Women - Hunterdon County, New Jersey

BARBARA McCONNELL
Recognized as one of the leading political and business
figures in the state for the last 25 years, Barbara McConnell
has held a variety of influential positions both in the public
and private sectors.
She currently is president of the New Jersey Food
Council, a position she has held since 1982. The council is
the trade association for the state's multi-billion dollar food
industry, representing retailers, manufacturers, distributors
and service companies.
Prior to assuming that post, Ms. McConnell served two
terms in the State Assembly, representing Hunterdon County.
During those terms she was a member of both the Taxation
and Agriculture and Environmental Committees, and
successfully sponsored passage of a number of bills. She
gave up her Assembly seat to enter the 1981 gubernatorial
primary.
From 1973 to 1977, Ms. McConnell was director of the New Jersey Division of Tax
Appeals, and was instrumental in drafting legislation which abolished that division and
instead established the New Jersey Tax Court, an action which saved taxpayers, local
government and businesses millions of dollars.
Ms. McConnell resides in Flemington. She received her B.S. degree from
Tennessee Tech University. She spent eight years in Washington on the staff of
Representative Joseph L. Evins (D-Tenn.), and the House Small Business Committee.
Among her honors is the Woman of Achievement Award from Douglass College in
1982. She also was cited by New Jersey Monthly Magazine as "One of the 10 Best
Legislators in New Jersey" in 1979, and by the Trentonian newspaper as "One of the 10
Outstanding Women of the Decade" in 1980.
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