■ President ' s View
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Assemblywoman Nancy F . Munoz is the Republican Conference Leader and serves on the Assembly Health Committee , Assembly Budget Committee , Assembly Housing Committee , Legislative Services Commission , as well as the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect . She has worked as a nurse in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital , in the Recovery Room at Mass General and Bellevue Hospitals , the Emergency Room at Lenox Hill Hospital and at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the Ambulatory Care Center . Assemblywoman Muñoz uses her experience in nursing and health insurance ( she was a Healthcare Risk Management consultant for Continental Insurance HealthCare ) to speak to healthcare issues vital to the New Jersey business community .
CIANJ ’ s Legislative Hall of Fame
Former State Senator Bob Gordon was inducted into CIANJ ’ s Legislative Hall of Fame . As a Commissioner of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities ( NJBPU ), a Board Member of NJ TRANSIT and as a legislator from 2004 to 2018 , Bob Gordon earned a reputation for being a statesman , a smart businessman , a pragmatic lawmaker and a good listener . He served in the New Jersey State Senate from 2008 to 2018 , and in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2008 . He has been recognized as a champion of transparency and accountability in government throughout his legislative career , and he is also a former mayor of the borough of Fairlawn .
In a posthumous award , the late Senator Anthony Bucco , Sr ., was induced into the CIANJ Legislative Hall of Fame for his service in the New Jersey Legislature , as a pro-business advocate and as a longtime member of CIANJ through his business , Baker Adhesives . As a business leader and manufacturer , he was passionate and knowledgeable about the key issues that impact the New Jersey business community . He served New
Jersey as mayor of Boonton , a Morris County Freeholder , a State Assemblyman and a State Senator — and combined with his business expertise — honed his skills to benefit the state economy , businesses and the well-being of the State of New Jersey .
CIANJ ’ s History of Support for Business and Free Enterprise
CIANJ ’ s predecessor , the Bergen County Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1927 as an advocate for the burgeoning commercial hub located around Hackensack . The idea that forged the Chamber was to help businesses to thrive in Hackensack , New Jersey , which was fast becoming a bustling center of commerce
CIANJ ’ s predecessor , the Bergen County Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1927 as an advocate for the burgeoning commercial hub located around Hackensack .
surrounded by farmland .
With some of its founding members including PSE & G , Verizon , Alexander Summer , LLC , and Reinauer Realty , the Chamber was quietly building momentum from the expansion of companies in and around Hackensack . As the industry sector grew , so too did the group — and it wielded considerable influence in the politics of the day .
Back in the ‘ 60s , the Chamber bussed executives from New York out to Northern New Jersey to show them what a great place this is to do business . In those days , the Chamber was the “ Business Action Center ” of its time , supporting the growth of small businesses and enabling
CIANJ
CIANJ , which has a Trenton office , is now recognized as New Jersey ’ s premier free market business organization .
larger companies to gain favorable treatment from local and state government .
But it was a grander motivation to support free enterprise that made the organization stand out . For example , a billboard campaign touted the struggle to educate the public about the value of free market principles . Driving the old roadways in the 1970s , you would see billboards that said , “ Free Enterprise is the Fuel that Keeps America Growing ,” or “ Endangered Species : Free Enterprise .”
By the mid- to late 1970s and early 1980s , New Jersey ’ s business community was expanding even more aggressively in rural and urban municipalities , and the need for an organization with greater reach led the leadership of the Bergen County Chamber of Commerce to transform the group into a statewide business advocacy organization — the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey . The Association began raising its profile in Trenton , first by testifying on behalf of businesses and business issues before the legislature , and then by hosting top state officials at CIANJ meetings and events .
CIANJ ’ s new-found “ status ” in Trenton was also raising the organization ’ s media profile and print and television journalists were increasingly turning to CIANJ for its positions on key state business issues and for quotes from CIANJ leaders on what should be done to make New Jersey a more business-friendly state .
CIANJ , which has a Trenton office , is now recognized as New Jersey ’ s premier free market business organization .
The first members of CIANJ ’ s Legislative Hall of Fame : The late State Senator Anthony Bucco , Sr . and former State Senator Bob Gordon , shown here speaking with Emmy Award-winning anchor and author Steve Adubato , Ph . D .
Photo : Caucus Educational Corporation
Photo : Caucus Educational Corporation
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