Writer: Esteban Pages
3 min read August 2023 — The latest developments in real estate, healthcare innovation and economic trends were highlighted on Thursday at the Invest: North & Central Jersey 2022-2023 official launch conference. More than 150 people from across the business community gathered at Newark Symphony Hall to hear directly from local public and private sector leaders shaping the future of the state.
In her opening remarks at the launch event, Capital Analytics’ President & CEO Abby Melone highlighted North & Central Jersey’s efforts to consolidate a business catalyst prioritizing sustainable growth. “The region’s focus on economic diversity, from advanced manufacturing to emerging industries, alongside a growing population and high quality of life, have made it attractive for businesses and people. While the shadow of New York looms large, North and Central Jersey is not only holding its own, our reporting suggests it is solidifying as a business and leisure destination,” said Melone.
Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka delivered the opening keynote speech, sharing the numerous successes and investments that Newark and the region have made in recent years, particularly focusing on the vulnerable segments of the population, affordable housing and employment opportunities in high value, high growth opportunities. “We have to create more opportunities for collaboration, creating regional economies where cities depend on each other,” Baraka told the cross-industry audience.
Following the mayor’s keynote, the conference opened with its first panel, “Cap stacks: How are developers navigating higher rates, higher costs and fluctuating demand in a volatile market?” The panelists included Donald Scarinci, managing partner at Scarinci Hollenbeck,
Edwin Cohen, principal partner at Prism Capital Partners and David Greek, managing partner of Greek Development and was moderated by Melone. One of the major themes covered was demand for affordable housing and the challenging environment to develop it, including a mixture of complex requirements, rising interest rates and construction costs. “The market will stay strong, rent growth will continue. There is still a strong belief in demand dynamics. We will be investing greater amounts of equity per project going forward, however, with a lower amount of leverage as it has gotten more expensive,” said Greek. The window of opportunity for redevelopment in the market was also brought up, as Scarinci outlined: “There’s a lot of opportunity in repurposing existing assets. You see it in New York City and it will definitely come to New Jersey. We are repurposing malls, such as Monmouth Mall.”
The relationship between healthcare innovation and recollection came up in the second panel, “Research and rules: How current regulations are impacting healthcare innovation
and what needs to change.” Moderated by Riker Danzig’s Khaled Klele, a partner in healthcare and commercial litigation, the panel featured Chris Cozic, executive vice president and chief people officer at Genmab, RWJBarnabas Health Chief Medical and Quality Officer Andy Anderson and Paul Marden, CEO of New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Delaware at United Healthcare. The impact of the pandemic on the healthcare ecosystem was covered as well as the need for added agility in the regulatory process to drive innovation at a faster pace. “The flexibility that came with the pandemic was helpful, allowing us to move faster. Telemedicine is a testament to that. Bringing best practices and innovation up to scale is a challenge. We need to be able to move faster,” said Anderson. Cozic recognized and commended regulators’ intent willingness to keep up with innovation. “We’ve seen huge efforts from regulators to keep pace with innovation, with a demonstrated flexibility, as well as novel approvability frameworks,” he said. Marden highlighted the impact the Affordable Care Act will have on the healthcare space across the board. “It includes regulations around transparency on cost as prices have evolved in a unique way,” Marden noted.
The event’s third and final panel covered North & Central Jersey’s economic transformation, stemming from its significant economic diversification efforts. “We have a great story to tell. We’ve seen a lot of momentum in several indicators in our economy,” said Wesley Mathews, president & CEO of Choose New Jersey and moderator of the panel. Steve Vitale, regional president, Commercial Banking at Valley Bank, Marcus Randolph, president & CEO of Invest Newark and Gino Di Saverio, NJ market executive, corporate banking at Citizens contributed insights as panelists. “Application for business permits continue treading along, people are spending money, especially in real estate. Our soft landing will hopefully continue but there may be some bumps going forward,” said Randolph. Di Saverio closed out the conference emphasizing New Jersey and the region’s market strengths. “We’ve become a hub for distribution, logistics, life sciences, added to a strong employee market that’s attractive for businesses,” Di Saverio added.
Click here to read a digital version of Invest: North & Central Jersey 2022-2023.
To watch panel sessions of the Invest: North & Central Jersey Conference, please visit our Youtube Channel.
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About Capital Analytics & Invest: North & Central Jersey 2022-2023
Capital Analytics is an independent and integrated media platform that produces in-depth business intelligence through its annual print and digital economic reviews, high-impact conferences and events and top-level interviews via its video platform, Invest:Insights.
Invest: North & Central Jersey 2022-2023 is a deep analysis of the economic trends and leaders that are shaping the future of North & Central New Jersey’s economy. Featuring over 200 exclusive insights of local leaders and thinkers, Invest: provides unbiased investment research for readers. All the Invest: reports seek to provide comprehensive investment knowledge to local, national and international investors, and to promote our markets as places to do business.
Every report dissects each industry that composes the economic puzzle of market economies. The Invest: series covers professional services, real estate, construction, infrastructure, banking and finance, legal, healthcare, education and tourism. Invest: provides its readers with a trustworthy source of information regarding every major trend and development in the economy of the markets it covers.
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Ryan Gandolfo
Regional Editor
305-938-0293 Ext. 264
