Senate Economic Growth — May 21, 2026

She’s here; she’s in another committee. She should be back soon. MS. DeMARCO: Senator Corrado is on her way. Senator Burzichelli.

Yes, here. MS. DeMARCO: And, Chair Cruz Perez.

Thank you, and I want to welcome Senator Burzichelli for substituting in our Committee today, so thank you so much for that. Good morning, everyone; buenos dias. Today, the Committee will receive testimony on how the Legislature can help our businesses and start and grow in our state. The goal of today’s gathering is to create possible legislation to help the businesses. We have different people, stakeholders, from different areas in our Committee that will be covered today. We’re looking forward to working with the Sherrill Administration. She has indicated that she wants to keep, protect, grow, and make sure that the businesses are thriving in New Jersey. So, with that commitment from the front office, and this Committee -- all the members from this Committee -- we’re going to be working on a package of bills to make sure that our business community grows stronger and are able to stay. With that, I’m going to allow Senator Pennacchio to say a few things.

Thank you. Vice Chair, anything on your end?

Senator Burzichelli, would you like to say something, before we start?

Thank you, Senator Burzichelli. So, let me explain some of the rules that we’re going to exercise today. We’re going to limit the comments to five minutes or less. I really appreciate everybody coming over here to tell us how we can move forward - - New Jersey and the business community. We do have two members of the Governor’s Cabinet here today, the CEO of New Jersey EDA, Evan Weiss, and we also have Ed Wengryn, a good friend of mine, with the Department - - Secretary of Agriculture. Thank you for coming. You will follow two people that are going to bring me forth; it was supposed to be you guys first, but I apologize-- Chris had to go because he is here with a fantastic group of people, and he has to go and just have something that she told me previously that she has to be out. So, I’m going to bring you guys, and Chris, you go first, and Jess, where’s Jess? Oh, OK, sweetie, would you please join us? Good morning, it’s so good to see you. MS. DeMARCO: For the record, we have Jess Niederer, owner of Chickadee Creek Farm, Chair of the Organic and Regenerative Farming Board, and Chris Emigholz, Chief Government Affairs Officer, NJBIA.

Yes, that would be wonderful; thank you very much, Chairwoman Cruz Perez, and thank you very much Vice Chair Turner and members, Senator Pennacchio, Senator Burzichelli, members of this esteemed group. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you about ideas to grow the economy. Before I get into that, BIA is very privileged today to be able to hold our annual manufacturing State of the State event, in partnership with the NJMEP program. BIA and MEP are the preeminent advocates for manufacturing in the state, and we’re joined by hundreds of manufacturers around New Jersey, some of which are here -- how to grow the economy, and you were perfect timing with this, Chairwoman, how to grow the economy. We want to grow manufacturing; that’s a critical part of the economy and a sneak peek is that’s in my testimony. I’m talking about manufacturing, the importance of that. So, we actually have -- and, all of you are invited -- up in Committee Rooms 15 and 16 on the fourth floor, the Governor’s office, and any Senators that can, at noon we’re going to be talking about how to help manufacturing specifically, but also announcing the Coolest Thing Made in New Jersey award -- the second year we’ve been doing this. And, we have four finalists; no one knows who’s going to win; and great manufactured products all over the state and behind me in this room. So, to jump into this is, how to grow our economy is complicated, but BIA tries to simplify it, and hopefully this will help you and the Legislature to be thinking about different areas to grow the economy. I really think there’s five factors that influence, are we growing or are we not, in the economy. Three or more on the positive side, and two or more on the negative side. And, if we are winning on all five of these, then we’re doing great in our economy. But, we know that right now, not everything is great. We have an unemployment rate towards the bottom of our nation. It’s actually showing some improvements in recent months, but it still is towards the bottom 10 of our nation, but below Pennsylvania and New York, that we often use as measuring sticks; we’re below the national average. So, we’re not creating the jobs in New Jersey that we want. And, there’s a lot of reasons for that, and hopefully when I run through these five indicators, maybe we see why. So, on the positive side, Number 1 -- I think it’s maybe the most important thing we could all do -- is workforce development. We can get behind workforce development; I think that’s a win. I’m going to run through all five and then give some examples in a minute. Workforce development is Number 1. Number 2 is, we can support the innovation ecosystem of which manufacturing is a key part. We need to come up with new things; we need to make things; we need to have ideas. That innovation economy is what can grow the economy, and New Jersey has been a leader, historically; hopefully we can get back to that. The third positive one is, we gotta build things; infrastructure is key. If we’re building infrastructure; building roads; building energy power plants; pipes; you name it, infrastructure is a way to grow the economy. So, positive is innovation, workforce development, and an infrastructure. On the negative side is, we got to control costs; it’s too expensive to operate a business in New Jersey; taxes are too high. And, then, the other one is the regulatory environment. Sometimes it’s too difficult to run a business in this state, so we need to ease that. And, I want to start with examples in that, because I see two great examples of things that are going in the right direction -- the wrong direction. Number 1 is -- I want to give credit to Governor Sherrill on her saving time/money agenda. We have-- And, we’ve all seen, and I’m talking to politicians right now, you guys are not the case, but we’ve seen nationally, and we’ve seen locally, we’ve seen Republican and Democrat where sometimes people campaign on something but don’t always follow through; never happened with you guys. But, Governor Sherrill, she campaigned on her saving time/money agenda, and then her first budget, she’s investing in the saving time/money agenda. So, she wants to improve permit -- improve the permit process, DEP and hiring people there. She wants to have a permit reform dashboard; she wants to make government more transparent with a budget report card; she wants to make it easier to get an occupational license and investing in IT there. She wants to beef up Business Action Center so they’re more responsive to all these businesses behind me; she’s putting money there. So, we see a governor that’s kind of putting her money where her mouth is on making government more responsive and maybe easing that regulatory burden that we all have. We’ve got a long way to go, and there’s mandates that come out of the Legislature -- come out of our departments -- that we need to try to ease off, so that’s the going in the right direction on making our regulatory climate better. Going in the wrong direction, I would have to bring up the ABC rules that were recently filed; they’re going to be adopted in the register on June 1, and then they take effect October 1; that’s an example. We’re talking about how to grow jobs; a lot of the sole proprietors in New Jersey, a lot of sole proprietors that are independent contractors that work for these larger manufacturing firms behind me; like, we’re making it harder to be an independent contractor, and I do appreciate- - I know members of the Senate, Democrats, Republicans, members of the Assembly wrote letters to Commissioner Asaro-Angelo last year saying the rules went too far; now they’re going to take effect October 1. But, we were given a window to hopefully take some legislative action to make them better. And, I know it’s been something that, thankfully, Senator Johnson of the Labor Committee had a hearing on this last week, that I testified on. We have ideas to make it better; we’ll be meeting with you. But, that’s an example where going in the right direction to make our regulatory climate better, but also going in the wrong direction. So, that’s number 1. On the cost side, I just wanted to -- we’re about to enter the budget period and figure it out in June -- I have to say, we appreciate Governor Sherrill trying to hold the line on spending. If we can’t get our spending under control, we’ll never be able to lower the taxes that I think we all want to do. We have the highest corporate tax rate in the nation; we’re one of two states in the nation that’s in the top third of the four major taxes: Property tax; sales tax; income tax; corporate tax; and nobody else has that unrelenting tax environment that we have. We can’t keep spending, spending, spending, because then we need the taxes to support that spending. We have to start getting a little bit better, more disciplined; I think the Governor’s trying, and we hope that happens. There’s important things that we invest in; there’s a lot of important things that I know the Legislature wants to restore. I think there’s some good things we can do, but we can’t have that level of spending additions that we saw under the Murphy Administration. So, those on the negative side. On the positive side, I want to start with manufacturing innovation. We had a great program, and I know Evan Weiss is here with the EDA, the Manufacturing Voucher Program, we hope -- and BIA has ideas for this -- would love to work with you on restoring that and we talked to the EDA, and would love to work with the EDA, the Legislature, on ways that we can restore that but make it more targeted and focused and friendly for New Jersey manufacturing community and taxpayers. So, that manufacturing voucher program incentivized manufacturers to buy-in and capital purchases for their plant, so that they can be expanded; they can be more productive; they can hire more people. So, it was a good thing; it was wildly oversubscribed immediately, and it went from $25 million, $15 million, $10 million, and then it went away in the last Murphy budget, and still gone now, but we have ideas to bring it back and it’d be a more cost- effective way. Also, in this budget -- and, it’s the only budget resolution BIA has asked for -- is to restore NJMEP’s funding in the budget. Years ago, they got $2.5 million; it went to $2 million; it went to $1 million. Last year, the Legislature brought back a million, it was a legislative addition, so, if Governor Sherrill, in getting rid of all the legislative additions, got rid of them, brought them back to zero, if we can restore that. There’s budget resolution language that was sent around the budget committees to try to do that in an off-budget, non-line-item way, so it doesn’t cost anything, similar to what Governor Sherrill has asked for. We’re trying to hold the line on spending and being all creative and trying to fund that. Manufacturing extension program does great work-- MS. DeMARCO: My apologies, that was about five minutes.

