The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, in 2019, Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips sponsored legislation that successfully doubled the angel investor tax credit. Noting increased competition from neighboring states and a lagging economy, he introduced a bill Tuesday to increase the tax credit again.
Assemblyman DePhillips moves to make New Jersey America’s innovation leader
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, New Jersey’s corporate business tax has led to an exodus of investment in the state once called the nation’s medicine chest. New Jersey is fifth out of seven states in the region for innovation, according to an NJBIA study, and experienced the largest loss of undergraduate students by more than 21,000.
Continue reading New Bill Looks to Spur Research and Investment in New Jersey
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Indicators of Innovation, a report issued today by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, shows New Jersey at a challenging crossroads in its efforts to reclaim itself as the “Innovation State.”
New Jersey ranked fifth out of the seven states with a cumulative innovation score of 41. New York ranked first in the region with a score of 71, followed by Massachusetts (63), Pennsylvania (49), Maryland (46), New Jersey (41), Delaware (34) and Connecticut (33).In addition to the 12 indicators analyzed in the report, NJBIA also observes additional factors in a New Jersey-Massachusetts comparison that can help jumpstart and sustain an innovation ecosystem.
Among the findings in the Indicators of Innovation report, authored by NJBIA Policy Analyst Nicole Sandelier:
New Jersey’s venture capital investment in 2017 was $781 million, compared to the $8.97 billion received by Massachusetts and $12.27 billion received by New York.
New Jersey increased its venture capital investment at a lower rate than all seven states in the region between 2004 and 2017.
New Jersey companies received less than $52 million in award obligation for federal R&D funding efforts in 2017, compared to nearly $271 million awarded to Massachusetts. The state also received less award funding than Maryland ($124 million), New York ($114 million) and Pennsylvania ($98 million).
In 2018, New Jersey received $157 million in National Science Foundation College/University funding – significantly less than regional competitors New York ($466 million), Massachusetts ($415 million) and Pennsylvania ($253 million).
New Jersey is home to three “Top 100” colleges/universities ranked in 2018 by U.S. News & World Report, compared to 10 each in Massachusetts and New York; and six in Pennsylvania.
New Jersey lost a net total of more than 28,000 first-time college students in the fall of 2016, the largest loss in the nation. By regional comparison, Pennsylvania had a net gain of nearly 17,000 students that year.
In 2017, New Jersey was fifth out of seven states with 15.6 percent of its population possessing a graduate or professional degree. In comparison, Massachusetts’ graduate and professional degree holders represented 19.5 percent of its population.
New Jersey does fare well in the Rate of Entrepreneurs regionally, with 340 adults starting a business for every 100,000 people in the state in 2017. That’s second in the region behind New York, which totaled 360 business starters per 100,000 adults.
New Jersey’s startup density was 76.1 per 1,000 employer firms in 2017, good for third in the region behind New York (83.3 per 1,000 firms) and Delaware (77 per 1,000 firms).
In 2017, New Jersey ranked fourth in the region with more than 8,600 patents issued. Massachusetts (more than 15,000 patents issued) and New York (nearly 14,700 patents issued) held a decided advantage.
From 2015 to 2016, New Jersey experienced a 0.44 percent increase in total businesses – which is sixth in the region. Delaware enjoyed a 2.03 percent increase in total businesses during that span.
New Jersey finished last out of seven regional states in NJBIA’s 2018 Regional Business Climate analysis, which scores metrics such as each state’s minimum wage, top income tax rate, top corporate tax rate, sales tax rate, property tax paid percentage and unemployment tax rate.
October 29,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Students today grow up in a technological society. Social platforms have replaced in person or on phone conversations and the thought of traveling is on almost everyone’s mind. So, a commonplace or what is better know as ‘An Innovation Lab’ was developed to share their stories and journeys while collaborating on projects.
The Zonopact Innovation Lab (https://www.zonopact.com/
Mayur Ramgir, President & CEO Zonopact, Inc. is the creator of the Zonopact Innovation Lab (ZIL). It provides a social platform like Facebook for students to mingle with other like-minded people, work on real world projects, share ideas and see the impact, it creates an opportunity to travel worldwide and make a real impact in someone else’s life. ZIL also provides an opportunity to work on industry sponsored projects so students can earn money as well. Colleges can even partner with ZIL to extend these benefits to their students without investing too much money on setting up their own platform.
“Great opinion piece in USA TODAY about how unnecessary regulation and government overreach destroys jobs, raises unemployment and hurts your ability to get better goods and services for a decent price. The author, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, uses taxis as an example, but you can apply this scenario to virtually every U.S. industry.” Rep Scott Garrett
Regulators wreck Uber innovation
Glenn Harlan Reynolds1:53 p.m. EDT June 10, 2014
Ride-share services benefit consumers, but the taxi commission doesn’t want to give us a good deal.
The regulatory knives are out for Uber and Lyft, two ride-sharing services that make life easier for consumers and provide employment opportunities in a stagnant economy. Why are regulatorsunhappy? Basically, because these new services offer insufficient opportunity for graft.
Services like Uber and Lyft disrupt the current regulatory environment. I have the Uber app on my phone. If I need a car in areas where Uber operates, it looks up where I am using GPS, matches me with participating drivers nearby, and in my experience gets me a Town Car in just a few minutes. It’s the comfort of a limo service, with the convenience of a taxicab. I get a better service, the driver gets a job, but now there’s competition for those entrenched companies.
In most cities, traditional taxi services are regulated by some sort of taxi commission. Similarly, limo services — the ones that provide the black Town Cars favored by big shots (and used by many Uber drivers) — are regulated by some sort of livery office. The rules strictly forbid the two sectors of the market from competing with one another. And, generally, entry is limited so that neither faces too much competition in general. In holding down competition, these regulators act on behalf of the entities they supposedly regulate for the benefit of consumers.
They do this because consumers typically pay very little attention to taxi and limo regulations while the regulated industries, unsurprisingly, pay very close attention. They express their gratitude in a variety of ways, some legal, and the regulators in turn look after the interests of the regulated. Consumer well-being is a far less significant concern.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/06/09/uber-lyft-taxi-transportation-regulators-column/10198131/
