New Jersey State Capitol Building
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As we carry strong momentum into 2019, it's worth taking a step back to reflect on a full year of activity in 2018. Last year, we released our informative 2018 Residential Study in partnership with Trenton Parking Authority, launched a buzzing online publication called TrentonDaily, leveraged our nationally-recognized Amazon proposal to drum up awareness of potential opportunities in the city, issued a white paper to incentivize state workers to live in Trenton, purchased a new building (across from the State Capitol) to serve as Greater Trenton's future headquarters, and launched our first Annual Caren Franzini Award Celebration event, which was met with great success.
As a testament to a budding relationship with the city, Mayor Reed Gusciora has attended every one of our board meetings since taking office. In addition, Governor Phil Murphy's presence at the Caren Franzini event, along with key city, state, county and business leaders, added a tremendous level of credibility and awareness with respect to Greater Trenton's revitalization efforts.
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The latest Wall Street Journal news featuring Trenton as one of "America's Superstar Cities" is certainly a great way to kick the year off! So, Happy New Year
on behalf of all of us at Greater Trenton!
We thank you for your continued support and we look forward to a great year ahead.
Best,
George
George D. Sowa
Chief Executive Officer
GREATER TRENTON
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What a Year! 2018 Was Full of Ups and Ups
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There's no doubt that 2018 was a productive year all around as Greater Trenton collaborated on a number of fronts to help catalyze efforts to reinvigorate the Capital City.
Around this time last year, Greater Trenton released its 2018 Downtown Trenton Residential Market Study, in conjunction with the Trenton Parking Authority, to determine the market potential and optimum market position for newly-introduced housing units in Downtown Trenton. The study, which garnered much local and national press, revealed a strong demand for up to 760 housing units in Downtown Trenton over the next five years with younger singles and couples representing the largest share of that market at 68 percent.
In conjunction with this effort, Greater Trenton developed and released a whitepaper to the State of New Jersey incentivizing state workers in Trenton to live in and become a part of the fabric of the city.
After seizing on an opportunity to pitch Trenton as a potential location for Amazon’s 2nd headquarters in late 2017 and coming in at "21 out of the top 20 cities," Greater Trenton found a new purpose for the proposal in 2018. What began as a grand submission to lure Amazon to the city of Trenton, has now taken on an entirely new life as it helps to create awareness of the city’s development opportunities and puts forth a vision of what the city could be.
With newly published books, redacting all references to Amazon, Greater Trenton’s proposal has been re-purposed as a marketing piece targeted at potential companies, developers and investors. Reaching thousands of people, the books and digital slides have been used for high profile presentations, panel discussions and tours including by the Mayor’s office, the Governor’s Conference on Housing and Economic Development, the New Jersey League of Municipalities, and Princeton University’s ArcPrep initiative.
In September of 2018, Greater Trenton launched a daily online publication called
TrentonDaily. It serves as a source for news on New Jersey's Capital City from the lens of opportunity and progress. Founded and led by GT's Vice President of Marketing Bryan Evans, the publication highlights people, organizations, initiatives, historic moments, events, arts & culture, and business attractions that make Trenton a unique and inspiring place to live, work and play. The publication currently boasts over 7,000 readers a month.
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Just prior to the new year, Greater Trenton purchased 124 West State Street as its future headquarters and is currently in the process of making key improvements to both the interior and external façade.
Greater Trenton played an instrumental role in the submission process for a
$100,000
award granted to the City of Trenton by New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA). The award is being used
to plan the Trenton Production and Knowledge Innovation Campus (TPKIC) in the city’s creative, education, and transit districts.
Mayor Reed Gusciora is working in partnership with Mercer County Improvement Authority, Trenton Public Schools, Greater Trenton and New Jersey Future; led by a consortium of all five institutions of higher education in Mercer County: Mercer County Community College, Princeton University, Rider University, The College of New Jersey, and Thomas Edison State University.
On December 6th, Greater Trenton brought together hundreds of attendees including prominent community, government, and business leaders at its First Annual Caren Franzini Capital City Award Celebration. Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora provided welcoming remarks and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy spoke at the pre-celebration reception.
During this elegant evening of cocktails, conversations and collaborations at the New Jersey State Museum, participants reflected on Trenton's past, reimagined its future, and mingled with some of the most influential leaders impacting the Capital City. The celebration honored the legacy of the late Caren Franzini, former NJEDA CEO and one of the founders of Greater Trenton, by presenting the Caren Franzini Capital City Award to Anthony R. Coscia, Partner, Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf, LLP.
