www.njchamber.com

1Q 2013

NEW JERSEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

a quarterly focus on the people and the issues that drive New Jersey business

Also Inside: Rebuilding after Sandy Insurance after SandyWhat Christie said to Obama after Sandy

GOODBYE SANDYHELLO JERSEY STRONGThree months after Chris Wood helped lead recovery efforts in the Wake of Superstorm Sandy, his once-ravaged Sea Bright restaurant re-opened to bustling crowds. Read about Wood and other heroes of the storm.

PAGE 16

NEW JERSEY AFTER THE STORM: HOW YOU CAN HONOR YOUR OWN SUPERSTORM HERO PAGE 20

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cover story16 Sea Bright Restaurateur Chris Wood was one of the Superstorm Sandy Heroes honored at the N.J. Chamber’s Walk to Washington and Congressional Dinner. Read about Wood and other Heroes of the Storm who brought New Jersey back from the brink.Chris Wood photographed at his restaurant in his hometown of Sea Bright on March 17. From a

tent, Wood’s team made more than 1,000 meals a day for workers and hungry residents for eight weeks after Superstorm Sandy. COVER PHOTO AND PHOTO ABOVE BY RUSS DESANTIS.

Focus on:news06 Business Leaders Concerned After Sandy, but 40 Percent Still Plan to Hire This Year

real estate08 Post-Sandy Construction is Fuel for New Jersey’s Comeback

10 The Ports of New Jersey: Super-Sized Ships are Coming; Many More Jobs May Follow

law11 A Harsh Lesson: What Kind of Insurance and Continuation Plan Does Your Business Need?

76TH ANNUAL WALK TO WASHINGTON AND CONGRESSIONAL DINNER

12 “We will rebuild the state better than it was before,” Gov. Chris Christie told 900 business leaders at the N.J. Chamber’s Congressional Dinner

14 Can State Sen. Barbara Buono Unseat Gov. Chris Christie? She Kicked off Her Campaign on the Chamber Train

17 Former Gov. Brendan Byrne Reaches a Golden Milestone: His 50th Walk to Washington

18 What Exactly Did Gov. Christie Say to President Obama in the Oval Office after Sandy?

20 The N.J. Chamber Unveils its Superstorm Sandy Hero Project at the Congressional Dinner: See How You Can Include Your Hero

tableofcontents

features

04 Message from the President The Storm Recovery Has Just Begun, and It’s Up to All of Us to Get it Done

21 Small Business Owner’s Guide Know When to Get a Helping Hand: Five Tasks that Small Businesses Could Contract Out

22 News Makers

12

14

The Ports of New Jersey: Super-Sized Ships are Coming; Many More Jobs May Follow

4 |

This opportunity must not be squandered. Grants, first and foremost, must go to residents and businesses that were directly struck by the storm so they can rebuild. This will gener-ate jobs and a boost for our economy. Roughly $25 billion is expected to be invested in construction alone in New Jersey through 2015, according to a re-port by the Rutgers University’s Blous-tein School of Planning and Public Policy (see story on page 8).

The aid, meanwhile, will help get Jersey Shore merchants open for busi-ness by Memorial Day. Meeting the deadline is important symbolically, and it is critical to our state’s $40 bil-lion per year tourism industry. To sup-port our shore businesses, the state needs to quickly roll out the proposed $25 million marketing campaign to make sure everyone knows the Jersey Shore is open for business this summer.

Funds must also go to help munici-palities whose property tax bases were decimated by Sandy.

And a sensible plan must be devised to develop smart building codes and flood maps that make rebuilding fair and affordable.

To accommodate this, it is impor-tant for Democrats and Republicans to get on the same page – even in a guber-natorial election year.

We know they can do it. Before the storm and the presidential election, our Republican governor and Demo-cratic-controlled Legislature worked together to pass landmark legislation that began to restore New Jersey’s eco-nomic vitality – pension and health benefit reform, teacher tenure reform, and property tax reform. And we were beginning to see results. New Jersey gained 66,400 jobs (59,100 in the pri-vate sector) in 2012, the state’s highest annual job gain in more than a decade.

Our Government Relations team here at the Chamber remains very busy monitoring the rebuilding activities and pushing for the pro-growth initia-tives we need to regain our economic momentum. These include the contin-ued phase-in of business tax reforms, such as establishing a net operating loss carry-forward for small businesses and a fairer formula for calculating Corporation Business Tax liability.

These initiatives are contained in Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed

state budget and are geared toward strengthening the economy and grow-ing jobs.

Ultimately, restoring New Jersey is a collective effort that will require ju-dicious use of the relief funding and the continued passage of pro-growth policies.

There’s one other easy way to help New Jersey – think New Jersey busi-ness first. If you need a product or service, buy from or hire a New Jersey company. We can certainly recommend most any kind of company you need from our roster of members.

Another thing you can do to help the recovery – take a trip to the Jer-sey Shore to support the businesses that line our 130 miles of white sandy beaches.

Gov. Christie spoke for many of us when he said in his budget address, “I expect to go to the Jersey Shore every summer for the rest of my life, includ-ing the summer of 2013.”

We have a unique opportunity to achieve a positive outcome from the cat-astrophic impact of Superstorm Sandy. There can be no better message sent by our state than an expeditious recovery. Let’s show the rest of the country what New Jersey is all about. ❖

Thomas A. BrackenPresident and CEONew Jersey Chamber of Commerce

We cheered when Congress finally approved the $60.4 billion emergency spending bill to help New Jersey and its neighbors recover from Superstorm Sandy. But the story of recovery is just beginning. Now that the cash has begun flowing into New Jersey, we must ensure the money gets it into the hands of those who need it the most and in a way that helps all of them – and New Jersey – emerge from the storm of the century and the Great Recession.

