the world.
Yet we rank 24th among the 50 states in attracting funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Every hour, two people in our state are diagnosed with cancer, yet the majority of cancer patients leave New Jersey to get the best treatment. This is bad for our economy and bad for our patients’ health care.
We have started to address this issue by providing unprecedented levels of state funds for cancer care and research.
Today, we take another significant step forward by creating the Commission on Jobs, Growth, and Economic Development.
The Commission will set forth a blueprint to enable New Jersey to not simply compete in the new economy, but to thrive and prosper in the coming decade.
The Commission will work to make New Jersey’s university research sector a strong partner for industry.
It will ensure that New Jersey has policies and programs in place to support research and development and make government more responsive to business needs.
The panel will develop plans that will attract additional federal funding for research, support new businesses and ensure that New Jersey’s workforce is trained to fill the new jobs created by the new knowledge-based economy.
The Commission also will identify emerging technologies of strategic importance to New Jersey as well as the resources needed to support them.
And it will examine every level of our educational system and identify the strategies necessary to ensure that our teachers, students and facilities are prepared for the innovation economy.
Ultimately, the work of this commission will create a better New Jersey with better jobs for working middle class families.
These jobs will emanate through all levels of the economy to include technicians and construction workers as well as scientists and researchers.
For decades, research and development, innovation and new technologies have been a cornerstone of the New Jersey economy.
They have produced high paying jobs and created an unparalleled quality of life.
Inventions and discoveries made here in New Jersey - from Edison’s light bulb to life-saving medicines - have driven the world’s technological revolution of the past 50 years.
Today, through initiatives such as our new Jobs, Growth, and Economic Development Commission, we are keeping alive the innovation and spirit of Edison.
# # #
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO.
WHEREAS, current economic conditions pose new challenges and provide new opportunities to New Jersey's economy; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey must meet these challenges and opportunities by supporting the creation of high-quality jobs, particularly in fields related to research and development; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey has a world-class industrial base and academic research universities available to support new businesses in technology; and
WHEREAS, relationships between industrial and academic research in the State must be strengthened to sustain New Jersey’s economy; and
WHEREAS, creating a platform for academic and research excellence at New Jersey’s public universities in conjunction with the State’s strong industrial research sector will attract and enhance Federal and private sector funding; and
WHEREAS, a comprehensive analysis of the available resources, coupled with the development of a state-wide business plan, will strengthen New Jersey's economy by promoting the resources upon which future businesses will grow; and
WHEREAS, providing a strong foundation and mechanism for establishing new companies and strengthening the support structure for existing ones will stabilize New Jersey's economy through future technological changes;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JAMES E. McGREEVEY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
- There is hereby established the Commission on Jobs, Growth and Economic Development, hereinafter referred to as the Commission.
- The Commission shall consist of up to 45 members appointed by the Governor, including the Chief Executive Officer of the Commerce and Economic Growth Commission and the Commissioner of Labor. The members of the Commission shall be selected from among representatives of business and industry, the research and high-technology sectors, higher education, the financial industry sector; and persons familiar with these institutions as they relate directly to State Government. The Governor shall appoint the Co-Chairs of the Commission.
- It shall be the charge and duty of the Commission to accomplish the following:
- Develop a blueprint for New Jersey’s economic growth, including the identification of opportunities for creating jobs for New Jersey’s citizens, particularly in the area of research and development, in order to develop the high-technology sector and well-paid knowledge-based jobs for New Jerseyans.
- Identify emerging technologies of strategic importance to New Jersey and resources to support these emerging technologies in collaboration with and for the benefit of both New Jersey’s industrial and academic sectors in order to maximize the investment of research dollars in the State.
- Identify workforce training needs of New Jersey’s high-technology and industrial sector and develop strategies to foster and encourage better coordination and training strategies to meet the needs of industry and of New Jerseyans.
- The Commission shall report directly to the Governor, outlining specific recommendations that address the charge and duty stated above with respect to a plan for strengthening the economy and the creation of high-quality jobs for the State of New Jersey.
- The Commission is authorized to call upon any department, office or agency of State Government and any public institution of higher education to provide such information, resources or other assistance deemed necessary to discharge its responsibilities under this Order. Each department, office, division and agency of this State and public institution of higher education is hereby required to cooperate with the Commission and to furnish it with such information, personnel and assistance as is necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Order.
- Members of the Commission shall serve without compensation, except that they may receive per diem and travel expenses.
- This order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN, under my hand and seal this day of
in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Three, and of the Independence of the United States, the Two Hundred and Twenty-Seventh.
James E. McGreevey
Governor
Attest:
Michael R. DeCotiis
Chief Counsel to the Governor
