To celebrate New Jersey’s technology and entrepreneurial ecosystem, events were held across the state by a number of organizations associated with technology and entrepreneurship. The week is intended to affirm entrepreneurship and the job creation power of early stage tech companies.
The New Jersey Technology Council hosted a panel discussion titled “Growing the Technology Economy in New Jersey” at Rowan University on April 14th. Moderated by Frank Graziano, CEO of Chromis Fiberoptics, the panel included Kathleen Coviello (Director, Technology & Life Science, New Jersey Economic Development Authority), Joe Allegra (General Partner, Edison Partners), Mario Casabona (President, Casabona Ventures), Ken McCauly (President & CEO of Princeton Power), and Badri Nittoor (CEO of Tripod Technologies).
The panel discussion provided insight on various factors that influence the health and vibrancy of New Jersey’s tech economy. One factor that gained extended discussion by the panel was the important role that higher education has in New Jersey’s tech economy. This was keenly reflected in one key statistic t indicating that approximately 35 thousand New Jersey high school graduates leave the state each year to attend colleges and universities elsewhere.
While New Jersey has one of the best K-12 educational systems in the country, the exodus of students to other states—of which a significant portion never return—is a substantial economic loss to New Jersey. The return on the investment of a high quality New Jersey K-12 education accrues to those states where the graduates take employment. This adds to the challenges of growing New Jersey tech businesses that need a well-educated employment pool to draw upon.
As discussed in other panels and covered by American Entrepreneurship Today ®-New Jersey, an emerging trend of recent college graduates choosing to live and work in large cities represents another challenge for New Jersey tech companies. New Jersey, primarily comprised of suburbs, must compete for talent against the draw of New York City and Philadelphia.
Dr. Ali A. Houshmand, President of Rowan University, gave the introductory remarks to the audience, providing an overview of challenges facing the U.S. that are also in part tied to the need for continual improvement in American higher education. According to Dr. Houshman, only through improving the higher education system will the U.S. be able to compete with China, India and other global competitors which are now producing a steady and high number of engineers that is far in excess of the U.S.
