Walk to Washington: Special Edition

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WALK TO WASHINGTON: SPECIAL EDITION

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MAKING HER MARK

The ROI-NJ exclusive interview
Newark
eager for
next hire
Glover, Sathe to head Tammy Murphy talks about
group tasked with finding expectations and reality
development leader
of public life, and how
BY TOM BERGERON she has become
tbergeron@roi-nj.com
one of N.J.’s most
Newark Alliance CEO Aisha Glover influential first ladies
plans on heading home early from her
first Walk to Washington this morning.
She’s eager to begin a process she is BY ANJALEE KHEMLANI
confident will produce another top akhemlani@roi-nj.com

S
economic development leader for the
city of Newark. he knew that she and her
Glover and Ommeed Sathe, children would be in the
vice president, impact investments spotlight more than ever
for Prudential before. That’s what happens
Financial, are when your spouse becomes a
heading a task governor.
force to find the And she knew she would be in
next director of the spotlight even more than
the Department usual for a first lady. That’s
of Economic what happens when you’re
Ommeed and Housing accomplished in your own
Sathe
Development for right and your spouse becomes
Newark, a deputy mayor position. a governor.
“I think this is amazing opportunity Tammy Murphy admits,
for the city, as we are at this pivotal point however, that she may not
of growth and development, to really have been ready for just how
think strategically about who is at the personal things would get.
helm,” Glover told ROI-NJ. CONTINUED ON PAGE 22
“There are a lot of cities that are
doing great work across the country.
There are a lot of like-minded and
ideologically aligned individuals across
CONTINUED ON PAGE 21 New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy has her own office in Trenton. — GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

PRSRT STD
US Postage Paid DEATH OF A DINER: Construction project has
Permit No. 1239
become nightmare for owners. Page 4
Bellmawr, NJ

FOCUS ON … ACCOUNTING: Early feedback

on tax refunds hasn’t been good, but … Page 27

SPECIAL REPORT: Commercial kitchens’

popularity is rising rapidly in N.J. Page 34
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

HOW TO
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development are expanding.

EDITORIAL

EDITOR
MURPHY SIGNS BILL TO EXTEND FAMILY LEAVE
Tom Bergeron
Business leaders say it’s piling on … again.
tbergeron@roi-nj.com

N.J. LAW ON SURPRISE

@tombergeron5

MANAGING EDITOR Six hospital groups

MEDICAL BILLS COULD SHAPE send letter to

Anjalee Khemlani
akhemlani@roi-nj.com
@anjkhem
Congress
MANAGING EDITOR
Eric Strauss
FEDERAL LEGISLATION urging action.

estrauss@roi-nj.com
Go to ROI-NJ.COM to read more of the stories above and for the latest news from around the state.
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DIGITAL
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Emily Bader
UPCOMING EVENTS PEOPLE IN THE NEWS

03/28/19
ebader@roi-nj.com
AMY MANSUE DONALD NORCROSS,
@emilybader
RWJBarnabas Health JEANNINE LARUE,
STAFF WRITERS
Mansue, KIMBERLY
Meg Fry 2019 Night of Distinction RAMALHO
mfry@roi-nj.com — New Jersey Food Council RWJBH’s
The Alice
president for
@megfry3
What: An evening to celebrate and pay Paul
its Southern
Brett Johnson
tribute to food industry leaders who Institute is
bjohnson@roi-nj.com Region, was
@reporterbrett have made a meaningful contribution to honoring
promoted to
advance the mission of the Food Council. the three
ART DIRECTOR the health
Robert F. Russo
When: Thursday, March 28, 2019 system’s chief experience individuals — a
rrusso@roi-nj.com at 5:30 p.m. officer as it changed congressman, a
Where: The Palace at Somerset Park, lobbyist and a corporate
up the leadership and
Somerset. communications exec,
definition of the region.
BUSINESS respectively — for their
More info: For tickets, go to: Bill Arnold will now be
OPERATIONS
work embodying the spirit
njfoodcouncil.com/events, Southern president.
SPECIALIST, of the equal rights activist.
OPERATIONS
or call Edie Esposito at 609-392-8899.
& CONTENT
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2
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
Why GE couldn’t happen here
Safeguards in N.J. incentive programs mean awards are never for naught
W
e’re waiting for the anti-incentive crowd to jump
on the General Electric news.
The news where the company will
reimburse the state of Massachusetts $87.4 million after
acknowledging it will not bring 800 new jobs to Boston and
it will not even build the campus it promised to construct
on a 2.7-acre site.
It’s the news that is the poster child
for Incentives Gone Wild.
And, thankfully, it could never
happen in New Jersey.
That’s right — it couldn’t happen
here.
So said Ted Zangari, who not only
is the real estate chair at Sills Cummis &
Gross, he’s what every politician, policy wonk and think tank
leader wants to be ever since Gov. Phil Murphy’s audit of the
Economic Development Authority came out: He’s an actual
expert on incentives.
In New Jersey, companies never get money up front,
Zangari said.
“Grow New Jersey does not prepay you,” he said. “The
state would not give you the money before your building was
built.”
That’s the way it always has been.
He pointed to two awards that were similar in size to
GE’s incentive to move to Massachusetts — and were given
to companies of the same stature: Panasonic ($102.4 million)
and Goya Foods ($82 million).
Both companies received awards through the Urban
Transit Hub program. And both have yet to receive their full
award. Why? They haven’t fulfilled all of their promises yet.
They are both still working toward their goals.
“They didn’t get the money until they opened, had the
jobs and then the payout is over 10 years,” Zangari said. “So,
I don’t know what silly incentive they had with GE where
they get the money up front.”
And if your New Jersey project goes south — as GE’s has
— you don’t get a penny.
Just ask the original owners of the building that was once
called Revel.
They were given a $261.3 million Economic
Redevelopment Grant, or ERG. They never got a penny.
The property opened, but infamously closed shortly
thereafter, falling far short of any requirements needed to get
the award.
Ironically, the big winner in that failure was the state of
New Jersey.
“(Revel) never got a penny, and, while it didn’t last long,
the state got a ratable on the books, 1,000 construction jobs
or whatever it was for a two-year period,” Zangari said. “The
building is now occupied, and it didn’t cost the state a dime.
3
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Editor’s Desk
“The state is ahead of the game by far.”
It’s nice to complain that New Jersey gives away money
that could be spent on education, infrastructure and social
services to rich companies that don’t need it.
The problem is: That’s not the way incentives work. (See
the look on certain New York City politicians after they
learned they didn’t suddenly have an extra $3 billion once
they ran Amazon out of town.)
Zangari finds such misinformation maddening —
mostly because the people making the claims are often
totally uninformed.
Of course, he knows the only people who really need to
know the truth in New Jersey are starting to learn it.
Zangari was pleased with the recent legislative hearings
on incentives, where developers Gene Diaz and Ron Beit
gave a lesson in “Incentives for Dummies” to the legislators
in attendance.
“They understand it better after the daylong hearing,”
Zangari said. “I know that most, if not all, legislators walked
away from that saying, ‘This is a great program and EDA
does a good administrating it.’”
The same can’t be said for those who gave GE $87.4
million to move to Boston.
But that’s not our problem. And it could never be our
situation.
— Tom Bergeron
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Economic Development
A much-needed overpass construction project is killing business at the Six Brothers Diner. —
State overpass project on Route 46 has taken Six Brothers Diner
out of the line of sight of drivers and produced an entrance that’s hard to, well ... enter
BY TOM BERGERON
tbergeron@roi-nj.com
S
ix Brothers Diner, long a favorite of
those traveling east on Route 346 —
or those traveling down the hill from
Montclair State (either by car or foot) — is
still there.
You just can’t see it well anymore.
And, if you can see it, you can’t figure out
how to get to it.
A much-needed overpass construction
project is helping traffic flow in the area — one
known for accidents, as it is right before Route
46 intersects with Route 3 at Valley Road.
But it is killing a business at the same time.
George and Katy Stylianou’s business.
The one the couple has gladly and eagerly
worked at almost day and night for more
than 20 years to support themselves and put
their three kids through college.
The one they hoped — after signing a 10-
year lease shortly before the project began —
would help them create a retirement nest egg.
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
DEATH
OF A
DINER
­ SIX BROTHERS DINER
The project, which started in early 2016, this would happen,” George Stylianou said. sewer for the bathrooms. Right away, we did
was supposed to be finished by last summer. “They said overpass. They didn’t say a wall the work. It cost $5,000 to replace 40 feet of
It still isn’t. blocking our view from the highway.” sewer. We knew they were working in that
And, as the Stylianous have watched The project seemingly has been beset area. The state wrote the check.”
months turn into years with problems from the beginning, which is However, the state has not always been as
on an overpass that has why it is more than a year behind schedule. accommodating, Stylianou said.
made their diner almost The location has been an issue. “When they reconfigured the property,
invisible from the road The diner is located in Little Falls. Right me and my wife said we have to do something
and difficult to enter down Route 3, where Valley Road intersects about this to make the property more alive,”
once it does come into in a junction with Route 46, is Clifton. he said. “So, we did the landscaping and it
focus, they can’t help but The sewer lines near the diner connect cost us $6,000. They refused to pay it because
George
Stylianou feel they are seeing the to Clifton — and are part of a maze of lines they said it was never negotiated.”
end of their business. that seem to connect in the area. That led to The state Department of Transportation
“Our gross sales are down approximately a problem. did not immediately return a request for
30 percent,” George Stylianou said. “What “When they were working in the parking comment.
that does is eliminates any kind of profit. We lot, they damaged the sewer line,” Stylianou Stylianou has nothing but good things to
barely can pay our insurance or taxes. Forget said. “It started to overflow. In order to stay say about the contractor, Joseph M. Sanzari
about taking money home.” in business, you’ve got to have running Inc., which is doing the work.
Finding a solution won’t be easy. “They are very professional, very
 respectful,” he said. “It’s not their fault. They
Conversation Starter
The Stylianous were not surprised by the are just doing their jobs.”
Reach Six Brothers Diner at:
project. sixbrothersdiner.net But the works requires trucks, which
“We knew about the construction coming or 973-256-2510. require places to park.
of the highway expansion, but we had no idea “There are times that that the heavy
4
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
equipment overwhelmed the whole parking
lot,” he said. “Who’s going to come, especially
on the older person, when they see that?”

Here’s the biggest problem for the
Stylianous.
Even when the project is completed,
their business may not be able to recover.
“The biggest thing is the visualization,”
George Stylianou said. “You used to be able
to see us coming down the road. Now, you
can’t see it. Even if you know it’s here, it
sneaks up on you.”
It’s a two-pronged problem, Stylianou said.
“For the regulars, who are not as thrown
by the visibility, it’s the access,” he said. “For
the drive-by customers, it’s the visibility. If
you don’t know we’re here, there’s not enough
time to stop if you see it at the last minute.”
The access is so bad that Stylianou said
he is losing money on pick-up orders.
“People will order pick-up at night and
then a half-hour later they would call us and
say, ‘Sorry, I can’t figure out how to get to
you,’ ” he said.
Business off Clove Road — which comes
down from the Montclair State campus and
the nearby train station — also has been hurt.
Not only are fewer students coming
down the road, those who used to use it as an
alternative entrance can’t do that anymore,
either.
The diner, which used to have two entrances, now has only one — located on Route 3. —
Even when the project is complete, the diner may not be able to recover, its owner said. —
The diner, which used to have two
entrances to its lot, now has one — and it’s
on Route 3.
“The way they designed the entrance and
the exit of the diner, and the ramp coming
from the college and the train station, has
them all coming together with people trying
to get off and people trying to get on the
highway,” he said. “It’s a disaster. People tell
us, ‘We don’t want to come to you,’ or, ‘Oh,
my God, I almost got into an accident.’ ”
It only gets worse.
If you put Six Brothers Diner into your
GPS, it will direct you to the old Clove Road
­ SIX BROTHERS DINER
5
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
­ TOM BERGERON
entrance — the one that no longer exists.

Don’t let the name of the diner fool you.
Neither of the Stylianous has five brothers
(the previous owner named the diner).
They are the only leaders of this diner.
They are proud of their business. Proud
of the fact it helped them put three kids
through college.
Now in their 50s, the Stylianous thought
they could use the next 10 years to prepare
for retirement. That’s why they renegotiated
their lease for 10 more years in 2014.
“We have no retirement savings,” George
Stylianou said. “We were counting on (how)
the same way we bought the business, we
could sell it somebody else and that will give
us some kind of retirement. So, that’s what
we were counting on.
“Now, it’s like we’re in limbo. Who is
going to buy this?”
Stylianou is not even sure the diner will
make it until 2024.
Many of the regulars, he said, are gone.
And he doesn’t think they will ever come back.
“Our older clientele finds it very difficult
to come here,” he said. “And since it’s been
over two years, I know they’re not coming
back. They’ve found another place.
“There’s five diners near here.”
Many of the longtime staff that is the
heart of any diner have left, too.
“They can’t make as much money,”
Stylianou said.
Turnover among replacement hires is
high, too.
Stylianou said the landlord on the building
has reduced their rent because of the issues,
but he knows they cannot simply close down.
His only hope is that the state will fix the
access problem in the future.
“They say this is Phase 1 and that there
will be a Phase 2,” he said. “But I don’t know
when that is coming or if there is anything
they can really do.”
twitter: @tombergeron5
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY

Goods & Services

BY ANJALEE KHEMLANI
Shock the store later this year, but that all hinges on whether or

to the
akhemlani@roi-nj.com not the state Legislature repeals a cap on the number of

A
planned Tesla location on Route 1 in Lawrence
Township is just a shell of a store right now. It has car
service bays and doors in place — but nothing else.
The approximately 20,000-square-foot facility, which
service centers Tesla is allowed to have.
The new location would be the fifth in the state for
Tesla. And Tesla has been limited to four dealerships
since 2014, when the state was lobbied to protect car
dealers, which operate as franchises, from having to face

system
would be the company’s largest in the state, serves as a
symbol of Tesla’s bullish outlook for New Jersey.
It also is the subject of a fight that pits a new-age
company producing the cars of the future against an
industry that feels it is skirting old-school rules that protect
consumers and aid the state’s economy.
Tesla officials feel the store could play a significant
role in helping Gov. Phil Murphy meet his desire to
dramatically increase the number of zero-emission cars on
the state’s roadways.
And some believe the store’s ability to feed the state’s
demand for more electric vehicles — New Jersey is
currently the seventh-strongest state in terms of market
demand, with nearly 10,000 cars delivered — could help
the struggling company find its footing.
But all of this can only happen if the store is actually
allowed to open.
Tesla officials told ROI-NJ the company plans to open
skirts needed franchise rules
competition from direct-to-consumer manufacturers.
The cap, as it is called, is the key to Tesla’s future in New
Jersey.
“The cap is a very real factor in our executive decision
on where and when to open,” Ryan Barnett, a policy
adviser for Tesla, said.
The company is lobbying legislators to boost the
 amount of locations it can have. On Feb. 14, legislation was
introduced that would allow Tesla to open up to 10 more
New-age carmaker Tesla locations over time.
says it wants to Barnett said Tesla should not be bound by franchise
laws for one simple reason.
spur electric vehicle “We’ve never had a franchise agreement anywhere
movement in N.J., else in the world,” he said. “So, there is no pre-existing
agreement that we are undermining at the local level.”
while old-school dealers Car dealerships at the local level in the state see it a
argue its business model different way.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

7
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
The New Jersey Coalition of Automobile
Retailers, or NJ CAR, is the statewide trade
association that represents the state’s more
than 500 neighborhood new car dealers,
which employ more than 38,000 people.
It has concerns about Tesla, which has
been operating in New Jersey under an
exemption approved by the Legislature and
signed by Gov. Chris Christie in March 2015.
NJ CAR President James Appleton said
the special exemption was granted to Tesla
four years ago because state officials felt that
the startup electric carmaker needed special
consideration and that, once the company
was up and operating at four factory-owned
retail locations, all future Tesla stores would
conform to the existing franchise laws, which
govern every other car dealer in the state.
Those laws, Appleton said, are not there to
limit commercialism, but to create local jobs
and business. And not just for the initial sale,
but for service visits, including safety recalls.
Now, the group is fighting back.
The new Tesla store is one of the worst-
kept secrets in the state. Tesla owner forums
have been tracking it since last April and
some trade groups have already publicly
called out the new location.
It’s a matter of principle, they said. And
the law.
Joseph Agresta, an NJ CAR member and
the dealer principal at Benzel-Busch Motor
Car in Englewood, said the group has no
problem allowing more Tesla locations in the
state.
“The simple fact is that, if Tesla
management believes the automaker
needs more stores to sell more vehicles in
New Jersey, the company can quickly and
efficiently scale up its retail network at any
time, without lobbying for a change in the
law, by appointing qualified franchisees to
build stores and sell Tesla-made vehicles, just
like every other automaker does,” he said.
“And, if Tesla needs more service facilities
to repair vehicles already in operation, there
is nothing in the current statute that restricts
the number of service facilities Tesla can
build to meet the needs of its customers.”
If only it were that simple.

Barnett said Tesla should not be treated
as a car dealer because it is not a car dealer.
Not in the way car dealers have sold cars
for decades.
“We’re not just an automaker,” he said.
“We can’t sell through the traditional auto
dealer model.”
The Legislature is mulling walking back
those restrictions on Tesla. It may have to do
something. Right now, there is even debate
over whether Tesla has four or five locations.
Tesla has four stores, in Cherry Hill,
Paramus, Short Hills and Springfield, along
with a gallery in Garden State Plaza in Paramus.
What’s the difference? Barnett said the
gallery should not count as a location.
“Customers are not allowed to ask
financing terms (there), they are not allowed
to exchange payment or place a deposit, not
allowed to purchase or have a car delivered to
that location,” Barnett said.
“No service, either.”
Want more? Tesla also sells its solar
“When Tesla first came (to the state), it was
operating as a startup. Their market cap
is equal to GM now, so what need for special
dispensation does this company need?”
— James Appleton, president, NJ CAR
The Lawrence Township site is currently a shell of a store, without even signage. —
panels at the same location as the cars.
Barnett said all of this proves the company’s
premise that it is not a traditional dealer.
That’s right, the fight over Tesla in New
Jersey includes a battle over the definition of
a dealership.