Can you make sure that we -- all the members of this Committee -- get that information, as well--

--and send over the papers so we can work together.

Thank you.

Well, enjoy the rest of the day with the manufacturing company, OK, and thank you so much for everything you do and being such a great partner with all of us.

Thank you for your testimony. Good morning.

Well, thank you-- Thank you so much for your testimony; I know you have information for all of us, so thank you.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

I would like to call our Executive Director of New Jersey EDA, Evan Weiss. And, also I’m going to ask Ed Wengryn to join him as well, Secretary of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. And, thank you so much for coming and testifying with your busy schedule. Not that I didn’t see you in Budget already. EVAN W E I S S: Thank you, Chair, and thank you to everybody for having me here today. I just was really struck by the remarks I just heard, and sitting next to my friend the Secretary. EDA has a lot of tools to use for economic development, but they’re a lot more limited than I think a lot of people realize. Farming is a great example, an incredibly important industry in the state. We were just talking about how it’s the first industry really in this state. But, other than some very exceptional circumstances, the EDA does not really have tools to support farmers or agricultural equipment grants or lending. And, I have a lot of tools to do certain kinds of real estate projects, and do certain -- especially in film these days -- literally hundreds of millions of dollars to spend. And, I don’t know what the grant levels are that the NJDA has or other areas, but, to me, it always feels a little lopsided. There are so many areas, both in terms of sectors and in terms of geography, is that I feel like we tend to miss, whether that’s cities or rural areas. I feel like we don’t do quite enough, and that if there’s kind of one overarching theme that I’d want to work on together, it’s the idea of tools. How do we make sure we have the right tools that aren’t so, really, just geared towards certain industries? And, going to what NJBIA was saying earlier, and Chris, we’ve, I think, literally met last week, to talk about our shared desire of-- We have some good tools for very large manufacturers with the Next NJ Program, but it’s more difficult for us right now, for mid-size and small. When the manufacturing voucher program ran out, that was kind of it. It doesn’t feel great for me to say, “I’m sorry, if you were this big, then we could have you covered, but if you’re not, I don’t have the tools for you.” These are all things I’m hearing -- I’m learning about -- from talking to my colleagues, to all of you. But, it’s still too anecdotal for me; that’s one other thing I wanted to address today, which is the idea of data. The data that we have to make these decisions is not nearly where I’d like it to be. If we were an investor, an investment bank, we’d have more data than we know what to do with. We’d be capturing data for literally decades in order to help us make decisions; we don’t have that. We have some internally to the EDA, but often we’ll pay a third party; we’ll bring someone in to do a study for us. Sometimes it’s great; we have great partnerships with Rutgers, NJIT, Rowan, different community colleges around the state. But, when we’re making, literally, $100 million bets for us to have the internal capacity to be able to analyze that and understand it, it would really help us make the choices that we want to make and make them correctly. The good news with that is that the State has enormous amounts of data; it’s one of the richest things that we really have as an asset. You think about how Silicone Valley makes money; they make money off of our data. The State has it, whether it’s in Labor and Workforce Development, Taxation, all this incredible data to help us make smart choices, but it’s about figuring out how we can share it, preserve privacy, and evaluate it. And, again, bringing on higher education partners often to help us analyze it. The two last things I’ll say is around two ideas of efficiency and simplicity. A lot of the programs that we administer, when we actually put them out into the market, how they work, particularly the tax credits, they lose value. So, if the State is basically giving a tax credit away for the value of a dollar to a private company, they take it a discount, maybe it’s 90 cents. But, then, if we’re doing a real estate project, it has to be monetized, meaning they get it up front, so they can start doing the project, and the State will distribute over 10 years or so. Interest rates keep climbing. Right now, there’s about a 9.5% or 10% interest cost a year to bridging those tax credits. So, you can go for a one dollar tax credit to something that’s really worth, or kind of hovers between 50 and 56 cents for the projects. That is too much deterioration of value when you look at how we can fix that, because we still have billions of dollars worth of tax credit authorization. The last thing I’ll say is just simplicity. Our programs are complicated; the applications are tough; you need an enormous amount of disclosures. Again, if you’re a big business, that’s fine; you can hire lawyers, accountants, et cetera, to be able to get through that. But, if you’re not, you might say, “You know what, I can’t deal with it. I can’t deal with the application; I can’t deal with the ongoing compliance.” That’s never something that I want to see, and I’m sure, unfortunately many of the folks sitting behind me can probably attest to that. So, being able to make these programs as easy as possible to use for actual business people who don’t have time -- they’re running businesses -- the idea that we’re going to ask them to go through all these hoops and ladders, I really want to get away from that as best we can while being responsible. The last thing-- The very last thing I’ll say is just, I really appreciated working with many of you, Senator Burzichelli for example on some manufacturing initiatives in your district. The ability for us to be partners in this, it’s so crucial. It’s such an important demonstration to international companies, for example, that if we want to bring a company to Trenton, we can work together. That doesn’t happen in Washington. The relationships that we have with all of you are so helpful to selling New Jersey to the world and to other parts of America, that we have a functioning, collaborative government; it’s really something you can’t take for granted. So, I appreciate it, thank you for the time, and I know we’ll be talking more soon.