Pfizer unveiled expansion and renovation plans for its New Jersey operations two years ago. In late 2004, the New Jersey Commerce and Economic Growth Commission approved an incentive package worth up to $25 million for the mammoth project.
      Pfizer's New Jersey footprint, tailored to fit space needs arising out of its absorption of Pharmacia Corp., will include an additional 900,000 sq. ft. (83,610 sq. m.) at the Morris Plains home of Pfizer's consumer healthcare unit. Existing facilities there, obtained via Pfizer's 2000 merger with Warner-Lambert, are undergoing major upgrades, as well.
      So massive are the company's building plans that initial efforts there center on constructing a multi-level parking complex capable of accommodating hundreds of construction workers engaged for the project. At the same time, Pfizer has launched a 160,000-sq.-ft. (14,864-sq.-m.) expansion of its R&D center in Parsippany.
      About half of Pfizer's $500-million investment in New Jersey will be subject to an enhanced sales tax exemption available under the BRRAG program.
      An already solid life sciences cluster added another big name when Japan's Daiichi Pharmaceutical Corp. announced it would consolidate its U.S. headquarters presence in Madison, securing a lease on 141,000 sq. ft. (13,099 sq. m.) at the town's Giralda Farms Corporate Campus. The space will house 400 Daiichi employees engaged in marketing, sales and scientific work.
      Upon announcing the move, Daiichi CEO James Hageman credited the community's proximity to qualified labor, potential buyers and suppliers.
      "By situating our company in the midst of New Jersey's pharmaceutical hub we are able to attract new partners and quality talent," he said.
      Operating nearby at Giralda Farms are the corporate headquarters of life-science luminaries Wyeth and Schering-Plough.
      Daiichi's plans in New Jersey are being helped along by financial support from the state. The company will receive $1.3 million in BEIP funds.
      New Jersey's financial services cluster is also growing. Commercial Credit Counseling Services has doubled its space in Paramus to 34,000 sq. ft. (3,159 sq. m.) in a move that came less than two years after the firm's last expansion. It is beefing up its 110-person work force in kind, according to Charles Evans, the company's business development manager.
      "The goal is to grow that number by 75 over the next six months," he says.
      The BEIP program is in play with a reported $63.9-million offer (the highest ever) to try and keep current jobs at Verizon Communications while adding up to 2,000 more through establishment of an operations center.
      Over 60,000 jobs will be created in New Jersey during 2005, according to economic forecasters at Rutgers University. While that's fewer than the 70,000 new jobs the Garden State added last year, it's enough to keep employment there humming at a rate above the national average.
      New Jersey's success has come despite uncertainties at the top of its government. Not known for bland politics even in normal times, the state has seen four governors in the last five years.
      The most recent, Democrat Richard Codey, assumed the role of Acting Governor in November 2004. Codey, who simultaneously serves as president of the state senate, is viewed benignly by the state's business community, explains David Rebovich, managing director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
      "Business advocates feel good about him because he will at least listen," Rebovich says.
      Tackling a $4-billion budget shortfall will be the first order of business for New Jersey legislators this year, he adds.
      Also on the agenda: reform of the state's property-tax regime, which funds 42 percent of government operations, and a proposed steep hike in the minimum wage.