2020 New Jersey Guide_Site Selection

FTZ
FTZ No. 44
FTZ No. 49
FTZ No. 142
FTZ No. 200
FTZ No. 235
short line regional railroads. Norfolk Southern
and CSX are the Class I carriers in the state.
Altogether, the state’s 18 freight railroads move
over 50 million tons of freight from, to or
through the state and displace nearly 3 million
heavy truckloads annually.
Though no longer considered a Class
I railroad, Conrail — which served the
northeastern U.S. as the primary Class I from
1976 to 1999 — maintains nearly 470 miles of
track in the state and serves many industrial
freight movers’ terminal and switching needs
as a service provider to both CSX and Norfolk
Southern. As recently as 2016, Conrail served
225 companies in 16 counties within New
Jersey, and delivered 300,000 carloads annually
to customers within the state.
LOCATION
Morris County
Port of Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminate
Salem County
Mercer County/Airport in Trenton
Ocean County
Some of the most significant rail investment
occurs where the land meets the sea. The
fourth ExpressRail facility, a $149 million
project, at Port Jersey-Port Authority Marine
Terminal, completed in 2019, complements the
approximately $600 million the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey has invested to
build and grow its ExpressRail system since
1991 to support efficient rail movements to and
from its major container terminal facilities.
The new facility, coupled with the completion
of the raising of the Bayonne Bridge to
accommodate ultra large container vessels
and over $4 billion in other modernization
initiatives over the past two decades, has led to
unprecedented cargo growth. “Between 2009
and 2018,” said the Port Authority in 2019, “the
number of containers handled at the Port of
New York and New Jersey grew from more
than 2.6 million to almost 4.1 million each
year, an increase of 54%.”
“The port has been the lifeblood of the
New York-New Jersey regional economy for
decades, and completion of this intermodal
rail project will only help to bolster our already
strong position in attracting international cargo
destined for the northeast region and beyond,”
said Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole.
FOREIGN TRADE ZONES
New Jersey’s Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs)
help companies keep costs in check by
deferring the duty on goods until they leave
the Zone. New Jersey has five FTZs, including
Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal’s
FTZ No. 49. Spanning nearly 4,500 acres, it
is one of the largest contiguous foreign trade
zones in the U.S.
In the most recent report to Congress of
the Foreign-Trade Zones Board of the United
States, New Jersey was the No. 15 state in the
nation for merchandise receives in FTZs, and
No. 16 in exports. By zone, FTZ No. 49 was
No. 16 in the country for merchandise received
and No. 9 in exports. Among the companies
taking advantage of production operations in
New Jersey FTZs are Givaudan Fragrances,
L’Oreal USA and AFGA Corp.
BROADBAND
As the e-commerce trend demonstrates,
some of the most powerful commerce moves
by fiber. BroadbandNow, which calls itself the
Kayak for internet service, says New Jersey
ranks No. 1 in the nation for broadband access.
“Due to its combination of broad coverage,
high speeds and low pricing, New Jersey is the
most well-connected state in the U.S.,” says
the company. “Over 99% of New Jerseyans
have access to a wired connection with speeds
of 100 Mbps or faster, and 67% of the state’s
population has access to fiber-optic internet
services, which is well over double the national
average of 25% of Americans with access
to fiber.”
The best connected cities? Paterson is No. 1
in the state and No. 2 in the nation, followed
by Basking Ridge, Bayonne, Ridgewood and
Asbury Park.
Klixge Ratphout,
Miscelaph, Icn
44 NEW JERSEY: THE STATE OF INNOVATION