Evan Weiss knows how government usually works: program after program and pilot after pilot.
The CEO of the N.J. Economic Development Authority said Tuesday that the New Jersey Innovation Hub at HELIX in New Brunswick is something different.
“We don’t build institutions,” Weiss said of government. “Not only is this an institution, it brings together incredible institutions like Johnson & Johnson, like Rutgers, like DEVCO itself, in one place.”
Weiss credited Gov. Mikie Sherrill with focusing on how to build something that won’t go away “when the next administration comes in.”
He also pointed to something he said other innovation centers can’t match: the Northeast Corridor running right past the door.
“Every single day, 750,000 people are going to be taking a train on the corridor, looking at this and thinking about what’s going on,” he said. “How do I become part of this?”
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Congressman Frank Pallone (D, 6th District) said the hub “creates jobs.” He noted the federal government played a part through American Rescue Plan funding and pledged “to fight to make sure that we get more funding for the basic research.”
Rutgers President William Tate took him up on it. In his remarks, Tate traced decades of U.S. science leadership to federal policies “born in the Sputnik era.”
“But Congressman, I’m going to hold you to that,” Tate said. “We’re going to have a Pallone era.”
Middlesex County Commissioner Director Ron Rios said the county “continues to invest in the infrastructure, partnerships and workforce needed to help our communities compete and thrive in the economy of tomorrow,” citing the modernization of the New Brunswick train station and its workforce partnership with RWJBarnabas Health.
New Brunswick Mayor Jim Cahill said the payoff has to reach the people who live there.
“For our city, projects like this are so much more than about the businesses that are here,” he said. “They are about building a stronger local economy, creating new career and job opportunities, ensuring that the growth taking place in New Brunswick continues to benefit our residents.”
Cahill also gave his longtime partner, DEVCO President Chris Paladino, the credit.
“When I’m done having a thought process, Chris does all the work, and I get up here and say thanks to everybody,” he said.
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Kelly Doucette, the state’s chief operating officer, said the life sciences are part of who New Jersey is.
“Life sciences is not just another industry in New Jersey,” she said. “It’s part of our history. It’s part of our identity, and it’s the foundation of our economic future.”
The job now, Doucette said, is getting more out of what the state already has.
“New Jersey already has extraordinary assets,” she said. “Our opportunity is really to connect them in a much more deliberate way, so that more discoveries become New Jersey companies, more companies grow here in New Jersey and more New Jersey residents benefit from the jobs and the solutions that they create.”
Doucette also reminded the crowd that the governor’s long-promised innovation plan is still coming.
“In the weeks ahead, Gov. Sherrill will have more to say about how New Jersey will strengthen its innovation economy,” she said. “It’s a huge focus for her administration.”
For now, Doucette said, the HELIX is the example.
“Today, the HELIX shows what that future can look like and what New Jersey can accomplish when we bring our strongest institutions and our most talented people together around a shared objective,” she said.
