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UI > Continued from page 5 repaid to the federal government,” Fedorko said, referring to the more than $1 billion the state has borrowed to fund benefits. Two proposals from Christie that appear to be off the table — at least, for now — are reductions in the maximum weekly benefit and a mandatory one-week wait to start receiving benefits. Ehlbeck said the current federal law governing extended UI benefits prevents the state from reducing benefits, and added this may not be the best time to make the changes, given the fragile state of the economy. However, Ehlbeck said, business owners remain concerned that New Jersey has some of the most generous benefits in the country. Out-of-work residents can collect a maximum of 60 percent of their average weekly wages in the base year, up to $598. That’s the second-highest maxi- Fred H. Madden Jr. mum in the country, after Massachusetts, for workers without dependents. Assemblyman Joseph V. Egan (D-New Brunswick), who sponsored the bill in his house, said he wanted to include only one year of increases in the bill, but agreed to allow a two-year increase. Egan and state Sen. Fred H. Madden Jr. (D-Turnersville), who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, are the chairmen of the labor committees in each house, and served as nonvoting members of the task force. Egan credited state Labor Department officials with providing the information needed to reach a consensus on the task force. The state raided the UI fund for years without raising the taxes to build it. Since the recession, employers have been hit with two increases in their UI taxes. E-mail to: akitchenman@njbiz.com IN BRIEF VaxInnate receives $200M for its flu vaccine testing Cranbury-based VaxInnate Corp. announced last week it was awarded a government contract worth nearly $200 million for its work with a new technology for developing flu vaccines. The contract from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides $118 million for a base period of three years, and an additional $78 million for an optional two-year extension. According to Dr. Thomas Hofstaetter, president and CEO of VaxInnate, the government is unhappy with the industry’s response time when it comes to producing flu vaccines. VaxInnate’s method involves growing vaccines in bacteria, instead of chicken eggs, so “we can make large amounts in a very short period of time,” Hofstaetter said. – Laura Mortkowitz Report: Small businesses play role in hiring boost Small-business hiring helped spur a rise in private-sector employment, according to the most recent ADP National Employment Report, released Wednesday. Nonfarm employers added a total of 217,000 workers in February, well above the average gain of 63,000 during the prior six months, with small businesses adding 100,000 of those employees, according to Automated Data Processing. Small business’ strong showing “is consistent with the long-term pattern,” said Patrick O’Keefe, director of economic research at Roseland-based J.H. Cohn LLP. “Smaller businesses operate on a tighter budget than large ones, so they’re more prone to reduce employment when their income shows signs of decline — but small businesses are also more responsive and nimble when the economy picks up.” – Martin C. Daks Horizon replaces one Marino for another Robert A. Marino last week became president and CEO of Newark-based Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, replacing William J. Marino, who retired as chairman and CEO after 17 years of leading the company. The two men are not related. Robert Marino was promoted from executive vice president and chief operating officer. A 38-year veteran of the Blue Cross Blue Shield system, he has been an officer of the company for nearly 20 years. “Given my New Jersey roots, it is truly an honor to lead the state’s oldest and largest health insurer,” Marino said. Horizon is by far the state’s largest health insurer, with 3.6 million members. – Beth Fitzgerald 8 March 7, 2011 ◆ njbiz www.njbiz.com
The scientifi c community shares the goals of reducing or replacing the use of laboratory animals for testing. BIOMED > Continued from page 5 tionally, with an initial focus on China. Mackta returned to NJABR last year, stepping back into an issue she believes opponents of animal research have slowly been winning. “It was welcome news when we heard Jayne was going to be back at it,” said Debbie Hart, the president of biotech trade group BioNJ and a longtime associate of Mackta’s. “She seems to have hit the ground running with as much passion as she’s ever had in her career.” Karl Field, chairman of NJABR’s board and the executive director of veterinary sciences at Bristol-Myers Squibb, said Mackta has brought a renewed focus to the organization and a keen understanding of the association’s strengths and weaknesses. He said that’s more important than ever as the association deals with limited fi nancial resources and the continued threat of legislation that could directly or indirectly affect research. “NJABR traditionally has taken any good idea and turned it into a program or service or a product for its membership or for the state, but we can’t continue to do that,” he said. “We really have to look at what are the most important things out there affecting our ability to do biomedical research, and (then) address them.” Much of the challenge, Mackta said, is framing the debate. For instance, animal research is allowed in New Jersey under an exemption to the state’s “animal cruelty” law. Mackta said she’s glad for the exemption, but not for the terminology. “If you can defi ne cruelty,” Mackta said, “you have won the game.” In fact, the industry does