STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for designation of manufacturing and production business resource center by EDA to provide services and assistance to manufacturing businesses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the designation of a manufacturing and production business resource center and supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority, in consultation with the Business Action Center created in the Department of State and an institution of higher education, may designate an institution of higher education or other entity as a manufacturing and production business resource center to provide services and assistance to manufacturing businesses to assist them to modernize, maximize their efficiency, and expand their production through the development and commercialization of innovative products.
b. The authority shall grant this designation to any institution of higher education or other entity that meets qualifications established by the authority. The authority shall base the qualifications upon the ability of the institution or entity to provide specialized services and information to manufacturing and production facilities, which may include specialization in discrete aspects of the manufacturing and production process, or to provide more comprehensive services.
c. The authority shall refer a manufacturing business deemed eligible by the authority to a manufacturing and production business resource center or other organization qualified to provide services to small and mid-sized manufacturing businesses, which services shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) assistance with product development, including:
(a) a preliminary technical evaluation of a product and any design and materials issues,
(b) assistance in providing a connection with available research and development resources, prototype development resources, and product evaluation and testing resources, and
(c) the selection, implementation and optimization of available technologies;
(2) assistance in production planning and inventory control;
(3) assistance in identifying appropriate factory and office automation and modernizing production capacity;
(4) assistance in identifying sources of supply, including any Internet-based listing of New Jersey-based suppliers of goods and services;
(5) assistance in establishing a quality assurance program;
(6) assistance with market analysis and development, including assistance in identifying export opportunities, provided by the Business Action Center;
(7) assistance with distribution issues;
(8) assistance in developing the skills of the existing workforce or procuring skilled workers;
(9) referral to financing resources; and
(10) assistance in preliminary patent and trademark searches.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, in consultation with the Business Action Center created in the Department of State and an institution of higher education, may designate an institution of higher education or other entity as a manufacturing and production business resource center to provide services and assistance to manufacturing businesses to assist them to modernize, maximize their efficiency, and expand their production through the development and commercialization of innovative products. Under the bill, the authority will refer a manufacturing business deemed eligible by the authority to a manufacturing and production business resource center or other organization qualified to provide services to small and mid-sized manufacturing businesses. The bill sets forth the various services that will be provided to the manufacturing businesses.