TO:                     Members of the Senate Economic Growth Committee

FROM:               Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs, CCSNJ

RE:                      S-1778 (Singleton/Oroho)

DATE:               June 15, 2020

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) would like to express our support for S-1778 (Singleton/Oroho), which creates an office to encourage the creation of federal jobs and infrastructure investment in the state.

As written, the bill establishes an office in the New Jersey Department of Treasury through which the state will encourage the establishment of permanent federal jobs, as well as other federal investments, in New Jersey. In the event of a risk of civilian mission loss or suspected/identified base closure in the state, the office will lead a coordinated effort with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs to mitigate the risk.

The Joint Base Fort-Dix-McGuire is among the state’s largest employers, with more than 40,000 military and civilian workers and contributes more than $7 billion annually to New Jersey’s economy.  Additionally, the Joint Base was the first of its kind in the United States and is the only tri-service joint base in the United States Department of Defense (DOD). It is of the upmost importance to the region to ensure that the Joint Base remains a crucial part of the region’s economy and this legislation helps assure all possible resources are being tapped into to alleviate the risk.

Establishing an office which encourages the creation of federal jobs and infrastructure investment will help to ensure the economic growth of the region. This bill will ensure that it remains a priority to not only protect existing federal jobs that support the operations of the base but grow and create new jobs. The South Jersey region was not immune to the economic impact of the pandemic, making the Joint Base more important to than ever to the region. The CCSNJ proudly supports efforts to protect the joint base from future base closures or defense cutbacks.

Thank you for the opportunity to weigh in on this important initiative for the region and the CCSNJ respectfully urges your support of S-1778 (Singleton / Oroho).