On Tuesday, January 14, the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) attended as an invited guest of Governor Phil Murphy for his annual State of the State Address, where he outlined his plans for his final year in office.

Among the key initiatives announced, Governor Murphy proposed expanding access to public contracting opportunities for historically marginalized businesses. Last year, the CCSNJ participated in two hearings to discuss the findings of the New Jersey Disparity Study and offered recommendations to improve minority- and women-owned business participation in state contracting. The CCSNJ looks forward to collaborating with the administration on this important initiative.

To address major issues facing families in the state, the Governor proposed providing 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave to state workers, expanding universal pre-K and instituting full-day kindergarten in all school districts. He also directed school districts to adopt policies that ban cell phones from K-12 classrooms.

After the speech concluded, Christina Renna, president & CEO of the CCSNJ released the following statement:

“As Governor Murphy enters the final year of his term, the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the Administration to enhance the business environment for all New Jersey residents and businesses.

In his State of the State address, the Governor highlighted that New Jersey currently boasts the largest number of small businesses and workers employed in the State’s history. The CCSNJ is proud that this aligns with the growth southern New Jersey is seeing as new businesses and industries continue to seek out the region for new endeavors.

Additionally, the CCSNJ shares the Governor’s enthusiasm for New Jersey’s growing small business community. However, more must be done to reduce burdensome regulations and lower the cost of doing business, so these small businesses can not only launch, but thrive in the state.



Lastly, the CCSNJ applauds the Governor’s call for the legislature to enact a package of legislation geared towards closing the tremendous disparity gap with diverse-businesses hoping to do business with the State. The results of the 2024 Disparity Study were incredibly disappointing, but the CCSNJ looks forward to supporting any measure that takes meaningful steps towards creating opportunities for the State’s minority-, women-, veteran- and LGBTQ+ businesses. “

 To read the full remarks of the Governor's State of the State address, click here.