Subject: Office of the Governor Blog Placement
From: "Merilee Kern" <[email-masked]>
To: "Ellen Schack" <[email-masked]>, "'Ed Schack'" <[email-masked]>, "Raoul Davis" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:26:01 -0700

http://nj.gov/governor/blog/20110314.shtml

New Jersey Manufacturing Alive and Well
Ice cream from Forked River, plastic resins from Linden and cowboy hats from Newark - those products and about two dozen others were on display Monday at the Statehouse as part of Made in New Jersey Day. The purpose of the annual exhibit is to highlight the many products manufactured daily in the Garden State. 

“What you can tell by walking these halls is how diverse our manufacturing is,’’ said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno who toured the display. “It debunks the myth that New Jersey is not a manufacturing state.” 

The Lt. Governor visited all 25 businesses that had set up displays, stopping to chat with owners about their products and to offer encouragement. 

Lt. Governor Guadagno told Ken Berk, the owner of Paris Business Products of Westampton, a commercial paper manufacturer, that the Christie Administration has proposed various incentives for business, including $200 million in tax credits, some of which are geared to “green energy” initiatives. 

As part of the event sponsored by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, businesses displayed their products on tables in the State House. Conoco’s Bayway Refinery in Linden showed off its resins and chemical feed stocks. A few feet away, Robert Pfluger of VEP Manufacturing in Jackson, displayed such products as a brake pedal for a race car. Then, there was Dean Serratelli, whose company has made cowboy hats in downtown Newark since the late 1800’s. 

“It’s kind of cool,’’ he said. “You don’t expect a company to make cowboy hats in New Jersey.’’ 

Ed Schack of Cowabunga Ice Cream in Forked River was ready with refreshments. He said his three-year old business makes “designer ice cream” and he had a large tub of one of his most popular flavors, Death by Chocolate, which was sampled by the Lt. Governor. 

“The business climate in New Jersey is turning around,’’ Lt. Governor Guadagno said. “Just about every day, businesses are calling me about coming to New Jersey. Events like this help show people that New Jersey welcomes business investment.” The state gained 5,200 private industry jobs in 2010 after losing 117,700 of them in 2009.