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Good morning, Madam Chairwoman, and members of the Committee. Thanks for the opportunity to be here and address you. Big news announced last night, Governor Sherrill issued the emergency declaration for a frost we had in late April. This is one of those rare weather events, generational, if not multi-generational. We had that warm week in April of 80- and 90-degree temperatures, literally summer weather, that forced a lot of our plants to advance and bloom and move ahead of schedule. At that point, peaches were already set on the trees. Sunday, Monday night, temperatures as low as 20 in parts of the state literally froze those fruits, they literally-- Ice formed in them. All of the best practices that farmers were doing-- They survived four other major sort of frostings this season, that Monday night just, they -- nothing worked. The air came in, it was so cold, it just stayed there, and for four hours, everything froze. So, there will be some New Jersey peaches, because a little bit here and there. Our blueberry crop, 30%-50% loss; there will be New Jersey blueberries in the markets, so we encourage people to look for them. Ask, make sure your supermarkets and those providers; they will be in the marketplace. One of the industries that got severely damaged is our wine industry, our grape industry. They’re looking at potential two years’ loss of crop, because, not only was this year’s blossoms and fruit coming out, the second budding, which is the fruit for next year, had also emerged. And, that was all damaged. So, we’re going to have a-- This nice weather that we just had, this rain that’s coming in, we’re going to get a better idea over the next couple months how bad and severe that damage is. A lot of new varieties and new plants may not recover from that kind of cold, and they’re going to have to start all over. So, that industry is one that’s going to be necessary. On the executive order, it really allows us to look at -- like, we’re hearing from strawberry producers -- those who were able to double cover with protective covering made it through fine. Those who did single covers lost some of that fruit, about 50% of that fruit. So, the idea is, can we get them better tools to manage these kind of cold events, so that’s what we’re going to work through with emergency management. Our agency, particularly on preserved farmland, 50% of what you sell on a farm, on the preserved farm market, is supposed to come from your farm. We’re going to waive those requirements. Because, if you were a peach grower and you also did a vegetable stand, you can still do your vegetable stand, but you’re not going to have your peaches to offset that. So, we’re going to waive those kind of requirements to allow those markets to continue and operate. Our vegetable season will be fine. Asparagus took a little clip, but asparagus season is still on and out there. Strawberries, most New Jersey strawberries are pick-your-own, so you’ll see them at your farm markets, your farm stands. And, that’s sort of the good news on that. We’re here with a group of manufacturers. I just came from a farm that received a national award for a business builder grant. Put in improved his energy sustainability with a permanent generator built on the farm. But, also refrigeration unit and washing units for his vegetables. One of the products he produces is peppers. And, they’re made in specialty sauces. He has to take his product to Pennsylvania for a Pennsylvania manufacturer to do it. Again, cost of business to do it in New Jersey. But, also, those small businesses that would handle this kind of volume, that’s what we want to help create with our New Jersey farmers to make those partners in manufacturing; taking our seasonal products, turning them into year-round products that our consumers can get year round, with canned sauces, canned specialty products that way. So, that’s some of the stuff we want to work on. Just mention some of the Federal programs that we’ve administered, especially Crop Block Grants are one of them, and those go to the industries to promote that part of our fruit and vegetable productions. It cracks me up when you say specialty crops; specialty crops are all the foods we eat. Traditional crops -- corn, wheat, soybean -- that’s our commodity crops. And, Federal programs are really designed for commodity crops, less so specialty crops, but these are the things I think we really want to work on with the manufacturing sector, because, what we produce in the summertime, frozen blueberries can become treats in kids’ school meals. It’s connecting what we grow and produce in the state with the manufacturing world to make sure we have great quality products. And, within that, I work on the Board for Food Export Northeast, which helps small manufacturers export their foods. We have grants, education programs, and things that we can get them to ship their products overseas. One of our wineries, one of the side projects, took excess blueberry juice, and now packages and bottles and ships that to the far east, China, Japan; he can’t keep it on the shelves for them, over there. So, these are the opportunities that we have to grow and expand agriculture. We can do some trade assistance as well as being the supply chain for local manufacturers on local foods. There’s a whole project up in the northwest part of the state on grains and specialty grains, and they are producing those, getting those to specialty bakers, restaurants that want those quality flours to make unique ingredients. And, again, that’s going to be that new emerging market. Yes, grains are a commodity crop, and if we can do specialized grains and get the premium prices that producers need to be productive, that’s the stuff we want to be helping our markets do. And, we will be working with Evan and the Business Action Center, because, as we said earlier, this is one of our oldest industries in the state. I’ve got farms still in operation, 13 and 14 generations before New Jersey was a state in this union; these farm families were operating this land. Those are key investments. If they can survive all the things they’ve gone through for those multi-generations, and they’re still in business and still excited to be in business, New Jersey is a great place to do business, and sustaining those things or industries, is a critical industry to our social fabric, and our economy. So, thank you for the time this morning.

