By Eliana Pintor Marin

As the Assembly budget chairperson and a member of the Essex County legislative delegation, proudly representing Newark, I have had a first-hand look at how Grow NJ has been instrumental in moving New Jersey’s economy into the 21st century.

The best way to look at the program is to examine the facts. A vast majority of approved Grow NJ projects (71.3 percent) are in distressed municipalities. These projects represent approximately 85 percent of all tax credits approved by New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), .

The program has been especially transformative for Camden. Projects such as the 76ers practice facility, Subaru national headquarters, Holtec and American Water, as well as other projects will generate approximately 6,000 jobs with a net benefit of three quarters of a billion dollars to New Jersey. Further, it will permanently change the local landscape creating the financial capacity to finally begin to reverse years of $100 million state subsidies that have been provided to Camden annually. This is transformational.

In my home town of Newark, New Jersey’s targeted incentives programs have been inspirational. Beginning in 2012, the now retired Urban Transit Hub incentive program re-rooted Prudential and retained Panasonic from leaving our state, creating thousands of jobs. Building on this success, the Grow NJ program brought many new companies including Fintech powerhouse Broadridge, industry leader Audible.com, Hello Fresh and Aerofarms, which built its headquarters, R&D operation and the largest aeroponic urban farm in the nation. Grow NJ has spurred growth by large and small companies alike.

Creating a robust mixed-use environment, companion programs made development of vibrant downtown residential areas possible. Projects such as Teacher’s Village, a mixed-use project targeted to middle-income households have become a model for projects in other cities across the nation. Teacher’s Village made use of a number of financial investment programs, but it was the residential economic redevelopment grant that made the project happen. Other projects followed, including Hahnes, Symphony Square and many smaller community-based projects.

All of this activity was made possible only through targeted incentives and creative urban place-making, building the necessary critical mass that is transforming Newark so that we could compete at such a high level for 21st century jobs that Amazon named Newark a finalist in its national H2Q search. With the debacle in Long Island City, Newark is poised to gain high-value employment opportunities as Apple and other tech companies look for locations in the region with vibrant urban settings.

Recently, I introduced a successor to the Grow NJ program that was enacted in 2013 in response to the great recession that hit our state hard. My legislation refines and re-calibrates business incentives to meet today’s market needs and incorporates Gov. Phil Murphy’s vision to attract the important innovation/research and development sector.

However, I believe that if we are going to make a concerted effort to compete regionally, nationally and globally, we need both updated economic development programs and messaging that welcomes business and private sector job creation to our great state.

That is why I have been so disappointed with the quality of recent debate over incentives. Some indiscriminately oppose incentives because they miss the basic reality of economic development. Incentives, properly designed and administered, are not “giveaways,” but inducements to create jobs and investments that would not otherwise have occurred, and which must be earned and documented before any incentives are received.

This economic activity, in turn, generates tax revenues that would otherwise not have been received. So when some critics say they want these funds used for other priorities, they miss the fundamental point that these revenues do not exist unless generated by new investment. Yet, so many people seem to have gotten caught up in the circular logic that they can spend funds that they do not have.

We cannot get caught up in such rhetoric that is toxic to potential economic growth formation. New Jersey has many of the components for growth, with our strategic location, well defined infrastructure and educated labor market. However, we must continue to refine and develop important economic development tools, like Grow NJ if we want to provide new opportunity for all of our residents.

Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin, chair of the Assembly Budget Committee, represents the 29th Legislative District.

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