In 2014, Tesla had less than 1,000 vehicles
driving in New Jersey. Last year, that number
ballooned to almost 10,000.
Part of the spike in purchases came from
a federal incentive that gave buyers a $7,500
tax credit on their purchase. The discount
reduces to $3,750 once a carmaker meets a
target of 200,000 sales.
Tesla met the target in July 2018 — the
8
first company to do so — and General
Motors followed earlier this year. Tesla
then lowered its car prices by $2,000 to help
balance out the reduced credit.
But the success Tesla has had in New Jersey
is not necessarily being replicated elsewhere.
There have been ups and downs for the
electric vehicle leader, which currently holds
85 percent of the market share — although
it still only counts for less than 1 percent of
overall auto sales in the country.
Its CEO, Elon Musk, is battling the
Securities & Exchange Commission regarding
the accuracy of the information he is releasing to
the public — and, thus, potential shareholders.
­ ANJALEE KHEMLANI
In fact, Tesla shares fell 5 percent last
Monday after the SEC asked a judge to hold
Musk in contempt for violating a court-
ordered deal in which Musk was not to tweet
information about the company without
preapproval.
Tesla recently posted its second profitable
quarter in Q4, but that was followed by a
round of layoffs and a reduction in car options
— notably only selling a long-range model
and ceasing production of the lowest-priced
Model S. And Consumer Reports removing
the Model 3 from its recommended cars list
due to reliability issues.
Barnett blamed the cap for a slow-roll
of shipping and delivery of the Model 3 —
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
which, ironically, played a role in why the
company showed a profit.
But Barnett said the new location, which
would also serve the southeast Pennsylvania
region, is being built to help alleviate the slow
delivery.
And impact the price.
Musk has said putting more cars on
the road also will help make the car more
affordable, as was originally intended.
Which leads to the battle over sticker
price — and profit.

Appleton said his group is not against
the growth of electric vehicles or of Tesla
growing its market share — just the way the
company operates
NJ CAR just wants what it calls a fair fight.
This is not, he said, David versus Goliath.
“When Tesla first came (to the state), it
was operating as a startup,” Appleton said.
“Their market cap is equal to GM now, so
what need for special dispensation does this
company need?”
In addition, Appleton said, the current
system Tesla has does less to contribute to
the local economy and more to add to the
company’s coffers in Silicon Valley.
Car dealers say they add directly to the
New Jersey economy — and the safety of the
roads.
Tony Fernandez, owner of Englewood
Buick GMC and Chevrolet of Englewood
and an NJ CAR member, said his dealership
does things Tesla will not do.
“The franchise laws every other dealer
operates under were designed to promote
competition for sales and service, which
benefits consumers and promotes highway
safety,” he said. “Automakers see warranty and
safety recall work as an expense. Independently
owned and operated neighborhood new car
dealers, like me, on the other hand, are eager
to go to bat for their customers when there are
warranty or safety recall issues.”
Tesla, meanwhile, promotes the impact
its cars have on the environment.
If New Jersey lifts the cap on the company,
Barnett said Tesla could expand significantly
and put more electric vehicles on the road —
a point Tesla officials are hopeful the Murphy
administration will back.
“The market is ripe and ready. We feel
half-measures to combat the effects of climate
change are no longer acceptable,” Barnett said.
“I think the Murphy administration has made
clear that this is something he is committed
to making New Jersey on track to help solve.”
Whether that commitment includes a
Tesla store on Route 1 remains to be seen.
twitter: @anjkhem
 ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Real Estate & Infrastructure

up NewJersey Global infrastructure firm AECOM making push

in Garden State, bolstered by native Vierheilig
Building

Kim Vierheilig, AECOM vice president and managing principal, Buildings + Places, New Jersey, at NJIT’s Wellness and Events Center in Newark.
­— PHOTOS BY KEITH MUCCILLI

BY TOM BERGERON
tbergeron@roi-nj.com
Kim Vierheilig has been at
AECOM for less than a year, but
she’s already familiar with the look.
It’s the expression potential
clients have when she tells them
where she works.
“It’s very strange, because we
have great brand recognition,” she
said. “When I meet with someone
and tell them I work for AECOM, they
immediately know us, but they don’t
really know what we do.
“This is the biggest hurdle we have in
New Jersey.”
Vierheilig, a vice president and the
managing principal for the Buildings + Places
division of the firm in New Jersey, is fortunate:
The company has a great story to tell.
AECOM is a fully integrated global
infrastructure firm with a workforce of
87,000 and operations in more than 150
countries. It had revenue of more than $20
billion in 2018.
The company is now making a
concentrated effort in New Jersey, an area
it may have overlooked in the past, despite
having four offices (Clifton, Piscataway,
Conversation Starter
Reach Kim Vierheilig of AECOM
at kim.vierheilig@aecom.com
or 201-787-0770.
Princeton and Burlington) and more than
1,000 employees here.
“For a lot of global companies, New
Jersey is mistakenly seen as a subset of New
York City,” Vierheilig said. “I think that’s
how AECOM used to view New Jersey.
“Now, we understand New Jersey
is a market all its own. It has its own
challenges and it needs a strategy
entirely its own, which is part of why I
was brought on.”
Vierheilig, a Jersey native and
graduate of New Jersey Institute of
Technology, feels she knows the
state’s needs.
“We have aging infrastructure in
water, power and transportation,”
she said. “There’s resiliency and

10
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
climate change
issues, there’s tremendous population
growth in our inner cities and there’s funding
challenges.
“As a firm that is full-service — we can
design, we can build, we can finance projects
— we can do everything or one piece of that,
but we believe we can bring this holistic
design solution to a state that is looking for
that much larger vision. We’ve done those
things nationally and all over the globe and
we feel that is the value we can bring to New
Jersey.”

AECOM’s organizational chart can best
be described as a matrix. And a complicated
one at that.
Vierheilig heads up one of seven units in
the state: Buildings + Places; Transportation;
Environment; Water; Power; PM/CM
(project management/construction
management); and Construction Services
which is AECOM Tishman, a company
AECOM acquired nearly a decade ago.
“Buildings + Places is basically
architecture and all the engineering that deals
NJIT’s Wellness and Events Center in Newark, designed by AECOM.
with architecture,” she
said. “So, it’s landscape architecture, master
planning, civil engineering, mechanical,
electrical, plumbing, structural engineering,
everything that goes into making a building
a building.”
Vierheilig feels the setup enables the firm
to work on dozens of projects at once.
“We now have a strategic business
team of people who look at cross-discipline
pursuits,” she said. “Because, if I’m looking
at architecture, there’s a million other things
that have to be involved in a project. That’s
really where we bring our value.”
AECOM is doing plenty.
It just completed the WEC, or Wellness
and Events Center, at NJIT, and is in the
design process of creating a new Essex
County courthouse in Newark — a project
it is working on with local firm Comito
Associates.
AECOM also is working on numerous
projects involving K-12 institutions and
pharma, though Vierheilig said they
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ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
could not be named due to
confidentiality agreements.
Looking ahead, Vierheilig said she
sees many more opportunities in the state,
saying transportation, corporate and federal
market segments are growth areas for
AECOM.
“Basically, anything that allows the
private sector to get involved in the funding
gap, we feel is a win-win for New Jersey,”
Vierheilig said. “And I think that’s where
New Jersey is headed. We are aligned with
the governor’s (public-private partnership)
legislation that’s coming out and the design-
build legislation.”

Saying your firm assisted on a metro
tunnel in Australia, the first-ever three-tower
bridge in China, a 62-mile cross rail project
in London and the master plan for the 2016
Olympics in Brazil sounds impressive.
As does work on Hudson Yards and
many projects at the World Trade Center in
New York City.
Vierheilig knows, however, that talking
about them will just get you the look.
This is New Jersey, she said. People want
to know what you can do for them. Here.
“I joke that, when I speak to prospective
clients, I always say, ‘OK, we’ve got 87,000
employees, we’re in 150 countries and I
know that means absolutely nothing to you:
So, let me tell you what I’m going to do for
you,’ ” she said.
“That is our challenge in New Jersey, to
show people that we understand the state
and that the things we’ve learned globally,
we can adapt to New Jersey and make
better solutions. We need to show that
we are thinking of things that other firms
aren’t thinking of because we have those
experiences someplace else.”
It’s why AECOM is making its push in
the state.
“I was brought on in May of last year,”
she said. “There were a bunch of strategic
hires at that time. Internally, management
thought, we’re really missing out on the New
Jersey market.”
The thought process went like this:
“If all your projects are in New York and
you’re just using New Jersey kind of as the
workforce, you’re not really looking at New
Jersey the way you need to,” she said.
“There’s tremendous opportunity in New
Jersey. I mean there’s opportunity basically
all over the state. They finally realized this is
where we need to look.”
twitter: @tombergeron5
Supporting
women in STEM
Kim Vierheilig, vice president
and the managing principal for
the Buildings + Places division of
AECOM, feels she finally has her
dream job.
“I’ve always believed that the
power of architecture was to
impact people’s lives in a positive
way,” she said. “And I felt like I
could do more at AECOM, which
believes in the power of design and
the power to create environments
that improve where we live.
“At a small firm, you don’t really
have the resources. Here, I can
dream any vision and, if AECOM
believes in me, I can go out and
do it. I’ve never had that.”
She’s always wanted it. Since the
time she was in sixth grade. Since
the time she was at New Jersey
Institute of Technology — often
one of only a few females in her
classes.
Vierheilig said she’s now working
to help other women achieve the
same dream. It’s another reason
she made the move to AECOM,
which recently was awarded
the corporate award from the
women’s political caucus of New
Jersey for its work in promoting
women in the workplace.
“In 2015, AECOM made a global
challenge to themselves, saying
they were going to double the
number of women in leadership
positions nationally, by 2020,” she
said. “And we are on the path to
doing that.
“Even more, the firm is incredibly
supportive of women’s initiatives.
We do mentorship, we have
sponsorships, we have leadership
seminars. We’re always looking
for ways to promote and support
women in this industry.
“This has been the most
supportive environment that I’ve
worked in.”
Vierheilig, a past president of the
women in architecture for AIA
New Jersey, now sits on the state
board of architects. The post
gives her an even greater reach.
“Because I sit on the state board,
I also serve nationally on the
National Council for Architectural
Registration Boards,” she said.
“We continually talk about how do
we become a more diverse group,
how are we mentoring everyone?”
Vierheilig makes sure her voice is
heard in New Jersey. She has to.
She’s the only woman architect on
the state board.
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Sports & Entertainment

Betting big
Garden State Park to open N.J.’s first standalone sports betting site.
It could be open in next 90 days. Operator has yet to be selected
BY ANJALEE KHEMLANI
akhemlani@roi-nj.com
Real estate power duo Jack Morris and Joe
Marino are opening the first standalone
sports betting site in New Jersey at the
former Garden State Park Racetrack in
Cherry Hill, ROI-NJ has learned.
The facility could be open in the next
90 days.
The still-unnamed site will be
located in the current Garden State Park
community, where Morris’ Edgewood
Properties and Marino’s Century 21
Construction have built out a dine-shop-
live experience on 223 acres.
“It’s a nice facility, it’s very roomy,”
Morris said. “It gives us the ability to test
the market. And, if it’s a market where we
have what I think will be
thousands of people that will be coming
here, we can enlarge it. We have plenty of
space to do it.”
The location is accessible by the major
roadway of Route 73, and by train from the
Cherry Hill station, which is a stop along
the New Jersey Transit Atlantic City line.
The idea was born after sports betting
became legal in the state.
“Former racetracks have the ability
to have a sports betting facility, as long as
its within the oval of what the racetrack
is,” Morris said. “Clearly, if you look at the
plan, all of the property that’s within the
oval is owned and controlled by myself
and Joe Marino.”
The state’s Division of Gaming
Enforcement has been out to the site
multiple times, Morris said, and a sports
book operator will soon be selected.
Morris said the choice is
down to two, one currently operating in
the state and one that is not.
“All of them are in the business, some
that we have talked to are in the business
presently in New Jersey, and some are not,”
he said.
The hope is that the location, which is in
an open-air mall, will attract casual bettors
and serve as an entertainment destination.
“The property is not just a racetrack
where people will want to go and just want
to make a bet,” Morris said, comparing the
location to existing racetracks or the sports
betting experience in Atlantic City.
The layout of the facility includes an
entire wall of screens. Facing those screens
in height order is a section of tables,
followed by a long bar — with seating on
both sides — followed by high tops. In
total, the facility can seat 142 guests.
SOSH Architects was chosen to design
the facility since it has experience, through
the casino industry, with designing to the
requirements of the DGE, Morris said.
It’s a concept Morris hopes can go
national.
“We are going to have great drinks and
opportunity for people to come and socialize,
this is not going to be a place where you just
come and place your bets,” Morris said.
“We are creating our own concept, and
it’s something I think we will end up building
and creating where we can do this in other
destination spots around the country.”
Morris said he did not think the site
will take away from Atlantic City’s traffic.
Morris is one of the owners of the
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City,
which opened a sports book on Super
Bowl Sunday. It is one of eight casinos in
Atlantic City with sports betting.
twitter: @anjkhem

The hope, Jack Morris said, is the new sports betting site will attract casual bettors and serve as an entertainment destination. ­— FILE PHOTO

12
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Health Care

‘Something
really Atlantic Health’s Gragnolati aims
to reshape health care both in Garden State
and, through AHA, nationwide

special’ BY ANJALEE KHEMLANI

akhemlani@roi-nj.com

T
Brian Gragnolati, CEO, Atlantic Health System. —
­ ATLANTIC HEALTH SYSTEM
aking over what was then the third-largest hospital system
in New Jersey seemed like an odd choice to many who
saw Brian Gragnolati move from his former post at uber-
prestigious Johns Hopkins Medicine to Atlantic Health System.
It even prompted rumors that he wasn’t The step that was taken by CMS (Centers for
long for the Garden State. Medicare and Medicaid Services) recently to
But, four years later, Gragnolati has been have machine-readable charges was the only
steadfast in his leadership at AHS, and is also way that they could get at this right now. But,
serving as the board chair of the American quite frankly, it has very low use so far. It’s
Hospital Association this year. one of our objectives (at Atlantic) to take that
“I left one of the best places in the world, on and make it understandable. So, we are
Johns Hopkins, and I left there because I saw starting that work and starting that journey.
an opportunity here to do something really
special,” he said. ROI: How can you make it understandable
Gragnolati sat down with ROI-NJ to for regular folks?
discuss his new role and talk health care BG: One is going to be involving regular
nationally and in New Jersey. folks in the design. It’s including people who
need this information in the design and
ROI-NJ: It’s an interesting time to be what’s important to them. There’s a cohort of
looking at health care, federally, with the information the patients really need — and I
public outcry mounting against high costs. call them shoppable services, because when
Brian Gragnolati: The issue of how much someone is coming in for trauma care, they
something is going to cost a patient is a very are not going to stop on the way and look at a
appropriate concern that they have. We have price transparency tool and figure out what’s
grown up in an industry of this chargemaster going to happen.
(list of charges). And, in many instances, the On the other hand, if they are looking
chargemaster was never intended to (be the for a mammogram or the cost of an office
price-setter), and legislation and regulation visit or an elective procedure, we ought to
have been built around it where that is the be able to give them that information in
only utility that is available. an understandable format and, hopefully,
I am hoping that the work we can do at they will be able to access it from their
the federal level begins to address that issue. smartphone. That’s really what we are trying

