TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - In a city where the iconic "Trenton Makes" bridge signals the city's former industrial muscle, business and government leaders are rethinking the dogma that manufacturing's continuing decline across the state is inevitable.
Instead, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and a growing number of supporters are trying to rejuvenate the state's manufacturing sector, which offer blue-collar workers above-average pay and benefits.
A campaign started by the business group, headquartered near the state Capitol, is getting traction as state lawmakers and department heads commit to helping New Jersey manufacturers compete against companies in other states and countries with less regulations and lower costs for labor, employee benefits, energy and land.
New Jersey was a manufacturing powerhouse through World War II, when 55 percent of all jobs were in factories - generally huge complexes with thousands of workers. They cranked out textiles, steel bridge cables, Singer sewing machines, Navy attack planes, car parts and automobiles starting with the Ford Model T.
Those gritty factories have mostly been replaced by cleaner, high-tech plants producing medicines, ambulances, medical devices, computer chips, digital cameras, chemicals, labels and flags, and foods from pizza sauce to M&M candy.
"Today's manufacturer is a tight little niche operation that may employ 25 to 100 people," generally in low-profile plants, said NJBIA spokesman Chris Little. "That's why a lot of people think manufacturing is extinct in New Jersey."
The "Manufacturing Counts! NJBIA Campaign for Manufacturing Renewal" is the first effort by New Jersey's private sector to show how high taxes and fees, regulations and red tape can squeeze manufacturers - and to get government to address the issues, said Jim Sinclair, a vice president at the association.
"For the first time in 25 years, the Legislature is talking about manufacturing in a proactive way," Sinclair said. "I don't know about reversing (loss of factories), but I do know that there are a number of things that we can do to help the manufacturers."
The association is seeking 31 changes in state laws and regulations to help its 4,000 manufacturing members reduce or control expenses, from insurance and taxes to permit fees and compliance with state regulations, Sinclair said.
The association, along with 235 member companies on its new manufacturers' council and government supporters, argues manufacturing still is an important sector in New Jersey, providing about 335,000 jobs - about one in 12. Nearly 80,000 manufacturing jobs were lost from 2001 through 2003 because of the recession, but the decline slowed last year, with only 7,300 jobs lost.
"Preserving the manufacturing sector of the economy helps strengthen the state as a whole," said Clifford Lindholm III, chair of the new manufacturers' council and chief executive of his family's business, Falstrom Co., a small contract manufacturer of precision metal products in Passaic.
Among other factors, average manufacturing wages in 2003 topped $53,000, about $9,300 more than for private-sector jobs in New Jersey.
"What I hope this campaign will accomplish is reduce the cost of doing business in the state of New Jersey," said Lindholm, the fourth generation to run what began as a small metal workshop founded in 1870 by his ancestor, Swedish immigrant Gustav Falstrom.
Lindholm's priorities include proposals to address some quickly rising business fees, and to exempt manufacturers in the state's 21 urban enterprise zones from taxes that add about 10 percent to their energy costs. He also wants lawmakers to drop mandates in state-regulated health insurance plans for small businesses that require them to include coverage for expensive care, like infertility treatment.
So far, 77 of the Legislature's 120 members support the campaign, according to the association.
Democratic Sen. Paul Sarlo of Wood-Ridge, chair of the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee, said several of the association's proposals already are in bills moving through the Legislature.
Among the first he expects to be passed: A bill to repeal a retroactive surcharge on toxic emissions and a proposal to appoint an ombudsman to help businesses find energy subsidies, grants and other ways to reduce utility costs.
Caren Franzini, chief executive of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, said it is partnering with the state labor, treasury and environmental protection departments and the Commerce and Economic Growth & Tourism Commission on ways to help manufacturers. Those include grants, tax incentives and low-interest loans to companies buying equipment or adding workers.
Next month, the commission will host a summit aimed at revitalizing the glassmaking industry in southern New Jersey, which makes products for pharmaceutical and other businesses.
Meanwhile, the Economic Development Authority is working with the ports in Camden, Elizabeth and Newark to provide grants and low-interest loans to clean up contaminated sites for use by light manufacturing and assembly plants, Franzini said.
"We want to help manufacturing companies stay in New Jersey," Franzini said.
This article appeared in the Star-Ledger, Bergen Record, Asbury Park Press, Trenton Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and other daily newspapers.
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