Bedminster Township, NJ, October 1, 2015 ― Five years ago, two of New Jersey’s top business organizations — the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) and the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) — joined forces to promote greater collaboration between higher education and business so New Jersey could enjoy the economic benefits of an innovation ecosystem.
Today, Innovation New Jersey — a diverse coalition of industry, higher education and government — celebrated its five-year anniversary with a look back at what has been accomplished since its founding, and a peek into the future as to where New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem is headed.
University, business and government representatives from throughout New Jersey joined together to celebrate the achievements of the past five years — from changing the culture of industry-university relations, to the restructuring of our higher education system to adopting policies to promote STEM education.
To commemorate New Jersey’s success, the New Jersey Policy Research Organization (NJPRO) Foundation released its latest report, “The Road to an Innovation Ecosystem: Highlights from the Past Five Years.”
The report explains how New Jersey has made dramatic progress in coordinating and leveraging its resources into building a functioning and competitive innovation ecosystem.
From taking action to bolster its innovator industries, to creating a community that spans the innovation spectrum, the report highlights many of the successes New Jersey has had over the past five years.
“Congratulations to Innovation NJ on five successful years of supporting and encouraging our vibrant innovation community,” said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.
“From Angel Investors and incubators to Fortune 500 companies and research institutions, the members of this community collaborate to support one another,” Lt. Governor Guadagno said. “Thanks to Innovation NJ and its partners, we are uniquely positioned to strengthen our position as leaders in innovation and growth.
Secretary of Higher Education Rochelle Hendricks also saluted Innovation NJ’s accomplishments.
“I join today in celebrating Innovation NJ’s fifth anniversary, and I congratulate Haskell Berman and Melanie Willoughby for their energetic leadership of this important and influential organization,” Secretary Hendricks said. “Haskell and Melanie are among my most trusted advisers.”
“Their consistent, diligent commitment to New Jersey’s economic prosperity has helped higher education establish new relationships with business and industry,” Secretary Hendricks continued. “They have been exceptional partners as we work to build an effective and active Council on Innovation, and I look forward to our future collaborations with enthusiasm and high expectations of success.”
Haskell Berman, senior vice president – state affairs, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey and co-founder of Innovation NJ, “We founded the Innovation NJ to focus on the needs of New Jersey’s innovator industries, the historic backbone of the state’s economy, and the R&D resources needed to attract new innovator companies to the state. The growth of the coalition and the impact it has had over the past five years has truly surpassed our imagination.”
Melanie Willoughby, chief government affairs officer of NJBIA and co-founder of Innovation NJ, said, “New Jersey has always had the pieces for a world-class innovation ecosystem — leading innovator industries, nationally renowned research universities, and one of the most highly educated workforces in the world.”
“Innovation NJ is pleased to have been the catalyst to bring these parties together in the common pursuit of building an innovation ecosystem that will retain and attract innovator companies and jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and support discovery and commercialization of new products and processes,” Willoughby added.
“We want to thank our industry partners, the state’s higher education leaders, the Administration, particularly Lt. Governor Guadagno and Secretary of Higher Education Hendricks and the Legislature, for their support and contributions to our mission to create a culture of innovation in the state and reaffirm New Jersey’s position as a global research hub,” added Berman.
“NJPRO is delighted to have contributed the research that resulted in the blueprint for building New Jersey’s innovation ecosystem,” said John Rogers, chairman of New Jersey Policy Research Organization (NJPRO) Foundation. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Innovation NJ to create a culture to support and expand New Jersey’s innovation economy.”
The keynote address was given by Dr. Tony Boccanfuso, president of the University Industry Demonstration Partnership in Washington D.C. He discussed how New Jersey is headed in the right direction and the growing trend of universities serving as hubs to spur innovation and economic development.
The fifth anniversary event included two panel discussions.
The first panel, moderated by NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka, focused on university-industry collaboration. Specifically, the panel explored three examples of such collaborations:
- New Jersey Innovation Institute and Medi Coupe
- Rowan University and Lockheed Martin
- Rutgers University and Bristol-Myers Squibb
A second panel, moderated by HINJ President and Chief Executive Officer Dean Paranicas, looked at the future of collaboration and innovation in New Jersey. Panelists included:
- New Jersey Innovation Institute President Dr. Donald Sebastian;
- Rowan University Senior Vice President for Health Sciences Dr. Kenneth Blank;
- Rutgers University Senior Vice President for Research and Economic Development Dr. Christopher Molloy;
- Stevens Institute of Technology Vice Provost for Research Dr. Mo Dehghani;
- Princeton University Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations Coleen Burrus