ALLIANCE FOR ACTION ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF
2006 EAGLE AWARDS
Governor Jon Corzine will be among the recipients of the coveted Eagle Award at the Alliance for Action’s annual dinner on Wednesday, October 18, in New Brunswick.

A capacity crowd of some 1,000 of New Jersey’s who’s who is expected at the dinner at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick. The dinner has been described by leading business publications as one of the state’s top networking events.

The 2006 Eagle Award winners were announced by Alliance for Action Chairman George Laufenberg and President Philip K. Beachem. The awards honor outstanding leaders for their contributions to improving the quality of life in our state. They are:
- President’s Award- Governor Jon Corzine for his public service, including the U.S. Senate.
- Chairman’s Award- Dennis Bone, President of Verizon New Jersey, for promoting billions of dollars of investment in New Jersey’s economy.
- Sigurd Lucassen Labor Award- E. Frank DiAntonio, President & Business Manager of the Construction and General Laborers Union Local 172, for 30 years of service to organized labor.
- Dr. John L. Buzzi Engineering Excellence Award- Francis J. Lombardi, Chief Engineer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, for leadership in improving the transportation infrastructure of the bi-state region.
- Ellis S. Vieser Lifetime Achievement Award- Shared by Richard Forman, former Executive Director of the Associated General Contractors of New Jersey and the New Jersey Asphalt Pavement Association, and Robert A. Briant, Sr., retired Chief Executive Officer of the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association, for their combined 58 years of service to their organizations.
Reservations go quickly for this major event- to make yours, please go here.

BEACHEM HONORED BY GARDEN STATE ARTS FOUNDATION
Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem will be honored as the recipient of the 2006 Francis Albert Sinatra Award presented annually by the Garden State Arts Foundation. The award will be presented at a reception on August 27 at the Robert B. Meyner Reception Center at the PNC Bank Arts Center.

“Phil’s tireless commitment to advocating for everyday issues that affect millions of people in New Jersey makes him a true leader and worthy of this award,” said Joseph Simunovich, chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

The Garden State Arts Foundation is a non-profit corporation which raises funds for the Garden State Arts Cultural Fund. The Fund presents educational and cultural programs, free of charge, to New Jersey school children, senior citizens and families.

NEW YORK TIMES ENDORSES RAIL TUNNEL
The New York Times published a strong editorial endorsement of the proposed $7 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River. The Times stated that the tunnel “is good for the co-dependent economies of the Garden State and New York City, neither of which can prosper without the other.”

The editorial declared, “The region’s economy requires 21st century improvements in its infrastructure. The new rail tunnel is an important step in that direction.”

FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR TRANSIT STOP AT FORMER J&J SITE
A feasibility study of a new transit stop at the former Johnson & Johnson campus on Route 1 in North Brunswick will be funded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and NJ Transit.

The 212-acre site was acquired earlier this year by North Brunswick TOD Associates, LLC- an affiliate of Garden Homes and Garden Commercial Properties based in Kendall Park. Plans for the 1.2 million square feet of warehouse, office and laboratory buildings focus on releasing the properties to tenants in the short-run, but the redevelopment possibilities for the long-term include:
A new train station stop in North Brunswick for NJ Transit’s Northeast Corridor line; a mixed-use transit village; new hotels and restaurants; a youth center, township library, amphitheatre or police substation.

CONTINENTAL SEEKS SERVICE BETWEEN NEWARK AND CHINA
Continental Airlines has applied to provide daily service to Shanghai, China, from Newark Liberty International Airport. Other airlines are also competing for approval by the US Department of Transportation, but Continental would be the only US Flag Airline seeking to provide this nonstop air link from the Newark/New York region to Shanghai. The Alliance for Action supports Continental’s application. It urges its members to write the Secretary of the Department of Transportation on behalf of the economic boost that would be provided by expanding the worldwide reach of Continental as New Jersey’s home-state hub airline.

WACHOVIA COMMITS $8 BILLION IN LOANS AND INVESTMENTS
TO NEW JERSEY
Wachovia will commit $8 billion in loans and investments during the next five years in a mortgage program for low and moderate-income house buyers and loans to small businesses. Wachovia’s pending acquisition of World Savings Bank, which has 13 branches in New Jersey, requires that banks seeking merger demonstrate compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act.

For small businesses, Wachovia’s goal is for 40 percent to be loans of $50,000 or less to companies with less than $1 million in revenue.

SHARP DECLINE IN STATE’S PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS REPORTED
The newest Sitar-Rutgers Regional Report asserts that “the downshift in New Jersey’s employment growth in the first half of 2006 raises questions about the direction of the state’s economy for the balance of the year.”

The authors, James W. Hughes and Joseph J. Seneca, report that total nonfarm payroll employment in New Jersey grew by 17,700 jobs in the first half of 2006. This was 39 percent below the 29,000 jobs added in the first half of 2005, or three times greater than the national decline of 13 percent.

Hughes and Seneca stressed that the growth of 6,400 public-sector government jobs for the first half of 2006 “partially masked a severe reduction in private-sector employment growth, which suffered a 57 percent decline.”

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Kenneth P. Campbell, Business Manager of Local 825, International Union of Operating Engineers, will be honored as Construction Man of the Year by the Building Contractors Association of New Jersey at a dinner dance on October 27 at the Westmount Country Club, West Paterson.
Colonel Aniello (Nello) Tortora will succeed Colonel Richard J. Polo, Jr., as Commander of the New York District, US Army Corps of Engineers. The ceremony will be held on Friday, August 25, in the Auditorium of the Alexander Hamiltion US Custom House, One Bowling Green, New York City.

ALLIANCE IN ACTION
From the County Chapter Desk-
Three County Chapter meetings with stimulating programs are still remaining in 2006. Mark your calendars accordingly: Somerset County- September 22, 2006 @Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club, Bedminster. To register, go here.

Mercer County- October 20, 2006 @Holiday Inn Conference Center, East Windsor. To register, go here.

Ocean County- November 17, 2006 @Ramada Inn, Lakewood/Toms River. To register, go here.

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