Economic Development
New Jersey would like to increase the amount of investment that comes into the state in order to provide employment opportunities and an enhanced quality of life for its residents.
Much of the state’s economic development and growth requires public infrastructure. The state can play an important role in where this economic development occurs by directing appropriate investment into places where this infrastructure already exists, thereby minimizing the public subsidy necessary to support these activities and reducing the cost to businesses to build facilities, transport goods, connect with suppliers, customers and partners, and access employees.

Despite New Jersey’s urban resurgence in the years since the Great Recession, and despite concerns about gentrification expressed in popular media, high-poverty neighborhoods have not gone away.

New Jersey Future, along with our partners, has spent many years working with downtown leaders to understand how to create vibrant, walkable, equitable downtowns and have provided resources, guidance, and direct services to many of these places. With this experience, we have made several recommendations to improve the impact of the small business program.

A group of 18 mayors and organizations concerned with how New Jersey grows and develops has sent a letter to Gov. Murphy urging him to renew focus on the State Plan.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is now taking applications for its 21st Century Redevelopment Program, which targets the challenge of redeveloping abandoned or underutilized suburban office parks and shopping malls.

A new national report ranks New Jersey’s Opportunity zones high on smart-growth location potential, but also high on an index that predicts residents’ vulnerability to displacement.

The Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 included additional incentives for projects destined for “smart-growth” areas. This report analyzes how effective the updated incentives have been at directing growth to those areas. December 2014.

2016 Smart Growth Awards: Alfred C. Koeppe, business leader and champion for economic development in New Jersey, is the recipient of the 2016 Cary Edwards Leadership Award.

This report and related case studies summarize the state of urban water infrastructure in New Jersey and how it affects residents and businesses. May 2014.

2013 Smart Growth Awards: Diane Sterner, the founding executive director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey is the recipient of the 2013 Cary Edwards Leadership Award.
2014 Smart Growth Awards: Joe Maraziti Jr. Esq., a pioneer in the fields of redevelopment and environmental law in New Jersey, is the recipient of the 2014 Cary Edwards Leadership Award.
See all New Jersey Future Blog posts and articles in this category »
Reports, Presentations and Testimony
- 06/05/2019: Statement on Proposals To Reform Tax Incentives
- 02/11/2019: Testimony on Economic Development Incentives
- New Jersey Future Demographic Trends by Age September 2017
- Oxford Byway to Destination NJM June 2017
- 05/15/2017: Testimony on S2834 - Water Quality Accountability Act
- New-Jersey-Future-Assessment-of-the-NJLIHTC-program
- New Jersey Future 2017 Gubernatorial Platform
- Economic-Opportunity-Act-and-Smart-Growth-Progress-Report
- Agenda for Change
- Case Study: Paterson
- Case Study: Jersey City
- Case Study: Hoboken
- Case Study: Camden
- Ripple Effects
- Van Abs: Water Infrastructure in New Jersey's CSO Cities
- 02/03/2014: Statement on CDBG-DR Funds
- Somerset County Investment Framework 1-13 (Intern Report)
- Targeting Transit -- New Jersey Future
- Innovation Districts as Economic Growth Strategy 9-12 (Intern Report)
- Route 1 Planning Through Partnerships
- ARC Information Sheet 9-10
- Case Study Hopewell Township 08-00
- A Citizen's Guide to Transit-Oriented Development
- Chasing Their Tails: Municipal Ratables Chase Doesn't Necessarily Pay 07-10
- Realistic Opportunity? The Distribution of Affordable Housing and Jobs in New Jersey
- Getting to Work 11-08