The New Jersey Jewish Business Alliance has long touted the need to connect policymakers and business leaders to boost economic development.
At its 12th Annual Legislative & Business Luncheon, held August 5 in Newark, it honored two people doing just that: Jacquelyn Suárez, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, and Joel Epstein, founder and CEO of Fabuwood.
Suárez received the NJJBA Excellence in Leadership Award.
Appointed commissioner in September 2023, she oversees one of the state’s largest departments, with a $2.152 billion operational budget and more than 1,000 employees. Under her leadership, DCA has allocated more than $100 million through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to develop affordable housing statewide, while advancing initiatives to end veteran homelessness, expand shared services and build generational wealth through homeownership.
Epstein accepted the NJJBA Corporate Excellence Award on behalf of Fabuwood, the Newark-based cabinetry manufacturer he founded.
The company, headquartered in a 1-million-square-foot facility in Newark, employs more than 1,200 associates nationwide and has won the Kitchen & Bath Business Readers’ Choice Award in the cabinetry category five times in seven years, most recently in 2025.
More than 250 business owners, corporate executives, and state and local officials packed the Robert Treat Hotel for the event, hosted by The Berger Organization.
Miles Berger, NJJBA chairman and chairman and COO of The Berger Organization, said Suárez and Epstein represent complementary sides of New Jersey’s growth story — a policymaker shaping the framework businesses build within, and a business that shows what that framework makes possible.
Nathan Herzog, an NJJBA board member and president of Royal Wine, said the luncheon’s value comes from relationships built over time, not around a crisis.
“This luncheon exists because relationships between the business community and the people writing the rules cannot be built in a crisis — they have to be built in advance,” he said. “Twelve years in, that room gets fuller and the conversations get more substantive every year. The connections you make at these events are priceless.”
Choose New Jersey CEO Amy Herbold delivered remarks on the state’s competitive position and business attraction strategy. Ted Zangari, a member at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. and outside general counsel to NJJBA, introduced Herbold.
Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie, who represents New Jersey’s 27th Legislative District and serves as vice chair of the Assembly Education Committee, also addressed attendees. Bagolie sits on the Assembly Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee and the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee, and has championed legislation on education reform, public health, public safety and combating antisemitism.
Zangari, who chairs the real estate department at Sills Cummis & Gross and serves as NJJBA’s general counsel, said the event has become a fixture on the summer calendar despite the season.
“Anyone who thinks a mid-summer event cannot attract a gathering has not been to NJJBA’s legislative & business luncheon,” he said. “Over the last number of years, this event has become a must-attend power lunch for senior executives and public officials alike.”
