What if New Jersey’s businesses and unions sat down with government to rewrite the state’s tax policy? What if the state built apartments on its own land and by its transit hubs? Why not go bigger on incubators? Why not increase economic development partnerships with education.
Those were the questions Bob Garrett left the state with Wednesday night.
Garrett, the retiring CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health, closed the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s NJ250 celebration with a keynote on the state’s next 250 years, and a wish list built on “what if” and “why not.”
“What if we double down on our greatest strengths and commit to better targeting the obstacles that hold us back?” he asked.
The greatest of those strengths, Garrett said, is the people.
“New Jersey has always been a crossroads,” he said. “We’re a state of immigrants, of dreamers, of mechanics and farmers, of scientists and entrepreneurs. We have never been afraid to get our hands dirty. We possess a unique blend of intellectual brilliance and blue-collar grit.”
The state, Garrett noted, has more scientists and engineers per square mile than any other — and nearly a million businesses.
That’s the foundation. Here’s what he’d build on it.
Go bigger on innovation
“Why not bring together private companies and the government to create more incubators to accelerate the pace of discovery?” he said. “We’ve made a great stride and a great start with the EDA Strategic Innovation Centers. There’s the HELIX in New Brunswick and the New Jersey AI Hub in Princeton, and several others. Why not go bigger?”
Fix the tax code — together
“What if the public and private sector, businesses and unions alike, get together to restructure our tax policy to once and for all make New Jersey more attractive to business, and let’s cut out a lot of the red tape that exists in our state today,” he said.
Train the workforce
“Why not deepen partnerships between our strong state colleges and universities, vocational programs and private industries to upskill workers, especially in high-growth sectors?” Garrett asked.
He pointed to his own industry as proof it can work. Facing workforce shortages, Hackensack Meridian has invested in learn-as-you-go, tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness programs.
“It’s working,” he said. “Our nurse vacancy factor is less than half the national average.”
Build more housing
“What if we could turbocharge efforts to increase affordable housing and build more apartments on state land and by transit hubs?” he asked.
Garrett said he sees it every day at Hackensack Meridian’s corporate offices at Metropark, where new units are under construction.
And one more …
“Why not have a New Jersey leader become president of the United States?” he asked — looking at a graphic that showed images of Cory Booker, Mikie Sherrill and Chris Chrstie.
“It’s been a long while. I’m probably going to get in trouble for that one, but I don’t care. I’m retired.”
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Garrett framed his talk as a duty.
The state’s history of innovation, he said, is “not just a museum exhibit to be admired; it is a mandate.”
“Let us be proud of our heritage as the Garden State, but let us forever embrace our destiny as the invention state and the global innovation hub,” he said.
What if.
Why not.
Garrett asked the questions. The answers are for others to figure out.
