We are in a down economy, especially on the real estate end, and there is vacant warehouse space available in the region. What to do?
The Middlesex County freeholders have a pretty decent idea: Seek out firms in the environmental field.
A new county committee has been formed to match manufacturers of energy-efficient and sustainable products with vacant warehouses, which could bring business into South Brunswick.
”Our goal is to actively pursue as many economic opportunities as we can by creating green jobs and boosting the economy,” said Freeholder H. James Polos. “Middlesex County is in position right now to take the lead and help our communities attract new business opportunities.”
The Middlesex County Green Economic Development Zone Committee was established to study the economic value in creating “green” zones, with hopes of bringing burgeoning green technology companies into the county, according to Mr. Polos.
A team of local, county and state officials and representatives from the corporate and academic sectors met in late May to lay the groundwork for attracting these companies to the area in order to boost economic growth and create jobs.
This makes sense on a number of levels. First, we need to generate jobs and green jobs are likely to have more staying power than the service-sector stuff we’ve focused on in the United States for the last couple of decades.
Second, we need property tax revenue. The state is unlikely — regardless of who wins the Statehouse in November — to make the kind of drastic changes in the tax system needed in New Jersey. So, we need businesses to occupy empty buildings and there is some demand out there for light-assembly work (solar panels) and distribution of eco-products.
Third, creation of a green zone in Middlesex County could trigger other green zones — creating the incentives necessary to move away from our carbon-based lifestyle. The more cheaply we can produce environmentally friendly products, the cheaper they will be for consumers. And if we can lower the cost on the consumer end, we are more likely to see consumers make green choices. The Middlesex County green zone could, under this reasoning, serve as a model for other counties in the state and other regions in the country.
As the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board wrote in a draft report (quoted from Thomas Friedman’s column in Sunday’s Times:
“Sustainable technologies in solar, wind, electric vehicles, nuclear and other innovations will drive the future global economy. We can either invest in policies to build U.S. leadership in these new industries and jobs today, or we can continue with business as usual and buy windmills from Europe, batteries from Japan and solar panels from Asia.”
Hank Kalet 