14
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
to do here at Atlantic.
ROI: Of course, with health care, few
people pay the sticker price. How do you
account for that?
BG: (That is) the other piece of this,
because of the nuances associated with the
insurance plan. What people really want to
know, in addition to the cost, is what’s the
cost to them. That’s where we have to work
with our insurance partners, to develop
mechanisms and tools to do that so we can in
real time give them a sense of where they are
going to be. That means we have to integrate
data systems, to an extent.
So, in the negotiations we have now
with the people who pay us, that’s part of the
conversation: How can we work together to
provide information to our patients and their
clients?
ROI: Is there a model to follow?
BG: When I was in my role at the AHA,
we have these things called regional policy
boards, and we got into this conversation
about pricing in Ohio. I’ll always remember
the CEO, he basically listened to all of us and
then he finally said: ‘Look, I have a small
hospital in an Amish area. The Amish pay
cash. I had to develop a pricing approach
here that was understandable, otherwise
they wouldn’t receive their care from us.’
That organization actually identified the
600 most common things that their patients
would be seeking information on and they
developed a pricing mechanism for that. So,
it can be done. We have to just have the will,
and here at Atlantic we are taking it on.
ROI: The pricing discussion leads naturally
to a changing world of downward pressures on
the health care system. Specifically, value-based
care, which bundles services for a single cost, and
how insurers and health experts keep talking
about his idea. How do you balance all that?
BG: The reality is, today, particularly
in the state of New Jersey, we are still
predominantly paid in the fee-for-service
model. Many of us in New Jersey have
really been utilizing the experiments that
were created out of the Affordable Care
Act — Accountable Care Organizations, as
an example — to really learn how to work
differently in value. Those are experiments,
and they were intended to be put in place and
learn from them and then iterated. And that’s
happening at the federal level right now.
I’ve had a couple of meetings with
(U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services) Secretary (Alex) Azar and (CMS
Administrator) Seema Verma, and they
clearly want to continue these kinds of
experiments. What they are interested in
is the pace of change to get to both up and
down side risk.
Here at Atlantic, we are going to move
in that direction with the launch of another
ACO that we have. At its core, it’s bringing
physicians and facilities together to work
with a patient population to really provide
access in a different way but also stay focused
on the utilization that occurs. At its core, is
data. In many instances, we are flying blind
in understanding patterns of utilization.
ROI: How do you solve that problem?
BG: How do you take out unnecessary
utilization and at the same time keep the
“We are constantly looking
at how we create points of access
in areas where we don’t have that.
Is there an opportunity to partner?
Or do we need to actually recruit
and open up sites of care?”
— Brian Gragnolati, CEO, Atlantic Health System
lights on, is an important question. All of our
decisions now (at Atlantic) are predicated on
data. To financially survive as you’re reducing
unnecessary utilization … you’ve got to do
two things. You’ve got to grow the number of
individuals that turn to you and entrust you
with their care. And you need to work very
hard to make sure that the care they need is
conducted within your organized delivery
system. That gets into our strategy for growth.
ROI: Speaking of strategy for growth,
many have wondered why you haven’t
engaged with mergers at the pace of some of
your competitors. You have remained focused
on maintaining the size of AHS, but pursuing
a greater focus on care delivery, even in the
innovation space. Explain this strategy?
BG: We are constantly looking at how
we create points of access in areas where we
15
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
don’t have that. Is there an opportunity to
partner? Or do we need to actually recruit
and open up sites of care?
We have over 400 sites of care now in
our region (serving 4.9 million people). Our
growth plans are carefully predicated on
filling in the white spaces. So, for example,
we know now, using our data analytics,
our primary care practices people tend to
populate those practices from a 5- to 10-mile
radius. We also know that, from the primary
care office, access to a specialist tends to be in
a 15-or-so-mile radius. But, generally, that’s
how it works.
We are becoming less opportunistic
about where we open sites of care and we are
becoming more targeted. The other thing we
have done in the past year is we don’t believe
we have to own everything, but we believe we
have to partner with people. The relationship
we have with MedExpress is a great example.
It’s the first (of its kind) that United (Health
Group) has done in the country, where we
own a portion of the MedExpress sites in
this region. We have an opportunity to grow
those, and we are.
ROI: How are you changing how you
deliver care?
BG: We are making a lot of investments
and putting a lot of time into how people
interact with us on their terms. Somebody
that might not be as technology-savvy is still
going to want that human interaction, that
phone call, that ability to talk to somebody.
Others are going to want to make that
appointment on a smart phone. Others are
going to want a virtual visit.
We have to make sure that we have
systems designed to do that. But the biggest
thing is to have conversations with our
patients to understand where they are. So,
in our practices, we are implementing those
technologies, but we make sure the patients
are comfortable with them on their terms.
ROI: What about your incubator program,
AHa!, or Atlantic Health Advancements, and
other ways to diversify your revenue?
BG: Ambulatory care is critically
important in following that pattern of
moving care outside of the traditional
walls of the hospital, so we are making a
lot of investments in that. As it relates to
innovation, we are really focused on things
that will either enable us to provide care at a
lower cost or it creates greater stickiness with
a consumer. The ideas that we are looking at
tend to fall into those two buckets.
The third area that always gets a look,
particularly from our internal processes,
are safety issues. But we are also looking at
how we invest in companies doing those
things because one of the laments I have
about the health care industry is we help
people develop products and we pay dearly
for that opportunity to help them develop
their products. You look at information
technology — we help companies perfect
their products. But then we pay for them. As
opposed to have an equity in them.
ROI: So, if more companies work together
and we remove the silos of the health care
industry through greater partnerships, does
that put an end to M&A?
BG: I don’t think the M&A activity
will ever go away, but it will take on some
different flavors. There are always going to be
circumstances where organizations are going
to need to come together in order to survive.
Rural medicine is under tremendous
pressure and, at (Atlantic Health
Advancements), we have a whole initiative to
support that cohort of our members, because
you have to remember 27 percent of the U.S.
population lives in these rural areas. We are
on the verge of creating health care deserts in
some of these areas.
The other flavor you are going to see
is plays where we are coming together
around technology or data. The Healthcare
Transformation Consortium is an example
of that; Allspire is another example where
we came together to reduce costs. So, you’re
going to see more of that occur.
twitter: @anjkhem
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Politics & Finance
Why the budget battle
is still going on
It’s not in the news, but, behind the scenes,
companies are still reacting to
last summer’s CBT surprise
BY ANJALEE KHEMLANI
akhemlani@roi-nj.com
T
he lingering effects of changes to the
state’s corporate business tax haven’t
dissipated since last summer — they
have just been flying under the radar in full
force.
New Jersey business advocates have been
worried that more companies could follow the
lead of Honeywell, which moved its corporate
headquarters to North Carolina last summer.
Experts said the first evidence of any
impact from the CBT will be seen in early
2020 — after businesses file their taxes in
October and the Treasury reviews them.
But some companies aren’t waiting to
find out.
Ken Hydock, a tax expert at SobelCo,
said the ramifications of all these changes are
still being understood — and how to reduce
the impact is top of mind.
“People are going to have to do something
fairly quickly because, even though filing is
not until next year, they will have a year of
transactions to reduce the income allocated
(to New Jersey),” Hydock said.
That’s because the changes expanded the
base New Jersey can tax in the business world
— including some foreign assets, thanks to
federal tax reforms.
The three notable changes to the CBT
included:
 A switch to combined reporting of the
company’s entire income, rather than just
the income allocated to New Jersey;
 An increase in the percent taxed on
revenue over $1 million; and
 Taxing 50 percent of intangible assets
parked in low-tax countries.
“What people are trying to do is establish
themselves to have as little income allocated
in New Jersey as possible, and one of the
ways to do that is for companies located
outside New Jersey to try not to have 50
percent ownership,” Hydock said.
The changes don’t affect all companies
alike. Some companies will do well with
combined reporting because the balance
of loss and gain will result in lower taxes
owed.
The combined reporting change and
taxing of Global Intangible Low Taxed Income,
or GILTI, has created a sense of urgency in how
businesses structure their ownership, such as
how Honeywell did, according to Hydock.
“With the allocation change, we’re not
sure how much it’s going to affect the income
of New Jersey,” Hydock said. “It is once again
a change that people have to change their
accounting systems for. It takes time to get
up to speed.”
16
But, he said, to avoid a greater tax
burden, companies are looking at things like
transferring interest or moving warehouses
and offices outside of the state.
A tax expert who helped legislators
during the budget showdown last year
spoke to ROI-NJ about the CBT battle, but
requested anonymity because of the sensitive
nature of the issue — which could still return
to the spotlight this year or next, they said.
They said one major frustration from
the business community last summer
was having to change their accounting —
which is why the state agreed to a phased-
out CBT increase, rather than a permanent
increase.
“Most companies don’t want to pay more
tax either, but sometimes you know you’re
going to have to, so that’s kind of a level way
of doing it by offsetting some of the negative
impacts of a change,” the source said.
“If you increase the rate of tax on a
corporation, the year that — and this is
the same for combined filing — you make
significant changes … even if it’s not effective
for one to two years, the year the law goes
into effect, the companies have to revalue
their balance sheets for SEC purposes.
“If they have to reprice, that’s a huge
hit on company’s financial statements …
and that could affect stock prices. If it’s
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
temporary, you don’t have to revalue your
balance sheet.”
But the issue that could rear its head
again in 2020 is the taxing of intangible
assets. Even though the Governor’s Office
has said it will work with companies that are
negatively impacted and that the Treasury
has been directed to consider exceptions.
At the time the state adopted the tax,
other states were also looking into it — as
a state-level version of repatriation taxes
coming from the federal level.
“The issue of GILTI could come back
up,” the source said. “Massachusetts was one
of the states that said they were going to tax
it, and Connecticut, and both of them said
no.”
Maryland and Pennsylvania also did
the same. New York is pending. This now
makes New Jersey an outlier, as the New
Jersey Business & Industry Association
pointed out in October when a fix-up bill
was passed.
How did the state, which notoriously has
an unfriendly business climate, end up here?
“It’s a very complicated topic, and that
was one of the issues raised by the community
during that time,” the source said about last
year’s budget battle.
“I don’t think the fight is over.”
twitter: @anjkhem
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
Combined reporting: It still hasn’t been straightened out
BY ANJALEE KHEMLANI
akhemlani@roi-nj.com
No one was more surprised to see combined
reporting included in last summer’s budget
battle than those working on the budget.
One source involved in the process who
requested anonymity due to the nature of the
discussion, said adding combined reporting
was a surprise.
“The whole time, up until the Saturday,
they were having hearings, they were not
doing the combined filing,” the source said.
“The only thing they were negotiating at that
point was what the corporate business tax
increase was going to be. They were arguing
over where that millionaires’ tax would go.
So, when everyone left Saturday, everyone
thought, ‘OK, those were the only two things
in play and life was good.’ ”
The same evening, things changed.
“Somewhere around 7 o’ clock that
Saturday night, there was an announcement
that the leaders — (Senate President
Stephen) Sweeney, (Assembly Speaker
Craig) Coughlin and the governor — have
reached an agreement and they were going
to do combined reporting,” the source said.
“That, of course, was really concerning.
Gov. Phil Murphy included combined reporting in last summer’s budget. —
It is very difficult to have a draft of a bill on
combined reporting come in place in one day.”
The source said the depth of the issue
makes such a quick turn impossible.
“It’s a very complicated issue,” they said.
“It’s not easy to say you now have to file
combined. Are we doing water’s edge? Are we
doing worldwide? I think the Legislature was
looking at what other states do, and Treasury
was pushing for worldwide, and the bill that
eventually came out did follow most states in
being water’s edge (U.S. affiliated revenue)
17
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
­ GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
with worldwide election. There ended up
(being) technical issues that everyone said
they would come back and fix.”
That came in October. And since then
companies have been looking at their books.
There are some constitutional arguments
against it, the source said.
“New Jersey comes out administratively
and says every business regardless of how
you do business or where your worldwide
income comes from, we are going to look
at the New Jersey GDP versus the overall
Politics & Finance
U.S. GDP,” the source said. “We are going
to assume income misplaced and should
have been made in the U.S. We’re deeming it
misplaced income and taxing 50 percent of it
and allocating it as New Jersey GDP.”
This gives outsiders a competitive
advantage in the state.
“Just to put it in perspective, take a
pharmaceutical company headquartered in
Germany and a pharmaceutical company
headquartered in New Jersey,” the source said.
“The one in Germany doesn’t have to
pay income on the GILTI, just U.S. territorial
income. The New Jersey one has to pay on
worldwide income. You can’t compete in
your home state. One company had made
the statement that their tax on GILTI in New
Jersey would exceed their tax paid to the rest
of the 49 states.”
But it is still too early since the full effects
won’t be known until next year.
“When the GILTI was done in the fix-
up bill, a number of key people said, if it
impacts negatively, we will revisit this issue,”
the source said. “My guess is this issue
could come up. But it’s definitely one where
whether it ends up in the courts or back in
legislation, the issue of GILTI is not over.”
twitter: @anjkhem
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Public Policy
Brandon McKoy, the new president of New Jersey Policy Perspective. —
NEW PERSPECTIVE
BY TOM BERGERON
tbergeron@roi-nj.com
B
randon McKoy was named the
new president of New Jersey Policy
Perspective last Wednesday. A
Jerseyan through and through (raised in
Maplewood, attended The College of New
Jersey for undergrad and did his graduate
work at Rutgers University), McKoy said he’s
passionate about helping the state become
bigger, better and bolder.
“New Jersey’s got a lot of great things
going on, and we need to talk that up more
and more,” he said. “That comes through in
our issues and our problems. We need to
­ NJPP
Brandon McKoy, new president
of New Jersey Policy Perspective,
outlines his vision for organization
expand our horizons and look beyond our
state borders to really get a sense of what’s
possible.”
McKoy, 32, gave ROI-NJ his first
interview since taking the top spot. We
asked him to detail five big areas NJPP will
concentrate on under his leadership:
PUSHING FOR PROPER
INVESTMENTS IN STATE ASSETS
One of the major things that we as an
18
organization are certainly known for is
advocating for proper investments in the
state’s assets, whether it be education, fair
housing, transit. We’re going to continue to
continue to do that.
Just seeing how much transit and
higher education and initiatives to make
communities more affordable have fallen by
the wayside over the better part of the past
decade was very distressing. And, then, it’s
no surprise when you see the state’s economy
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
sort of becomes sluggish and slow.
One thing that we will certainly continue
to do in a very strong and attentive and
aggressive manner is argue in favor of
investing in our assets. It is really not an
option. If you don’t have assets and you don’t
have the primary things that attract people to
not only live in your state, but want to work
and locate a business in your state, you’re
doing it wrong.
Conversation Starter
Reach Brandon McKoy at:
mckoy@njpp.org
or 609 393 1145.
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
FIGHTING FOR A FAIR TAX
I think there’s a lot of folks in New Jersey
who consider themselves to be middle class,
who are not the furthest thing from it, but
they are not middle class. In regard to how
we structure our tax code, that group often is
the loudest and gets the most attention and
sort of kills or stops a lot of good policies
moving forward.
Right now, you have a situation where
a lot of really middle-class households in
New Jersey pay more in a share of income
then the richest, wealthiest households in
the state. We want to continue to fight for a
more progressive tax code that ensures that
the wealthiest are paying their fair share. We
look at other states that have implemented
taxes in this way. They are progressive and
assure that those who have a higher ability
to pay taxes, pay more. You see those states
simply doing better, having less issues with
income inequality, driving down poverty
a bit more and having more resources with
regards to critical revenues, to investing sorts
of tax credits and credit policies that benefit
low- and middle-income households.
I think that California is pretty decent
on this. I know that Massachusetts is moving
toward more progressivity in its tax code.
New York is always a good one to look at and
I think Minnesota is also pretty good. Look
at the states that did well coming out of the
recession and where were the decisions that
they made immediately prior to and during it.
A lot of them asked more of their wealthiest
households during the recession and that
allowed them to make investments that were
critical, so, at the time the recession ended,
they came out of it stronger and they came out
of it quicker. I think the state needs to learn
that lesson because it seems like we might
have a recession coming around the corner.
COMMUNICATING
OUR MESSAGE IN NEW WAYS
In regard to how we communicate
as an organization, we need to be much
more aware of the fact that the world is a
different place in 2019 than it was when this
organization began in 1997 and even when
Gordon MacInnes took control seven years
ago. We need to have the ability and the
capacity to produce our reports in a way that
reaches more people.
Obviously, we’ll continue to do that
through spreadsheets and documents and all
that good stuff, but we have to reach people
where they are. That’s going to mean a lot
more video and that’s going to mean a lot
more social media, and not in a way that’s
going to be crass or in a way that’s going to be
shorting the importance of the issue. I think
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ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
a lot of concerns that people have with social
media is that it can pique people’s attention
spans for only so long, so how much do we
really do? But you can communicate the top-
line issues of a report in a short amount of
time and drive people to find out more about
the issue and dig into the report themselves.
I think any organization that does the
work that we do going forward, needs to be
better about that. And NJPP will be better
about that.
KEEPING A KEENER EYE
ON UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
I think for the moment that we are
in, in New Jersey and nationaly, it’s really
important that for whatever policies are being
discussed and whatever analysis is being
done, to have officials have a keen eye and
give careful consideration for the ultimate
impact on underserved communities with
considerations to race, to gender, to ability,
to education level and particularly, poverty
level. At NJPP, we will be a little bit more
intentional when we do reports about having
a racial- and gender-equity analysis lens
when we’re delivering information.
I think people would genuinely expect
and deserve this information in this day and
age, because that’s the type of information
that’s going to help drive quality policy
and make sure that we’re making the right
decisions.
THINKING BIGGER
I think the state and a lot of the leaders
in the state need to do more to think big. A
lot of times the conversation in New Jersey
is confined to this box of New Jersey’s
immediate history: What have we done, what
are our challenges and what are our specific
issues that we just can’t seem to find a way to
get over? When we keep that conversation in
that box, we all lose.
We need to expand the scope of what’s
possible. There’s a lot of interesting and
promising and innovative policy happening
around this country and around this world.
And, if we really want to address our issues,
we need to expand our horizons and be
much more intentional about looking at
what other places are doing, really be curious
about what’s happening across the country.
New Jersey should be taking all of that in
and expanding the conversation and talking
about what we see other folks do and what other
places are doing. I just think that, too often, we
allow our conversation to remain small. NJPP is
going to play a very big part in trying to expand
our conversation, trying to help people think
big and have a bold vision for our state.
twitter: @tombergeron5
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Economic Development

The slow play: Newark confident Amazon will

take second look at city — just not anytime soon

A
isha Glover is confident that Newark
still has a strong chance to get a part
of Amazon’s HQ2 award.
She also is confident that it’s not going
to happen anytime soon. And she’s OK with
that.
Glover said the quest for Amazon’s
second headquarters is — and always has
been — a long-term play.
In her most extensive comments since
Amazon announced last week it is pulling out
of its agreement to bring 25,000 jobs to New
York City, Glover told
ROI-NJ recently why she
feels Newark is still in
play — and what the city
and state are doing in an
attempt to bring any part
of the project and its job
total to the state.
“I think they have to revisit the list (of
20 finalists),” she said. “I think everybody
is misreading their statement of them not
going back out to the HQ2 bid process.
“To me, that just means they’re not going
to go back out to bid. They’re not doing this
all over again. They don’t have to; they have
all the data and information that they already
asked of us.” Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. —
­ XXXXXXXXXXXX
Glover, who led Newark’s bid as the
head of Newark Community Economic as a long-term play,” she said. and it will still match with their growth out, directly, at the first and early signs of
Development Corp. and has maintained That long-term vision ultimately may projections.” New York City pushback. That outreach has
that role since taking over as the CEO of have been what doomed New York City’s Glover thinks Amazon may look away included both Amazon and New York City
Newark Alliance, said talent is the key. And bid, she said. from the region in the short term. officials.
one of the main reasons why Newark was on “Amazon didn’t want to be caught up “I think what they’ll end up doing is kind “Our goal had always been to make sure
that list of 20 finalists. in the pushback and in that kind of public of focusing attention on Crystal City right that it stays in the region. We didn’t want
“The whole HQ2 play was a talent play,” outcry on New York City’s side for the next now rather than doing (a) parallel path as New York City to lose Amazon and we didn’t
she said. “So, if they are truthful to that and decade,” she said. “They are consciously going they had originally anticipated,” she said. “I want Amazon to lose the benefits of the
they need to still address that, then the next in understanding this is happening over a think, for the first year or two, they will be New York City metropolitan area. So, our
logical city would be Newark, because you decade. ‘What do we want our experience to focusing on Crystal City and then figuring outreach was: Can we figure out something
can still tap into that same talent pool.” look like over a decade?’ out ultimately where they’re going to put that else that includes Newark that kind of lessens
Amazon ended a year of harried “Did they think that they were ultimately other 25,000 jobs.” the blow to New York City and spread some
speculation last November, when it going to end up getting what they wanted? Newark, she said, will be ready when the of the wealth and investment.
announced it would split the 50,000-job, Yes. But they didn’t want to spend 10 years company begins to look outward again. “We did it with the understanding of
$5 billion investment promise between fighting. They’re going in acknowledging In fact, she acknowledged the worst-kept (a) ‘Hey, just kind of keep this in the back of
Northern Virginia (Crystal City) and New this is a long-term play. How were these secret in the battle for Amazon: Newark and your head’ type of thing.”
York City (Long Island City, Queens). The dynamics going to play out over the next 10 state officials have done their best to make When it’s time to move it back to the
company also said it would ramp up a years?” sure Amazon knew they were around — forefront, Glover said she is confident
smaller facility in Nashville, Tennessee. It’s the reason why she said the city and without being too aggressive. Newark will be top of mind.
When Amazon announced it was state are in no hurry to press Amazon. Glover said she and officials from both “They could easily go back to that list
pulling out of the New York City half of the “Everybody’s also kind of forgetting Newark and the state had been reaching out and revisit some cities that they had some
process, Glover thinks, politicians and the this was 50,000 jobs over 10 years,” she said. to both Amazon and New York City officials conversations with,” she said. “I think it
media, who were looking for an immediate “They don’t need to figure out what they’re since the moment there was even an inkling would be a mistake of them not to look at
resolution to the issue, were not seeing the going to do this year to accommodate that of a problem between the two. Newark, because they already committed to
big picture — and were not listening to what level of jobs. She also acknowledged that they have New York City on the strength of the talent
Amazon has been saying all along. “They certainly have enough time to heard little back from either party. pool.
“If you look at their statement and what figure this out. They could just do a couple “Yes, we have reached out,” she said. “They could still take advantage of that.”
they’ve said publicly, they are looking at this of thousand jobs over the next two years “I have reached out. The state has reached —Tom Bergeron

