TRANSFORMING OUR BUSINESS CLIMATE

Restoring New Jersey’s Ability to Compete

TRANSFORMING OUR BUSINESS CLIMATE

For nearly a decade, our state has ranked dead last in the U.S. for business climate, a rating that is driven by our regulations and highest-in-the-nation business taxes. As a result, the state is regularly losing jobs and investments to other states that prioritize growing their economies. The Garden State Initiative promotes reforms that will again make New Jersey an attractive place to open and grow a business.

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50th

Business Climate Ranking

Source: Tax Foundation.

11.5%

Business Tax Rate

Highest business tax rate in the United States.

50th

Entrepreneurship

New Jersey is ranked 50th when it comes to starting a business (WalletHub).

38th

GDP Growth Rank

1.0% in Q1 '23 vs. 2.0% US growth

FEATURED POST

PODCAST: NFIB’s Kean Talks Taxes, Energy and the Importance of Supporting Small Businesses

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea of the Garden State Initiative. In this series, GSI traveled to the State House in Trenton for one-on-one interviews with legislators, business leaders, and members of the press to discuss Governor Murphy’s latest budget proposal and GSI’s recent report, New Jersey’s Fiscal Cliff Explained. In this episode, Regina is joined by Eileen Kean, the State Director for the…

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THE LATEST WORK ON TRANSFORMING OUR BUSINESS CLIMATE

PODCAST

PODCAST: NFIB’s Kean Talks Taxes, Energy and the Importance of Supporting Small Businesses

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea of the Garden State Initiative. In this series, GSI traveled to the State…

PODCAST

PODCAST: Tom Bracken on the Consequences of NJ’s Rising Corporate Business Tax

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea, President of the Garden State Initiative. In this series, GSI traveled…

PODCAST

PODCAST: Chris Emigholz of NJBIA on Governor’s budget plan and how revisions to this plan could help get New Jersey back on track

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea, President of the Garden State Initiative. In this series, GSI travelled…

PODCAST

PODCAST: Business Outlook 2024

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea, President of the Garden State Initiative. In this episode, Regina is…

IN THE NEWS

NJ adds 12K jobs in December, nearly 70K total in 2023

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development released its December 2023 jobs report Thursday, showing the state gained…

OP-EDS

New Jersey’s small businesses need more support from Trenton. This is why | Opinion

It’s a fact that small businesses are the backbone of New Jersey’s economy.  According to data from the U.S. Small…

EVENT

2023 Annual William E. Simon Economic Policy Forum

GSI's Annual William E. Simon Economic Policy Forum was held on Wednesday, May 3rd in New Brunswick. Click below to…

OP-EDS

A Simple Plan to Get New Jersey Back on Track for Growth

How do you turn one of the most prosperous places in the world into an economic and fiscal basket case?…

IN THE NEWS

GSI’s Regina Egea on Lowering CBT: “A Stimulative Tax Reduction”

On this past weekend's edition of NJBIA's “Minding Your Business” on News 12+, Garden State Initiative founder and president Regina…

OP-EDS

Making a state-ment: Why following N.C. model could spur economic growth in N.J.

Patrick Delle Cava is the business manager for IBEW Local 102; Audrey Lane is the policy director for the Garden…

IN THE NEWS

Phil Murphy finds unlikely allies over corporate taxes. But they say he needs to do more now

Facing pushback from progressive supporters over corporate tax rates, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy has found unlikely allies in the conservative…

IN THE NEWS

NJ state budget: This is why Democrats ‘do not want drama’

With an address outlining his proposed budget for New Jersey's fiscal year 2024, Gov. Phil Murphy has handed off the…

IN THE NEWS

Business leaders welcome NJ budget proposal, but concerns linger

“From my first day in office I rejected the false choice that you are either for business or for hard-working…

IN THE NEWS

GSI’s Regina Egea Talks Business & Economy on “New Jersey Politics”

GSI's Regina Egea appeared on the January 22nd edition of "New Jersey Politics with Laura Jones" for a wide ranging…

EVENT

Virtual Event: Economic Earthquake – Pennsylvania’s Dramatic Tax Cuts & What It Means for New Jersey

   

PODCAST

PODCAST: Economic Volatility is Creating Political Volatility – The 2022 Outlook

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea, President of the Garden State Initiative. This episode features Dan Clifton’s presentation from…

IN THE NEWS

GSI’s Egea Talks Gas Prices and NJ’s Economy on New Jersey Now

Is there any hope relief at the pump for New Jersey drivers? GSI's Regina Egea discussed that and takeaways from…