The Storm Recovery Has Just Begun, and It’s Up to All of Us to Get it Done

president’s message

BY THOMAS A. BRACKEN

ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 5

216 West State Street Trenton, N.J. 08608 Phone: (609) 989-7888www.njchamber.com

CHAMBER STAFF

Thomas A. BrackenPresident and CEO

Dana EgreczkySenior Vice President,Workforce Development

Michael EgentonSenior Vice President,Government Relations

Alfonso RomeoDirector of Member Services

Ray ZardettoDirector of Communications

Scott GoldsteinCommunications Manager and Enterprise Editor

Ric PrincipatoInteractive Designer

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ChairmanJeffrey C. ScheiningerPresidentFlexline/U.S. Brass and Copper Corp.

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TreasurerHoward Cohen, CPAChairmanEisnerAmper LLP

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The 2nd Annual NJ Chamber Challenge Cup – Golf Outing and Buffet LunchRegistration begins at 10:30 a.m.Bedens Brook Club, SkillmanJoin us for a grand day of golf. Winners of the Chamber Challenge get a $1,000 credit they can use to fly first class anywhere in the continental U.S. on United Airlines. Are you up to the challenge?

For more information, go to www.njchamber.com. For information on sponsoring, call Al Romeo at (609) 989-7888 ext. 147, or email aromeo@njchamber.com.

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“In December, there were promi-nent factors that increased concern, such as Sandy, as well as the fiscal cliff and the uncertainties of health care costs, which were not as pro-nounced in May,” said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. “Therefore, when you look at the report in its en-tirety, there are encouraging trends.”

A particularly encouraging trend is hiring. Four in 10 respondents (40.4 percent) said they expect their company to increase their workforce over the next 12 months. That is sig-nificantly higher than the 28.8 per-cent who responded that way seven months ago. Nearly half (46.3 per-cent) of the Chamber members ex-pect no change in the jobs picture.

When asked how long it will take New Jersey to completely recover economically from Sandy, half of the respondents said more than a year and more than a third think it will take three years or more.

“Superstorm Sandy clearly left its mark on our families, on our busi-nesses and on our psyches,” Bracken said.

New Jersey Chamber members continue to give Christie high marks. When asked to evaluate the way he handled Sandy, 82.8 percent chose “excellent.” And more than three quarters of respondents said they will either definitely vote for Christie for re-election or are leaning toward voting for him. More than half the respondents (56.6 percent) said they would support Christie running for president in 2016, while 21.2 percent said they would not support Christie running for president.

New Jersey Chamber members were less kind to President Barack Obama. Half of the respondents said Obama’s reelection in Novem-ber made them less optimistic about New Jersey’s economy, while 22 per-cent said his election makes them more optimistic.

The New Jersey Chamber of Com-merce survey was conducted be-tween Dec. 3 and Dec. 24. The bian-nual survey is designed to measure the outlook of state Chamber mem-bers, which range from single entre-preneurs to Fortune 500 companies in a wide array of fields. A total of 108 members participated in the sur-vey. Most said they are presidents, CEOs or senior level executives. ❖

focus on news

In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce members are less optimistic about the state’s business climate than they were last spring, according to the N.J. Chamber’s most recent Business Climate Survey conducted in December. Nearly a quarter of respondents said they expect the state economy to be “moderately worse” or “worse” over the next 12 months. That is a sharp increase from a May 2012 survey of state Chamber members, in which only 6 percent of Chamber members expected the economy to wane.

New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Member Survey BUSINESS LEADERS VOICE CONCERN IN THE WAKE OF SUPERSTORM SANDY,BUT FOUR IN 10 SAY THEY EXPECT TO HIRE IN NEXT 12 MONTHS

6 |

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Elec_8.375x11.125.indd 1 1/24/13 10:01 AM

The now iconic roller coaster from Casino Pier in Seaside Heights on Nov. 9, 2012.

PHOTO BY: Tim Larsen/Governor’s Office

Collaborating in job safety,

productivity and efficiency.

Local 825 Operating Engineers working together with employers

to provide the highest quality construction.

ELEC is a labor-employer trust that brings together Local 825 Operating Engineers and participating employers to ensure quality construction, job safety and productivity that translates into savings for developers.

ELEC ensures that participating employers have access to Operating Engineers who are highly skilled, experienced and fully credentialed. This means you have access to the best operators when you need them.

No lead time. No down time. Ready to work on Day One.

Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative (ELEC) is comprised of:

■ International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 ■ Associated General Contractors of New Jersey■ Building Contractors Association of New Jersey■ Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley■ Construction Contractors Labor Employers of New Jersey

Learn how we can help you. Contact ELEC Director Mark Longo at 973-671-6965 or visit us onlineWWW.ELEC825.ORG

Building On Common Ground

Elec_8.375x11.125.indd 1 1/24/13 10:01 AM

8 |

Roughly $25 billion is expected to be invested in con-struction in New Jersey through 2015, according to a report by the Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

This has builders and municipalities scrambling to learn newly revised building regulations. Gov. Chris Christie has called for building New Jersey “smarter and stronger.” He has also called for the state’s beach resorts to be up and running this summer.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) new flood maps, updated for the first time since the 1980s, were announced in January, and Christie said

the state would adopt them immediately – although the precise language won’t be finalized for a year or two. The standards determine, among other things, how (and how high) properties near water need to be built to withstand the next major storm. A dilemma for those rebuilding: Pay to storm proof now or pay higher flood insurance premiums later?

“This still has to play out,” said Professor Joseph Sen-eca, one of the authors of the Rutgers report. “With the likelihood of more frequent and intense storms, things will be rebuilt to reduce the exposure and likelihood of severe future losses.”

Many people rebuilding their properties are raising them on 15-foot-high block foundations with knock-out windows that can be removed in the face of a storm, al-lowing flood water to run through the foundation, said Gary C. Dahms, president and CEO of T&M Associates in Middletown, the engineering firm of record for many of the New Jersey coastal towns struck by the storm.

Financing for such reconstruction would likely come

focus on real estate

It’s springtime in New Jersey and construction is well under way to repair or replace the homes and businesses destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. Construction work, in the wake of the storm, may be what boosts New Jersey’s economy now and for many years.

Post-Sandy Construction is Fuel for New Jersey’s ComebackBY ALICIA BROOKS WALTMAN

Heavy equipment is used to replenish sand under homes in Holgate after Superstorm Sandy.

PHOTO BY: Tim Larsen/Governor’s Office

GIL MEDINA GARY C. DAHMSPETER COCOZIELLO

from flood insurance settlements, and possibly from FEMA or other federal funding, Dahms said.

And for those without flood insurance?“For those people, it becomes a personal decision. Is

it worth it to rebuild?” said Dahms, though he believes owners are not throwing in the towel and selling just yet. “No one is going to be buying [damaged properties] until these regulations are finalized. Everyone is playing wait and see, and we’re working hard to resolve these issues.”

Meanwhile, storm-ravaged communities are taking another hit in the form of increasing property taxes. Many damaged properties have been drastically deval-ued and reassessed at a lower rate, leaving towns feel-

ing the pinch. The long-term impact on taxes depends on whether or not owners rebuild, Dahms said.

Peter Cocoziello, president and CEO of Advance Re-alty, a developer of office, residential and retail space, says his builders are making adjustments for the post-Sandy reality. In the Willow 14 project, a retail-luxury apartment complex under construction in Hoboken, his designers redrew plans to add floodgates on the under-ground garages, and regraded the property – just five blocks from the Hudson River – to put the building on higher ground. Other developers are doing the same, Co-coziello said.

Another consideration for new construction is install-ing backup generator power, a significant selling point, especially in office buildings. The placement of utilities, such as transformers, in the basement where they’re vul-nerable to floods, is also being rethought.

Gil Medina, executive managing director of the New Jersey offices of Cushman & Wakefield, an international commercial real estate firm, said tenants will demand that landlords in flood areas “take these precautions.”

“There will be a market response,” Medina said, “and these changes will be codified down the road.” ❖

ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 9

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The Smith family-owned ACE Hardware store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ

10 |

The port area, which currently supports about 280,000 jobs in the region and generates $50 billion in income, is undergoing improvements designed to accommodate su-per-sized “Panamax” ships that will begin arriving after the completion of the widening of the Panama Canal in 2015. Large ships, many from Asia, will be able to pass from the Pacific into the Atlantic and travel up the East Coast, and the New York-New Jersey port is in a race with other ports to snare their share of the anticipated cargo increase.

“There are other ports, such as Savannah [Georgia], and Baltimore, that are being very aggressive about getting a part of that market share,” says Chip Hallock, president and CEO of the Newark Regional Business Partnership. “If you stand still, you fall behind. It’s just not an option.”

Planning is underway for a $1 billion project to raise the Bayonne Bridge, the span connecting New Jersey and Stat-en Island, to allow the Panamax ships to pass under, enter Newark Bay and reach three of New Jersey’s terminals.

Port America, operator of one of those terminals, the Port Newark Container Terminal, has pledged to invest

$500 million to expand the terminal from its current 180 acres to nearly 300, and doubling the 600,000 containers it currently handles to 1.2 million over the next two decades. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey has pledged to pitch in another $150 million for the expansion. Mean-while, the port’s harbor is being dredged to 50 feet to ac-commodate the larger ships.

“The infrastructure investments are essential to main-tain the New Jersey jobs and generate new ones,” said Jo-seph Seneca, a professor of economics at the Rutgers Uni-versity’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “It’s a Darwinian world, as far as competing in this indus-try. The importance of international trade for our regional economy and the need to remain competitive can’t be over-stated.”

The trucking industry is also poised to benefit. “If we get more freight, we’ll increase the need for our guys to haul it, and God knows we need the work,” said Gail Toth, execu-tive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association. “A lot of people depend on the port for their livelihood; any new freight is welcome.”

New Jersey has nearly 100 million consumers within a 24-hour drive of the ports, and nearly 85 percent of the goods delivered there are sold regionally. “We are the prom-ised land when it comes to consumers,” Toth said.

Thanks in part to the busy ports, warehouse vacancy rates in the state have dropped from 18 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2012, and long-standing vacancies are filling, said Michael McGuinness, CEO of NAIOP-NJ, the commer-cial real estate development association.

But the market also hinges on demand, he said. “The mere fact that you have more goods coming in doesn’t nec-essarily mean that consumers are going to be buying more,” McGuinness said.

Bill Goetz, resident vice president of CSX Transpor-tation, one of the rail lines serving the port, isn’t waiting to find out. He said his company is ready for an increase in “discretionary” merchandise, the roughly 14 percent of goods that leave the NY-NJ ports and head to the Midwest by rail. His company has spent $20 million expanding the freight tunnels that run through the solid rock under Jersey City to allow taller trains, double-stacked with containers, to move to and from the port.

Rail volume at the port is up 11 percent from 2011, he said.

“It really is exciting,” Goetz said. “If more volume comes, we don’t want to be unprepared.”. ❖

The Port of New York & New Jersey is one of the busiest ports in the world – a job-creating engine, even in a difficult economy. Now, expected increases in arriving shipments bring the prospect of more jobs. But can New Jersey accommodate the ships?

The Ports of N.J.: Super-Sized Ships are Coming;Many More Jobs May Follow

focus on real estate

BY ALICIA BROOKS WALTMAN

“One of the lessons companies need to learn is to know and understand their insurance policies before the claim hits,” said Lynda A. Bennett, chair of Lowenstein Sandler’s insurance coverage practice in Roseland. “A lot of companies did not have flood insurance or they had a policy with a $25 million limit and they thought they had $25 million coverage when a flood came. When you dive deeper into the policy, they have a $50,000 sublimit for flood claims. Companies thought they had a lot more coverage.”