20
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
the country that would be a great fit for the
city of Newark. So, I think we have a kind of
golden moment right now.”
One Glover said she doesn’t want to miss.
The task force was created, she said, to
ensure that candidates that may not have
otherwise been identified get a look.
Glover said there are some inherent
advantages to finding someone in the area
or the Northeast, but that the group will
consider this a national search.
“I think we could go across the country
and point to a handful of cities that are doing
some really progressive work and have some
great talent,” she said.
“For sure, we want to focus on the New
York City metropolitan area. There’s a lot of
benefit for folks who are familiar with the state
and familiar with the city. But, to the same end,
I think there’s a lot of benefit around looking
beyond and considering a national search.
“Many urban communities have
similarities. So, I think if we find talent
that has experience working within an
urban environment, advancing economic
development, thinking about it from a kind
of community wealth-building perspective,
that we’d be all over that, too.”
The key, Glover said, is finding the right
fit.
Newark Alliance CEO Aisha Glover, along with Ommeed Sathe, is spearheading a task force to find the
next director of the Department of Economic and Housing Development for Newark. —
“Part of the thinking of the task force is
to make sure that we’re casting as broad of a
net as possible and really tapping into folks
that know this work and know it well,” she
said. “But, also, honestly, we need to be really
sensitive to the fact that this is not just any
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ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
­ NEWARK ALLIANCE
other economic development position.
“It’s important that you’re coming at
it from a community development and
economic development perspective, and
that’s not the easiest thing to find.
“Usually, folks fall clearly into one bucket
and there aren’t as many people that are
able to navigate both. And both are equally
critical in the city right now.”
It’s unclear how big the task force will be.
And Glover stressed that the task force will be
searching for more than just a new director.
Glover said it will represent an opportunity to
review all of the city’s economic development
programs and processes.
“We’ll be trying to work to identify where
there could be greater efficiencies within
the department,” she said. “We’ve all been
working with the department and with city
hall and in different ways and I think (Mayor
Ras Baraka) recognizes that there is an
opportunity for just greater efficiencies for us
to really be running a world-class economic
development department.”
Glover said she’s eager to get going.
“We will have our first brainstorming
meeting and develop the scope and our
initial thoughts around an outreach plan
today,” she said. “Right now, it’s just Ommeed
and I spearheading it, but we have to identify
who we want to be in the task force, both
inside city hall and outside city hall.
“That’s the first meeting: Let’s start
planning for this and figure out what it could
potentially look like.”
The new position will replace the retiring
John Palmieri. His last day was Thursday.
twitter: @tombergeron5
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Four days after Phil Murphy was sworn in
as the governor of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy
told a crowd of thousands attending a Women’s
March in Morristown, that she, too, had been
sexually assaulted. The assault took place while
she was in college at the University of Virginia.
“The stories of the #MeToo movement
have humbled the powerful and empowered
the forgotten,” she told the crowd that day. “I
will add my voice to this growing chorus.”
Last month, Murphy — in a one-on-one
interview with ROI-NJ — said the moment
was one of the first examples of how she has
had to learn to leave her comfort zone.
“That is not something I have done in
decades, and so I would say that took a lot
of personal strength to do that,” she said.
“Many people have subsequently said it has
helped them or helped their family or helped
a friend, so I’m happy about that. I’m also
really happy it has helped other people stand
up and speak for themselves.
“But anything that is really personal,
that’s where it takes me to a different space.
Those are the moments that are particularly
wrenching for me, whether it’s our immediate
family or other very personal situations for
me. But it’s been OK.”
In an interview from her office in
Trenton, Murphy touched on a number of
subjects, including her working relationship
with the governor (always in tandem),
the issues that mean the most to her (the
environment and health care) and her role in
the administration (to support her husband
and Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver).
She also explained how she stays true to
herself.
“I don’t know how to play poker,” she
said. “So, if I don’t believe in something, you
will know it. And thus far, to date, I am fully
supportive of everything (the governor and
lieutenant governor) have tried to do, and
that is a very comfortable spot for me.”
Here are her remarks, edited and
condensed for space, clarity and flow:
ROI-NJ: Let’s start with your work
relationship with the governor. It is certainly
different than the relationship previous
governors have had with their spouses. You
are a true power couple.
Tammy Murphy: I’ve said this ad
nauseam. Phil and I have always done
everything together. So, for us both, I
think it’s been really normal that we are in
proximity. Over the years, when one of us is
tired, the other one has energy. And when
one of us is run down, the other is ready to
go. So, we kind of keep one another going.
I am here to back up Phil and Sheila. Phil
is the governor and I am the supporting role.
ROI: Your increased visibility — you have
an office next to the governor and a four-person
staff — certainly has been noticed. Which, of
course, means it has been scrutinized. Have
you been bothered by any criticisms that you
are too involved?
TM: I honestly don’t think about it that
much. Maybe I should think about it more
than I do.
In this world, there is no one who pleases
everyone. As long as I get up every day and
just keep plowing forward — as I know Phil
does and I know Sheila does — I will feel
good about the direction we are trying to
take New Jersey.
It doesn’t mean we are not going to listen
to other people, people have good ideas. I
hear what people who disagree with us have
to say, but you can’t please everybody.
ROI: OK, let’s talk about what you are
doing. You have taken on a lot — everything
from issues involving the environment to
health care.
TM: It’s surprising to me that there is
absolutely as much to do as there is. I keep
thinking, ‘I’ll take this little piece on,’ and
then (something else comes up) and I find
that we are involved in a lot in our little four-
person office.
I would say I’m a convener. Where I can
highlight different issues and bring people
together, that’s exactly what I can do and will
do.
ROI: So, how do you decide which issues
to tackle?
TM: First of all, I have an incredible
chief of staff in Stephanie Lagos, and Steph
is always there and we are always balancing
if (something) is the right thing to do, can we
fit it in, is it taking us too far where you are
22
not going to be able to be effective in other
areas? So, I’d say we definitely try to stay,
internally, on topic.
There are certain areas where I feel
more comfortable. A year ago, I would
have said we’re going to go headlong into
environmental topics, but we’ve been
sidetracked with the infant maternal health
crisis, so I’ve schooled up, and, while I’m not
an expert, I am dangerous.
ROI: And, apparently, effective. Leaders
in the state were stunned when they learned
New Jersey ranked 47th nationally with a
mortality rate of 37 deaths per every 100,000
live births (and the rate is much higher for
African-Americans). You’ve been vocal
about it for several months and there has
been both legislation and a strong showing of
community support, as well coordination with
the Department of Health, on the topic. How
did you coordinate this effort?
TM: What I thought would be a run-in,
quick fix (was anything but). … I thought
it was going to be access, but what I was
unprepared for was that it was everything
from transportation to education and opioids
and lack of access to food and workforce —
it’s everything combined.
I went in thinking this is going to be
completely Department of Health, maybe
Department of Children and Families,
but it turns out there are 12 departments
involved. The good news is that each of
the cabinet members have great programs
that are working in their own way on this
project, but, like the rest of this state,
everybody is working in silos.
So, my real added value, I think, is
just that I have the convening power. We
have had four interdepartmental meetings
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
Tammy Murphy
speaks at the
inauguration of
her husband, Gov.
Phil Murphy, at left.
Murphy, right, has a
four-person staff in
Trenton —
­ FILE PHOTOS
with all 12 cabinet members or their
immediate representatives trying to figure
out how we can all work together and share
data and try to make decisions as a team to
move forward. But, in addition to that, I’ve
been meeting with everyone from doulas
and home health workers to hospital systems
and foundations and really anybody who has
a stake in this topic. There are a lot of people
who really want to fix this.
ROI: What did you learn during this
effort?
TM: My biggest surprise has been to
learn not only that we have a problem, but
that it’s really bad if you dig down. I have
talked a lot about the disparity between
African-American moms and white moms.
But, really, it’s women of color and white
moms and children of color and children
who are white … there is some either implicit
bias or racism — that’s uncomfortable.
ROI: One of the other issues you are
focused on is the environment. You have
been both vocal about alternative energy and
present during the governor’s trip to Germany,
where that was a key topic. Where did the
interest come from?
TM: It’s really climate change. That’s
something that I have been concerned about
for a long time. I first started thinking about
this issue when we moved to Germany for
the first time. I remember, when it came
to the trash, there were three different
receptacles — and that’s when I learned
they were sorting their trash and separating
things.
I can tell you I love the Germans, but
if you showed up at the grocery store and
didn’t have a bag to put your groceries in,
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
you were absolutely embarrassed, because
the people would look at you like were the
scum of the Earth.
ROI: What can be done?
TM: Working with Al Gore, I’ve been
trying to raise awareness for a long time. He
has informed our decision-making process
and he is willing to come here himself and
advise either outright or through back
channels. I think that is something that we
all need.
I’m thrilled because Phil and Sheila have
said that (climate change) is something that is
important to them. And with offshore wind
and what we are doing with community
solar, we are making headway. The Germany
and Israel trip really helped advance that
cause in a big way.
ROI: Speaking of that trip, what was your
role during that time and what have you seen
in the aftermath?
TM: I was pretty hands-on. When we
were in Germany, after every single meeting,
I was writing letters to every CEO and every
principal we met in Germany and in Israel,
to make sure that they understood how we
feel about expanding our shared economic
advantage across those two countries.
There’s a lot more to be done, but,
subsequent to that trip, we have had more
than 30 different conversations that are a
direct result. We’ve got universities that are
interested, there are the MOUs that we signed
with Israel and the Israeli Development
Authority and the EDA here, and we are
working on a couple of different projects that
are coming up this spring.
There are a couple of major companies,
200-plus employees, that are considering
New Jersey very seriously. There is a lot
of direct benefit from that trip. A lot of it
is going to take time, but we are laying the
groundwork.
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ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
ROI: Let’s return to the #MeToo
movement. One result of the effort is a record
number of women now serving in Congress.
What does that mean to you?
TM: The fact that we now have two
women representing us from the state of New
Jersey in Washington, D.C., is incredible. I
think (#MeToo) has empowered so many
people to have a voice and finding one’s voice
in that moment is so important. It has enabled
people to find a way to step up and step into
the conversation, where, in years past, women
would hope it would pass and go away.
After a Women for Progress gala, I looked
up the number of female congresswomen
who have ever represented New Jersey.
Bonnie Watson Coleman was our sixth and
Mikie Sherrill is our seventh. There was a
woman named Mary Theresa Norton, who
was our first representative, from 1925 to
1951. She was working on a lot of things back
in the day that we are looking at now. The
one I’ve recently referenced was the fact she
was fighting for a minimum wage of $12.60 a
week. And that was in 1940.
Certain women have always stepped in
and been fighting, but I think now they are
being taken more seriously.
ROI: Speaking of New Jersey politics: The
Murphys are new to it, having never held any
elected office before. Give us a big takeaway?
TM: Everybody here, just like everywhere
I go, is trying to do the right thing. It’s just
finding the common threads we can all pull
together and go in that direction.
Phil’s gotten so much done this year, but
he wouldn’t get it done without (Assembly
Speaker) Craig Coughlin and (State Senate
President) Steve Sweeney and everyone who
stands behind him and works with him.
There’s a lot that’s been done, but as Phil
would say, I’m not spiking the football. We’ve
got a long way to go.
ROI: Years to go, in fact. It’s hard to
believe this is just Year Two. Looking back at
Year One, what was the reality compared to
the expectation?
TM: Having never done this before,
there is no guidebook to say what you should
do and what you shouldn’t do. So, in terms of
expectations, I was hopeful that I would be
able to help in some way.
Looking back, I’d say our four-person
office works really hard and has tried in
different ways to be there for Phil and Sheila
and for anybody in the administration and
beyond. I know it’s a great feeling to be able
to meet someone who has an issue and
somehow help them find a resolution.
I had few expectations. The reality has
been rewarding.
twitter: @anjkhem
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Op-Ed
Why ‘rain tax’ is bad idea for N.J. property owners
B
y now, many of you have
heard about New Jersey’s
proposed “rain tax.” It is part
of pending legislation known
as the “Clean Stormwater
and Flood Reduction Act.”
Although the proposed legislation has been
around for many years, previously vetoed by
former Gov. Chris Christie, Gov. Phil Murphy
appears to be ready to sign it.
If Murphy signs
the legislation, local
municipalities and
counties will be allowed to
create stormwater utilities.
The intent and purpose
of the legislation is to
Jason
Rittie allow these stormwater
management utilities to
control the amount of stormwater runoff and
pollutants washing into New Jersey’s existing
sewer systems and waterways. The legislation
also proposes that the stormwater utilities
be funded by fees assessed against property
owners. The legislation applies to all types
of residential, commercial and industrial
properties. Although some legislators state that
the intent of the legislation is not to assess fees
against residential properties, there is not an
LEGALESE
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right lawyers from our diverse team to achieve your goals. It’s this listening-first approach that has kept clients coming back
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exception for residential property owners. As
we know, there are residential properties in
New Jersey that are large estates and contain
a fair amount of impervious coverage, which
would be impacted by the legislation.
The proposed legislation would allow
a stormwater utility to “charge and collect
reasonable fees and other charges in an attempt
to recover (the) stormwater utility’s costs for
stormwater management.” As stated in the
legislation, “(t)hese fees and other charges could
be charged to and collected from the owner or
occupant, or both, of any real property from
which originates stormwater runoff which
directly or indirectly enters the stormwater
management system or the waters of the
state.” The fees are to be “based on a fair and
equitable approximation of the proportionate
contribution of stormwater runoff from a real
property.” There are, however, allowances for
partial fee reductions or credits for any property
that maintains or operates a stormwater
management system that complies with the
state and local stormwater management
standards. The legislation further allows for
liens to be placed against real property for
unpaid fees, similar to unpaid real estate taxes.
If Murphy signs the legislation, it will be
interesting to watch the financial impacts of this
Archer & Greiner is now Archer. But we still speak the same language: yours.
archerlaw.com | 800.927.0042
24
“rain tax” on property owners. The legislation
does not provide for any public participation
by real property owners in the process of either
establishing the fees, or in the determination of
the proportionate contribution of stormwater
runoff from real property. The legislation
also has no mechanism or provision to allow
a property owner to file an appeal from the
stormwater utility’s fee. As such, a property
owner is faced with a “rain tax” and no ability
to challenge either the amount of the fee, or the
determination of contribution of stormwater
runoff from the real property. And, if unpaid, the
“rain tax” becomes a lien against real property.
In addition to the “rain tax”, the
legislation may further increase costs and
expenses to an existing property owner by
requiring installation of on-site stormwater
management controls in order to receive the
partial fee reductions or credits. The process
for developing and installing stormwater
management mechanisms is not an easy task,
or an inexpensive endeavor. New Jersey already
has a sophisticated set of rules and regulations
by New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, and substantially all municipalities
have a set of Land Use and Zoning Ordinances
that already mandate stormwater management
practices. Property owners seeking to develop
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
or redevelop properties already need to
comply with these existing rules, regulations
and ordinances. For existing and developed
properties impacted by the “rain tax” but now
looking to reduce the fees or obtain credits,
these property owners would be required
to hire a professional engineer to develop a
stormwater management plan. The stormwater
management plan would most likely require
some form of a site plan approval through the
Municipality’s Planning/Zoning Board and, in
some instances, require additional approval and
permitting through New Jersey’s Department
of Environmental Protection. Once approved,
the property owner would then need to actually
install, construct and monitor the stormwater
management devises or mechanisms.
For all of the above reasons, if signed
into law, the legislation can potentially have
a devastating impact on New Jersey property
owners by creating additional fees and
expenses. New Jersey already has one of the
highest property taxes in the United States.
We will continue to watch the governor’s
actions on this controversial tax, and will
update accordingly.
Jason Rittie is a partner and chair of the
Real Estate Group at Einhorn Harris.
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY

