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24th Annual NJ Alliance for Action Construction Forecast: NJ’s Biopharmaceutical and Medical Technology Industry Continues to Lead State in Capital Construction Expenditures

  • $3.37 billion in construction spending over next 2 years;
  • $1.73 billion in 2009
  • $1.63 billion in 2010

Trenton, NJ, November 6, 2008 — For the seventh straight year, New Jersey’s biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry lead the way in private sector planned construction, reporting $3.37 billion in construction expenditures over the next two years.  These data were reported today at the 24th Annual Construction Forecast Seminar, sponsored by the New Jersey Alliance for Action.

The two-year construction forecast reports by public agencies and private industry are eagerly awaited as an economic barometer of the state’s future.  The information provided at this one of a kind event assists attendees, largely the state’s labor community, with planning their investments and developing a labor supply to prepare and compete for anticipated construction projects.

This year, however, “never have the construction forecasts been more anticipated than now in the current state, national and worldwide crises,” said Phillip K. Beachem, president, New Jersey Alliance for Action.

The biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry will continue to lead the state in capital construction and reported $1.73 billion in estimated capital construction expenditures for 2009 and $1.64 billion in estimated capital construction expenditures for 2010.  

For the current year, 2008, the industry will spend $1.46 billion on capital construction — $826 million in maintenance and renovation and another $635 million in new construction.  This expenditure matches the average of the past decade.

“This marks the seventh consecutive year that the biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry has topped the Alliance’s construction forecast. Many construction sectors are down. The spending by this industry is a real benefit at this time to a severely weakened New Jersey economy,” said Beachem.

Since 1996, New Jersey’s pharmaceutical and medical technology industry has averaged $1.53 billion in annual capital expenditures and spent over $18.41 billion on capital construction projects in the Garden State.

Although 2007 saw the beginning of our national economic downturn, the pharmaceutical and medical technology industry continues to be a vibrant source of economic activity for New Jersey, including capital construction.  New Jersey is home to leading construction and construction management firms that have recognized and adopted the life sciences sector as a primary market.

“The New Jersey Building and Construction Trades thanks the biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry for their continued commitment to our state,” said William Mullen, president, New Jersey Building and Construction Trades.  “Our New Jersey Congressional Delegation, Governor and Legislature are and must remain strong advocates.  Federal policy in the new administration in Washington will have everything to do with how the industry fares in the next few years.  If pharma and med tech companies can build and grow in New Jersey, our trades’ members will continue to have good paying jobs building those facilities.”

Among the projects contributing to the capital construction bottom-line are:  Bayer Healthcare’s Wayne/Montville expansion, Abbott’s Point of Care new headquarters in Plainsboro, Schering Plough’s Summit expansion and Novo Nordisk’s new North American headquarters in Plainsboro.

“New Jersey’s biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry is the state’s economic engine and for the past seven years, the leading sector in creating capital construction jobs.  This year’s report to the Alliance for Action categorically proves that,” said HealthCare Institute of New Jersey Executive Vice President Bill Healey, who presented the industry’s report.

For more information, visit www.hinj.org or www.allianceforaction.com

 

About the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey:

New Jersey is home to more pharmaceutical companies than any other state in the country, or any other country in the world.  The pharmaceutical and medical technology industry is a major factor in creating a thriving economy in our state, as well as making New Jersey a leader in research and development.  The HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) is a trade association for the research-based pharmaceutical and medical technology industry in New Jersey.  Founded in 1997, the Institute serves as a unified voice for the industry and seeks to build awareness of this industry′s impact on New Jersey′s quality of life and economic well-being.  There are currently 30 members of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey.