Over a quarter of New Jersey's Fortune 500 companies have left the state in the past seven years – underscoring why the next governor needs to make this state more affordable and competitive for job creators, said NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka in a NJ Spotlight News interview broadcast on Oct. 20.
Siekerka spoke with anchor Briana Vannozzi about NJBIA’s Blueprint for a Competitive New Jersey , a 28-page policy document that provides a roadmap for the next governor to drive innovation and grow the state’s economy.
“Seven years ago, we had 21 Fortune 500 companies in this state; today we have 15,” Siekerka said. The state's current economic policies and affordability issues “continue to drive business out of the state, and with that goes money.”
“Over the past 15 years, $33 billion of adjusted gross income has left this state,” she said.
That loss of wealth impacts tax revenues and the state budget, she said. “Think about if we had that $33 billion in our operating budget. What a better place we would be in.”
Whoever wins the Nov. 4 gubernatorial election and is sworn into office in January will only have a matter of weeks to put together his or her first budget, Siekerka said. They will quickly discover that the state budget has grown so rapidly over the past seven years that it has become unsustainable.
“What do we need to do? We need to grow the economy,” Siekerka said. “Who grows the economy? Job creators.”
Yet recent state actions, such as raising New Jersey’s corporate business tax rate to 11.5% – the highest in the nation – undermine the state’s competitiveness, especially when neighboring Pennsylvania is in the process of driving its corporate tax rate down to 5% over the next five years, she said.
"Right now, Pennsylvania is eating our lunch on corporate business tax. They're also getting all the AI play," Siekerka said, referring to the new artificial intelligence data centers being built in Pennsylvania that will generate billions of dollars in economic development.
"If we look at that corporate business tax and start driving that down, with guardrails, a percentage a year over five years, maybe we can compete,” Siekerka said.
“I mean, we've got significant challenges in this state that we need to pay attention to, and we need to do it on Day One of a new administration,” Siekerka said.
To watch the entire NJ Spotlight News interview, go here.