View Point

How gaming impacts the world positively

O
ne of the greatest things about the tech
revolution is just how much fun it can be at
its best. Right now, that fun is extending into
places it never existed before, creating new
industries and business models. (And it might
even boost some legacy industries, too.)
We’ve heard plenty in recent years about gamification
in business. And the field’s pioneers are increasingly learning
from experience how to make it work — in other words,
how to make it both effective and fun. But, thanks to four
researchers from Brigham Young
University, we’re now seeing evidence that
shared electronic gameplay can promote
collaboration and productivity even when
teams are playing conventional games.
And the improvements can be substantial.
Maybe that shouldn’t be a shock.
James
Barrood As Ladders reports, BYU’s researchers
pointed to ways in which video games
help people maximize focus, reinforce repetition, promote
trust and communication among people who didn’t
previously know each other, and support the brain’s ability
to remember and organize information. It would almost be
more surprising if that didn’t improve productivity.
Those business benefits are the excuse I used recently
when I permanently relocated our family’s Xbox to the Tech
Council’s New Brunswick office — much to my daughters’
chagrin. But, then, they’re getting some authentic benefits from
gamification, too. As creators and collaborators on “Roblox,”
they’re building friendships through collaborative play they
direct themselves, in appealing environments that actually do
spark their imaginations. “Roblox” even gives them a gentle
introduction to coding, with its kid-friendly tools for building
new games. From all I can see, when they’re on “Roblox,” they’re
having the positive experience you’d hope “social” would be.
We’re all familiar with the simulation elements of
games, but many of us don’t realize how they can be used to
build empathy by sharing the experiences of other human
beings. Some of us encountered this first a couple of years
ago with the profoundly moving game “ThatDragonCancer,”
built by Ryan and Amy Green to share their family’s
experience living through the life and death of their son
Joel. More recently, as The New York Times reported, the
game “Chinese Parents” has been helping Chinese youth and
their parents understand each other better, by simulating
the experience of raising a child from birth to college. Those
players are experiencing the game as fun — but a very deep
and connected form of fun.
With the kind of brain impact that videogames can
clearly have, they might even be able to offer some clinical
benefits. And we’re seeing companies attempt to program
games that target specific cognitive systems, aiming to
ameliorate ADHD and several other conditions. If that work
continues to progress, games might soon complement or
supplant existing therapies. And, of course, a videogame can
be cost-effectively “administered” virtually anywhere.
Finally, as conventional sports face growing challenges
and declining viewership, they just might be saved by the
growth of online sports betting. That issue is getting plenty
of attention in New Jersey, thanks to its recent legalization
here. (If you’re interested in the impact and implications of
online sports betting, join us at the Tech Council’s April 11
Venture Conference at New Jersey Institute of Technology
in Newark, where DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish will
keynote and share his unique insight at the center of this
fast-growing industry.)
We’ve all experienced plenty of negativity surrounding
tech lately, some of it deserved. But wouldn’t it be great if —
after all that — the future is fun?
James Barrood
CEO and president, New Jersey Tech Council

Three Cheers! (or jeers) Show & Tell

CROSSING THE DELAWARE: Cranbury Dora Onyschak is a metro market manager
biotech Amicus Therapeutics has taken the next for Robert Half in New Jersey.
step in its growth, and that means building a
Center of Excellence for its gene therapy division. We asked her what you should do as a
In Philadelphia. Couldn’t somebody have found a manager if you must enter into a salary

“
tax incentive (ahem …) or something to get this innovative (ahem!) facility on our side of the
river? To be fair, the uCity Square “knowledge community” sounds cool. Just wish it were negotiation with a job candidate:
here (c’mon, Hub!). Jeers. Right now, we are in a tight labor market — it is very
difficult to find skilled candidates in most regions. If
TELL US SOMETHING WE DON’T KNOW, PART I: A new poll found that state you are evaluating candidates and feel like you’ve identified
residents think their quality of life is at an all-time low. (Oddly, most residents like their the perfect fit for your organization,
actual town.) Come on. I know property taxes are high-higher-highest. But Newark is in don’t be inflexible when it comes
mid-renaissance, A.C. and the Shore are bouncing back, NJ Transit to negotiations. A low-ball offer
is running late. … Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Jeers to a bad can signal that your company
reputation. doesn’t value its employees.
Furthermore, it can lead to
TELL US SOMETHING WE DON’T KNOW, PART II: At a them taking a job elsewhere,
recent event, NJIT President Joel Bloom sang the praises of STEM possibly with a competitor.
education to execs from around the state. Bloom, who certainly Our advice with negotiations
walks the walk as leader of the well-regarded Newark college, is an is to first and foremost do
excellent advocate for both STEM and higher ed. Cheers, and a few your homework on what
bars of “Pomp and Circumstance,” too. — Eric Strauss workers for that position
are making in your area.
Then, make the offer in
a timely fashion so you
don’t lose the candidate.
“I am tremendously proud of the company we have And most importantly,
built and longstanding customer relationships we have be creative. If you
can’t meet salary
fostered since founding Preferred Freezer Services expectations, perhaps
in 1989. We have found the ideal partner in Lineage.” there are non-
monetary benefits
— John Galiher, CEO of Perth Amboy-based Preferred that will entice
the candidate
Freezer Services, which was acquired by Lineage to join your
Logistics last week. organization.”

25
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY

RETHINKING Focus
On …

REFUNDS

ACCOUNTING
Not every early filer
is thrilled with tax code changes
… but not every filer is upset,
either, accountants say

T
BY BRETT JOHNSON
bjohnson@roi-nj.com

he architects of the Tax

Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
promised sweeping changes
… in a good way.
Those first to file taxes
under this new framework
found their returns to be jaw-dropping …
and definitely not in a good way.
Accountant Pat Walsh says there’s one thing that
should be kept in mind right now: We’re only at the first
stage of learning about the tax law’s impact.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 33

Pat Walsh is a partner in Withum’s Whippany office. ­— WITHUM

27
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Focus On … Accounting
Learning
curve
Some companies’ returns have to wait
as accounting software struggles to keep up with tax changes
BY BRETT JOHNSON
bjohnson@roi-nj.com
Unseen in the gallop toward getting taxes
done by April 15 — a date accountants are
less likely to forget than their own
birthday — are the back-end
software programs used to
prepare all tax forms today.
Until there’s a problem,
that is. Then they get noticed.
And the software systems
used by accountants haven’t
been able to implement all of
the latest tax code shifts prior
to the IRS starting to accept
filings on Jan. 28, which has led
to some delayed tax filings for
accounting firm clients.
Bill McDevitt, a longtime local
accountant, said that’s presenting a challenge
— even if it was expected.
“I still recall the 1986 tax reform, the
country’s last major tax law change; in
some respects, this one is even
bigger,” he said. “So, delays
are more or less par for
the course.”
N e i t h e r
McDevitt nor the
accountants he leads
as director of the Tax
Department at East
Brunswick-based
WilkinGuttenplan
stand alone.
The existence of just
a few go-to third-party
service providers in the
28
accounting industry means no one gets to
be immune to this back-end issue. Almost
all accountants rely on the same two major
vendors that produce the software necessary
for doing tax returns, McDevitt said.
“Both of which are understandably
struggling trying to keep up with last-minute
changes,” he said. “So, everyone is in a similar
situation.”
That hasn’t made it impossible to do every
tax return that lands on an accountant’s desk.
But some have been stalled as industry software
writers work out complicated provisions of
the revamped tax law, such as the Section
163(j) limitation on business interest expense
deductions — the subject of a recent 400-plus-
page regulation document from the IRS.
“We’ve had to have clients hold onto
returns that deal with that as well as other
(revised sections of the tax code) and not file
until we have benefit of the software catching
up with our understanding of the law,” he said.
Apart from some questions that still
remain on these more demanding areas of
the tax code, accountants for the most part
know to what to expect out of the new
framework.
Accounting firms raced to build
templates after the tax legislation was
passed to do projections for clients
unsure about how the changes would
affect their particular situation.
Those templates have had the
dual purpose of preparing
accountants for the current tax
filing time-crunch.
“These templates
bolster our ability
to execute when the
software is ready to go,”
McDevitt said.
Bill McDevitt, director
of the Tax Department,
WilkinGuttenplan. —
­ or 732-846-3000.
WILKINGUTTENPLAN
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
Times change
Ralph Thomas has led the New
Jersey Society of CPAs for two
decades, so, when he says he
has seen technology come a
long way, he means it.
“Technology has cascaded
down on the profession and is
changing our thinking in terms
of how audits are going to be
done in the future,” he said. “The
focus on data analytics, (artificial
intelligence) and blockchain is
becoming very real.”
Thomas, CEO and executive
director of state’s accounting
trade organization, said the latest
tools have replaced a lot of the
more administrative, repetitive
tasks at accounting firms already
— what was once considered
leading edge is now old news.
“So, firms have to get up to
speed on what’s taking place in
these areas,” he said.
And that’s a good thing, because
amount of people who might be asking for
an accountant’s help ahead of that all-too-
familiar April deadline is likely to be higher
than ever.
“Human nature being what it is, people
who may have self-medicated on this in the
past are looking for a little help with taxes this
year,” McDevitt said. “People know the law
changed, but not everyone is sure exactly how.
They feel like they need additional support.”
twitter: @reporterbrett
Conversation Starter
Reach Bill McDevitt
of WilkinGuttenplan at:
wgcpas.com/bill-mcdevitt
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
Ch-ch-ch-changes
CPA group’s Thomas is eager for Murphy’s budget — and what it will mean for his industry
BY BRETT JOHNSON
bjohnson@roi-nj.com
After feeling the first tremors from the
massive federal tax overhaul, accounting
industry leaders are waiting with bated
breath for the next potential shifting of the
tax landscape in the Garden State.
Ralph Thomas, executive director and
CEO of the New Jersey Society of Certified
Public Accountants, said all eyes are on what
comes out of Gov. Phil Murphy’s soon-to-be
proposed sophomore state budget.
Murphy’s first round of state budgeting
featured new taxes and increases of existing
taxes. At the same time, taxpayers and the
accountants they work with are experiencing
major changes made on the federal level —
in particular, the $10,000 cap on the total
state and local tax, or SALT, deductions
introduced in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“So, our hope is that we’ll have a budget
not too taxing on business or individuals —
and that means no increase in existing taxes
included in the budget,” Thomas said. “So far,
what we’ve heard is, hopefully, there will be
no raise of taxes.”
Thomas, who sits on a working group put
together by Senate President Steve Sweeney
(D-West Deptford) that is coming up with
recommendations for revising local tax policy,
expects his members wouldn’t be as hostile to
the introduction of a new source of tax revenue
— a prospect represented by New Jersey’s
expected embrace of marijuana legalization.
That policy move, which is always
purported to be right around the corner by
advocates, recently took a step closer to being
actualized in a compromise reached between
Murphy and Sweeney on a proposed
cannabis industry roadmap.
“With them being somewhat on the same
sheet of music, it’ll be interesting to see how this
plays out now that it’s back on the table,” he said.
“For our members … the devil’s in the details in
terms of what comes out in the legislation.”
NJCPA has drafted position statements
for policymakers to consider in terms of
Conversation Starter
Reach the New Jersey Society
of Certified Public Accountants
at: njcpa@njcpa.org
or 973-226-4494.
Ralph Thomas, executive director and CEO, New Jersey Society of CPAs. —
how their profession can interact with
the financial aspects of a federally banned
substance, Thomas said.
His organization is also backing several
bills moving through the state Legislature
that he hopes get some attention. One is
the Pass-Through Business Alternative
Income Tax Act, which would establish an
entity-level tax to be paid by pass-through
businesses such as S-corporations.
Thomas said it’s hoped to offset on a
statewide basis the limited SALT deductions
for New Jersey residents and business owners,
a group he believes often has to weigh the
benefit of staying in the Garden State over
leaving it for states with lower taxes.
Tom Corrie, a tax attorney who leads
Friedman LLP’s State and Local Tax Group,
said it’s a topic that still comes up a lot among
accounting firms’ high net worth clients.
“States such as New Jersey are caught
between a rock and hard place, because
they need funds from income tax to meet
budgetary needs, but they also don’t want
29
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Focus On … Accounting
­ FILE PHOTO
to appear overtly unfriendly to individual
taxpayers,” he said. “But, frankly, people have
now increased their awareness of moving their
domicile outside of New Jersey. … People are
taking seriously moving out of this region for
a location that’s either a low- or no-tax state.”
Enough people have done so already that
Corrie expects that, this tax season, New Jersey
and other states will emphasize compliance
with the rules around where someone is
domiciled and has a responsibility to pay taxes.
“And the focus may be on a lower income
level than they would normally focus on
before because of this being the first year of
the impact of lower (SALT) tax deductions,”
he said. “I anticipate people will be looking
for any way they can immediately get around
that new limitation; states are aware of that.”
Some accountants, who might be in
favor of better tax situations for their clients,
also view the discussion about an exodus
from the state as overblown. Gary Bingel,
partner in charge of state and local taxation
at EisnerAmper, tends to look at it that way.
Unimpressed
with incentives
The state’s tax incentive
programs have gotten a cold
rejection from local accountants.
In a survey conducted by the
New Jersey Society of Certified
Public Accountants, more
than 55 percent of an about
500-accountant poll said New
Jersey’s tax incentive programs
weren’t effective in attracting
companies and jobs to the state.
Ralph Thomas, who leads the
organization, said there were
two main complaints NJCPA
members had.
“One, they thought it was
complex in a lot of situations
— something that was difficult
to apply for and receive, as well
as a compliance burden,” he
said. “Two, I think they felt it
was geared only to the larger
corporations and, therefore,
smaller businesses weren’t
having the opportunity to benefit.”
Asked whether these
accountants had experiences
with the programs actually
helping retain companies, well
over half didn’t respond positively.
There was a minority (less than
9 percent, however) that did say
they lived up to expectations.
“So, there were some that had
positive experiences,” Thomas
said. “Overall though, people have
reported having some problems
with the programs and hoped
they would be re-evaluated.”
“There’s a certain number of people
leaving and going down to somewhere like
Florida due to income and property taxes,”
he said. “But just as many planned to go there
no matter what when they retired.”
One thing all accountants agree on is
that any outward migration from the state
wouldn’t have a negative influence on local
firms’ relationships with clients.
“The days of sitting down in person with a
client and handing tax forms over piece by piece
just don’t exist anymore,” Bingel said. “You can
have a relationship with a client anywhere.”
twitter: @reporterbrett
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Focus On … Accounting

Feeling squeezed
Forms needed for tax filing are coming in slower than usual,
tightening deadlines for already-busy accountants

BY BRETT JOHNSON the sophisticated reporting involved in Accountants seem to view this as the deadline, Shanker said a significant number
bjohnson@roi-nj.com hedge fund income. continuation of an ongoing trend — one of his clients with 1040 tax forms hadn’t yet
That’s another reason to expect more exacerbated by the extra difficulties in sent them in to complete
Procrastination? Accountants aren’t the type. tax filing extensions will be working out this year’s modified tax rules preparation for filing
In a normal year, many have already requested this year. under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of taxes.
worked on the forms that clients sent them “But it’s 2017. “And most of the
at the start of the year, allowing tax returns to not entirely Jerry Shanker, a partner investment companies
be rubber-stamped weeks ahead of April 15. unexp e c te d,” at KRS CPAs LLC, noticed haven’t even issued 1099s
This isn’t a normal year. Napolitano said. tax forms starting to arrive yet; we’ve gotten calls that
Jerry
In a break from tax seasons in the “C o mp a n i e s later than usual a couple of they won’t be issued until
Shanker
past, accountants are in some cases still responsible for years back. March 1, which means
waiting for documents — the all-important sending 1099s “Tax season has been we’ll get it from clients on March 15 if we’re
personal income 1040 tax form and others are most likely getting shorter and shorter lucky,” he said. “That leaves us very little time
— necessary to carrying out their side of the still interpreting every year, since the to get everything done by April 15.”
tax filing process. some of the new information continues to Shanker, bracing for lots of long hours
Especially running behind are 1099 tax laws, which arrive later,” he said. “And this tax season, expressed a predictable level
forms, a series of documents used to track is making it take the shortening of tax season of frustration.
various income throughout the year, somewhat longer. for us makes our workload very “I don’t know what the solution is,” he
according to Michael Napolitano, partner at We’re seeing those difficult to manage.” said. “It’s certainly not the client’s fault.”
accounting firm Citrin Cooperman. forms come in slower As of the last week of Jo Anna M. Fellon, partner at Friedman
“And what this does for us accountants to us as a result. It puts February, with just about LLP, said accountants have had to accept it
— who already love tax season — is that it us in a crunch.” a month and a half as just another aspect of
condenses a time-sensitive period for us,” remaining ahead a tax year with a lot of
Napolitano said. “Normally, we got these forms of April’s tax moving parts.
at the end of January or beginning of February, “It’s a challenging
and it gave us four to six weeks to prepare tax time,” she said. “But
returns. With the delays we’re experiencing, the good news is for
the forms we’re receiving at the end of February taxpayers is that most
Jo Anna M.
gives us less time to complete tax returns.” Fellon accountants have
Typically, 1099 forms as well as W-2s been working through
must be supplied in time to meet an IRS- this (tax code overhaul) material and
set Jan. 31 deadline, but some of these digesting it for well over a year.”
forms have a Feb. 15 deadline and more Now’s the time that a good
complicated business tax forms referred to relationship with an accountant will pay
as K-1 forms can come in even later. off, she added.
Even with these requirements, tax “Having a partnership with
professionals have to account for some an accounting firm in which
amount of delay between clients getting tax communication can flow and
forms and actually submitting them to an information can be disseminated
accounting firm. And, if a lot of tax forms easily is going to be really important
from companies are sliding in only by last- with these extra challenges,” she
minute deadlines, accountants can only said.
expect a month or less of leeway before twitter: @reporterbrett
having to meet IRS tax filing deadlines.
And some information still hasn’t
Conversation Starter
even been supplied to accountants or
Reach Michael Napolitano
their clients, Napolitano said, including of Citrin Cooperman at:
mnapolitano@
Michael Napolitano, partner at accounting citrincooperman.com
firm Citrin Cooperman. —
­ CITRIN COOPERMAN or 973-218-0500.