How to avoid this problem in the future? “Companies need to do an insurance audit,” said Stuart A. Hoberman of the law firm Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer in Wood-bridge. “They should sit down with their policy and their agent and make sure they have full coverage for every type of casualty, whether it’s flood, wind, whatever.”

Companies should also have adequate business in-terruption insurance, which covers operating expenses when a business stops, plus any necessary loan payments, Hoberman said.

W. Raymond Felton, co-managing partner with Green-baum, Rowe, Smith & Davis in Woodbridge, offered a cautionary note about this type of coverage. “While a lot of people thought that business interruption insurance would provide coverage for situations like this, it turns out that most policies kick in only when you can’t access your building at all,” he said.

Even though many companies could access their facili-ties, they were unable to do business without computer and telephone connections. Lesson learned, said Felton: You need back-ups when your usual systems fail. “You need to have other means of communication, as well as redundancy in terms of computer servers so you can con-tinue to function,” he said.

Above all else, be prepared to move to higher, drier ground. “Some retailers in Sea Bright very quickly had the ability to get other space inland,” said Brian M. Nel-son, an attorney with Archer & Greiner. “They had contin-gency plans that enabled them to [move their inventory] and continue their operations. Rather than just doing the sandbags and boards and leaving everything inside, figure

out ways to be more mobile.”Archer & Greiner opened an office in Shrewsbury,

Monmouth County, on Oct. 1, 2012, mere weeks before Sandy’s onslaught. Its propinquity to the ravaged Jersey Shore has given the law firm a unique perspective, Nelson added. “The winter months are difficult times for busi-nesses to start with. This was just exacerbated by San-dy,” he said. “Some are still struggling to get back into the swing of things and others are probably going to be forced to walk away because of the lack of insurance or availability of cash to deal with the issues.” ❖

As the smoke clears from Superstorm Sandy’s $30 billion worth of damage, the state’s business community is embracing lessons learned in hopes of never again enduring these kind of post-storm struggles and losses.

A Harsh Lesson: What Kind of Insurance and Continuation Plan Does Your Business Need?

ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 11

focus on law

BY DIANA LASSETER DRAKE

Superstorm Sandy’s N.J. Fury 34 deaths in New Jersey.

116,000 New Jerseyans were evacuated or displaced.

346,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.

189,500 businesses in N.J. were negatively impacted.

2.7 million homes had power outages.

1,000 schools had power outages.

12 |

Gov. Chris Christie was succinct as usual. The Superstorm Sandy recovery aid approved by Washington “will be the best $50 billion this Congress has ever spent in their lifetimes,” he proclaimed in the keynote address to 900 business leaders at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s 76th Annual Walk to Washington and Congressional Dinner on Jan. 31.

Recovering from Superstorm Sandy was the theme of the event, and Christie reminded the audience that there is much work to do – 42,000 New Jerseyans are still living in hotels or trailers in the wake of Sandy, and countless busi-nesses remain shuttered, he said.

The event, featuring a chartered Amtrak train from New-ark, N.J. to Washington D.C., brought to the nation’s capital a who’s-who of New Jersey business and government leaders, all of whom participated in what NJBIZ newspaper called “a massive mobile networking event” and the Star-Ledger called “a longstanding Jersey tradition.”

At the dinner, Christie announced the establishment of a grant program, administered by the state Economic De-velopment Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to distribute federal storm aid to businesses – a measure the New Jersey Chamber had been pushing.

“We need to get businesses back open and people work-ing,” Christie said. With bipartisan and decisive leadership from government officials, the governor added, “We will re-build our state better than it was before Oct. 29 and with the spirit that will inspire our country. Talk about making

something good out of something awful.”The Walk to Washington’s festivities began as the Cham-

ber’s chartered Amtrak rolled through New Jersey, picking up hundreds of guests along the way. On board were CEOs, small business owners, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, leg-islators and congressmen who walked the isles chatting and exchanging business cards. Also riding the train was former Gov. Brendan Byrne, who was on his 50th Walk to Washing-ton. The four-hour ride featured talk of storm recovery in all 14 cars.

The trip hit a crescendo when the train reached the na-tion’s capital and the guests gathered at the Marriott Ward-man Park for the Congressional Dinner with Christie, both U.S. senators and seven congressmen from New Jersey.

Six heroes of Superstorm Sandy were honored at the din-ner. On display was the New Jersey Chamber’s Superstorm Sandy Wall of Heroes, an oral history of heroic acts in the wake of the storm.

The event featured post-dinner receptions located throughout the Marriott and was capped off the following morning with an insightful reporters roundtable in D.C. be-fore guests re-boarded the train for a smooth ride back to New Jersey.

A special thanks to JCP&L and News 12 New Jersey, the Walk to Washington’s premier sponsors. ❖

Scott Goldstein is communications manager at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

SUPERSTORM SANDY IS THE TALK OF THE WALK GOV. CHRISTIE TO 900 BUSINESS LEADERS AT CONGRESSIONAL DINNER:“WE WILL REBUILD OUR STATE BETTER THAN IT WAS BEFORE”

The 76th Annual Walk to Washington and Congressional Dinner attracted 900 business leaders, 40 legislators, both U.S. senators, seven congressman, 30 reporters and the nation’s most prominent governor.

focus Walk to Washington

BY SCOTT GOLDSTEIN

PAID ADVERTISMENT | 13ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 13

Gov. Chris Christie greeted by Ralph Izzo, president, CEO and chairman, Public Service Enterprise Group, and first vice chairman, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, along with Michael Egenton, vice president, government relations, N.J. Chamber; Tom Bracken, CEO and president, N.J. Chamber; and Jeff Scheininger, chairman, N.J. Chamber and president, Flexline/U.S. Brass & Copper Corporation.

Amy Mansue, second vice chairwoman, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and president and CEO, Children’s Specialized Hospital.

