NEW JERSEY CONSTRUCTION ESTIMATES HIT ALL-TIME HIGH
A record total of $29.2 billion in public and private construction over the next two years was reported at the annual Construction Forecast Seminar sponsored by the New Jersey Alliance for Action in Trenton.

The figures represented the highest amount in the 22 years that the Alliance has held the forecast seminars. The two-year figure projected at last year’s seminar was $28.3 billion.

Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem said the message to state leaders is that construction is essential to grow jobs and tax revenues. He declared that the construction industry is a leading barometer in finding ways to help solve the state’s budget deficit problems.

Leading the way in the private sector for planned construction was New Jersey’s pharmaceutical and medical technology companies with planned construction of nearly $4.6 billion over 2007 and 2008.

On the public side, the leading construction estimate was $1.425 billion from the state Department of Transportation, reflecting the impacts of renewal of the Transportation Trust Fund and voter approval of a ballot question dedicating all monies from the state gasoline tax to transportation. The projections of spending for two years by New Jersey Transit of $949 million also showed the impact of transportation projects for the construction industry.

Major two year construction estimates from the private sector were:
-New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties, $3.2 billion, with the majority of the projects scheduled for Middlesex, Hudson, Burlington and Mercer counties.
-Atlantic City Casinos, $3 billion
-New Jersey Utilities, $2.29 billion

Among the major two year construction estimates delivered by public sector representatives were:
-The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, $1.35 billion
-New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust, $1.4 billion
-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, $1.16 billion
-New Jersey Association of County Engineers, $850 million
-State Schools Construction Corporation, $837 million

The combined total of planned construction for New Jersey county, state and independent colleges and universities was $1.5 billion for the next two years.

BILLION$ IN CAPITAL UTILITY CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION
The New Jersey Alliance for Action will sponsor a special program on Thursday, December 14, in which presidents and top executives of telecommunications, electric, gas and water utilities will report on their construction plans.

The program at the Premiere Hotel (formerly Radisson) on Route 1 south in Princeton is organized by the Alliance for Action in cooperation with the New Jersey Utilities Association. Beginning at 8:30 a.m., the state’s utilities will outline what is expected to be the most significant capital construction program in their history.

Entitled “New Jersey Utilities Turning On the Economy,” the presenters will include:
Dennis Bone, President, Verizon New Jersey; Don Carter, Vice President & General Manager of Operations, Elizabethtown Gas Co.; Rodney Dickens, Vice President, Asset Management & Centralized Services, Public Service Electric & Gas; Larry Downes, Chairman & CEO, NJ Natural Gas.

Ed Graham, President & CEO, South Jersey Gas Co.; Walter Lynch, President, NJ American Water; Stephen Morgan, President, Jersey Central Power & Light, and Ken Parker, President, Atlantic City Electric.
To register or become a sponsor, Go Here.

ATLANTIC CITY SHOPPING DISTRICT TO EXPAND
Atlantic City’s retail shopping district known as “The Walk” will undergo a $155 million expansion. The developer, The Cordish Co. of Baltimore, will expand the eight-block retail complex toward the entryway of the City near the end of the Atlantic City Expressway.

To help accommodate one of the shopping area’s most pressing needs, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) has approved $38.4 million for construction of a 1,200 to 1,800 space parking garage to be constructed near The Walk, a four-year old outlet center featuring stores like Banana Republic, Nautica and VanHusen.

SOUTH JERSEY GAS CONSERVATION PROGRAM IS APPROVED
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has approved an innovative conservation incentive program for South Jersey Gas as a three-year pilot program. The program will eliminate the need for South Jersey Gas to sell more gas to increase profits.

Instead the company will focus on encouraging conservation and energy efficiency through the development of new programs to educate customers about the importance of conservation and how it can assist them in managing their natural gas bills. Reducing consumption also will send an economic signal nationwide to natural gas producers to maintain lower commodity prices.

HUGE BAYONNE REDEVELOPMENT PROGRAM ABOUT TO BEGIN
The City of Bayonne eagerly awaits the start of construction in the spring of 2007 of the redevelopment plan for the former Military Ocean Terminal. The 430-acre site, now called “The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor,” is believed to be the largest redevelopment project currently under way in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area.

According to Nancy Kist, Executive Director of the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority, the Peninsula, when completed, will include 6,700 housing units, 1.5 million square feet of retail space, 750 hotel rooms, 465,000 square feet of cultural space and 424,000 square feet of civic space.

ALLIANCE MEET THE PLAYERS SESSIONS ARE ANNOUNCED
The New Jersey Alliance for Action’s popular “Meet the Players” series will resume on Wednesday, December 6, 2006, with an appearance by Ken Ringler, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He will be introduced by Port Authority Chairman Anthony Coscia.

On Friday, January 5, 2007, the speaker will be Ralph LaRossa, new President & Chief Operating Officer of Public Service Electric & Gas Co., New Jersey’s largest utility.

LaRossa will be followed on Friday, January 26, 2007, by Bart R. Mueller, Executive Director of the South Jersey Transportation Authority.

The “Meet the Players” sessions will be held at the Alliance offices, Raritan Plaza II, Fieldcrest Avenue, Edison. Registration for the Ringler and LaRossa sessions will begin at 9 a.m., with the programs starting at 10 a.m. Registration for Mueller’s appearance will be at 9:30 a.m., with the program at 10:30 a.m.
To register: Go Here.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
-Jack Lettiere, former New Jersey State Commissioner of Transportation and now Senior Vice President of Edwards and Kelcey, was honored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) with its highest award --- the Thomas H. MacDonald Memorial Award
-James Rutala, formerly with the Atlantic County Utilities Authority has recently become the Business Administrator for the City of Ocean City.
-John McCormac, a member of the Alliance Board and former New Jersey State Treasurer, was sworn in as Mayor of Woodbridge Township, following his election to a one year unexpired term. The race for a full term for mayor will be on the ballot in November 2007.

ALLIANCE IN ACTION
COUNTY CHAPTER NEWS
The Ocean County Alliance for Action will meet on Friday, November 17th at the Holiday Inn, Route 37 East & Clifton Ave., Toms River. Registration will begin at 8:15 a.m. and the program at 9:15 a.m. Presentations will be made by Richard Raczynski, Chief Engineer, New Jersey Turnpike Authority; David Rosenblatt, Administrator NJDEP’s Office of Engineering & Construction; and Jef Buehler, State Coordinator for the Department of Community Affairs’ Main Street and Business Improvement Districts programs.
To register: Go Here.

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