30
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
“There’s no doubt that taxpayers are raising eyebrows right now. Some plan to use refunds
to go on vacation or make student loan payments, something along those lines. And, now,
that’s not available for them.”
— Pat Walsh, partner at Withum
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27
He didn’t describe that first stage as
denial — although, for some, it might be.
“There’s no doubt that taxpayers are
raising eyebrows right now,” he said. “Some
plan to use refunds to go on vacation or make
student loan payments, something along those
lines. And, now, that’s not available for them.”
Refunds were down about 9 percent
within the first two weeks of tax filing season
compared with last year, according to the
Internal Revenue Service’s own accounting.
The average refund is coming out to $1,949,
compared with last year’s average of $2,135.
Walsh, partner in Withum’s Whippany
office, said refunds might be used as savings
vehicles for some, but it’s not as indicative
of someone’s overall tax bill as simply what
they withheld over the prior year from their
paycheck.
“And the folks that are seeing their returns
in mid-February have reduced refunds by
and large because of the administrative
aspect to the new tax act and adjustments
that were made to the tax withholding
tables,” he explained. “People enjoyed more
take-home pay, but they’re finding out now
that was at the cost of some refunds.”
Although withholding tables were
adjusted to reflect the tax rate being lowered,
a lot of people hadn’t considered taking into
account how the elimination of itemized
deductions or the scrapping of state and
local tax (or, SALT) deductions would affect
an expected tax refund windfall.
Another caveat is that, as more-detailed
returns get held up by the need for more
clarification from federal tax officials, the
returns that have come back already reflect
uncomplicated W-2 wage earners.
“Most of those people also would not
be of the profile where they’d be calling
an accountant on a regular basis,” Walsh
said. “They might only do so for end-of-
the-year preparation and at the beginning
of the year for tax filing, but not a lot in
between. In those instances, it’s often viewed
more as a compliance cost than a planning
opportunity.”
Conversation Starter
Reach Pat Walsh of Withum at:
pwalsh@withum.com
or 973-898 9494.
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Focus On … Accounting
Unsurprisingly, different tax situations of restrictions involved in determining only recently provided with guidelines on
yield different results. eligibility of this deduction, part of a larger getting qualified business income deductions
Chris Whalen, a New Jersey CPA who overhaul that was touted as simplifying the for real estate owners. That’s a big deal for
runs his own accounting and business nation’s tax code. Moghadam, who leads her firm’s Tax and
advisory firm, works mostly with business “This deduction is very complicated,” Real Estate practices.
owners, investment property owners and Schugmann said. “As beneficial as it can be “But there are still some big unknowns,”
other high net worth individuals that tend to some clients, there’s a lot to consider.” she said, alluding to some confusion her
to work more closely with financial advisers. For example, Schugmann explained that clients still have surrounding the lifespan of
His clients, at least those that have been able aggregating businesses together can allow tax incentives for property improvements.
to file taxes without the need for additional high earners to claim a better deduction “And some of these unknowns affect people
IRS guidance, have little to complain about under this area of the code if wages and a lot.”
so far. certain property would otherwise put a cap Because further guidance is still needed
“I’ve gotten to about 200 returns already on the deduction. But, if that taxpayer does on some issues from the IRS — an agency
and maybe all but 5 percent are faring better aggregate two or more qualified businesses that just finished turning the lights back
or just equal to previous for tax purposes, that person much continue on after the partial government shutdown
years,” he said. to do so in all subsequent tax years until this — accountants expect a lot of taxpayers to
Whalen said that, provision phases out in 2025. request extensions on their tax filings this
among higher earners, The IRS is regularly releasing new year.
there are only a few guidance on these more complicated “They’ve done a good job of dealing with
hurdles to achieving provisions of the tax law, even now, after this humongous change,” Whalen said. “I
tax savings. One of some returns have already started being filed. know a lot of people complain about the IRS,
Chris
Whalen them is having a lot of Mariana Moghadam, member of the but in this case, they’ve doing a great job.”
unreimbursed business firm SobelCo, said tax professionals were twitter: @reporterbrett
expenses, now that the administration’s
tax plan scrapped miscellaneous itemized
deductions.
“So, this is an area that hurts people,” he
said. “I don’t have anyone in that situation
that is going to fare better, even under lower
tax rates. I’ve been advising people who have
these expenses that they need to renegotiate
compensation packages.”
The biggest bonus to his client base has
been the new deduction on qualified business
income, which was intended to be a boon for
small businesses. The tax code’s Section 199A
gives entities such as sole proprietorships a
20 percent slice off of income that fits certain
parameters.
Accountants generally agree that, if you
can take advantage of this addition to the
country’s tax law, you should expect to see
significant savings.
Maryann Schugmann, a partner at
Grassi & Co., said her firm has many
clients in manufacturing and distribution
businesses.
“And a lot of them and others will
benefit from this,” she said. “But whether
you can utilize it depends on whether you
fit the specified service trade or business
classifications.”
Accountants, doctors, lawyers —
professions with pay more akin to a wage
than a business owner’s would be — can’t take
this key deduction. That’s only the simplest
33
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Special Food Report: Going Commercial

Everything …
and the
kitchen sink
As N.J.’s food business sector grows,
commercial kitchens and food incubators
are helping — while growing themselves Djenaba Johnson-Jones, founder
and CEO of Hudson Kitchen in
Jersey City, which is expanding
and relocating to South Kearny.
­— HUDSON KITCHEN

BY MEG FRY
mfry@roi-nj.com

D
jenaba Johnson-Jones knew she would encounter
roadblocks when she began making plans to develop a
prepared meal delivery business in 2014.
She just didn’t expect this one: New Jersey is the only
state in the nation banning the sale of all foods made in one’s home.
But Johnson-Jones wasn’t deterred. In fact, she saw it as an
opportunity.
“In talking with other people facing similar obstacles, that very
challenge morphed into this other business that took on a life of its
own,” she said.
That business, Hudson Kitchen, is now a prime example of a
growing business sector in the state: food incubators and commercial
kitchens.
Founded as a culinary incubator in Jersey City in 2015, Hudson
Kitchen is expanding. This spring, it will relocate to an 8,000-square-
foot shared-use commercial kitchen at Kearny Point in South
Kearny, joining several other food- and beverage-related ventures
at the enormous coworking space.
And Johnson-Jones, founder and CEO
of Hudson Kitchen, will join a growing
group of women entrepreneurs who have
opened shared-use commercial kitchens and
food incubators in the state within the last six
months in preparation for what they hope
will become a cross-cultural, community-
based food revolution in New Jersey.
“Hudson Kitchen will continue to offer
growth and sustainability opportunities to
local culinary visionaries who not only are
looking for a facility to prepare their goods,
but also for a network of collaborative and
like-minded entrepreneurs,” she said.
However, it is not the only place in New
Jersey — or the United States — that is taking
part in the trend due to a clear, sustained
interest in food entrepreneurship.

The number of commercial kitchens and
food incubators nationwide has increased by
more than 50 percent over the last five years.
In New Jersey, that timeline seems shorter.
Last August, Lois Roe started Shore
is Yummy in Manasquan, setting up a
commercial kitchen to sell her gluten-free
products to local customers, farmers markets
and wholesale.
Then, two more commercial kitchens —
specifically designed for food entrepreneurs
to rent — opened in November.
Kris Ohleth started Garden State
Kitchen, a food incubator in Orange, which
has food preparation areas, a baking studio
and two catering kitchens available to rent.
And Meredith Chartier opened Bellamy
Kitchen in Union City, the first full-service
commercial kitchen in Hudson County. She,
too, said she plans to host future workshops
to provide business support for her 12
current and any future tenants.
But the fact that these four commercial
kitchens are all run by women is not so
surprising.
According to a survey conducted
by Econsult Solutions Inc., American

34
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
Kris Ohleth, founder of Garden State Kitchen, an incubator providing an ecosystem of support services for
culinary entrepreneurs in Orange. —
­ ALEXANDRA PAIS
Communities Trust and Urbane
Development, women make up more than half
of tenants at food incubators, while minorities
are nearly a third.
“We enable people to better diversify the
workforce by being better able to hire more
employees,” Johnson-Jones said.
Their collective journeys, however, have
been far from easy.

The food industry always has been
notorious for being tough.
Ohleth said she does not think Garden
State Kitchen would have been as successful
right off the bat if it were not for the strong
business acumen she had accrued in her full-
time work elsewhere.
“I sometimes think that is why this concept
is often proposed but does not always make it
to fruition — it just takes a lot,” she said. “Many
people who are chefs and are passionate about
food may simply not understand all the
logistics and administrative requirements it
will take to lift this sort of thing off the ground.”
But Chartier, founder and owner of
Bellamy Kitchen, said she and her husband,
Thomas Chartier, learned a lot along the
way, having begun searching for a property
in which to build a commercial kitchen
facility from the ground up five years ago.
That’s partially due to the multiple zoning,
demolition and construction obstacles the
pair faced, despite him owning The Chartier
Group, a real estate development company
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Special Food Report: Going Commercial
Lois Roe, founder of Shore is Yummy, in her commercial kitchen where she makes gluten-free products to
sell to local customers, farmers markets and wholesale. —
­ SHORE IS YUMMY
in Hoboken.
“This industry is not for the faint of heart or
for those who think they’ll be up and running
in six months,” Meredith Chartier said.
Roe faced a different issue — one that
continues to lead her deeper into the industry.
While working part-time as a bakery chef
at The Grind Coffee House in Plainsboro for
nearly two years, thinking it could be part of
her retirement plan, she received unexpected
news: Her primary employer, Bristol-Myers
Squibb, laid her off in May 2017 with a
severance package.
“But, I thought, this was my big
opportunity to set up my own kitchen,” Roe
said.
However, shortly after renovating a
Hurricane Sandy-damaged space in August
of last year, she was hired back at Bristol-
Myers Squibb as a consultant in October.
Thankfully, she found Jennifer Long,
owner of Simply Delightful Treats, a vegan,
nut- and gluten-free baker in Edison,
whom she began renting to and sharing her
commercial kitchen with — a path previously
unfamiliar to Roe.
“However, we are well-aligned in what
we are trying to do, so it’s worked out well,”
she said.

The concept is not exactly new.
While culinary incubators and commercial
kitchens have been rapidly growing over the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 36 Meredith Chartier, private chef and owner of Bellamy Kitchen in Union City. —
­ KEITH MUCCILLI
35
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Special Food Report: Going Commercial

New Jersey notables

Richard McArdle, executive
director at Rutgers Food
Innovation Center, said he has
seen a steady increase over
the last five to seven years in
food startups and incubator-
accelerator models, especially as
venture capital firms have begun
to specialize in food brands.
“I think, like other consumer
products, this is part of a more
global trend in the market toward
smaller, more segment-oriented
products,” he said.
However, there are not enough
school cafeterias, church kitchens
and restaurants to fill these So Fresh So Clean Meal Prep works out of Garden State Kitchen in Orange. —
­ PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRA PAIS

entrepreneurs’ needs, he added.

There are, though, nearly two
dozen commissary kitchens in
New Jersey, according to The
Food Corridor, with the highest
number in northeast New Jersey.
They range from food incubators,
such as The Organic Food
Incubator in Bloomfield, a
meat- and gluten-free facility, to
dedicated commercial kitchens,
such as NJ Kosher Kitchens in
Dumont, Cherry Street Kitchen in
Trenton and Rent My Kitchen in
Spring Lake Heights.
Then there are those businesses
who rent their commercial kitchen
spaces, ranging from caterers
such as Culinary Concepts Corp.
in Fairfield; to restaurants such
as Saveur Creole in Montclair
and Jersey Girl Café in Hamilton
Township; to cooking schools
such as Le Gourmet Factory
in Englewood; to event spaces
such as The Snyder Academy
of Elizabethtown Kitchen in
Elizabeth.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 35
last five years, Diana Holtaway, associate
director and business development at Rutgers
Food Innovation Center in Bridgeton, said
she is a veteran of the industry.
“I’ve been here for 17 years,” she said.
RFIC was established as one of the first food
incubators in the state in 2001 before relocating
to its current $8 million, 23,000-square-foot
food business accelerator, processing and
manufacturing facility in Bridgeton in 2008.
“Nearly 10 years ago, it was mostly small
startup companies that would need our
resources,” Holtaway said. “But now, much
larger, much more established companies are
coming in, wanting to get into new categories
that they are not equipped to produce, or
they are looking for resources to utilize as
they enter into new categories of food.”
Richard McArdle, executive director at
RFIC, said it’s not easy, as he feels food has
one of the most complicated supply chains of
any consumer product.
“If entrepreneurs have done the work
already of developing their ideas and business
plans at commercial kitchens or food
incubators, we, of course, can take it from
there,” he said. “But what we are especially
good at is taking products to market at
scale, while looking toward more complex
steps such as distribution, warehousing,
transportation and retail.”
McArdle, however, is quick to note that
RFIC works with smaller companies, too.
In fact, Holtaway said many of the
leads RFIC gets come from commercial
kitchens, as companies need to scale.
“Everyone plays a part in the food ecosystem
Conversation Starters
 Reach Hudson Kitchen at:
djenaba@thehudsonkitchen.com or
visit thehudsonkitchen.com.
 Reach Shore is Yummy at: chef@
shoreisyummy.com
or visit shoreisyummy.com.
 Reach Garden State Kitchen at:
info@gardenstatekitchen.com
or visit gardenstatekitchen.com.
of New Jersey, from farmers to commercial
kitchens, from markets to retailers, and RFIC,
too, contributes in a very specific way,” she said.
“We provide a number of different services to
help our clients fine-tune their ideas, complete
market research and product development,
and, finally, go into production.
“But when clients first start out, they
may be better suited for commercial kitchens
when producing on a much smaller scale.”

The potential of the sector is high, a fact
Ohleth said she has seen firsthand.
 Reach Bellamy Kitchen at:
meredith@bellamykitchen.com
or visit bellamykitchen.com.
 Reach Rutgers’ Food Innovation
Center at: FIC@njaes.rutgers.edu
or visit foodinnovation.rutgers.edu.
 Reach The Food Corridor at:
hello@thefoodcorridor.com
or visit thefoodcorridor.com.

The Food Business Bootcamp, developed by Hudson Kitchen, has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs launch, market and grow their businesses. —
­ HUDSON KITCHEN

36
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
“We’ve had people approach us about
renting the entire space,” she said. “While that’s
tempting as an entrepreneur, to never have to
worry about money, that is not in spirit with
why we started Garden State Kitchen.”
That is why Ohleth said she continues
to approach the endeavor as mission-based
rather than profit-based, and why, like
many of the commercial kitchens and food
incubators sprouting up in the state, she
intends to grow her brand throughout New
Jersey to provide opportunities to more
communities.
“There really is just such a lack elsewhere
in the state,” she said. “We would love to open
our second location by the end of this year in
Central or South Jersey, because there is not
a lot going on there right now.
“In fact, we are looking to create smaller
spaces, like allergen-free facilities, perhaps,
and picture a variety of these types of annexes
spreading throughout the state.”
Getting organized in the state is another
matter.
“We are still very much a ragtag group, in
my opinion,” Ohleth said.
However, Ohleth said she and her New
Jersey-based comrades have The Network
for Incubators and Commissary Kitchens,
or The NICK, a private Facebook group in
which to share best practices and resources. It
is moderated by The Food Corridor in Fort
Collins, Colorado, a virtual platform designed
to connect shared-use kitchens with food
entrepreneurs nationwide while simplifying
scheduling, billing and operations.
“Our mission is to enable efficiency,
growth and innovation in local food, and
facilitating this community helps us to
stay intimately connected to the industry,
identify opportunities and provide valuable
resources,” Ashley Colpaart, founder and
CEO of The Food Corridor, said. “As an
emerging industry, community is essential.”
According to Colpaart, top barriers
to success for food entrepreneurs include
accessing kitchen space, securing financing,
marketing, increasing production volume,
regulatory compliance and a lack of time to
manage daily operations.
But commercial kitchens and food
incubators help to solve all of these issues,
Colpaart said at the Smart Kitchen Summit
last year.
“The economy is changing and access
to assets is becoming more important than
ownership of assets,” she said.
twitter: @megfry3
ONLINE EXTRA
Go to roi-nj.com for a closer
look at Hudson Kitchen, Bellamy
Kitchen, Garden State Kitchen
and Shore is Yummy.
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Special Food Report: Going Commercial
Breaking down the industry
According to New Jersey-based commercial kitchens and food incubators, there are four words and phrases that best
describe the industry:
LOCATION-BASED
According to Kris Ohleth, founder
and owner of Garden State Kitchen
in Orange, people have indicated
that they would not travel more than
30 minutes to get to an incubator.
And for the majority of her tenants,
Meredith Chartier, founder and
owner of Bellamy Kitchen in Union
City, said location is indeed the
biggest point of differentiation.
But New Jersey can do better
overall, she added.
Chartier, a WELL-accredited
professional and private chef,
wants to compost in order to
adhere to the guidelines put forth
by Bellamy Kitchen’s LEED Platinum Kris Ohleth, founder and owner of Garden State Kitchen in Orange.
certification.
“So, I am pushing New Jersey to work with local waste haulers and farms to figure out how the state can help build out
compost pick-up infrastructure,” she said. “New York City is doing it, but for some reason, New Jersey is not up to speed.”
COLLABORATIVE
Ohleth said it is extremely helpful for industry players to refer people back and forth.
Djenaba Johnson-Jones, founder and CEO of Hudson Kitchen in Jersey City, said she does so by putting together a list
of available commercial kitchens in the area to send to people, given that Hudson Kitchen’s commercial kitchen is not yet
open in South Kearny.
“The overall goal for me is to
connect people with the resources
needed to help them start and grow
sustainable businesses,” she said.
“And I’m simply paying it forward.
Rutgers Food Innovation Center, for
example, has been a huge supporter
of Hudson Kitchen.
“When I told them I was relocating
to South Kearny, they recommended
equipment I should purchase for our
commercial kitchen based on what
people were requesting at theirs.”
DIVERSITY
Ohleth said being located in a diverse
community also allows commercial
kitchens and food incubators to
draw upon culinary traditions that
otherwise might be lost to the Commercial kitchens often provide ingredients and equipment storage for food entrepreneurs. ­
masses.
“For example, we just hosted a 40-person sit-down event with the Syria Supper Club, a nonprofit that works with Syrian women
to cater dinners,” she said. “This was not only an opportunity for cross-cultural exchange, as we got to hear their stories about
coming to the U.S., but especially in these really confusing times, with what is happening with race and ethnicity, to be able to
come together through food and do it in this space in the middle of a community we all hold so dear is wonderful.”
RISK-SHARING
Much of the diversity in the food space is pent up in risk aversion, Ohleth said.
“But I see places like Garden State Kitchen as being low-risk options for entrepreneurs to be able to access the support
they need to be able to grow,” she said.
Paying an hourly or monthly membership fee, after all, provides entrepreneurs with much more than a kitchen, Johnson-
Jones said.
“We clean, recycle, accept deliveries, repair equipment and more to give people the time and ability to have and grow their
own businesses,” she said. “Plus, it’s inexpensive to rent a commercial kitchen versus trying to build out your own, which
could cost between $100 and $300 per square foot.”
37
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Food Fella