Senator, we’re working on a unique one for June. The other industry that touches my industry is aquaculture--

And, there is a farm that started raising and producing sturgeon i.e. for caviar in South Jersey, so we will be visiting the caviar farm, and some of our produce vegetable farms down there and looking at some of those unique markets; so look for those invitations to come. We are planning on doing a peony farm this month, and then this heat and rain blew the peonies apart; she called us yesterday and kind of said, she said, “I’m not going to have anything to show. Can we do this again another year?” So, we’ll be back to look at some of our retail cut flowers. That’s one of our growth areas; we talk about our food all the time, cut flower production in New Jersey, we’re seventh in the country in cut flower production. Think about that. So, we grow and raise quality products and, like I said, we market across the country and internationally.

Yes.

Good morning to you both.

Allen, you go first, and then David, no, Stephen Lee. Sorry. ALLEN C A R T E R, Jr.: Thank you, Chairwoman, and thank you, Committee members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. I’m Allen Carter, President of the New Jersey Farm Bureau, and the CFO of Tuckahoe Turf Farms in Hammonton, New Jersey. I’m also one of four state Presidents from the northeast who serve on the American Farm Bureau Board of Directors. What could we, New Jersey, do to help new and beginning farmers, you ask? New Jersey is an-- New Jersey agriculture is often described by its history. It’s known as the Garden State; preserved farms; family operations; roadside markets; cranberry bogs; nurseries; equine farms; dairies; vineyards; vegetable growers; and, specialty crop producers. And, let’s not forget sod farms. But, if we want that history to continue, I believe we have to focus on the first five years of a farmer’s life. That’s the period when the dream is strongest and the barriers are the highest. A person who wants to start farming in New Jersey today faces three imminent challenges: Access to land; access to capital; and access to potential -- to practical business support. If we solve those three problems, we can help more than just one farmer. We can strengthen local food systems; preserve open space; create businesses; support rural economies; and keep agriculture viable in a state where land is expensive and development pressure is consistent. The first challenge is land. In New Jersey, land is often the single biggest obstacle the starting farmer has. Even when land is preserved, it does not automatically mean it’s accessible to a beginning farmer, a young farmer, a first-generation farmer; or someone transitioning from a farm employee to a farm owner may have the skill and the work ethic, but not the ability to purchase the land outright. That is why the state should build, own, and strengthen the work already being done through the New Jersey State Agriculture Development Committee, and its Farm Link resource. The Farm Link Program already provides resources for farmers and landowners, including information on accessing land; creating leases; farm transfer planning; and connecting farm seekers with farm owners. The SADC also provides leasing resources and guidebooks, because leasing can be one of the most realistic ways for a beginning farmer to get a start. We can go further. New Jersey should consider a formal beginning farmer land-access initiative. That could include a statewide inventory of publicly owned land, or preserved farmland, that may be suitable for lease; model long-term lease agreements; incentives for landowners who lease to qualified beginning farmers; and support for counties that want to match retiring farmers with new operators. A one-year lease is often not enough for agriculture. Farmers need time to build soil; invest in fencing; irrigation; high tunnels; livestock facilities; equipment; and markets. If we want people to start real farm businesses, we need lease terms that give them security. The State can help by promoting five, 10, and even longer term leases on appropriate farmland, with protections for both the landowners and the farmers. The second challenge is capital. Starting a farm is capital- intensive. A new farmer may need a tractor, refrigeration, fencing, irrigation, livestock, seed, insurance, fuel, feed, packaging, labor, marketing, transportation, and we should include programs to support farmers with climate variability to combat freeze like we just witnessed. This may include wind machines, netting, and orchard heaters, as well as climate-smart activities like covered cropping, or precision ag. equipment. Often these items need-- Often these items are needed well before the first dollar of revenue ever comes in. Traditional lenders may be hesitant because new farmers lack collateral, operating history, or even predictable cash flow. There are programs available. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency offers farm ownership and operating loans, including programs for beginning farmers. USDA describes beginning farmers as those who have operated a farm or ranch for less than 10 years, and its resources include farmlands; crop insurance; conservation programs; and disaster assistance. FSA microloans are specifically designed to meet the needs of small beginning niche and nontraditional operations, including farms selling through farmers markets; CSAs; restaurants; grocery stores; and urban innovative growing systems. New Jersey also has resources through the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, including grant and financial service information, and the State Agriculture Development Committees Beginning Farmer Resources point farmers toward programs such as Farm Credit East; Farm Smart, which can provide working capital loans up to $75,000 for farmers in their first few years of business; along with business planning and financial advising. The issue is not that no program exists; the issue is that for a new farmer, the system can be difficult to navigate. A beginning farmer should not have to know every acronym, like FSA, NRCS, SADC, and so forth, before they can even plant their first crop. That is what New Jersey-- MS. DeMARCO: My-- My apologies, the five minutes is up.

Wrap it up, yes, yes.

That’s a lot of pages.

Yes. Are you going to be submitting that to us?

OK, perfect, thank you, thank you so much; I’m looking forward to continue to work together.

Stephen?

Yes.

Thank you. Thank you so much. What do you do for protecting the crops?

And, the cost? OK.

I know.

We hear you loud and clear. Anything from you? (no response) Well, thank you so much for your testimony. Both of you.

The next panel. MS. DeMARCO: Dr. Brian Schilling, Director at Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and David DeFrange, Owner, Copper Creek Nursery, Member, State Board of Agriculture and past President.

