by Marilyn Silverstein
NJJN Bureau Chief/PMB

March 26, 2009

Since last October, Jerry Zaro has been putting in 16-hour days as New Jersey’s new czar for economic growth — and he has begun every one of them by putting on tefillin.

He has been performing the morning tallit and phylacteries ritual ever since his good friend and rabbi — Yosef Carlebach of the Lubavitcher Congregation Sons of Israel in Ocean Township — invited him to do so more than 15 years ago, Zaro said during a recent interview at the State House in Trenton.

“I’m not Orthodox,” he said. “I do it not so much for the religious element as for the…appreciation of the spirituality of it.

“It’s very nice to be reminded every morning: Let me fulfill the mitzva of loving my fellow man as myself,” he said. “And of course you’re expressing an appreciation for being alive — for health, for natural surroundings, and for the wonder and blessings you have around you. And you’re also praying for strength, because life isn’t always easy.”

That observation has taken on a special relevance as Zaro grapples with the task of implementing New Jersey’s economic growth strategy during what is being called the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

It is not a role the 57-year-old Zaro sought for himself. For more than two decades, he enjoyed his role as president and managing partner of the Ocean Township-based law firm of Ansell Zaro Grimm & Aaron, and he also devoted himself to the business of his real estate development company.

In the Jewish world, in addition to his involvement with Sons of Israel, Zaro served over the years on the boards of the Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center of Greater Monmouth County, and Temple Beth El in Oakhurst. He also formerly served on the regional cabinet of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and has been a strong supporter of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Center at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft.

Beginning in 1991, Zaro expanded his activities to include statewide public service. He served for 12 years on the NJ Highway Authority, first as a commissioner and then as chair, and for four years as a commissioner of the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority. Then, last August, he found himself on the golf course with Gov. Jon Corzine.

“He pulled me aside and asked: ‘What would you think about being the economic czar of New Jersey?’ My first reaction,” Zaro said with a smile, “was that he must have gotten to the ‘Zs’ in the Rolodex.”

But Zaro had second thoughts when he heard world-famous investor Warren Buffett say to an interviewer that the current crisis is the economic equivalent of Pearl Harbor.

“I thought, if that is so, what did people do? People signed up for the army,” Zaro said. “I took that as sort of a sign that this was my time to enlist.”

‘A spectacular state’

As the state’s second full-time economic czar — Gary Rose of Short Hills was the first — Zaro has spent the past five months putting his own personal stamp on the office.

“The first thing I’ve done is to tear down all the walls between the various departments,” he said. “I view this job as being a salesman and cheerleader and marketer for the state and, in that role, drawing in business, drawing in trade, and getting the story of New Jersey out.”

With its dense population, central location, excellent universities, interconnected transportation facilities, and talented labor force, New Jersey is a fabulous place to do business, Zaro said. And that’s the message he is carrying to chambers of commerce, trade organizations, and businesses and industries around the state.

“The real story hasn’t been told,” he said. “When you take an unvarnished, unbiased look at New Jersey, it is a spectacular state in which to do business. I consider that to be my very first role — to get that story out and to make people understand all that we have to offer.

“The second thing we’ve done, we’ve been extremely responsive to businesses,” he added. “I’m out on the street all the time, visiting companies. We’re going out to these folks and saying, ‘Thank you,’ and, ‘Let us know how we can help, because you have a friend here in Trenton.’”

As Zaro visits, he listens. Over the past months, he said, he has relayed to Corzine several concerns of the business sector — for example, concerns about the state’s corporate business tax and about restrictive regulations. In response, the governor successfully initiated two pieces of legislation that effectively extended the life of building permits and expedited the process of cleaning up contaminated building sites around the state. “It’s very much a win-win,” Zaro said.

The third thing on Zaro’s list has been to get the word out about New Jersey’s incentives for companies contemplating a move to the Garden State. He has been doing so in concert with Caren Franzini, CEO of the NJ Economic Development Authority — a woman who is “blessed with abundant sechel [good sense],” he said.

“We work together daily,” he said. “We want to really feature responsiveness and outreach, and to demonstrate that we are partners with the business world.”

The other piece of the puzzle, Zaro said, is to ferry progressive measures through the legislature. He noted that he has many friends among state legislators, both Democrats and Republicans, as well as a close friendship with former U.S. attorney Chris Christie, who is hoping to unseat Corzine in the next gubernatorial election.

“I do think the fact that I have longstanding friendships on both sides of the aisle has given me great credibility with the legislature,” he said.

Zaro is also keeping busy intersecting with the New Jersey-Israel Commission to foster economic trade between New Jersey and Israel, creating a patent bank as a resource for the state’s businesses, and working on the state’s energy savings improvement program. To all of these efforts, he said, he brings his business sense, his optimism, and his energy.

“I’m an optimist,” Zaro said. “My job is to continue to push the rock up the hill, no matter how many are falling around me. What’s very important is to ride out this storm and position ourselves, so that when we come out of it, we in New Jersey are best positioned.”

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