More than 75 leaders in higher education, technology and life sciences, local and county government and economic development gathered in a conference room at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center Tuesday to morning to hear presentations on the innovative research that will take place at the HELIX, the workforce development being created at NJBioFutures and tax credit auctions by the N.J. Economic Development Authority that can help fund all of this and more.
It wasn’t a huge event with massive screens and videos.
Or one with seemingly more sponsors than attendees in an effort to meet organizational revenue goals.
It simply was a straight-to-the-point gathering of key players in many sectors.
It is how Innovation New Jersey, a group that has been meeting regularly since 2010, is quietly and effectively working to ensure New Jersey is prepared to be a leader in innovation for the next decade.
It is how innovation survives and thrives.
Chrissy Buteas, the CEO of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey and the executive director of Innovation New Jersey, said the group’s only goal is to provide a forum where key players in the state can exchange ideas.
“We want to be a place where people can share innovative ideas,” she said. “Talk about what they are doing and what they are seeing. We’re hoping to spur conversations with everyone in the room.”
The group certainly is diverse.
Innovation New Jersey describes itself as a coalition of leading businesses, trade associations and higher education institutions aiming to strengthen and enhance the culture of innovation in the state.
There is no membership fee. There is no sponsorship requirement. The only goal is to share ideas.
The event Tuesday morning featured plenty of information on the HELIX, the three-building, 1.5 million-square-foot, $2 billion being built by the New Brunswick Development Corporation.
DEVCO President Chris Paladino gave a detailed look at all of the innovative features the HELIX will have, before giving way to Nancy Tyrrell of Portal Innovations, the firm that will oversee and operate the startup community at the HELIX.
The mission
Founded in 2010 by the leaders at the N.J. Business and Industry Association and the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey, Innovation New Jersey was developed to promote policies and partnerships between academia, industry and government that will:
- Foster greater dialogue and collaboration among members of New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem;
- Retain and grow high-paying STEM and innovation-related careers;
- Strengthen and fortify New Jersey’s highly educated, highly skilled workforce pipeline;
- Financially support and incentivize the growth New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem;
- Inform and educate the value of New Jersey’s private and public innovation assets.
Next up was Conrad Mercurius, the executive director of workforce development and career education at Raritan Valley Community College.
Mercurius detailed NJBioFutures, an initiative sponsored by Johnson & Johnson (who was represented at the event) and being launched by three area colleges (in Middlesex, Somerset and Mercer counties) to help the state develop a sorely lacking but much needed lab-technician workforce.
Alexander Pachman of the EDA then detailed how the group will soon hold two tax credits auctions for two of most successful (and innovative) programs: The NJ Innovation Evergreen Fund and the Food Desert Relief fund.
Tee to green, the event took about two hours.
Enough time to get some serious knowledge and networking.
It’s the type of program (and crowd) that should draw gubernatorial candidates. Or better – the next governor.
It’s the type of program that should attract more people working to ensure the state maintains its innovative DNA.
Buteas said everyone is welcome. (sign up here)
“There’s no cost to join,” she reiterated. “You only have to bring your ideas – a willingness to hear ideas – and a desire to continue to build the innovative ecosystem in the state.
“You can’t do that in isolation. That’s what this group is about: Like-minded people who want to share what they are doing and find no partners to collaborate with – partners that they may not interact with on a regular basis.
“Come join us.”
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More from the NJEDA on innovation:
EDA providing support for Innovation Business Hub of Hispanic Chamber at NJCU
N.J. named national leader in AI Innovation
NJ HAX Plasma Forge, 11th Strategic Innovation Center in state, is created