My pleasure. BRIAN S C H I L L I N G, P.h.D.: Good morning, Madam Chair, Vice Chair Turner, and Committee members; I’m Brian Schilling, Director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and Senior Associate Director of the New Jersey Ag. Experiment Station. Thank you for the time on the agenda. I’d actually-- I modified some of my comments based on what’s already been said, to maybe introduce a few new things or provide further context. One thing I haven’t heard yet is how fortunate the State of New Jersey is to have a solid foundation in policy. You’ve heard farmland preservation mentioned a few times; here’s a broader perspective: We, New Jersey, are a leader in the nation in that area. It’s not just the amount of money or the amount of land we’ve protected; we’ve allowed that program to adapt and change over the years to adapt to the needs of the State, as well as the agricultural industry. Without it, some of these land-access issues that have been previously spoken about in earlier testimony would be worse than they already are. Something I haven’t heard today, yet, that I think it’s important to share with you is -- I’m stealing my concluding remarks -- the ability for this industry to adapt is the secret to its survival. Even in the 34 or so years I’ve worked with the industry, it’s transformed amazing, in amazing ways. One of the ways that it changes is when it has a long enough planning horizon in farming to say, “I’m going to be doing this for 10 or 20 years,” or, “I have a child coming up who’s going to farm after me,” and you make these longer- term investments. The problem we’re struggling with in some cases, is that we have shorter planning horizons. There’s something called an “impermanence syndrome,” where farmers sometimes don’t see a long-term prospect for farming viably in the state, and they pull back some of these investments -- like what Steve was just saying earlier -- to install frost protection, or to modernize your equipment. So, part of our challenge is to give that planning horizon, and Right to Farm gives farmers some level of legal protection against nuisance complaints, or excessive regulation that gives them a little bit more confidence to make those investments. So, one of the things that I’ll share with you is New Jersey is known nationally for the high value of production, and I’m a numbers guy, so, I’ll give you a little context. We actually rank -- believe it or not -- fourth in the nation in terms of the value of what we produce per acre of farmland, fourth. When I talk to my midwestern colleagues, they’re astonished at how much diversity we have in our production, and how much we extract. The challenge here? We rank third, when you look at how much it costs per acre. So, I’ll share with you a few, unfortunately, what I call “New Jersey Firsts.” When you look nationally, we are actually the first in the nation when it comes to how much hired labor we hire, the value of that labor per acre. It’s over 13 times the national average. Now, a lot of that is to be able to produce these high value nursery or fruit and vegetable crops; it’s very labor intensive. When you look at utilities, five times the national average. When you look at property taxes, nine times the national average. So, the moral of the story is not doom and gloom at all, and I’ve made that very same comment, I think, in front of this Committee before, the question is what to do about it. So, some of the things that I thought I would try to emphasize that I don’t think have been touched on, or maybe to expand upon is, for example, land access. Part of it is having the land base; but, also, one of the challenges that we have is -- unlike out west where to get bigger, to get more money, you expand your acreage -- here it’s simply not feasible in many, many cases. So, we have to intensify what we do on less land, not get bigger. And, it’s fragmented. Moving equipment is technically inefficient, and I’m sure you’ve heard, perhaps in other testimonies, it is dangerous. We have too many stories -- and Farm Bureau is really leading efforts in this area -- moving equipment is a hazard in this industry. So, it’s not just accessing land and affording land, it’s just fragmentation and the availability of land in this state is a substantial constraint. And, as you heard in earlier testimony, if you lease land -- Jess Niederer said -- “I will not make long-term investments in that land if I do not know I’m going to have access to it in a secure way for more than a year or two.” One thing that we haven’t talked about yet is technology. So, since the 1940s, American agriculture has produced output growth over 1.5% on average increase every year since 1948. At the same time, we’ve lost the number of people, has gone down, and the number of acres has gone down. The reason that productivity is going up is because of technology. And, I often said, if we were not always looking for a better way of doing things, we would have farmers looking at the back end of a horse pulling a plow. But now, we are looking at precision tractors that can go a mile straight with a less than an inch precision, and plant, apply fertilizer, less labor, less passes, and save farmers substantial money per acre by reducing input costs, labor costs, and time. Another thing that you hear a lot about is drones. We are using drones to detect disease, to actually, in some cases, seed cover crops on wet ground because it’s too wet in the spring to get out there on tractors. Something fascinating one of our faculty at Rutgers is doing is, we couldn’t figure out why we saw Christmas trees dying on flat land: It wasn’t flat land. We used LiDAR, which is kind of like a radar that penetrates the ground and can see things that you’re not going to see with your eye. Water was carrying disease, but it was so imperceptible that the farmer didn’t know how to manage that until we used this advanced technology. Now, I’m going to geek out on you. Detecting things from environmental DNA where we can detect DNA in the environment before we actually see a disease or a pest, or an invasive critter that is causing damage. So, early detection and surveillance and action saves money. Autonomous robotic vehicles-- In equipment we are testing right now, laser weeders that will know the difference between the tiny little weed growing next to a baby pea plant, kill the weed, not harm the crop. You’re not using labor; you’re not using as much chemical; and it’s an effective-- We’re looking to prove efficacy. We’ve heard about adaptation to extreme weather; the reality is we’re concerned about having 90 degrees, followed by 22-, 24-degree weather; we’re worried about drought and flooding in the very same season. So, these are the types of things that farmers are going to have to adapt to, or we’re going to see the types of losses and challenges that we saw this year. Jess Niederer, who said it very eloquently, business support. I’ve had countless farmers tell me, “I want my kids to come to Rutgers; show them how to run a business; I’ll show them how to grow things.” So, a lot of times, it’s understanding when to go from one crop to a new. Can I afford that technology? Can I afford not to adopt that technology? So, having business training is, I agree, vital. Succession, it’s not just new and beginning farmers, what about later life farmers? Those that have the resources, the land, the assets, the know-how, how do you transition that to the next generation? How do they retire? How do they maybe retire in place on that land? We’re reinvigorating some of this work at Rutgers. I mentioned farm safety, health, and wellness. You can’t make a living if you can’t work. This is an industry that’s got inherent dangers, moving equipment, exposure, and so forth, and this is something that is no longer something we don’t talk about. The farm stress and mental wellness needs in this industry are high, and I applaud New Jersey Farm Bureau and American Farm Bureau for recognizing this and actually putting their shoulder into it, and, Cooperative Extension stands shoulder to shoulder with them. The last point I would -- two points and then closing remark, facilitating market access. Unabashedly, in a public testimony, I will tell you, our produce is second to none. And, yet, we struggle to get it into our local market sometimes, because we’re not a big producer, big seasonal producer. We’re too small to get into some wholesale channels; so, how can we aggregate, for example, to help smaller producers access markets? Last comment before I close: You need to understand, unintended -- I do believe unintended -- regulatory constraints that not only raise farming costs, but again, shorten that planning horizon, making a farmer maybe a little less comfortable with modernizing their equipment. It might be a $200,000 investment to get that used precision planter. You need to have a planning horizon in agriculture before you can say, “I’m going to make that investment.” All right, to close, I want to actually frame this in this way: A lot of times we talk about new and beginning farmers; it is a national priority, no doubt about it. I will also argue, though, I’ve had people say, “Well, what about us existing farmers?” So, the way I think, here, some of us at Rutgers are casting this and others in ag. leadership is: We need to focus on next gen, next generation agriculture. It’s the people; it’s taking the know-how from the generation aging out of farming, and transferring it to the new. But, it’s also helping existing and future farmers make decisions about new crops; new technologies; new production practices; how to deal with some of these new threats. I’ll repeat again, for agriculture to survive, it needs to adapt. So, I think New Jersey has a solid policy foundation; we’re innovative; we’re progressive; and, the fact that we’re having this hearing today is very important. So, thank you.

