Hudson County Executive Robert C. Janiszewski announced Monday that Hudson County has successfully applied for recognition as a “cyberdistrict” and will receive a total of $345,000 to attract high-tech businesses to its communities. This grant will be used to plan efforts to best attract these businesses and will facilitate the transition of Hudson County from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. The Hudson County Office of Strategic Revitalization will head up the efforts. This is just one of the grants the county has received recently to improve its communities.
“This is yet another example of how Hudson County is moving ahead and regaining its stature as a powerhouse in New Jersey,” said Janiszewski. “We already have numerous high-tech firms in Hudson, from Knight Securities to NASDAQ to financial firms. This recognition as an area where firms can come and succeed will bring even more jobs and money to Hudson.”
Hudson County as a whole received a planning grant in the amount of $150,000. Jersey City received an additional $40,000 grant for planning; North Bergen received $75,000, and Bayonne received $80,000. The money will be used to identify those areas within the County that best meet the needs of high tech firms, whether they are advanced manufacturers, computer services firms, communications or media companies or software design businesses.
Because of its proximity to the massive economy of New York City, its prime location as a transportation center and its location in the heart of the Northeast Corridor, Hudson County has long been a dynamic and thriving center for commerce and industry. However, according to the county executive’s office, changes in the world and national economies in the last quarter of the 20th century negatively impacted Hudson County, as manufacturing jobs have declined by 47 percent since 1980. Widely known corporations such as Westinghouse, RCA, Maxwell House and Colgate-Palmolive, which employed thousands of workers in good-paying blue-collar jobs, closed operations, relocated families and laid off workers. Unemployment soared across the county, and the effects of the recession of the early 1990s were magnified through the county. Hudson County has participated in the economic recovery of the 1990s, but, even so, unemployment rates have consistently exceeded state and national averages by two to three percentage points.
According to the county executive’s office, Hudson County decided it needed to build upon its recent successes in attracting new service sector firms, broaden the economic growth of the county both in terms of geography and participation, and create job opportunities that offer a future to county residents. One of the key means to accomplish these objectives is to attract and retain high technology firms and jobs to Hudson County.
This planning grant will bring together representatives of utility companies; municipalities; economic development, organizations and UEZs; academic and training entities including Hudson County Community College, The Stevens Institute; The Urban League and the Hudson County Workforce Investment Board; real estate developers; labor unions; and high tech businesses.
There is a foundation of high tech in Hudson County already. There is a high concentration of chemical firms, as well as computer firms. There are also numerous financial, insurance and real estate firms in Hudson, and the number of electrical contractors continues to rise.
“High tech firms have a future here in Hudson County,” said Janiszewski last week. “There are hundreds of these firms with thousands of employees already operating within our borders and the number grows every day. This grant will enable us to study our marketing efforts and our preparedness for becoming a hot destination for more e-commerce and Fortune 500 firms.”
Hudson County has been moving toward being remodeled and marketed to future development for the last decade. Recently, the County was awarded a $200,000 Smart Growth grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. The purpose of this grant is to create a strategy and action plan to expedite the construction and completion of the Hudson River Walkway project, an uninterrupted scenic walkway through seven municipalities along the Hudson River. This grant led to a partnership between all the municipalities in Hudson and the county to complete the walkway’s construction.