US SENATE OK’S $15 MILLION FOR GATEWAY TUNNEL
The US Senate has approved a bill allowing Amtrak to begin design and engineering work on the Gateway Tunnel. Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez support the project and say New Jersey is expected to see the benefits since many Garden State residents travel to New York City for work.

Amtrak’s Gateway Rail project would increase capacity by 65 percent and will have more NJ Transit and Amtrak trains coming into and out of New York, it would also expand intercity and high-speed rail access on the Northeast Corridor.

COMMITTEE CLEARS WAY FOR $1.3 BILLION IN TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
The New Jersey Joint Budget Oversight Committee approved the request from the Christie Administration for a bond-cap carry forward to provide $1.3 billion in bonds for transportation projects throughout the state.

The borrowing, which received bipartisan support, is part of the Governor’s five-year capital plan for the Transportation Trust Fund Authority that was disclosed earlier this year.

Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem attended the meeting and commended the Committee members for allowing needed transportation capital projects to move ahead to help boost jobs and the economy.

CONSTRUCTION FORECAST TO PROVIDE PREVIEW OF STATE’S ECONOMY
The New Jersey Alliance for Action’s 27th annual Construction Forecast Seminar will provide an early preview of where the state’s economy is heading for the next two years.

More than twenty representatives of New Jersey’s public and private construction industry will report on plans for 2012-2013 in this much-anticipated event on Thursday, November 3, at the Trenton Marriott.

Alliance President Philip K. Beachem said another capacity audience of over 200 will be on hand for the latest information on vital construction plans.  It will guide their investments and labor needs for planned construction projects in both the private and public sectors.

Capital plans will come from every sector of New Jersey economic life --- transportation, casinos, utilities, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, The NJ Turnpike and South Jersey Transportation Authorities, public and private colleges, developers, regional and independent agencies and more. Click here to register, http://www.allianceforaction.com/nov410reg.htm.

NOVO NORDISK OUTLINES PLANS FOR NEW U.S. HEADQUARTERS
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical firm, outlined plans for a new headquarters to an audience of business leaders and public officials headed by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. The site is the former Merrill Lynch building on Scudders Mill Road in Plainsboro.

The project, a complete rehabilitation, is expected to be opened by Novo Nordisk as its new U.S. headquarters in 2013. The 770,000-square-foot building, which will be leased by Novo Nordisk, will be stripped to its frame and given a new façade, roof, interior and mechanical system. The company will occupy about 500,000-square-feet of the building, leaving room to further expand its operations.

BAYER TO CONSOLIDATE EAST COAST BUSINESSES IN HANOVER
Bayer HealthCare will consolidate its East Coast businesses at the former Alcatel-Lucent campus in Hanover. The company said it will move 2,500 employees there from Morristown, Wayne, Montville and Tarrytown, New York.

Bayer announced it will purchase 95 of the 194 acres at the Alcatel property in the township’s Whippany section. The pharmaceutical firm (known for aspirin) will renovate and retrofit various buildings over the next two years.

The offices will be for corporate and administrative staff. Pending approvals, Bayer said it could move its employees to their new home by mid-2013.

KS ENGINEERS NAMED ONE OF FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
KS Engineers, P.C. (KSE) was named one of New Jersey’s 50 fastest growing companies by NJBIZ, business news publication. Founded in 1991 and celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, KSE provides civil, structural, geotechnical, traffic engineering, land surveying, construction management and support services, with corporate headquarters in Newark. The firm is a member of the Alliance for Action.

GOVERNOR CHRISTIE’S DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO APPEAR AT ALLIANCE
Wayne Hasenbalg, Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Chris Christie, will be the featured speaker at the Alliance for Action’s next “Meet the Players” event. It will be held on Thursday, November 10, at the NJ Carpenters Funds Conference Room, Raritan Plaza II, Edison, with registration at 9:00 a.m. and the program at 9:30 a.m.

Hasenbalg, handles policy in the areas of transportation, land use, public-private partnerships and many other key issues for the Christie administration.

To register, Go Here.

OCEAN ALLIANCE TO MEET ON PLANNING THE COUNTY’S FUTURE
The Ocean County Alliance for Action will meet on Friday, November 18, to hear reports on planning for the county’s future, what’s happening in Lakewood and the state’s aging infrastructure.

The meeting at the Holiday Inn, Toms River, Route 37 East and Clifton Avenue, will begin with registration at 8:15 a.m. and the program at 9:00 a.m.

The presentations will be by Director David J. McKeon of the Ocean County Department of Planning, Lakewood Township Mayor Menashe Miller and Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem.

The Ocean Co-chairs are County Freeholder John F. Kelly, Chairman Joseph E. Buckelew of Commerce National Insurance Services and William Coyne, Retirement Benefit Manager of New Jersey Carpenters Funds.

NJ UTILITY EXECUTIVE TO OUTLINE CONSTRUCTION PLANS
The Alliance for Action on December 14, 2011 will host a meeting in Trenton at which top executives from New Jersey utility companies will report on their plans for capital construction projects. In the Alliance’s 2010 Construction Forecast Seminar, utilities represented the largest private sector source of future construction work. Details on the Utility Capital Construction Conference will follow.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

• Jane Kozinski will be join the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as Assistant Commissioner. She will be responsible for the following programs: Air Quality, Solid and Hazardous Waste, and Environmental Health & Safety.

11/10/11 – Meet the Players with Wayne Hasenbalg, Governor Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff - Go Here

11/18/11 – Ocean County Chapter Meeting - Go Here

12/14/11 – New Jersey Utility Capital Construction Conference - Go Here

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