Yes. MR. DeFRANGE: And, so, as we navigate through the resolution process that we all meet once a year, and identify, “What is the definition of urban agriculture?” It is going to continually to grow. It’s going to expand. We are at a starting point, but we need your support. You talked about legislative tours; we are considering in July doing an urban agriculture component; love to invite you all. But, I would also emphasize as we go through this year, and we work with the urban community, we give you all updates. I think it’s really important so that you see where we’re at. But, again, I think we have the tools in the toolbox. I think we have to identify what is urban agriculture; what could be urban horticulture; and where that meets on the recreational side. I also grew up in New Brunswick, New Jersey, during a tough time, and I can tell you, when I had the opportunity to grow plants within-- MS. DeMARCO: My apologies, the five minutes is up. MR. DeFRANGE: OK, I’ll just sum it up. Growing up in New Brunswick, I can tell you, having the opportunity to work with a community to watch the strength and the health of that community, through growing plants and trees and vegetables; I can’t say anymore.

--and working together. All (indiscernible) you guys working together to make sure our access and resources, like the ones that workers provide, so, yes, it’s about teamwork. Anyone? (no response) Thank you so much for your testimony.

Our next panel, and now we’re going to leave agriculture, and go into the business, more of the business community. MS. DeMARCO: Colonel Jeff Cantor, Founder and CEO, New Jersey State Veterans Chamber of Commerce, and Amirah Hussain, Director of Government Relations, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Good to see you, Senator. Honorable Madam Chair, thank you so much for letting us come to offer testimony. Madam Vice Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak. Honorable Senators, we really appreciate the opportunity to speak to you about how to create greater opportunities for veteran-owned businesses here in the State of New Jersey. And, Madam Chair, thank you for your service as well to our great nation. So, my name is Colonel Jeff Cantor, I’m the founder and CEO of the New Jersey State Veterans Chamber of Commerce. I’m joined today by leadership of the VFW; the leaders are here as well as Seargent Major Myles Cappiello, who runs a special forces association. So, we have a contingent of veterans here that are very pro-business, pro-veteran business, and we’re trying to create a greater opportunity for veteran businesses here. I offer this testimony from eight-plus years working on economic development issues for diverse businesses in the State, including veteran businesses. As you’re aware, the State published a disparity study two years ago, which indicated that the State has not done its fair share to provide procurement opportunities to diverse businesses, including veteran-owned businesses. I will tell you also that we created the New Jersey Diverse Business Advisory Council, now called the Small Business Growth Council to try and create a unified approach to create greater procurement opportunities for all diverse businesses, whether it’s black-owned businesses; Hispanic-owned businesses; veteran-owned businesses; LGBTQ-owned businesses; we’re all not getting our fair share of opportunities with the State. I’m sure you’re all aware that there’s a 3% set-aside for disabled veteran-owned businesses here in the State of New Jersey; this has been public law since 2015. That’s 11 years. In those 11 years, the State has never come close to meeting its obligation to those veterans who proudly served their nation. If you take a look at the data that’s -- that I brought -- you should have copies of my testimony as well as some additional information; but, there’s a chart that I had sent to you about -- spends -- State spends in New Jersey and New York with disabled veteran-owned businesses. And, if you take a look at that, you’ll see that in 2021, the State spent $21 million, or 0.53% with disabled veteran-owned businesses. The last year that that was tracked was 2024. The State spent $43 million, which is 0.52%. You compare that to New York, the state right next to us, the state spent over $370 million with disabled veteran-owned businesses, over 6%. So, we’re a far cry from just one state away. Pennsylvania has also adapted policies that can help out. We are really behind the eight ball on this progress with disabled-veteran, and veteran-owned businesses, as well as military-spouse- owned businesses. So, we’re respectfully requesting the following pieces of priority legislation be introduced and passed. I provided each of you with a list of our top lists of pieces of legislation. One of the most important pieces is the inclusion of the language of liquidated damages for contractors that don’t set aside at least 3% of State contracts with disabled-veteran-owned businesses. Unless you put liquidated damages in the language in the RFP process, you will not be able to really effectively enforce this law across all State departments, so we’re asking for that, first and foremost. Something very simple: Publish all State spends with diverse businesses. How much is the State spending with veteran-owned businesses? How much are they spending with black-owned businesses; with Hispanic- owned businesses? We don’t know. The State did the disparity study two years ago; we have an inclination. We know that it’s not good, but that should be a mandate every year. And, by the way, in the 3% set-aside law that’s been public law since 2015, it says the State has to publish spends with disabled veteran-owned businesses. The State has yet to do that every year. We want -- you heard from EDA before, NJEDA -- we want to establish a lending fund that will lend to veteran-owned; military-spouse- owned; disabled-veteran-owned businesses; so that access to capital doesn’t continue to be a significant issue. You’ve heard from pretty much every speaker up here that access to capital is always an issue for business. Well, if you can provide a diverse lending fund that can lend to small and diverse businesses, that will eradicate a lot of these problems with gaining access to capital. So, we’re hoping that this Committee would do that, as well. Waiving E-ZPass tolls for vehicles owned and operated by veteran businesses; creating a procurement program for both veteran-owned and military-spouse-owned businesses. Currently there’s no incentive for those businesses in the State of New Jersey. So, the fact that you’re a veteran, you raise your right hand, you serve your country, you might’ve deployed to somewhere austere and dangerous, that doesn’t count. MS. DeMARCO: My apologies, the five-minute time is up.