IN THE NEWS

NJ.com: New unemployment claims tick up in N.J. despite nationwide drop

By Sophie Nieto-MunozNew Jersey is experiencing a rise in new unemployment filings even as new applications are falling across the…

IN THE NEWS

Center Square NJ: New Jersey adds 20,800 jobs, but numbers remain below the pre-pandemic level

By Todd DeFeo(The Center Square) – New Jersey employers added 20,800 jobs in March, the largest gain in six months,…

IN THE NEWS

NJ Biz: Weekly NJ jobless claims drop 45% as unemployment rate stalls for months

By Daniel MunozNew week-to-week jobless claims in New Jersey amid the pandemic nearly halved as the state’s unemployment rate stubbornly…

IN THE NEWS

USA Today Network: Protect our lower wage New Jersey workers and their jobs

The following op-ed appeared in New Jersey publications of the USA Today Network on March 29, 2021. By Regina M.…

IN THE NEWS

NorthJersey.com: Why New Jersey’s old unemployment computer system remains a problem, frustrating applicants

By Stacey BarchengerWhen Anthony Williams called an automated phone line to get his unemployment benefits in December, the robotic voice…

IN THE NEWS

Center Square NJ: New Jersey unemployment falls to 7.6% as workers leave workforce

By Todd DeFeo(The Center Square) – New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell by 2.6 percentage points to 7.6% in December, but…

IN THE NEWS

Center Square NJ: New Jersey’s unemployed continuing to have trouble finding jobs

By Kim Jarrett(The Center Square) – New Jersey’s unemployment rate returned to double digits in November, increasing 2.2 percentage points…

IN THE NEWS

NJ.com: To keep Nabisco, others in N.J. we can’t continue business as usual

By Regina M. EgeaWhen presented with the news that Mondelez, was considering closing its Fair Lawn factory and moving 600 jobs out of…

IN THE NEWS

NJ.com: To keep Nabisco, others in N.J. we can’t continue business as usual

By Regina M. EgeaWhen presented with the news that Mondelez, was considering closing its Fair Lawn factory and moving 600 jobs out of…

IN THE NEWS

ROI-NJ: ‘Other states are taking notice of N.J.’s lousy business climate and are trying to pilfer our businesses and jobs’

By BettyLou DeCroce and Patrick Delle CavaNew Jersey Assemblyman John McKeon (D-West Orange), chair of the Financial Institutions Committee, recently…

IN THE NEWS

Center Square NJ: After years of draining unemployment insurance fund, New Jersey lawmakers scramble to slow $1 billion tax hike on businesses

By Todd DeFeo(The Center Square) – A proposal to slow the implementation of a $1 billion unemployment insurance (UI) payroll tax increase…

IN THE NEWS

NJTV: August ’20 Jobs Report

In an interview with NJTV News’ Business Correspondent Rhonda Schaffler, GSI’s president Regina Egea discusses our analysis of New Jersey’s…

IN THE NEWS

Hugin: Let’s Bring Pharma Manufacturing Back to New Jersey

GSI’s Board Chairman Bob Hugin, a former Chairman and CEO of Celgene Corporation, appeared on Monday’s edition of The Joe…

IN THE NEWS

NJ Spotlight: Unemployment Rate Continues to Drop, but NJ’s Economic Indicators Are Complicated

While New Jersey’s unemployment rate has been steadily dropping over the last six months, the state has also shed thousands…

IN THE NEWS

NJ Spotlight: NJ’S MINIMUM WAGES RISES TO $10 TODAY IN FIRST STEP TOWARD $15

Today more than 200,000 New Jerseyans are getting a raise to $10 an hour, the first in the state’s multi-year…

IN THE NEWS

ROI-NJ.com: GSI forum offers some ‘uncomfortable truths’ of doing business in N.J.

State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon was measured in his tone but precise in his words.Speaking at Garden State Initiative’s second annual Economic…

OP-EDS

Press of Atlantic City: NJ rapidly making its bad business climate worse

"Now that they have the governorship as well as control of the Legislature, the state’s Democrats have wasted no time…

IN THE NEWS

Washington Post: Gerber moving headquarters to Arlington, Va., from New Jersey

Gerber, the baby-products giant, is moving its corporate headquarters from Florham Park to Northern Virginia, writes Patricia Sullivan. The move…

IN THE NEWS

‘You can’t tax your way to prosperity,’ writes GSI in The Wall Street Journal

No matter what this year’s gubernatorial candidates may say, painless solutions to New Jersey’s fiscal challenges don’t exist. The state’s…