Randal Stanley, general manager/news director, and Roxanne Evans, anchor, News 12 New Jersey.

Walter Brasch, regional managing partner, New York/New Jersey Metro Region, ParenteBeard, and Mark Daniele, partner, McCarter & English.

PHOTOS BY: RUSS DESANTIS

Gov. Chris Christie is welcomed by New Jersey Chamber of Commerce Chairman Jeff Scheininger (left) at the 76th Annual Congressional Dinner.

Catherine Milone and Dawn Schwartz of Junior Achievement of New Jersey.

Lucia DiNapoli Gibbons, Wells Fargo’s Northern New Jersey Regional President.

Continued on next page

The recently approved federal storm recovery money “will be the best $50 billion this Congress has ever spent in their lifetimes,” Gov. Chris Christie said in the dinner’s keynote.

State Sen. Steven Oroho (left) and Don Lynch, president, Jersey Central Power & Light Co.

focus Walk to Washington

Barbara Buono, the frontrunner to be the Democratic nomi-nee for governor, was seen for the first time in full campaign mode during the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s annual train trip to Washington on Jan. 31. Buono walked through all 14 cars of the train, shaking hands and conducting interviews with members of the media. There was even a campaign rally in New Brunswick, where she boarded.

By the time the charter train pulled into the nation’s capital, there was an underlying question on the mind of many: Can Buono, a 19-year legislator from Middlesex County with mod-est name recognition, beat Gov. Chris Christie, who carries na-tional name recognition and approval ratings through the roof?

That question dominated the New Jersey Chamber of Com-merce Reporters Roundtable in D.C. the following morning. NJTV Senior Political Reporter Michael Aron, who served as the moderator for the panel, said Buono’s challenge to Christie is “like climbing Mount Everest.”

But the political reporters participating in the roundtable on Feb. 1 said Buono, who served two years as chairwoman of

the influential Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, can wage a respectable challenge – in a state where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by 700,000 – if she does two crucial things: campaign with the right messages and raise enough money.

“If she represents herself as the anti-Chris Christie, she can gain support from Democrats who are scared that Chris-tie would become too powerful in a second term, propelling him toward a run for the White House in 2016,” said Matt Katz, State House reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. “She needs to get one donor or union to write a half million dollar check into a super PAC and she can compete.”

Nick Acocella, editor of Politifax, a political publication considered a must-read inside the Trenton beltway, agreed. “You have to raise a certain amount of money and you have to raise money outside the state,” he said. One possible source: The Democratic Governor’s Association, they said.

“She has effectively gone after the women and made a re-spectable start,” Acocella added. And Angela Delli Santi, a re-porter for the Associated Press, said she expects Buono to pur-sue the votes middle-class Democrats.

As for the issue of name recognition, Acocella predicted that “people will know her name by September.”

President Barack Obama will likely make “an appearance or two” in New Jersey to campaign alongside Buono – which would buoy her name recognition, Delli Santi said.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if either or both Bill and Hillary Clinton endorse Buono, said Herb Jackson, Wash-ington Correspondent for The (Bergen) Record. “That would be rousing,” he said.

Katz added a compelling question: “What would give Buo-no’s campaign more bounce – an endorsement from Obama or Hillary?”

Soon, we may find out. ❖State Sen. Barbara Buono campaigned in the aisle of the train.

Sen. Buono Kicks off Campaign forGovernor on the Chamber’s Train Trip to D.C.CAN THE 19-YEAR LEGISLATOR UNSEAT A POPULAR GOVERNOR?

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Dale Caldwell of the New Brunswick Housing & Redevelopment Authority.

Robert Doherty, New Jersey state president, Bank of America, and Kathleen Regan, senior vice president, Capital One Bank.

On display at the dinner was the New Jersey Chamber’s Superstorm Sandy Wall of Heroes, part of the Chamber’s oral history of heroic acts in the wake of the storm.

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In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, ordinary New Jer-seyans performed extraordinary acts to help their neigh-bors and, in many cases, complete strangers, survive and ride out one of the worst storms in Garden State history. Whether it was rescuing neighbors, delivering food, pro-viding shelter or helping clean and repair damaged homes, these New Jerseyans exemplified heroism and kindness.

Take Chris “Woody” Wood, for example.When Sandy devastated Sea Bright, Woody – who grew

up in the town and owns the popular restaurant Woody’s Ocean Grille – took it personally. He went into action

quickly, gathering his staff at the restaurant and an army of chefs at other restaurants shut-tered by Sandy to feed those working to restore Sea Bright. From a tent, Wood’s team made more than 1,000 meals a day for workers and hungry

residents for eight weeks.“It took a village,” Woody said. “You had a town that had

been somewhat flattened, with not a single restaurant or place you could grab a burger and a Coke, and hundreds of rescue workers, state troopers, contactors and utility workers from all over the country coming into town to clean it. From a productivity standpoint, it made sense to keep these people fed and hydrated so they can keep work-ing on getting residents and businesses back.”

With as many as 1,000 volunteers going literally around-the-clock, Woody turned the camp – that became known as “Food City” – in to a command center, where workers and residents organized.

He has since turned his attention from recovery to res-toration – having helped create an organization called Sea Bright Rising, aiding residents put the pieces together af-ter the storm.

And Woody is still feeding people. His restaurant, rav-aged by the storm, re-opened on Jan. 25 to throngs of cus-tomers eager for a good meal and eager for tangible signs of progress. It was an unmistakable sign that the Jersey

Heroes of Superstorm Sandy were honored at the dinner. Pictured with Gov. Chris Christie are (from left) Chris Wood, Woody’s Ocean Grille in Sea Bright; John Mercuro and Father C. John Thompson-Quartey, St. Mary’s by the Sea Episcopal Church in Point Pleasant Beach; Staff Sgt. Katie Cataldo, Foxtrot Company, New Jersey National Guard; Mike Hernandez, Sounds to Go DJs in Red Bank; Jesse de la Cruz, Foxtrot Company, New Jersey National Guard; and Jay Price, Manasquan Fire Department.