Colonel, thank you so much for your testimony, but also thank you so much for your service, and all the veterans that are in the audience, thank you so much for your service.

That’s right.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Amirah, for your testimony, and Colonel Cantor, thank you so much for your testimony. I know-- I don’t know if you guys are going to step out, but I’m going to say this -- I was going to leave it for the end, but I don’t know if you guys, I know you want to go to a committee -- but, we wanted everybody; people say, “Oh, holiday weekend.” Well, we will be off to remember those who never came home. So, I don’t call it a holiday, because it’s just honoring those that never came home; honoring those that made the ultimate sacrifice so we can have the freedom and the benefit that we enjoy in this country; but that costs. So, freedom is not free. It costs many lives and many sacrifices, and to those that never came home, please make a point of this weekend, identifying someone that you know is a Gold Star family, to say, “Thank you for the sacrifices that your loved one did to make sure that we actually enjoy our freedom.” So, just remember that it’s not a holiday, it’s a day to remember those who actually died for our freedom. So, with that, I want to say thank you to every man and woman who wears that uniform, and for serving our country, so thank you. No, Hilary has left a testimony; she was here, unfortunately she was called in into an emergency. She left a testimony, so we all have her testimony, and we will put her testimony in the record. OK? MS. DeMARCO: Ray Lamboy, President and CEO, Latin American Economic Development Association; Dr. Arturo Osorio, Board Secretary of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, Associate Professor of Practice -- Entrepreneurship, at Rutgers.

Madam Chair, members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today; had a wide ranging conversation; big business; agriculture. I’m here to talk to you about the very smallest of businesses in the State of New Jersey. My name is Ray Lamboy, I serve as the CEO of the Latin American Economic Development Association, or LAEDA, based in Camden, New Jersey. LAEDA’s been serving entrepreneurs and small business owners for nearly four decades. Each year, we work with hundreds of individuals across Camden County and throughout South Jersey, providing business education; one-on-one coaching; and access to capital. Our work is grounded in direct, on-the-ground, experienced, supporting entrepreneurs in underserved communities. I appreciate the Committee’s focus on how to facilitate starting and growing businesses in New Jersey. I’d like to offer a perspective from the grassroots level, where many entrepreneurs actually begin. In communities like Camden, entrepreneurship is often driven by necessity. Individuals are working to generate income, support their families, and build stability in environments where access to capital, networks, and formal business training is limited. At this level, starting a business is not just transactional process, it is developmental. And, that distinction matters. I think it’s also important to clarify what we mean when we talk about small business at the grassroots level. Under the U.S. Small Business Administration definition, a small business can be a company with hundreds of employees and significant revenue. That is not who we typically serve. The entrepreneurs we work with are much smaller in scale. They are often solo-preneurs or family-run businesses, sometimes employing one or two additional people. Most have fewer than five employees and generate less than $250,000 in annual revenue. These businesses also, disproportionately, are located in underserved, low-asset communities, where the challenges they face -- limited access to capital; fewer professional networks; and less exposure to formal business systems -- are even more pronounced. And, because of that, their needs are fundamentally different. Mainstream business support systems are often designed for individuals who already have access to capital; have established networks; and a baseline knowledge -- a baseline level of knowledge in business. Grassroots entrepreneurs typically have none of these. As a result, facilitating business development at this level requires a high-touch, relationship-based approach that goes beyond workshops and access points. It requires sustained engagement, practical training, and one-on-one guidance over time. At LAEDA, our work focuses on building that foundation. Over the past three years, we have trained 689 entrepreneurs; provided one-on-one counseling to 839 business owners; supported 111 business starts and expansions; helped create or retain it’s (indiscernible) 476 jobs; assisting clients and accessing over $900,000 in capital. These outcomes reflect something important: When you invest in the capacity of entrepreneurs at the grassroots level, you generate real economic impact; real businesses; real jobs; real participation of local economy. But, these outcomes do not happen without infrastructure. If we want to truly facilitate business formation and growth in New Jersey, particularly in communities like Camden, we need to strengthen the systems that support entrepreneurs, before they are capital ready. That includes business education that is practical and accessible; one-on-one technical assistance that is sustained and individualized; structured pathways that prepare entrepreneurs to responsibly access capital. At LAEDA, we are working to align these elements to our programming, and through the expansion of our pre-CDFI, Business Capital Solutions Initiative, which connects education and technical assistance directly to lending opportunities. This type of integration is essential, because, without preparation, access to capital alone is not enough. And, without capital, training only has limited impact. From a policy perspective, I would offer this: If the State is looking to strengthen small business growth, there should be a clear distinction between access-based strategies, which focus on availability of resources, and capacity-building strategies, which, in short, entrepreneurs are actually able to use those resources successfully. Both are important; but, at the grassroots level, capacity building is what determines outcomes. In closing, facilitating the starting and growing of business in New Jersey requires more than opening doors. It requires preparing people to walk through them successfully. At the grassroots level, that preparation is where the work happens, and where the impact is realized. Thank you for your time, and I welcome any questions.