Applegate wins prominent certification

Some very positive news out of Bridgewater, as the standalone subsidiary of Hormel Foods, Applegate  Hot Italian Pork Sausage: a combination
Farms LLC, has scored big on a new premium brand of meats that uses pasture-raised products and of fennel seeds, chili flakes and cayenne;
small-batch production methods. The New Food Collective, as it’s called, has earned the certification  Ginger-Scallion Pork Sausage: fresh and
of the American Grassfed Association for high standards. zesty, which can go on a bun or even in
dumplings and curries; and
The AGA standard looks like this: It  Breakfast Sausage: a classic, elevated with
mandates that hogs have maximum access a real nice balance of salt, sweet and heat.
to the outdoors, allowing them to forage One of the highlights setting apart
and roam in woods and pasture, and that, The New Food Collective brand is the fact
during the grazing season, they gather most that it sources its meat from small farms
of their food outside. It also requires farmers in Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri that
to develop a pasture-management plan to use regenerative agricultural practices,
support biological diversity, natural resources which are designed to improve soil, water
and soil fertility. retention and biodiversity. Applegate is also
According to Gina working with the Savory Institute, a pioneer
Asoudegan, Applegate’s in regenerative agriculture, to assess farm
vice president of mission practices and create proof-of-impact metrics
and innovation: “The that can be shared with the public. The brand
American Grassfed uses no antibiotics, and the animals’ diets are
Association standard supplemented with only non-GMO grain.
is a leap ahead of anything else out there. The New Food Collective line will be sold
The organization’s name focuses on pasture at select Whole Foods stores in the Chicago
— and these new sausages deliver on that. metropolitan area at first, and we’re hoping
But AGA also stands for no antibiotics, no to see it in our own backyard soon.
genetically modified feed and the highest twitter: @damonriccio
animal-welfare standards. You’d need five
separate logos to replace what AGA does.” Hot Italian Sausage, Pork Ginger Scallion Sausage, Breakfast Sausage and Sweet Italian Sausage. – THE
Conversation Starter
Applegate Farms was founded in 1987 on NEW FOOD COLLECTIVE
For more information visit:
the premise of producing high-quality natural committed to investing in scaling up systems feature fresh pork sausages, and the flavors thenewfoodcollective.com
and organic hot dogs, bacon, sausages, deli and production methods that raise animals sound tantalizing. Products include: or on Instagram:
meats, cheese and frozen products, and it’s right,” added Asoudegan.  Sweet Italian Pork Sausage: laced with @thenewfoodcollective.
been keeping to that promise. “Applegate is The launch of this new product line will fennel, sea salt and pepper;

Newest Jersey diner has hint of Southern flavor

New Jersey is undoubtedly the diner capital of the Chicken and Waffles, Charleston Shrimp & Grits,
country, but now there’s a new one to add to the the famous Meatloaf Plate and the Pulled Pork
landscape — with a heritage from the Sunshine
Mac Stack. Now, that’s some hearty comfort food,
State, Florida! The first Metro Diner in New Jersey
will open Tuesday, March 12, bringing over 100 new Jersey, and good enough to be a featured on Guy
jobs for East Brunswick-area residents. Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” recently.
Metro Diner, established in 1992 as a single eatery in
Jacksonville by the Davoli family, is now among
The 4,500-square-foot eatery is situated at
the nation’s fastest-growing casual dining concepts.
269 Route 18, just in front of the Hong Kong
Its diners are known for welcoming service, large
supermarket, and features indoor seating
portion sizes and serious diner food. With most
for 130 guests. It will be open from 7 a.m.
dishes priced under $15, the eatery offers a great
to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and
value during its all-day breakfast, lunch and dinner.
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Sharing his pride about the opening of the East
Brunswick location, Managing Partner Mike Killeen
said, “Guests feel at home when they come to Metro
Diner because we welcome them as if they are Conversation Starter
coming to our own house,” and added “Metro Diner To find out more about the Metro Diner
is known as the place where ‘the locals eat,’ and we or find a full list of locations, please visit:
hope to be the new go-to destination where our East metrodiner.com.
Brunswick diners turn into regulars.”
You may be saying, “Big deal, another diner in The diner also has a website where
Jersey”; however, take a look at some of the applicants can apply online:
signature dishes with a southern twist that will be metrodiner.com/employment.
featured on the East Brunswick eatery’s menu: Fried

38
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
NJFPA conference is almost here
C
oming up fast (at the end of this week) will
be the annual New Jersey Food Processors
Association conference, being held Friday at
the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Princeton.
The NJFPA is the leading organization made up of
manufacturers and suppliers of food and agricultural
products joined together to promote best practices,
share information and lend support and advocacy to
professionals in the food processing industry. Its presence
here has been of great value to the New Jersey food and
beverage community and surrounding areas since its
founding back in 1934.
The theme for the 2019 conference will focus on
attracting, developing and retaining talent to the industry.
It is definitely a hot-button topic as many of New
Jersey’s top food processing companies are challenged
Conversation Starter
To become a member of the NJFPA
or to attend the event, check out its
website at: njfoodprocessors.org/
conference-information.
Altru launches ‘Master Antioxidant’ drink line
Congratulations to the team that just launched what could
be the next big thing in beverages.
Altru Brands LLC, a New Jersey-based beverage
company founded by three friends and scientists,
Sam Hamid, Eugene Gross and Ken Valenzano,
has just released an innovative functional water
beverage that is a fusion of exotic flavors
and a proprietary blend of electrolytes,
natural caffeine and antioxidants, including
glutathione.
What is glutathione, you ask? It is commonly
known as the “Master Antioxidant” or the
“Mother of All Antioxidants,” because scientific
studies have shown it is the most vital and
critical antioxidant to good health. Research
has demonstrated that increasing levels of
glutathione can raise energy levels, strengthen
the immune system and detoxify the body.
So, our friends at Altru have really created
quite a formula here, and the best part about it
is the four original flavor combinations: Peach
Mangosteen, Tangerine Prickly Pear, Mango
Cherimoya and Coconut Jackfruit. Each
Altru beverage features an exotic fruit flavor
paired with a familiar fruit flavor, creating truly
unique flavor profiles.
Conversation Starter
If you’re interested in bringing its mission of healthy beverages and caring for homeless pets through Altru
Pet Rescue to your store, check the company out at drinkaltru.com to find out more info.
FOOD FINDINGS
Have a question, idea or news about the food business? You can reach Damon Riccio at driccio@roi-nj.com or 973-512-7525.
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Mark your calendars
for NJFC’s Night of
with shrinking labor pools and maintaining a skilled a Distinction
workforce for the future. It happens once a year, and it is
During the March 8 event, there will be presentations scheduled for Thursday, March
and breakout sessions on various topics for both 28, this year at The Palace at
employers and employees including: Somerset Park in Somerset.
 Attracting talent in a competitive labor market; If you haven’t been able to
 Best practices for developing future leaders; attend in the past, make it your
business this year to be there at
 Retaining talent with a focus on total wellbeing.
the New Jersey Food Council’s
A knowledgeable group of speakers and panelists Night of Distinction and support
from educational institutions, government entities and the 2019 honorees.
the food industry will share best practices, tips and tools
I can tell you I have attended this
to help you better attract, develop and retain talent in event over the last several years
Michele
your business. Siekerka and, each year, at the conclusion,
This year’s keynote speaker will be Michele Siekerka, I feel a sense of pride and
CEO and president of the New Jersey Business & stronger kinship with those who
Industry Association, and there will also be a new have been honored and all who
make up the complexion of New
segment this year, as the NJFPA will present leadership
Jersey’s food retailing industry.
awards at the luncheon. Additionally, Mazars USA will
During the evening reception,
honor Goya Foods as it presents an award to Robert
you’re not just honoring the
Unanue, CEO and president of Goya, for its extensive
successes and achievements
work with community programs including paid summer
Robert
of those being honored, you’re
internships in Jersey City, arts and culture events, and getting a glimpse into their lives
Unanue
many food-based charities. … where they started, how they
progressed, who their families
are, their friends and colleagues
behind them helping drive
them to where they are today.
Also, each has a history of civic
“We are excited to bring to market a pioneering better-
service within the New Jersey
for-you water beverage with globally inspired fruit food community to be proud of.
flavors,” Gross said.
The honorees include:
According to some recent studies from the beverage
industry, the growth of retail sales of enhanced Jeffrey Brown, CEO and
waters in the United States is far outpacing the president, Brown’s Super Stores;
growth of other beverage categories, such Herman Dodson, executive
as plain bottled water, sodas, juice and dairy director, Chase Bank;
beverages. Millennials are a key demographic
driving this high-velocity category, and their Joe Parisi, chief operating
interest in new flavor profiles and functional officer, Kings Food Markets;
innovation is something to take note of. Donna Zambo, vice president
and chief marketing officer,
That very well could be the reason why Altru
Allegiance Retail Services LLC.
debuted at No. 4 on Amazon’s “Hot New
Releases” in flavored drinking water. The NJFC, from President
Linda Doherty and her staff
Aside from Amazon, the product is currently
to all its members, friends
available in Murphy’s Markets and Pennington
and associates, has done a
Markets in New Jersey. fantastic job of maintaining
Altru is short for “altruism,” which means this strong alliance for the retail
selfless concern for the well-being of others, food industry, from executives,
and these founders are also pet rescue owners. management, service partners
They have a passion for securing homes for to other corporate sponsors.
cats and dogs in need, and that is evident by They have worked very hard over
their commitment to donate 10 percent of the the years to maintain the food
company’s profits to pet rescues. industry’s positive image, and
it is evident all throughout the
evening.
Please join me!
Go to the website to register:
njfoodcouncil.com/2019-night-
of-distinction-registration/.
39
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Transportation & Technology

CEO of electric vehicle nonprofit wants action
on major legislation — and wants it fast

P
BY ALEX WOLMART
awolmart@roi-nj.com

amela Frank said the plan

is in a proverbial box,
wrapped up and with a nice
red bow, too.
“Here it is,” she said
of the legislation she is
championing.
She just hasn’t had any
takers. And she’s not sure
why.
Frank is CEO of ChargEVC, a nonprofit
trade association and coalition of diverse
stakeholders with the shared interest of
accelerating and expanding the use of

zero-emission vehicles (better known as
electric vehicles) in the state. She said she is
becoming frustration by the slow road her
group is facing.
New Jersey is one of nine states that have
pledged to dramatically increase the number
of ZEVs in use. The goal is to have 330,000
cars by 2025, Frank said. (The state has fewer
than 10 percent of that number now.)
The ChargEVC plan — which comes in
the form of Senate bill S2252 and Assembly
bill A4819 — is one that could bring
widespread electric vehicle adoption to the
state, she said.
Key elements of the bill are an EV rebate
program; major investments through a
public-private development ecosystem in
accessible, affordable and convenient public-
charging infrastructure; and bold statewide
goals for EV adoption, including a goal of 90
percent EV sales by 2040.
So far, she said, there hasn’t been a sense
of urgency to act on it. She’s trying to create
one.
Frank, who also serves as a vice president
at Gabel Associates, an energy, environment
and public utility consulting company, sat
down with ROI-NJ to discuss the current
progress — or lack thereof — on widespread
EV adoption in the state.
ROI-NJ: How did you get into the electric
vehicle space?
Pamela Frank: In 2009 and 2010, (we)
started to look at where emissions were
coming from and where the opportunities
existed to lower (them). We understood
that it was in the transportation sector. We
started to think about what would happen
Charged up
Pamela Frank, CEO of ChargEVC, in her Chevrolet Bolt electric car. —
if we could foresee mass market adoption
of electric vehicles, because we knew the
battery technology was going to progress and
the costs were going to come down.
Around 2015, we had a line of sight to
three vehicles, the Tesla Model 3, the Chevy
Bolt and the Nissan Leaf. Those cars have
two really important features in common:
They get over 200 miles to the charge and
the price points were supposed to come in at
around $35,000. The average price of a car in
the United States is $35,000.
With those three cars, we asked ourselves:
What might this mean (for society)?
ROI: OK, we’ll bite. Explain what it would
mean.
PF: Look at it as it intersects with our
energy systems. If all the electricity load
that would be required to fuel these vehicles
presented itself to the grid in a thoughtful
and planned manner, we could see some
pretty significant benefits — benefits that
move markets, that allow you to be able to
get public investment in an area.
(There would be) ratepayer benefits
and other benefits, like lowered emissions.
­ ALEX WOLMART
But we were looking at the smallest group
of benefactors as ratepayers, and we could
expand from there.
That was our intuition, that we could
make a pretty good case that, if people start
plugging in their cars, it would drive down
the cost of electricity for all customers in New
Jersey. I could say that 12 times, because it’s
not intuitive for folks, (but) more electricity
demand because of these cars is going to
result in lower electricity costs for everybody.
ROI: What is the game plan to achieve
this?
PF: We knew we had a good message, but
knew there’s going to have to be some change
of law and change in regulation. We realized
we had so many different and powerful
interests that are going to benefit from this
transition: utilities, people that sell the cars,
people that make the cars, environmental
advocates, consumer advocates, tech
companies, software companies, etc.
We have a diverse group of interests, and
that’s really good for politics and changing
law. Any politician likes to see a group of
very diverse interests get together and say,
‘Yes, we support something,’ because it’s a lot
easier to get it passed. That was the genesis
of forming ChargEVC. We were born in the
fall of 2016.
ROI: What kind of support are you seeing
in Trenton?
PF: I can’t find one person in legislative
leadership yet that says electric vehicles are
a bad idea. Everybody likes it. Everybody
supports it.
ROI: Then what’s the holdup?
PF: The structure of state government,
and not just here in New Jersey but
everywhere, is not really well organized to be
able to handle opportunities and challenges
that cross different sectors. This touches
codes and standards. It touches energy
regulation, environmental and air quality,
transportation policy, etc.
I’m not casting blame on any one
individual here, but this is systemic in terms
of how our state government operates and
how it’s organized. Government moves slow,
we all know this. They have very limited
resources.

