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Pushing Businesses to Invest in Camden
CAMDEN – George Norcross III told business and government leaders on Tuesday that investment missteps of the past in Camden were not successful because they did not play a role in the city's quality of life.
The chair of the Cooper University Health System board of trustees and executive chairman of Camden-based insurance broker Conner Strong & Buckelew singled out a nearly $40 million investment in the minor league baseball Campbell’s Field, which was demolished after about 18 years in 2018 when the Camden Riversharks team moved out.
"Wasted money, it did nothing for anyone,” Norcross said of the huge failure as he encouraged business leaders to invest in Camden at a Camden Open for Business event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey and the nonprofit Camden Community Partnership.
Public education and public safety in the city must be major considerations as the city transforms, he said.
Life in the neighborhoods cannot be ignored, and “that’s what matters the most,” added Norcross, who noted that Cooper’s planned $2 billion expansion is a long-term commitment to the city.
Norcross and others pushed for businesses to locate in Camden at the event on the eighth floor of the TRIAD1828 CENTRE, owned in part by Conner Strong, with a view of the Delaware River waterfront, the Philadelphia skyline and the relatively new headquarters of the American Water investor-owned utility just below.
“It’s been a long road to get where we are today,” Norcross said. But now, he said, “look at the other companies that came here and remain here.”
Norcross pointed to the establishment of several public school systems – the city district, the Renaissance schools and the charter schools – that all compete to attract students.
“Competition is the key to success,” he said.
The controversial Democratic political and business leader, who now is a Florida resident, also said the role that the 10-year-old Camden County Police Department has played in reducing crime in the city has improved the quality of life.
The featured speaker at the event was Wesley Mathews, president and CEO of the Choose New Jersey nonprofit that works with the state to market New Jersey to businesses. Mathews said one hurdle his organization faced was that “the story of New Jersey was a bit dated.”
Some companies from Japan, Taiwan and Korea – nations visited this month by Mathews and a New Jersey contingent – that have business locations in the state had only that older view of New Jersey, he said. The visitors worked to educate them on New Jersey’s three main attributes of talent, location and innovation during the trip with the hope that they will add to their operations in the state, Mathews explained.
Mayor Victor Carstarphen, always a city cheerleader and advocate for his “Team Camden,” told the business leaders that “it’s time to double down on our investment in Camden.”
Carstarphen showed several slides of properties owned by the city or other agencies that, he said, are premium space for business development.
Businesses already located in the city work closely with city government, he added. “The engagement here is at a high level,” he said.
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Source : https://www.tapinto.net/towns/camden/sections/business-and-finance/articles/pushing-businesses-to-invest-in-camden
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