So, we are asking to leverage that study, and to direct looking for minority businesses who can fill that gap. Readiness-- We’re talking about growth businesses. So, businesses need an incentive to hire. So, can we provide them with a tax credit for the first hire? So, when they are ready to work; when the brother, sister, kid, is no longer an employee and they need to create new employment, can we give them a tax credit to support that transition from family business into an established business? Education. We’re already having problems. I direct the educational initiative at Rutgers; we have the education initiatives at the small Chamber of Commerce. We’re looking to sustain that and collaborate to get them in the spaces that they need to be present. Not only in Spanish, in English, but in any other language, because being Hispanic doesn’t mean that we speak Spanish; being Hispanic means that we are culturally capable. Thank you.

Is this thing on?

Can you hear me?

Good morning. Can you hear me?

OK--

It has to be green right?

OK. Very good. Finally. I was the first one here, and probably the last one to go, but that’s OK; I stuck around because this is important. Good morning, and thank you. Good to see you, Senator Turner, Madam Chair, esteemed guests. My name is Carmen Gates; I’m with the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey. I serve as the VP of Community Development and External Affairs Officer. You all may be familiar with our fearless leader, Mr. John Harmon; he couldn’t make it today, so I’m here in his place. So, as an organization committed to supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses, and minority-owned enterprises throughout our state, we regularly hear directly from business owners about both the opportunities and the barriers that exist in New Jersey’s business environment. So, I’m going to echo some of the things that EDA said -- some of the other chambers -- because it holds true for the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey. So, today I would like to respectfully offer several recommendations for legislative consideration. Number 1-- There’s nine of them, but I won’t give detail, I’ll just go through the bullets.

I am.

So, Number 1, simplify and streamline business processes. Starting a business in New Jersey can still feel overly complicated and fragmented. We encourage the Legislature to support a true, one-stop digital portal for licensing, permits, registrations, and compliance. Faster turnaround times for approvals and certifications; reduced administrative duplication between State, County, and municipal agencies; and a clear guidance for first-time business owners. Number 2 -- you’ve heard this probably six or seven times today -- expand access to capital. So, I won’t go into detail. Number 3, strengthen procurement opportunities. New Jersey should continue strengthening pathways for small and minority-owned businesses to participate in public contracting opportunities. Number 4, invest in entrepreneurship education and technical assistance. Number 5, support equitable economic growth across communities. Number 6, establish a pilot procurement initiative to incentivize partnerships with prime contractors and small business enterprises -- enterprise firms from communities such as Trenton, Newark, Camden, Atlantic City, Paterson, and New Brunswick. Number 7, hold a series of workshops on prequalification process with NJDOT, as an example; School Development Authority; New Jersey Turnpike Authority; and New Jersey Transit. Number 8, marketing campaign to recruit small business enterprises to register to do business on the State’s portal. And, lastly, immediately reengage in the process to address the State’s Disparity Study that was conducted from 2015-2020, and released in 2024. So, in closing, the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey stands ready to partner with legislators, State agencies, and stakeholders to help develop practical solutions that strengthen New Jersey’s business ecosystem, which, the Chamber has been doing for almost 20 years now. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I look forward to continuing this very important conversation. Thank you so very much--

--and I have copies for everyone.

Yes, good.

Oh, OK. Well, I thank you very much for--

You want me to finish?

All right.

Hmm? I can summarize, or I just wanted to talk about some of the administrative time barriers, because, for instance, it takes a very long time for agencies to make determinations on applications. I have an application in to the DOL; it’s 13 months, I still have not gotten a result. It has cost me a lot of money; I’ve had to renew my bond -- the tuition bond that I’ve had to put in -- I’ve had to pay for it twice now, because it’s 13 months already. So, I respectfully ask that we pass some sort of legislation which requires State agencies to have a time limit on determining applications, and that they respond when we ask questions -- ask for status updates, because I have not gotten one status update in over a year.

I’ve sent six emails, three to the Commissioner, three to the specialist who took it, and then three to the Commissioner; this was under the last administration. No. I heard from them after the three-month mark; they asked me for clarification on a document; I submitted it; I’ve heard nothing, and I had to rebuy my $20,000 bond. I had to pay for it the first time, and I had to pay for it again, plus, a nonrefundable fee of $1,150. I’m a small business; that’s almost $3,000 between that and worker’s comp insurance. And, so, for small businesses that’s really a burden.

OK.

Thank you.

OK, thank you.

OK, thank you for your time. MS. DeMARCO: Christine Myers, President, Employers Association of New Jersey.

But, that’s what I’m saying, I’m leaving a strong woman for last.

And, it was not on purpose; she left, but I was going-- The agenda was prepared as--

--but, you know what--

Well, Commissioner, thank you so much for what you do, and you have as Commissioner, because it takes time and dedication, right, and thank you for bringing -- you’re absolutely right -- not everything feeds everybody the same, and that’s where we have to be mindful. From the time we establish rules affecting everyone, and the little ones cannot afford those changes, because they’re not at the same scale as somebody with 10 employees. Somebody with two or three employees, like look at the little bodegas, right, and they’re actually the little supermarkets in those areas that people don’t have transportation. So, some of the rules cannot apply to them, because it’s him, his wife, and his son who manage the store. So, I completely understand.

Well, thank you so much, Commissioner Christine Myers, for your testimony. Senator, would you like to say something before we close?

Thank you, Senator. Senator Burzichelli, anything to close?

Vice Chair.

I just want to thank our staff, Michael, that was the one who worked so hard, and our staff, and the Office of Legislative Services, and the Republican side for working together to make sure that we had a successful hearing today. Just want to say thank you to everyone who attended and actually stayed for the entire testimony. This is important; our businesses are important. I like the fact that without no farm, no food, and people keep forgetting that. So, definitely I was devastated about the news last night, how bad the weather have affect our agriculture. So, we need to work together. And, we hear, we listen, and we hopefully come up with ideas and legislation that will make business more welcoming in New Jersey. And, not only welcome new business in New Jersey; keep the ones that we have here, and help them navigate through the challenges that you should not be having. So, let’s work together, and thank you for attending. God bless, and have a safe, safe weekend. I’m not going to call it a holiday weekend, a weekend, just remember. God bless, everyone. Meeting adjourned.