Who Brought N.J. Back from the BrinkThey are Honored at D.C. Dinner; Their Stories are Preserved in N.J. Chamber’s Hero Project

Jersey Strong

BY RAY ZARDETTO AND SCOTT GOLDSTEIN

The Heroes

Chris Wood

ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 17

Gov. Brendan Byrne Reaches a Golden Milestone: His 50th Walk to Washington

Gov. Brendan Byrne has been part of the New Jersey political scene for a long time. How long? He attended his 50th Walk to Washington and Congres-sional Dinner in January.

The popular former governor has now been on 50 of the state Chamber’s 76 Walks to Washington, the train trip that takes hundreds of business leaders to the nation’s capital for dinner with the sitting gover-nor and the Congressional delegation.

“You get the knack of it after a while, and you let the other people walk,” quipped Byrne, who rode the train and attended the dinner with his wife, Ruthi, on Jan. 31.

Of course, the only actual walking the guests do is up and down the aisle of the train, chitchatting and exchanging business cards in what has become known as the state’s best business networking event.

Byrne said his first walk was 1956, and he admits he missed a few while he served as a Superior Court judge. “I couldn’t afford it!” he said.

His fondest memory came during one of his first trips when he was a self-described “nobody” and he was seated next to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Wil-liam J. Brennan Jr., which he called “a great privi-lege.”

It was during the train trip of 1959 when “Gov. Meyner told me he was going to make me the pros-ecutor of Essex County,” Byrne recalled.

There’s a reason why the Chamber train trip to D.C. is a must-ride. “If you want to meet people and you want to know what’s go-ing on in New Jer-sey,” Byrne said, “you go on the Chamber’s Walk to Washington.”

Shore was back in business.Woody’s is a story of community spirit that was exhib-

ited by New Jerseyans everywhere in the wake of Sandy. It is the kind of spirit that makes New Jersey what it is. We believe these acts must be remembered – and shared.

So, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce has estab-lished the Superstorm Sandy Hero Project, an oral history of heroic acts in the wake of the storm, which can be seen on our website at www.njchamber.com. We plan on pre-serving these memories so generations can remember the true grit New Jerseyans showed during the Storm of 2012.

Woody was among a group of New Jerseyans document-ed in our Superstorm Sandy Hero Project and also honored at the N.J. Chamber’s Congressional Dinner on Jan. 31. Here are profiles of the other heroes honored at the dinner:

Staff Sgt. Katie Cataldo and Specialist Jesse de la CruzFoxtrot Company, New Jersey National Guard

When parts of Hudson and Bergen Counties were pum-meled by the storm, the first rescuers on the scene included the New Jersey National Guard – and Staff Sergeant Katie Cataldo and Specialist Jesse de la Cruz, both of Foxtrot Company, were on the front lines.

Within minutes of arriving in flood-ravaged Hoboken, Foxtrot Company helped rescue a family with an infant caught in an apartment building filling with a dangerous mix of seawater, diesel fuel and sewage. Over the next 14 hours, Katie, Jesse and their fellow soldiers rescued a dia-betic woman in severe shock, a pregnant woman who had gone into labor and needed to be carried down six flights of stairs in a chair, and an 86-year-old man trapped in his apartment.

By the end of the week, Foxtrot Company helped rescue more than 900 Hoboken residents. They also were instru-mental in helping rescue and aid over 2,000 residents in the Moonachie and Little Ferry area. For more than a week they went door-to-door, bringing food, clothing and blan-kets to those who needed them.

Jay PriceManasquan Fire Department

Fortunately for the citizens of Manasquan, Jay Price lives there. Jay grew up in Manasquan and played football at Manasquan High, where he is now the head coach. He is also a lieutenant in the Manasquan Fire Department. On the night Sandy was battering the New Jersey coast, Jay and his men went from house to house and performed mul-tiple rescues at great risk to themselves.

As The Star-Ledger described one of their rescues: “It was harrowing work, weaving through debris, rushing through floodwaters, hoping to avoid tangles of downed power lines and falling trees – all in nearly pitch black. Approaching a house, the men inched their way through water which tugged and pulled on their bodies, threaten-ing to sweep them away. Once inside the home, it was more difficult to see through the immense darkness. Price and

Continued on next page

his men would hear faint cries for help from somewhere in the unfamiliar home and the treacherous search would begin.”

Floating furniture, picture frames and books turned the murky water into an obstacle course. In one home, a refrig-erator zoomed past and nearly crushed the men.

Jay and his comrades saved hundred from rising waters in homes and on streets that night.

Since then, he has explored many of the damaged homes, searching for gas leaks. He has cooked piles of steaks and pasta for hungry, displaced residents, and enlisted the 94 members of his football team at Manasquan High School to help in the recovery efforts.

Mike HernandezSounds to Go DJs

Mike Hernandez built a business in Red Bank called Sounds to Go DJs, providing event planning and music for weddings, corporate parties and the like. Things were go-ing well – then Sandy hit, and suddenly Mike and his col-leagues are in a different business.

They transformed their store on East Front Street into a collection center for donations, and unleashed their so-cial media savvy to let everyone know about it. Within days they became a major distribution hub for the area, collect-ing $300,000 in funds and $25,000 in food, clothing, blan-kets, toys and toiletries. Even entertainer Jon Stewart got into the act and sent a truckload of goods.

Nobody asked Mike to do this. And Mike didn’t ask for permission either. He saw what needed to be done and he did it. And he did it extremely well.

Father C. John Thompson-QuarteySt. Mary’s by the Sea Episcopal Church in Point Pleasant Beach

Once Hurricane Sandy hit, parishioners at St. Mary’s immediately began using their St. George’s food pantry to feed rescue workers and first responders. People of St. Mary’s jury-rigged stoves and managed to serve hundreds of hot meals each day to workers and displaced citizens, despite power outages and infrastructure damage.

