NJ Spotlight News’ Briana Vannozzi interviewed Christina Renna of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey about the chamber’s new report that aims to shed light on the region’s economic growth and challenges. 

“South Jersey’s needs are quite different than the rest of the state,” said Renna, the chamber’s president and CEO. “There seems to be a little bit of a misunderstanding of what makes South Jersey South Jersey.”

The report released Monday is meant to help policymakers understand what’s unique about the seven southernmost counties, some of the poorest in the state. Renna said it’s particularly aimed at lawmakers in the central and northern parts of the state who she said often have a heavy hand in writing statewide mandates that aren’t always beneficial to their peers in the south.

Renna said there are a host of strategies that could bring to more economic growth to the region, and the report focuses on four of them: mass transit accessibility, broadband and Internet access, targeted business incentives and affordable housing.

“A lot of these issues may not necessarily be very specific to South Jersey,” she added. “The state is seeing some of those as well. But as we went county by county, there are the four themes that seem to be impediments to really growing the region economically.” 

South Jersey economic challenges 'misunderstood' | Video | NJ Spotlight News