TRENTON, New Jersey — Governor Mikie Sherrill on Tuesday, November 10, signed Executive Order No. 28, launching 'New Jersey Means Business,' a statewide economic development strategy that orders every part of her administration to make the state cheaper and easier to do business in, keep the companies it already has, and create good-paying jobs through 2030.
Source: ROI-NJ
Sherrill signed the roughly 30-page order at the State House in Trenton after months of conversations with business leaders and entrepreneurs, her office said. 'New Jersey has the talent, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit to build one of the strongest economies in the country. State government needs to match that ambition with a clear strategy and commitment to make our economy more competitive and dynamic,' the governor said at the signing press conference.
Source: New Jersey Globe
'New Jersey Means Business will bring our agencies together to cut unnecessary costs and delays, help businesses grow, and connect our residents with good-paying jobs,' Sherrill said. 'This whole-of-government effort will help us build on our strengths as we compete for new investment and ensure economic growth translates to real opportunities for families across our state.'
Four pillars, one agenda through 2030
The strategy is built on four pillars: business friendliness, sector growth, innovation, and inclusive growth. In practice, that means reducing the cost and complexity of doing business, picking a limited number of industries for intensive state support, moving research from New Jersey laboratories to market faster, and directing coordinated development help to communities facing persistent economic challenges — with revitalization efforts in Trenton and Atlantic City specifically aligned under the plan, according to the Governor's Office.
Why the governor says a reset is needed
The order lands against a difficult backdrop for the Garden State. New Jersey has the nation's highest corporate tax rate at 11.5% and the highest property taxes in the country, ROI-NJ reported, and the Tax Foundation ranked its tax code the 48th least competitive in the nation on November 5. Some employers have voted with their feet: Samsung announced in June that it would move its U.S. headquarters from Englewood Cliffs to Plano, Texas, affecting about 1,000 employees, less than a year after opening its New Jersey campus; Exxon officially departed for Texas earlier this year after 144 years in the state; and Burlington Stores decamped to Pennsylvania, where the corporate tax rate is being gradually lowered under Governor Josh Shapiro. The New Jersey Business & Industry Association counts the state's Fortune 500 headquarters falling from 22 in 2018 to 15 in 2025.
Business groups welcomed the move. 'After months of conversations with business leaders and entrepreneurs, the signing of today's Executive Order represents a bold step forward for New Jersey's economic future,' said Evan Weiss, chief executive of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). New Jersey Chamber of Commerce president Tom Bracken said residents made clear in the recent election that 'the economy and affordability' are their focus, and that businesses need an environment where they 'want to stay, invest, expand and create new opportunities.'
Democratic legislative leaders backed the plan the same day. 'Government should never be another barrier to their success, but a resource that identifies new opportunities and helps businesses succeed,' said Senate President Nick Scutari of Linden. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin of Woodbridge said the state 'can't rely on those advantages alone' and must be intentional about helping businesses thrive, while Senate Budget Committee chairman Paul Sarlo of Wood-Ridge stressed cutting red tape, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin of Newark pointed to industry-specific challenges, and state Senator Andrew Zwicker of South Brunswick said research and innovation must be turned into 'new companies and lasting jobs.'
Deadlines written into the order
Unlike a speech, Executive Order No. 28 assigns agencies dated homework. Within 90 days — by February 8, 2027 — the state must produce a dedicated business retention and attraction strategy, a statewide site-readiness plan identifying priority development and redevelopment sites, initial recommendations to cut the cost and complexity of starting and running a business (covering administrative processes, duplicative requirements, taxes and fees, and licensing), and convene the Governor's Office Permitting Governing Council so the permitting reform in Sherrill's earlier Executive Order No. 5 lines up with the new strategy. A coordinated, cross-agency business and permitting navigation service for qualifying projects must be running within 150 days, by April 9, 2027.
Within 120 days — by March 10, 2027 — agencies must recommend a limited set of priority sectors for intensive support, propose changes to economic incentives and funding programs, deliver a statewide research, development and speed-to-market strategy (including the New Jersey Supercomputer Initiative and Strategic Innovation Centers), set out how small businesses can better reach state services through Business.NJ.gov and the New Jersey Business Action Center, create an advisory group of small and midsized business leaders, and produce both an inclusive-opportunity strategy for struggling communities and the start of an updated statewide workforce and talent strategy. A new New Jersey Means Business Economic Development Council, reporting to the governor's chief operating officer, will coordinate the work and measure progress on employment, wages, business formation and private investment.
New Jersey is one of the largest Punjabi and South Asian diaspora hubs in the United States, and many of those families run exactly the kind of businesses this order targets — shops, restaurants, trucking and logistics firms, warehouses and professional services. If the promised navigation service, faster permits and lower operating costs materialise, they would be felt first at the local level: a store expansion in Edison, a warehouse lease near the port, or a first state contract for a small firm. None of that is automatic — the order sets strategies and deadlines, and any change to tax law itself would still need the Legislature.
What happens next
The first tests arrive quickly: the retention, site-readiness and cost-reduction reports are due within 90 days, the sector and incentives package within 120 days, and the navigation service within 150 days. The order does not by itself cut any tax or fee — it directs reviews and recommendations — so the fights over the 11.5% corporate rate and property taxes will play out in Trenton's budget process. The administration's agenda runs through 2030, and Sherrill's team says the council's published measures — jobs, wages, business formation and investment — are how the public should judge whether 'New Jersey Means Business' is more than a slogan.