This inspiring work was done under the leadership of the rector of St. Mary’s by the Sea, Father C. John Thomp-son-Quartey. Father John was born in Ghana, West Af-rica, and came to the United States in 1983. He graduated from Rutgers, and in 1997 was ordained a priest.

Under his leadership, St. Mary’s has cemented a strong reputation in the community – a reputation so strong in fact that after the storm, they collected more food, blan-kets, clothing and other vital supplies than they could use, and shared many of the essential items with other churches and associations. ❖

Ray Zardetto is director of communications and Scott Goldstein is communications manager at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

At the DinnerGov. Christie Reveals Some of his Sandy Aid Conversation with President Obama

When Gov. Chris Christie was lobbying for aid af-ter Hurricane Sandy, he found himself in a coveted Oval Office meeting with President Barack Obama in early December. The precise details of their 30-minute conversation were not disclosed, but, in an address to business leaders at the New Jersey Chamber’s Congressional Dinner on Jan. 31, Christie offered some insight into that meeting.

“I won’t talk about how the conversation went, that’s between me and the president,” Christie said during his keynote address to N.J. Chamber mem-bers. “But someday, I’ll let you all know. It was a lot of fun.”

There was haggling involved, Christie said. “I was pushing hard for a particular number and the president was working hard not to give me a num-ber,” Christie said. “I finally was walking out the door of the Oval Office and I grabbed his arm and I said, and I won’t say what the number was, but I said, ‘Mr. President, You give me this number today and you’ve got a deal.’ He said to me, ‘That’s a lot of money, gov-ernor, that’s a lot of money.’”

Three days later, the president sent his $60.4 bil-lion proposal for Sandy aid to Congress – an emer-gency spending bill that was immediately praised by the governor.

“The president stood up for this region when we needed to be stood up for,” Christie said at the Con-gressional Dinner. “He put aside partisan politics.”

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ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 19

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I was one of about 900 business professionals, lobbyists, reporters and politicos to participate in the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s yearly two-day networking train ride from Newark to Washington D.C. My in-a-nutshell per-ception of this year’s event, dubbed by organizers as “The Walk to Washington and Drive to ReNew Jersey” in acknowledg-ment of Sandy and its ongoing impacts, is that it was more up-beat and better attended than it has been in recent years.

The 14-car Amtrak train seemed far more crowded this time around, and the atmosphere was generally positive, with more energy and fewer complaints in the air. For me, and for many I spoke with, the ride was productive and engaging – a great opportunity to “chop wood,” as our firm’s co-founder Arthur Greenbaum would say.

Legislators from both the Senate and Assembly, represent-ing both parties, interacted in a cordial and reassuring way. A good deal was said about the Economic Opportunity Act of 2013, a legislative initiative introduced in January to pro-vide financial incentives for redevelopment projects with an emphasis on job creation, which was expected to move for-

ward with bipartisan support. Sustainable development and alternative energy were also popular topics.

Predictably, both onboard the train and in Gov. Chris Chris-tie’s keynote address at the Thursday night Congressional Dinner, the dominant issue was the ongoing process of recov-

ering and rebuilding after Sandy. This marked my fifth Chamber

train ride in as many years. I make the trip each year because it is an exceptional captive audience net-working opportunity, where ev-eryone comes prepared to see and be seen, speak and listen, observe, absorb, and be part of something unique. On Friday’s train ride home, I found myself thinking about how important it was, this year in par-ticular, to be part of this event. In the aftermath of Sandy, as we still struggle to absorb and understand

the long-term impacts, and as we plot a sound course for our future, the Chamber train ride was a strong reminder that New Jersey is, indeed, a very special place to live and work.

Robert S. Goldsmith is a partner in Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis’s Real Estate Department and serves as chair of its Redevelopment Practice Group. The law firm is a Cornerstone Member of the N.J. Chamber of Commerce.

“In the aftermath of Sandy, as we struggle to absorb and understand the long-term impacts, and as we plot a sound course for our future,

the Chamber train ride was a strong reminder that New Jersey is, indeed,

a very special place to live and work.”

One Rider’s View From Inside the N.J. Chamber’s Train to D.C.BY ROBERT S. GOLDSMITH

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Honor Your Hero:Chamber’s SuperstormSandy Hero Project

To share and preserve the stories of heroism in the wake of the storm, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce has established the Superstorm Sandy Hero Project, an oral history of heroic acts. To read all the stories and submit a story about your hero, go to www.njchamber.com. We collected inspirational stories and asked New Jerseyans to describe their own heroes from the storm. Here are excerpts:

My hero: Aristotle AlafouzosHometown: Point Pleasant BeachSubmitted by: Barry Vankat

Aris is the proprietor of Perk’s Café in Point Pleasant Beach, and he helped hundreds of people after Hurricane San-dy. From his cafe, he arranged for people to purchase genera-tors, loaned out his own equipment, obtained gas for genera-tors and was there for complete strangers in need, during and after the storm. His finest heroic moment came on Thanksgiv-ing Day 2012, when he fed more than 200 displaced people at Perk’s Café. He provided a home and a family atmosphere for Thanksgiving, including turkey, football games and friendship to people who otherwise would not have had that experience – all at his own expense!

My hero: Dr. Philip M. Bonaparte, Horizon NJ HealthHometown: MillstoneSubmitted by: John Passuth

After Sandy hit, Bonaparte arrived at the Arthur Brisbane

Child Treatment Center in Farmingdale and tended to every man, woman and child as if they were his private patients, or members of his family. He patiently asked questions, looking for indications of problems. He knew that not every problem could be identified by scanning the population. Therefore, he worked slowly, going bed to bed. Bonaparte was sensitive to the psychological needs of people who were in a strange atmo-sphere with no more personal space than their temporary cot. He understood that many also needed the comfort of a hand to hold and someone to confirm they would be okay. Bonaparte showed great compassion and remained at the shelter until he met with every person. He returned to the shelter the next day to conduct follow-up visits and to visit with new individuals. The atmosphere changed when he arrived, as many worried faces transformed to a look of hope, knowing there was a pro-fessional who cared. He made a difference in the lives of those people.

