For years, State Chamber CEO Tom Bracken has been pleading with administrations to have a state plan for business, and to give business leaders a seat at the table when it comes to discussion and implementation.
He may finally have both.
When Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order 28 on Tuesday morning at the State House, the 23-page document laid out her economic plan for the state. It also showed a greater willingness to work with the business community.
Bracken was thrilled. The business council he has created, a collection of more than two dozen top leaders, will now get a chance to meet with the administration, including Todd Fisher, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Economic Opportunity in the Office of the Governor.
Bracken, who was briefed on the plan before the signing, said that may be the most significant part of all.
“He’s receptive to meeting with my group of 26,” Bracken. “That is a great sign of progreess.”
What struck Bracken most was the administration’s own admission. In its summary of the plan, the administration acknowledged that New Jersey has lacked a proactive and comprehensive economic strategy, and called the order a reset in how the state works with business, with a focus on economic competitiveness and business friendliness.
For Bracken, that was years in coming.
“You’ve never had a governor admit that New Jersey lacks a proactive and comprehensive economic strategy,” he said. “And you’ve heard me say 1,000 times, New Jersey does not have an economic plan. How can you have a business and move forward without a plan?”
He said the administration isn’t hiding from it.
“They are embracing it.”
It appears they need to.
In July, CNBC ranked New Jersey No. 31 overall in its Top States for Business rankings, and No. 50, dead last, in business friendliness. At the time, Bracken said the state “must make economic competitiveness and support for the business community a top priority.”
Big name companies have left. In June, Samsung announced it would move its U.S. headquarters from Englewood Cliffs to Plano, Texas, affecting about 1,000 employees. Exxon left after 144 years. According to the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the number of Fortune 500 companies based in the state fell from 22 in 2018 to 15 in 2025.
Bracken said much of what’s in the new plan tracks with ideas his group has been pushing.
The order is built on four pillars:
- Improve New Jersey’s business climate to make it easier to attract and grow businesses;
- Grow the key industries that can drive New Jersey’s next generation of quality jobs;
- Increase research, development, and speed of bringing ideas to market in New Jersey to boost business growth and investment;
- Ensure businesses, residents, and communities across New Jersey can participate in and benefit from economic growth.
Bracken expects outreach to be a big part of the work. He hopes his group will be part of it.
“Just let us be a part of the process, listen to what we have to say, that’s the key,” he said.