A portion of the $100,000+ raised from the event will be invested in Trenton’s youth through a scholarship fund that will directly develop strong writing, public relations and communications skills right here in downtown Trenton. This will be achieved by inviting aspiring journalists at Trenton Central High School to work with TrentonDaily.
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Trenton is Among 'America's Superstar Cities'
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It’s beginning to “feel a lot like tech town everywhere I go” as New Jersey’s Capital City continues to be acknowledged nationally as an attractive metro for technology and innovation. The Wall Street Journal’s recent article entitled “Where You Should Move to Make the Most Money: America’s Superstar Cities,” shows New Jersey’s Capital City ranked among the top 12 U.S. metropolitan areas in 2016 by mean digital score; a finding captured by Brookings Institution analysis of federal data.
One of the biggest ongoing debates in recent history revolves around the idea of digitization versus human brain power. Given the steady rise in multifaceted technologies, virtues of both physical location and online collaboration have spurred great thinkers to ponder the future of robots and human existence. However, when it comes to talented employees who leverage technology in meaningful ways, Trenton, New Jersey is among the nation’s superstars.
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According the WSJ article mentioned above, Mark Muro – a Senior Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings – used data from time-use surveys conducted by the federal government to create an index of every metro area in the U.S., ranking them by how much workers in each city use computers to accomplish their jobs. The resulting data was a measure of the digitalization of every job, industry and city surveyed.
Trenton ranked 6
th
on the list ahead of prominent metros like Washington, D.C., Boston, and San Francisco. Ranking higher than metros like Arlington, VA (winner of Amazon’s HQ2 location) and Austin, TX (future home of Apple’s new campus), certainly validates Trenton’s appeal as a tech town.
Another validation came late last year when Trenton was designated as one of the
Top 20 Tech Towns in America.
CompTIA’s
2018 Tech Town Index looked at quality of life for tech workers, factoring in salaries, job availability, job growth and cost of living.
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WHAT'S HAPPENING IN TRENTON?
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January 20, 2019
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
New Jersey Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Commission is hosting its annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative event. This year’s program, "The Economic Dream" will include Secretary of State Tahesha Way, guest speakers Sabrina Lamb and Department of Education Commissioner Dr. Lamont O. Repollet, music, and arts all of which will honor the life and legacy of Dr. King. This is a
FREE
event and is open to the general public.
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New Jersey State Museum Auditorium
205 West State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
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Are You Ready for Future Ready?
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January 24, 2019
9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
"Are You Ready for Future Ready?"
programs will engage participants in the process of creating or enhancing their school’s digital learning environments. Leaders from schools and districts across New Jersey will network, collaborate, and join a community dedicated to best preparing students for success in college, career, and citizenship in the digital age. Participants will also be guided through the FRS-NJ self-assessment and certification process and learn how the experience organizes, guides, and supports schools' Future Ready efforts. The programs, formerly named the
“Are You Future Ready?” Working Sessions
, all offer the same content.
The programs are sponsored by the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey, and are offered at no cost to New Jersey school leaders.*
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NJSBA Headquarters
413 W. State Street
Trenton, NJ 08605
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The Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey's Youth Orchestra Festival
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January 26, 2019
2:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
On January 26, 2019, three of our region’s top independently-operating Youth Orchestras (Greater Princeton, Central Jersey, and Bravura) are coming together to create a grand day of symphony on the grand stage of Patriots Theater at the War Memorial in Trenton. Performing on the same stage of legends past (Rachmaninoff, Sinatra, King, Armstrong, Springsteen…) will be a wonderful experience for these advanced high school musicians from throughout central NJ and eastern PA. Come out to enjoy an afternoon of delightful music, and help fill the house to honor their dedication while making this an unforgettable highlight of their performing arts careers!
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Patriots Theater at the War Memorial
1 Memorial Drive
Trenton, NJ 08608
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Sustainable Practices Working Session
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February 28, 2019
9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
As part of its commitment to helping schools across New Jersey reach their sustainability goals, NJSBA, in collaboration with Sustainable Jersey for Schools, is offering members and school district personnel an opportunity to attend a one-day Sustainable Practices Working Session. In this session participants will review a Sustainability Wellness Check, which will be in alignment with the Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification program.
The program begins at 9 a.m. with registration and a continental breakfast beginning at 8:30 a.m.
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NJSBA Headquarters
413 W. State Street
Trenton, NJ 08605
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VISIT TRENTONDAILY.COM TO GET YOUR DAILY DOSE OF STORIES SURROUNDING TRENTON'S ECONOMIC PROGRESS, NEIGHBORHOODS, COMMUNITY HEROES, ARTS & CULTURE, HISTORY, BUSINESS ASSETS AND MORE.
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