40
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
To really make this happen, we need the
public and we need our state government
to do some things. There are a few things
they could be doing that would be hugely
impactful, and I’m very frustrated with
the pace of that. So, I haven’t seen much
on electric vehicle opportunity from the
administration and it’s extremely frustrating
given all the work, time and resources that
have gone into detailing with how this could
be done in a thoughtful manner.
ROI: ‘Thoughtful manner.’ Most business
executives feel most legislation is not
thoughtful when it comes to them. Let’s talk
about the impact on the business community,
starting with car dealers. What are the
obstacles preventing them from selling more
electric vehicles, and how are you trying to
overcome them?
PF: ChargEVC is partnering with NJ
Car and Plug In America. We are going to
be rolling out, hopefully by the end of the
year, a dealer education program. This is to
provide certification to automotive dealers
so that they can be better equipped to sell
Conversation Starter
Reach ChargEVC at: info
@chargevc.org, or call Ashley
Lynn Chrzaszcz, 732-296-0770.
A bill in Trenton could provide rebates for electric vehicles, among other benefits. —
electric vehicles.
People will say that the dealers are
the problems (because they) walk into
dealerships that don’t have EVs. This is not
fair. It takes much longer to sell an electric
vehicle than it does a regular car or truck.
The dealers aren’t going to make as much
money, the margins aren’t as big.
You have to put yourself in the dealer’s
shoes. They’re motivated by one thing:
commission. It’s all about the efficiency of the
transaction. Get somebody in and sell them
a car as quickly as possible. That’s what they
care about. So, we have to make that work
and we have to make that work for them. We
41
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
­ ALEX WOLMART
have to basically give them all the tools they
need to make that transaction for electric
vehicles as efficient as they are for internal-
combustion cars.
ROI: ‘Internal-combustion cars’: They
don’t require constant charging. If you had
300,000 more electric vehicles on the road,
where would people charge them — especially
in a state where more and more people live in
multifamily units and may not have garages?
PF: We have to provide lots of different
options for those folks to be able to get access
to routine charging. It’s going to create jobs
and economic activity in the state. We’re
asking for what I would call a seeding. This
is the appropriate use for public funding, is
really to seed the market. We want to be able
to leverage, for every dollar that gets invested
by the public sector, we want to see $9 of
private-sector investment. There are a lot of
companies that want to spend money and
they’re raising a ton through private equity.
They want to put that money to work.
ROI: How would, or could, that work?
PF: There’s the interconnection with
the utility, and that may require upgrades
to the infrastructure. So, the utility has to
be a partner in that. In terms of the real
estate, a land owner can build and own it
themselves or they can lease that space to a
third-party operator. So, there is some cost
for the third-party operator to pay the land
owner. But we’ve got a couple of companies
that talked to site hosts, like a Starbucks, that
may want to entice people to spend time in
their establishment by offering charging as
an amenity. A supermarket may do that, too.
We have to be careful in terms of the rules
and the policies. We do want to be working
with the League of Municipalities to educate
code officials to get them comfortable and
understand what the technology is and what
it isn’t, so that they can have a fast-track
permitting process.
twitter: @alex_wolmart
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Tech Trends: Esther Surden
Check, please
Fraud is no match for Draconis AI engine, TeliApp’s Weiss says
BY ESTHER SURDEN FOR ROI-NJ
esurden@njtechweekly.com
Most people in the financial industry
understand that check fraud is a gigantic
problem for banks. Even in this era of
electronic payments, check fraud is a trillion-
dollar problem worldwide.
In particular, consumers are often
being approached by
a “Nigerian prince,” or
some equivalent, and
many fall for the scam.
“It’s an incredible amount
of money lost over the
years, and the problem
is not going away. The
numbers are rising,” Joshua Weiss, founder
and CEO of TeliApp, based in Linden, said.
These scams work like this: Criminals
profile you to see if you’re a likely candidate
for the scam. Then they make you an offer. For
example, someone just out of college might
receive an offer of a job online, perhaps to be a
remote executive assistant to an international
businessperson. Posing as the employer, the
scam artist offers him a $3,000/month salary.
When the “employee” receives the first
check, however, it’s for $4,000. The fake
employer then asks the employee to wire
$1,000 back via Western Union. The check
has already been deposited in the bank and
is available for withdrawal, so the employee
goes ahead and transfers the funds. The next
day, the check bounces, and the scammed
employee has overdrawn his account.
To combat this problem, TeliApp
developed an artificial intelligence/deep
machine learning solution called “Fraud
Detect” that is fine-tuned to detect fraud
before banks and consumers are caught
irretrievably in the crosshairs of scammers.
The solution significantly reduces this type
of check fraud, and helps mitigate synthetic
identity fraud and money laundering.
According to Weiss, Fraud Detect hooks
into the company’s Draconis AI engine, and
can eliminate virtually 100 percent of this
problem. For people with bank accounts,
the AI engine “cannibalizes all of your data,
understands your trends and behaviors,
TECH PARTNERS
ROI-NJ has teamed up with Esther Surden, creator of njtechweekly.com, to bring you weekly insight into the tech world.
From left are Yuan (Ryan) Su, UX/UI design director; Xioachen (Percy) Li, software engineering team lead;
Ian Mathieson, chief technology officer; Joshua Weiss, CEO. —
knows the things you spend money on
and your deposit history,” so it can detect
anomalies very quickly. When it starts to see
deposits that don’t make sense because they
don’t jive with your normal behavior, it will
flag them.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that there
is fraud. Sometimes, a person will make an
unusual deposit because she has received a
windfall, an inheritance or a refund. But the
software also looks for certain numbers that
are prevalent in Nigerian prince-type scams,
such as $2,850 or $3,150.
TeliApp has developed interface
modules for retail and commercial use, so
banks can monitor accounts more efficiently,
“and finally say goodbye to this rampant
problem,” Weiss said.
“We are very close to a memorandum of
understanding with our first bank. We have
some strong relationships with larger banks,
and have taken many, many meetings with
risk analysis, cybersecurity and business
development officials,” Weiss stated.
TeliApp was challenged to develop a
data set with nonpersonally-identifiable
42
­ TELIAPP
information that could tell the banks which
deposits weren’t real and which checks were
fraudulent. “And, so far, it (the AI engine) has
responded with near 100 percent accuracy.”
Draconis has been under development
for seven years, and Weiss said targeting
check fraud had always been the company’s
intention. Along the way, TeliApp got caught
up in a number of “side projects” using the AI
engine that the team needed to implement to
prove to itself that the technology was state-
of-the-art.
One of the side projects that worked really
well used AI to take data from social media
platforms to help small businesses grow
their social media following and convert it
into sales. While the service initially thrived,
TeliApp was dependent on third-party data
from the social media platforms, and, when
Twitter and Instagram changed what they
would allow companies to do with their data,
the product stopped working so well.
“It was a good decision not to develop a
business based on third-party data without
having a contract with those providers.”
Weiss said.
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
The way this product worked was that
a small business would sign up, and the
software did the rest. It would know which
people to like and when to like their posts.
A potential customer would get an email or
a push notification that “Josh’s Pizza” liked
their post. Many of these potential customers
would look up Josh’s Pizza and then like or
follow it.
“Draconis would monitor that
information and develop personality profiles
based on who the people were that actually
had a positive reaction. We paid an equal
amount of attention to those who didn’t follow,
because we didn’t want to waste resources on
people who don’t want to go to a pizza shop.
Within weeks, all of the small businesses who
started out with zero followers had thousands
of organic, relevant followers from within five
miles of the store’s location.”
One of the trends the engine detected
was that people who went to a particular
tanning salon often went to Menlo Park
Mall to try on clothes three hours later. They
were posting photos from the tanning salon
and then posting photos trying on outfits.
“One of our paying subscribers was a Main
Street clothing store that competed with the
stores in the mall. We thought, if we can just
plant the breadcrumbs, maybe they would
walk out of the tanning salon and into the
clothing store nearby.” It worked beautifully,
until TeliApp was no longer able to like posts
automatically.
The company has a small team working
on Draconis and the Fraud Detect solution,
Weiss said. Its top employees include Weiss;
Ian Mathieson, chief technical officer and
senior software development engineer, and
Ryan Su, user interface/user experience and
design director.
The rest of the company’s teams are
dedicated to working on outside projects for
customers, which are the bread and butter
of TeliApp and have helped the company
bootstrap. “We’ve taken very little in the way
of outside investment” so far, Weiss said,
adding that, with Fraud Detect working and
on its feet, TeliApp wants to partner with the
right investor so it can scale.
twitter: @njtechwkly
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
Non Profit
Where: 3 Wing
Drive, Suite 245,
Cedar Knolls
Serving: We offer
shelter, services
and supportive
housing to
homeless and low-
income people in
the Morris County
area.
Key leaders: Dan
McGuire, CEO;
Stephanie Cicale,
chief development
officer; Laura
Lannin, chief
financial officer;
Patrick Morris,
director of housing
development;
Wesley Gaynor,
director of
programs and
services.
Origin
Homeless Solutions
Inc. began 36 years
ago, when religious
and business leaders
heard the news that a
homeless man died in
the streets of Morristown
because there were no
resources for him. They
got together and created
the Morris Shelter Inc., a
nonprofit that provided
beds and meals to men
in Morristown. Eventually,
the Morris Shelter
opened an emergency
shelter on the first floor
of a county building in
Morristown. Since then,
the program has evolved
into Homeless Solutions
Inc. Today, we provide
food, shelter, case
management and give
our guests the tools they
need to rebuild their lives.
As part of our continuum
of care we also provide
affordable housing.
Achievements
In 2018 we opened two
more affordable homes
that are housing 13
people in Morristown.
Almost 600 people
received shelter and
housing through our
programs last year. And,
in an exit survey, 83
percent of the shelter
guests leaving the
program indicated they
were “highly optimistic”
about their futures.
Homeless
Solutions Inc.
HSI CEO Dan McGuire, left, with county officials and funders at the ribbon-cutting of a property in Morristown. —
Mission
Our philosophy is, “A
Hand Up, not a Handout.”
As a private, nonprofit
organization, Homeless
Solutions has been
helping the homeless
and working poor in our
community since 1983.
We are unique in what
we do. It’s not just about
providing a warm meal
and a place to sleep.
Our goal is to provide
people with the tools and
surroundings they need
to rebuild their lives and
become self-sufficient.
What sets our nonprofit
apart from others is our
Continuum of Housing
options.
Conversation Starter
For more information, please contact Wendi Zimmerman, associate development director, at:
wendizimmerman@hsinj.org, call 973-993-0900, ext. 121, or go to: homelesssolutions.org.
March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM
Providing a
‘Continuum of Housing’
in Morris County
Fundraising
We are fortunate to have
many loyal donors that
support our programs
and signature events.
Our biggest fundraiser
is our Dream Builders’
Bash. Attendees enjoy
an evening of cocktails,
dinner, dancing and
auctions. We also
participate in the
Gran Fondo NJ as a
beneficiary and through
our “Riding for Homes”
bike team. You can’t
miss our signature tie-
dye jerseys! In the fall,
we host our Women’s
Day, where attendees
select a morning
exercise activity that is
followed by mimosas
and mingling, services
from Depasquale
the Spa and a ticket
auction. Our Young
Professionals Advisory
Council hosts a “Party
with a Purpose” happy
hour twice a year to
collect gift cards for our
­ HSI
shelter guests. We also
Programs receive grants from local
The organization offers five programs “Outreach” Program is for the THP corporations and private
and services. The Main Shelter family foundations.
graduates. They have the option to
includes 85 beds in dormitory-style receive follow-up supportive services
living that accommodates single men
Finally
for two years following their exit
and women, families and those with When HSI heard about
from THP. The objective is to ensure
a mental health diagnosis. It’s a safe, the county’s need for
they remain housed and do not cycle more warming centers
drug- and alcohol-free environment with back into homelessness. Homeless during Code Blue cold
a structured program including case Solutions also operates the historic Mt. temperature alerts, a few
management that is open 24/7. Our
Kemble Home for 22 senior women staff members offered to
Transitional Housing Program has 10
of limited means. Each resident has move their offices to the
furnished apartments that serve as an
her own room, with shared bathrooms basement of our shelter
intermediate step for working families.
Case managers provide structured
and a common sitting room and in order to convert the
support and a variety of workshops dining room. Our Senior Residential space into a warming
designed to develop and strengthen Support Staff member provides 24- center. These former
skills in the areas of budgeting, hour oversight, ensuring the residents’ offices now provide a
parenting and employment. Staff and safety. We also develop and manage warm, safe place for street
volunteers also provide academic Affordable Housing throughout Morris homeless people, not the
assistance and social support to the County. We currently own and manage population we traditionally
children in the program. This program is 66 apartments, with more projects serve as a program-based
also open 24/7. Our Family Supportive underway. shelter. Since we opened
in December, we have
provided over 900 meals
and seven participants
from the center have
entered into our shelter
program.
44
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY March 4, 2019 ROI-NJ.COM

Real Estate Roundup

Real Estate Roundup is an occasional feature describing some of the important real estate transactions in the New Jersey region.
Reports are written by ROI-NJ staff. To see more deals, go to roi-nj.com. To submit your deal, email editorial@roi-nj.com.

Print it: Ricoh USA moving office operations to Parsippany

2 Gatehall, Parsippany

Electronics giant Ricoh USA has signed a lease for more

than 55,000 square feet of space at the 2 Gatehall building in
Parsippany, according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
The 55,893-square-foot office space will house operations that
the printing products, services and solutions firm is moving from
West Caldwell, C&W said in a news release.
The C&W team of William O’Keefe, Charles P. Parmelli, Curtis
Foster and Jerry Shifrin represented the landlord, White Plains,
New York-based Silverman Realty Group Inc., in the long-term
lease transaction. Drew W. Persson of Newmark Knight Frank
represented the tenant.
“Silverman Realty Group orchestrated a comprehensive
improvement program to elevate 2 Gatehall’s position as a go-to
address,” O’Keefe said in a prepared statement. “This effort to
attract high-end companies and build on an already impressive
tenant roster is proving out.”

Allure 260, East Orange

Amboy Bank, a commercial bank based in Old Bridge, announced
it has closed on a $33 million construction loan for Newark-based
developer Blackstone 360.
The loan will be used toward Allure 260, an 18-story,
325,000-square-foot luxury residential tower. The property, which will
boast 201 residences, will be located at 260 S. Harrison St. in East
Orange.
B-360 said it expects to break ground within a month.
The high rise is B-360’s fifth major development in East Orange
and is expected to cost approximately $45 million — bringing
the developer’s total investment in the city to $150 million over the
last decade.

Rubenstein Properties/
Eagle Rock Executive Office IV, East Hanover Silverman Group
Roseland-based law
firm Mandelbaum Salsburg
P.C. and CBRE announced they
had represented Little Falls-
based Rubenstein Properties in
the $183 million sale of a
28-property portfolio to Basking
Ridge-based Silverman Group.
The national portfolio,
SOMA, Somerville
which spans New Jersey,
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Sterling Properties representatives, Somerville Mayor Dennis Sullivan and
Iowa, Indiana and Alabama, has elected officials recently cut the ribbon to open SOMA, a new 69-unit luxury
more than 5 million square feet rental building in Somerville, Sterling Properties announced.
of leasable industrial distribution The complex is located at 110 South Bridge St. and is within walking
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. announced the sale of a Class A office building in and warehouse space. In distance to Somerville’s Division Street Plaza and Main Street corridor, developer
East Hanover. addition, Rubenstein recently Sterling Properties said.
The 178,000-square-foot, three-story office building, called the Eagle Rock sold a property in Muhlenberg, The four-story SOMA has studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, on-site
Executive Office IV, is located at 120 Eagle Rock Ave. Pennsylvania for $14 million. recreational amenities including a fitness studio and tech lounge, and is one
HFF represented the seller, Boxer Property, in the deal. Ramapo, New York- The New Jersey properties block from the New Jersey Transit Somerville station. It is also within close
based Northeast Capital Group purchased the asset for an undisclosed amount. in the portfolio include: access to routes 206 and 287.
The building, which is situated in a three-building office park within close  10 Park Place, Butler; “This project succeeds on so many levels,” Sullivan said. “It’s redevelopment,
access to Interstate 280, is approximately 80 percent leased to tenants including  20-21 Wagaraw Road, Fair it’s transit-oriented and it will be revenue-generating.  We had a great partner in
Prudential Insurance Company of America, Kessler Foundation and GFK. It Lawn; Sterling Properties to transform this property into an eye-catching residential
offers amenities including a cafeteria, conference rooms, tenant lounge and building where people can live a stone’s throw from downtown Somerville and
 39 Avenue C, Bayonne;
fitness center. The property also has coworking space. the train station.  We couldn’t be happier with the debut of SOMA which is a big
 101 East Main St., Little Falls;
HFF’s investment advisory team of Kevin O’Hearn and Jose Cruz, senior shot in the arm for this part of the Borough.”
 114 Beach St., Rockaway;
managing directors; and Stephen Simonelli and Michael Oliver, senior directors; The property, which has been open to lease for a month, is more than 45
 1578 Sussex Turnpike,
represented the seller. percent leased. Rents begin at $1,750.
Randolph (units two through
five).

46
ROI-NJ.COM March 4, 2019
Executive Moves
Executive Moves is an occasional feature describing some of the important personnel changes in the New Jersey business community.
Reports are written by ROI-NJ staff. To see more moves, go to roi-nj.com. To submit your move, email editorial@roi-nj.com.
Gabrielle Wolfson
Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics named a
former Xerox executive its
senior vice president and chief
information and digital officer.
In her new role, Gabrielle
Wolfson will be responsible for
leading Secaucus-based Quest’s
information
technology,
data
informatics
and digital
solutions. She
will report to
Chairman,
CEO and President Steve
Rusckowski.
“Gabrielle is a dynamic
business and technology
leader with a proven record of
harnessing technology and data
to create strong businesses
and engaged, loyal customers,”
Rusckowski said in a prepared
statement. “She has the vision,
experience and business
acumen to help Quest improve
the way we use technology to
create great experiences for
consumers, employees, health
care providers and payers.”
Wolfson had been Xerox’s CIO
since 2016, leading technology
infrastructure and digital
business efforts. She also
served as CIO for Wyndham
Hotels and Resorts, as well as
both Integra Life Sciences and
Par Pharmaceutical.
Ginger Gold Schnitzer
Saint Peter’s University
Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City announced
it has named Ginger Gold Schnitzer the new
executive director for the Guarini Institute for
Government and Leadership, effective March 4.
Schnitzer is the current director of government
relations for the New Jersey Education
Association. She’s spent 22 years with NJEA,
helping shape education policy in New Jersey.
“Ginger has more than two decades of experience
as a respected leader of one of the most important
unions in our state,” Eugene J. Cornacchia,
president of Saint Peter’s University, said.
The Guarini Institute provides a nonpartisan forum
for discussion of key public policy issues, Saint
Peter’s said. It sponsors lectures and programs
throughout the academic year to promote critical
thinking, debate and careers in public service.
ROI-NJ RETURN ON INFORMATION-NEW JERSEY
TIM PALUS
Sunrise House Treatment Center
Sunrise House Treatment Center,
a provider of drug and alcohol
treatment services in New
Jersey, announced it has a
new CEO.
Tim Palus has been named
head of the Lafayette-based
treatment provider, effective
Feb. 2, Sunrise House said.
Prior to Sunrise House, Palus
most recently served as CEO
of another American
Addiction
Centers facility, which
is the parent company
of Sunrise House.
Palus will be
responsible for
expanding
outpatient
services,
implementing
new therapies
and fostering
community
education.
Kevin Kirwan
American Water
Camden-based American Water, a water and
wastewater utility company, announced Kevin Kirwan
has been named senior vice president and chief
environmental and operational excellence officer.
“At American Water, we know that we must provide
safe, clean, reliable water and wastewater services
to our customers. Environmental leadership is one of
our values, and we must be leaders in every area of
environmental and regulatory compliance,” Walter Lynch,
chief operating officer of American Water, said. “Kevin
has more than 35 years of experience in the water
and wastewater industry and with his demonstrated
success and leadership he is an ideal fit for this role.”
Kirwan has been with American Water for 34 years,
most recently serving as vice president of operations.
He previously held positions of water production
superintendent, regional operations manager and
director of maintenance services.
47
Steven S. Goldenberg
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla
Red Bank-based law
firm Giordano, Halleran &
Ciesla announced it has
launched an Energy, Climate
Change and Public Utilities
practice group.
The group will be chaired by
shareholder
Steven S.
Goldenberg,
an energy law
practitioner.
Goldenberg
has worked
with previous
governors in
the development of Statewide
Energy Master Plans, assisted
in the state’s first Energy
Resiliency Bank and authored
several energy bills that have
become laws.
The new practice group will
expand on the firm’s role in
developing energy policies for
the state.
Brian Kimber;
Jim Durkin
GAF
Parsippany-based GAF, a roofing
and waterproofing manufacturer,
announced it has appointed
Brian Kimber to executive vice
president of sales and Jim
Durkin to senior vice president,
Steep Slope System sales.
In this role, Kimber will be
responsible for strategic
leadership, management and
development of the firm’s sales
operations. With more than
30 years of roofing industry
experience, Kimber most recently
led GAF’s residential sales team.
As senior vice president, Steel
Slope System sales, Durkin will
succeed Kimber in his previous
role.
Durkin will be responsible
for the sales growth of GAF’s
residential roofing business.
Before this, he led national
accounts and Canada sales for
GAF, which he will continue to
oversee in his new role. Durkin
joined GAF in 2000 and has held
regional and national leadership
roles in both residential and
commercial roofing sales.