GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES STEERING COMMITTEE TO ADVOCATE HIS FISCAL PLAN
Governor Jon Corzine announced Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem as on of the first 17 members of a steering committee to assist in advocating and educating the public about the Governor’s Fiscal Restructuring and Debt Reduction Plan.

Corzine said the steering committee members “represent the highest echelons of some of the most important aspects of our society.”

Beachem stated: “New Jersey’s transportation infrastructure is in serious need of update, expansion and repair. The Governor has taken a courageous stand and delivered a solution that will pay down debt and fund transportation projects for a generation.”

Former Congressman Bob Franks heads the steering committee. The other new members announced by the Governor are: Dennis Bone, President, Verizon New Jersey; Sam Crane, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Maher Terminals, Inc.; John Degnan, Vice Chair, Chubb Corp, and former New Jersey Attorney General; Larry Downes, Chairman & CEO, NJ Resources; Sheryl Gordon, President, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees; Bill Gormley, former Republican State Senator; Fred Hassan, Chairman & CEO, Schering Plough; Reverend Reginald Jackson, Executive Director, Black Ministers Council; Mark Juliano, CEO, Trump Entertainment Resorts; Dick Leone, President, The Century Foundation, former Port Authority Chairman, former State Treasurer; Blair MacInnes, NJ Seeds Board Member, University Hospital Trustee; Gil Medina, former Commerce Commissioner to Governor Whitman and advisor to Brett Schundler; Raymond Meillier, Retired Vice President of Financial Services, Campbell’s Soup Company; Ray Pocino, Vice President, Laborers International Union; Shirley Tilghman, President, Princeton University; James Zazzali, former New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice, former Attorney General, former Chairman of State Commission of Investigation.

CASINO ASSOCIATION SUPPORTS CORZINE’S TOLL ROAD PLAN
In another development on the Governor’s fiscal restructuring proposal, The Casino Association of New Jersey announced its support of the Corzine plan. The Association, which represents Atlantic City’s 11 casinos, declared that the plan is crucial to the industry’s expansion plans.

The statement continued:
“This industry recognizes that without the resulting proceeds from the toll increases, the state cannot reduce its indebtedness by 50 percent and fund transportation projects for 75 years.”

GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES NEXT ROUND OF TOWN MEETINGS
Governor Jon Corzine has announced the dates and sites of town meeting in the continuing series to discuss his financial restructuring plan. They will cover Union, Ocean, Monmouth, Passaic and Atlantic Counties.

-Wednesday, January 30 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Union County College, Roy W. Smith Theater, 1033 Springfield Ave., Cranford.
-Saturday, February 2 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Toms River North High School, Ritacco Center, 1245 Old Freehold Road, Toms River.
-Monday, February 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Marlboro High School, Theatre, 95 North Main Street, Marlboro.
-Wednesday, February 6 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Passaic County Technical Institute, Auditorium, 45 Reinhardt Road, Wayne.
-Thursday, February 7 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Atlantic Cape Community College, Walter E. Edge Theatre, 5100 Black Horse Pike, Mays Landing.
For more information about the meetings go here www.state.nj.us/townhallmeetings/listing.

BIRDSALL SERVICES ACQUIRES PMK GROUP
Birdsall Services Group (BSG), the Sea Girt-based engineering firm, announced an agreement to acquire PMK Group, Inc., of Cranford. BSG serves clients in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania and now will have a staff of 450 with annual revenues exceeding $75 million.

PMK Group is an environmental consulting and engineering firm and will continue to operate under its current name as a subsidiary of BSG with James Johnston, P.E., R.B.P. as president. Howard Birdsall, CEO of BMG said the acquisition would “expand our service capabilities and strengthen our range of service to our clients.”

COMMISSION ON CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR REFORM IS CREATED
Governor Jon Corzine signed an Executive Order creating the Advisory Commission on Construction Industry Independent Contractor Reform. The mission of the Commission is to develop recommendations and an annual report for “comprehensive and strategic statewide approach to addressing the problem of employee misclassification in the construction industry.”

The Order asserts that employees who are misclassified as independent contractors “suffer an economic disadvantage and are involuntarily disenfranchised from the social insurance benefits and basic worker protections.” It declares that employers who “willfully misclassify workers as independent contractors realize unfair competitive advantages.”

