The Trenton edition of the State of the State of Manufacturing always has been an
attempt by the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program and the New Jersey
Business & Industry Association to give lawmakers an up-close look at the sector.
The past two years, Pete Connolly and Michelle Siekerka have added a twist — making
sure manufacturing leaders get a good look at the Legislature in action, too.
The event, held last Thursday in the State House, offered manufacturers a frontrow seat
to three committee hearings — including the Senate Economic Growth Committee and
the confirmation hearing for the new DEP commissioner — before they gathered for a
panel discussion and an unusually candid Q&A.
“It’s a lot different to walk into a hearing room and see legislators up on a dais, see the
interaction, see how prepared you have to be,” Siekerka, the CEO of NJBIA, said. “We
like to go out to the facilities and walk it and feel it and talk it. Now they get to walk in
our shoes.”
Siekerka said the trip to the State House was a first for many, even though the rules
made there shape whether they hire, expand or buy new equipment.
“A lot of these folks have never been here before, and just understanding all those laws
that make you nuts, every day — seeing where and how the sausage is made — is a
really good experience,” she said.
Connolly, the CEO of NJMEP, said moving the event inside the State House has been
key to drawing lawmakers into the conversation.
“This gets manufacturing companies a better idea of and chance to meet their
legislators — and vice versa,” he said. “They can just walk upstairs, pop in for ten
minutes or a half hour, and still make their other obligations.”
He said the bipartisan, bicameral manufacturing caucus that underpins the event is built
to surface practical problems that don’t always make headlines but can stall a plant or
product line.
“The manufacturing caucus really is a bipartisan, bicameral organization,” Connolly
said. “It gives us an opportunity to address issues — sometimes they seem small, but
they matter a lot when you’re running a business.”
Trenton insiders seemed eager for the inside scoop.
On the panel, the state’s new Chief Operating Officer, Kellie Doucette, outlined an
agenda aimed at making government work better for businesses that need permits,
workers and predictable timelines.
Created earlier this year by executive order, the COO’s office is charged with improving
responsiveness, transparency and accountability. Doucette said her team is focused on
procurement, hiring and regulatory reform and simplification, along with updating the
technology that powers basic state processes.
One of its early projects is a first-ever statewide audit of permitting and the creation of a
permitting council that brings together agencies such as DEP, DCA and DOT. The state
is piloting a dashboard of 10 projects with the goal of eventually giving businesses
real-time visibility into where their applications stand.
State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Hillsborough), a longtime member of the manufacturing
caucus, said that work can’t come soon enough.
He joking told the story of how soft pretzels and hard pretzels are two different items
(one apparently is a snack, the other is a food — seriously).
Then he really got serious.
Zwicker detailed how a thin-film manufacturer in Hillsborough that had the money, had
the design and knew where they wanted to build, got stuck in overlapping state, county
and local approvals until his office intervened.
“That is not a way to do business,” Zwicker said. “We have to find a better way.”
If the morning was about watching law makers work, the afternoon was about
manufacturers telling them where that work falls short.
During the Q&A that followed the panel, owners and executives raised issues ranging
from cannabis regulation to access to capital for microbusinesses, from federal
HUBZone lines to local parking rules that can kill an expansion.
Doucette said those stories are exactly what her office needs to hear.
“One of the big drivers for us is that there are too many small businesses that just never
even get off the ground because they hit these blocks,” she said. “On one side it’s a
cost; on the other side it’s a completely lost opportunity for New Jersey.”
Even if it’s tough to hear.
“We want the honest candor about what’s happening,” she said. “Hearing stories like
yours actually makes our work more efficient — if we don’t collect these stories, we
can’t target where the issues are.”
Zwicker said the challenge now is to connect that candor to the way New Jersey spends
and writes policy.
“We’re in budget season and constitutionally required to balance the books, but
investment today is what leads to economic development tomorrow,” he said. “That’s
where New Jersey has to get better — especially for the small and medium
manufacturers that don’t have a big voice.”
Siekerka said the day showed that voice getting stronger.
“It’s critically important that you understand you truly have a seat right now at this
governor’s table — and a very open ear to what you need as an industry to grow new
jobs, expand your facilities and invest in equipment,” she said.
Connolly encouraged manufacturers to use that seat.
“We’ve seen an incredible sea change in what we’re doing, having these meetings in
the State House,” he said. “Please ask questions — and you will get answers.”