have extensive — and costly — care guidelines for the use of animals in research. The industry has its own guidebook and accreditation system, and the federal government requires institutions that use animals in research to set up committees to oversee and evaluate the care and use of the animals. There’s also a growing fi eld of veterinary science specifi cally geared toward caring for laboratory animals. Those standards were one reason Mackta’s work in China was a challenge, she said. “It’s very hard to make the case that you need to provide pure and specifi c kinds of feed, and that the caging has to be a certain size, and the care has to be very intense and very expensive,” she said. “The people who are in charge of caring for these animals are probably not making that amount of money in a month.” Mackta also said animal research is a small part of biomedical research, and that the number of animals used in research pales in comparison to the number of animals eaten as food, for instance. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the total number of animals used in research in the United States in 2009 was 979,000; about 59,000 of those animals were in New Jersey. But Dave Sacks, a department spokesman, said those fi gures do not include mice, rats and birds — which make up a majority of animals used in labs — as the care of those animals is not covered by the federal Animal Welfare Act. Still, Mackta doesn’t hang her hat on statistics. “Numbers are so easily manipulated to give you the information that you’re looking for,” she said. Instead, she talks about science, arguing both that animal testing is the best option in many cases, and that the scientifi c community shares the goals of reducing or replacing the use of laboratory animals. “It’s good science to always be looking for new ways to do things, to refi ne your techniques to have the best model,” she said. In the meantime, her goal is to educate policymakers on the importance of animal research, and to convince the pharmaceutical industry itself of the importance of defending their right to conduct that research, even as the industry continues to shrink. “We have to fi nd the winning strategies,” she said. “I don’t know what they are, but I do believe that if we don’t make the case in a compelling way, so people connect the dots and understand the implications … we’re going to then one day wake up and go, ‘What happened? Where did it go?’ And then it’s going to be too late.” E-mail to: jkaltwasser@njbiz.com Christina Mazza Small business, Big savings. Discounts up to 40 % Cut costs while still getting the coverage you need. From Business Insurance to Employee Retirement plans, we make it our business to protect yours. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. ® CONTACT AN AGENT TODAY. Conrado Arroyo, Esq., Agent 360 Chestnut Street Newark, NJ 07105 Bus: 973-274-1000 www.conradoarroyo.com statefarm.com ® www.njbiz.com njbiz ◆ March 7, 2011 9 0907513 Arlette Cascella, Agent 1265 Springfield Avenue New Providence, NJ 07974 Bus: 908-665-1030 www.arletteagent.com Denis Dankosky, Agent 105 Miln Street Cranford, NJ 07016 Bus: 908-276-0088 www.wedoinsuranceright.com Zanetta Glover CPCU, Agent 570 Broad Street Newark, NJ 07102 Bus: 973-648-0699 www.zdglover.com Hemant Jiwnani, Agent 532 Summit Ave Jersey City, NJ 07306 Bus: 201-653-1770 www.hemantjiwnani.com Michael Lyne, Agent 472 Westfield Ave Clark, NJ 07066 Bus: 732-340-0500 www.mikelyne.com Deseral Neal, Agent 200 West Second Street Plainfield, NJ 07060 Bus: 908-757-3415 www.deseralneal.com Angel Rodriguez, Agent 815 Elizabeth Avenue Elizabeth, NJ 07201 Bus: 908-469-1432 www.elizabethseguro.com Bert Sweeney, Agent 35 Beechwood Rd Summit, NJ 07901 Bus: 908-522-8330 www.bertsweeney.com Joe Brogan LUTC NQA CLU, Agent 599 Broadway Bayonne, NJ 07002 Bus: 201-339-8100 www.joebrogan.net Christine Coster Ins Agcy Inc Christine Coster CLU ChFC, Agent 499 Valley Street Maplewood, NJ 07040 Bus: 973-761-4041 www.ChristineCoster.com Glenn Davis, Agent 144 Summit Ave Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 Bus: 908-464-8710 Tawanda Jackson, Agent 688 Highway 440 Jersey City, NJ 07304 Bus: 201-209-0290 www.tawandajackson.com Navin Jiwnani LUTCF, Agent 326 Route 22 West Green Brook, NJ 08812 Bus: 732-424-3600 www.navinjiwnani.com Karen Mojka, Agent 1910 Washington Valley Road Martinsville, NJ 08836 Bus: 732-563-1877 www.karenmojka.com Chip Ott, Agent 164 Main Street, PO Box 447 Chatham, NJ 07928 Bus: 973-635-6400 www.chipott.com Alberto Santana LUTCF, Agent 1755 Kennedy Blvd Jersey City, NJ 07305 Bus: 201-332-3344 www.thesantanaagency.com Marc Torres, Agent 433 N Wood Avenue Linden, NJ 07036 Bus: 908-925-0111 www.marctorres.com State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, State Farm General Insurance Company, Bloomington, IL Dave Carrubba, Agent 321 Rahway Avenue Elizabeth, NJ 07202 Bus: 908-662-3300 www.davidcarrubba.com Greg Daniels, Agent 681 1/2 Mount Prospect Avenue Newark, NJ 07104 Bus: 973-484-5772 www.gregoryldaniels.com Jean DiGrande, Agent 560 Mountain Avenue Gillette, NJ 07933 Bus: 908-647-4262 www.jeandigrande.com Glisel Jimenez ChFC, Agent 26 Morris Ave Summit, NJ 07901 Bus: 908-277-4099 www.gliseljimenez.com Joe Lorenzo CPCU ChFC, Agent 431 Park Avenue Scotch Plains, NJ 07076 Bus: 908-322-4373 www.josephlorenzo.com Joe Nachbaur, Agent 505 Central Avenue Jersey City, NJ 07307 Bus: 201-222-8866 www.joenachbaur.com Janice Petronella, Agent 678 Route 202-206N Bridgewater, NJ 08807 Bus: 908-595-1555 www.janicepetronella.com Michael Scalera Ins Agcy Inc Mike Scalera CLU ChFC LUTCF, Agent 401 Morris Ave Springfield, NJ 07081 Bus: 973-564-7717
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