My hero: Mary FigueroaHometown: BrickSubmitted by: Cathy Mamola, director, Bayada Home Health Care

Mary, a home nurse, traveled by car to her client’s home in Toms River only to discover she could not get down the road with her car because of two large trees and downed power lines. So she parked her car and walked the rest of the way to care for the two-year-old who was being sustained by a ventilator powered by a generator. The parents told me that Mary was able to work with their daughter all day and keep a smile on her face, without the power or conveniences that would make entertaining a child easier. Later Mary was given a small bonus for making the extra effort to get to work. Mary donated the bonus to one of our office staff, who lost her home in the hurricane.

My hero: The Anonymous HeroesHometown: EverywhereSubmitted By: Joe Paradise, of Point Pleasant Beach

Strangers from everywhere donated supplies or rolled up sleeves to help gut swamped, musty houses. The National Guard, Coast Guard, police, fire and rescue units kept watch over our battered towns 24/7 to protect them from further harm. A church community in Point Pleasant Beach led by a husband-and-wife team cut, cooked and prepared 500 meals a day and delivered them to the elderly, distressed and over-worked. Men and women in trucks and tractors from every state swarmed in to lend a hand or shovel. Linemen braved cold winds and dangerous power lines to reconnect our com-munities. Strangers offered coffee to those waiting in ever-winding gas lines. Sandy bruised our coastline, but it hasn’t broken our spirit. We will rebuild. We will come back. With your help, we will feed the displaced, clean up the wreckage, and restore the shore that I love and have always called home. To everyone who supported, volunteered, protected, restored, cleaned, cried over or donated food and supplies to the affect-ed shore areas of New Jersey: I feel your love. Thank you. ❖

focus Walk to Washington

Dr. Philip Bonaparte arrived at the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center in Farmingdale and tended to every man, woman and child as if they were his private patients.

ENTERPRISE 1Q 2013 | 21

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MANAGING THE BOOKS: Hiring a book-keeper or accountant – even on a part-time basis – to review your numbers and balance accounts can pay for itself and free up time for you to focus on business operations, sales and marketing. Anoth-er set of eyes can help you minimize er-rors, and spot trends to make better cash flow decisions and more effectively man-age payables and receivables.

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CONDUCTING RESEARCH AND MARKETING SUP-PORT: The day-to-day demands of run-ning a small business makes it hard for business owners to take the time to do competitive reviews of their markets, or

to step back to evaluate their businesses’ strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A consultant to conduct re-search and provide advice can help en-sure your business is prepared to adapt quickly to a rapidly changing market.

Every business is unique, but almost all small business owners reach a point when they need to ask: Am I spend-ing too much time on tasks that take me away from leading my business and working with customers? And do I need new services that require special exper-tise? If you’re clinging to too many tasks that can be done better by outside help, maybe it’s time to get a helping hand. ❖

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NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY has been nominated for 18 New York Emmy Awards in categories ranging from entertainment news and politics to sports coverage and health science.

JCP&L developed a special application for mobile phones to help customers report outages, view the company’s outage maps and access their accounts.

Global law firm K&L GATES was named “Law Firm of the Year” in Mergers & Acquisitions magazine’s 2012 M&A Mid-Market Awards. K&L Gates was recognized for its strong performance in 2012 and its global approach to middle market mergers and acquisitions.

Gary S. Horan, president and CEO of TRINITAS REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, received the American College of Healthcare Executives Regent’s Award. It recognizes executives whom demonstrate leadership ability, innovative management, participation in hospital and health association activities, as well as participation in civic activities.

PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPER is investing $160 million – $60 million in cash donations and $100 million worth of service hours – over the next five years to establish its Earn Your Future program, designed to fill two gaps in the education system: a lack of financial literacy among youth, and the lack of training opportunities for educators.

UNITEDHEALTHCARE announced its “Breakthrough Health Tech Challenge,” a contest that asks innovators worldwide, both within and beyond the health care industry, to produce ideas on how common consumer technologies or devices, including video game systems and mobile phones, can be used in new ways to help people address their chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. The winning submission earns a $60,000 prize.

Walter Brasch, PARENTEBEARD’s regional managing partner for the firm’s New Jersey Metro Region, has been named secretary of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants for the fiscal year June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014.

Glenn Berman, former New Jersey Superior Court judge, joined GREENBAUM, ROWE, SMITH & DAVIS. He will serve in an “of counsel” capacity in the firm’s Woodbridge office.

William J. Palatucci, who served as co-chairman of the Inaugural Committee for Gov. Chris Christie and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, and was elected in 2010 as the Republican National Committeeman for New Jersey, joined the GIBBONS law firm as special counsel.

NEW JERSEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’s Immediate Past Chairman Dennis Bone was named to the New Jersey Business Hall of Fame. Bone serves as the director of MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY’S FELICIANO CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP and was formerly president and CEO of VERIZON NEW JERSEY.

PUBLIC SERVICE ELECTRIC AND GAS COMPANY (PSE&G) proposed to invest $3.9 billion during the next 10 years to protect and strengthen its electric and gas systems against severe weather.

WELLS FARGO INSURANCE, part of Wells Fargo & Company, announced that Madison-based Meredith Schnur, the national practice leader for Technology, Privacy and Network Risk, has won Risk & Insurance magazine’s 2013 “Power Broker” Award.

SHI INTERNATIONAL CORP., one of North America’s top 20 largest technology solutions providers, was named the Americas recipient of a VMware Partner Network Award. ❖

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