Writer: Caty Hirst
3 min read January 2022 — Over the last few years, Camden has made great strides in furthering economic growth and fostering a higher quality of life for its residents. Community and business leaders hope to capitalize on that momentum in 2022.
In the last six years, a new tax credit program — Grow New Jersey — has brought hundreds of millions of dollars to Camden County as a slew of companies were attracted to the area, including Holtec International, American Water Co., Subaru North America, NFI Corp., Conner Strong & Buckelew and Michaels Organization. Lockheed Martin Corp opened new facilities in the region, and the Philadelphia 76ers built a new training facility, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to the continued renovation and economic growth of the area, especially in terms of developing restaurants and retail within the City of Camden.
Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen said 2021 was a challenging year for the city, and the priorities for 2022 will include continuing to attract new companies and new jobs to the area; addressing affordable and unsafe housing within Camden; tackling illegal dumping and boosting education.
“In the near future, I want people to be able to say that Camden is back and excelling to new heights,” Carstarphen told Invest:.
Holtec International — an energy technology company in the nuclear and solar spaces — was attracted to the area thanks to its close proximity to Philadelphia and easy access to rode, rail and port infrastructure. The company’s Camden manufacturing plant, built in 2017, is one of the most modern of its type in the country, according to Kris Singh, president & CEO of Holtec International.
“South Jersey, because of its proximity to Philadelphia, has a large, talented workforce pool to draw from, allowing us to ramp up quickly. South Jersey also has the Delaware River. We manufacture very large equipment, weighing anywhere from 50 to 300 tons. To transport this equipment, having access to water is a major benefit. Thirdly, establishing this location provided an opportunity to lift the people and communities who host our plant,” Singh said in an interview with Invest:.
Continuing with the tax credits strategy, New Jersey has also passed legislation expanding tax credits for digital media production to attract productions from the likes of NBC Universal Digital Media and Audible, owned by Amazon. The state’s tax credit regime for film and TV, launched in 2018, was successful in attracting productions like West Side Story, The Equalizer and The Many Saints of Newark, according to Deadline. And in Oct. 2021, Independent film production company Phiphen Pictures announced it was opening a 10,000-square-foot production and office space in Englewood Cliffs, expecting to open the facility in 2022.
The Grow New Jersey tax credits, however, have faced a fair amount of censure, with critics arguing the new businesses have done little to revive Camden, as workers tend to commute in and then leave after their work is done. The pandemic has certainly also played a role, as restaurants, retail and other sectors continue to face pandemic-related challenges.
Still, there is little doubt the tax credits are paying off in key ways. For the first time in four decades, Camden’s bond rating was upgraded to an A- by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which means the city can borrow additional funds at lower interest rates as it seeks to address critical infrastructure needs, housing and blight in the community.
“Camden County is the most diverse county in the state of New Jersey and by diverse, I don’t just mean in terms of population and socio-economics. Camden County has a mixture of very historic urban communities, some of the most affluent communities in the state, working-family communities and rural farmlands, all within 222 square miles,” said Jeffrey Nash, commissioner and parks liaison for Camden County, said in an interview with Invest:.
According to Nash, one of the revitalizations sweeping the area is that of the parks system, as the county works to address aging and at times even dilapidated park systems. Camden County is launching Parks Alive 2025, a five-year strategic plan to revitalize the area’s 23 parks. The $50 million improvement plan is being funded through state and federal grants and various nonprofits.
In potentially game-changing innovations for the northeast, Holtec International has also developed technology that converts old coal power plants into an energy storage and generation plant by changing the boiler, Singh said. Often, these innovations come out of Camden.
“The resistance behind tearing down coal plants is the loss of jobs but with this new technology, people who work at coal plants would continue to have jobs. We have solved that problem. That’s what we do at Holtec; we develop new technologies and create jobs,” he said.
Camden’s homicide rate has also consistently been steadily declining in the last decade, after the abolishment of the municipal police force (in favor of a county-wide force) and changes in policing and community affairs policies, as well as the influx of new economic opportunities.
The Camden County Police Department has become an example to the nation, with its Unity Policing strategy centering on transparency, empathy, leadership, wellness and de-escalation, according to Vivian Coley, executive officer to the chief of police for the Camden County Police Department.
“Unity Policing is the vision of Chief of Police Gabe Rodriguez for us to become one with the community. He changed how we police. Everyone is familiar with community policing. Unity adds to that. We understand that we can’t arrest our way out of any situation. We encourage our community here in Camden City to tell us what their wants and needs are. The police department and the community working together is the essence of Unity Policing,” said Coley in an interview with Invest:.
Upcoming projects for the city include knocking down 300 abandoned homes with a $15 million grant and the redevelopment of Ablett Village in the Cramer Hill neighborhood through a $35 million HUD Choice grant, according to Carstarphen.
“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we’re still recovering from a health and economic position,” he told Invest:.