The Advisory Commission will be comprised of the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, Attorney General and State Treasurer. Eight public members will include three from different building trades unions, once each from the New Jersey AFL-CIO, residential developers, residential construction contractors, commercial developers and commercial construction contractors.

BERGER PLANS TO INVEST $56 MILLION IN DOWNTOWN NEWARK
An investment of about $56 million in three real estate projects in Newark will be made by The Berger Organization and partners.

Berger last month purchased all of the Military Park Building built in 1925 from the Kushner Companies for $25 million for the 85 percent of the property it did not already own. Berger plans to invest another $5 million to upgrade the building.

Berger also plans to start construction in April of a $6 million 50-room budget hotel on Central Avenue in Newark’s West Ward. In a third venture, Berger has an option to participate in a $20 million project to redevelop a three-acre site near NJ Transit’s Broad Street Station.

URBAN TRANSIT HUB TAX CREDITS ACT IS ENACTED
The Legislature passed and Governor Corzine approved a program known as the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Act. To encourage investment in urban centers, the Act would provide tax credits to firms that invest in projects within a half mile of transit stations.

To qualify for credits, firms would have to invest at least $75 million in the projects and create at least 250 jobs. The tax credit would equal 10 percent of the company’s real estate investment.

CONSTRUCTION APPROVAL RECEIVED FOR WALL DEVELOPMENT SITE
Final approval has been received by Sheldon Gross Realty, Inc., of West Orange, to begin construction at Wall Commercial Park at Route 34 in Wall Township. Development plans at the 47-acre site will include three office building and one flex building for a total of approximately 300,000 square feet.

The first phase of construction will be a four-story, 58,000-square-foot office building and a 60,720-squre-foot flex property. The second phase will be a two-story, 163,200-square-foot office building, and the final phase will consist of a three-story, 30,000-square-foot office facility.

SPIRIT AIRLINES ENDS ATLANTIC CITY-LAS VEGAS FLIGHTS
Daily non-stop flights form Atlantic City to Las Vegas has been discontinued by Spirit Airlines. The airline said its decision to end the eight-month-old route is based on rising fuel costs and more efficient uses for aircraft on shorter flights.

Passengers can still fly from Atlantic City to Las Vegas on a Delta Airlines flight that stops in Atlanta.

REINVESMENT AUTHORITY TO BE ALTNIC CITY’S AGENT FOR BADER FIELD
The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority will serve as Atlantic City’s redevelopment agency for the 150-acre Bader Field airport that closed in 2006. The tact is being eyed by potential developers, especially a number of casino operators who want to bring on or more new casinos.

The Reinvestment Authority will float the city a $25 million loan, which will be paid back when a developer buys Bader Field. The city plans to use the money to crate a tax relief fund for local residents and businesses.

AUTHORITY TO HOLD INFORMATION SESSION ON EXPRESSWAY WIDENING
The South Jersey Transportation Authority will hold a public information center on Tuesday, February 19, to provide information about the Atlantic City Expressway widening project. The public is invited to attend at any time between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Authority’s administration building located next to the Farley Service Plaza on the Expressway.

The Authority proposes to widen the Expressway with a third westbound lane from just west of the Garden State Parkway to just west of Route 73.

ALLIANCE IN ACTION
SAVE THE DATE – GOVERNOR’S TRANSPORATION CONFERENCE --- FEBRUARY 29 The Alliance for Action’s 5th annual Governor’s Transportation Conference will be held on Friday, February 29, at the Lafayette Yard Marriott Conference Center, Trenton.

Governor Jon Corzine will feature the program, which will focus on his Fiscal Restructuring Program’s impact on New Jersey transportation projects.

The program will begin at 2 p.m., following registration at 12:30 p.m.
To register, Go Here.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

-Matthew Boxer took the oath of office as New Jersey’s first comptroller under legislation signed by Governor Corzine creating the Independent Office of the Comptroller. Boxer had been head of the Governor’s Authorities Unit and, prior to that, was an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
-Edward J. McBridge, Jr., was appointed by Governor Corzine as his new chief counsel. McBridge has been deputy chief counsel since 2006.
-James J. Laskey has been elected Chairman of the Board of the Somerset County Business Partnership. He is a member of the Somerville-based law firm, Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus.
-George Harms, founder and CEO of George Harms Construction Co., Inc., will be honored on Wednesday, March 5, by Monmouth University’s School of Business Administration with the 2008 Distinguished Business Leaders Award. The black tie dinner will be held in Woodrow Wilson Hall on the Monmouth campus

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