“Please consider picking up the phone,” Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno said, a plea for attendees from companies large and small to give the state a chance.
Her phone rang immediately. “Ahh,” she groaned, recognizing the caller’s area code. “Now, no one from New Jersey! I want the guys that aren’t already here in New Jersey.”
The crowd laughed, but Guadagno’s frequently used gambit is part of the state’s bid to catch up to other parts of the country.
When the 2007-2008 recession hit, other states identified the Eastern Seaboard state as a soft target for poaching jobs, with companies ripe for the plucking because of high taxes and labor costs.
With Christie announcing his U.S. presidential election bid on Tuesday, New Jersey’s economic woes could hinder his ability to get voters on board with his proposals nationally.