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that “a lot of people in this room and
at my old job are very vocal” about
how to amplify EDA’s impact in
Newark, seemingly by demystifying
and streamlining its billion-dollar tax
credit programs.
“There’s a lot of developers I know
who just feel like they couldn’t get
at it and, in my mind, should be able
to,” Weiss said. “I want to break
that down and make these credits
more inclusive for developers who
we know can do the job, but maybe,
according to a spreadsheet, they were
on the wrong side of it. That’s not
going to sit well with me.”
That goes hand in hand with
expanding and better incorporating
the EDA’s Emerging Developers
Grant Program, he said. Weiss also
wants to ensure that builders that
receive tax credits are getting the
best value when they sell them to
raise additional financing.
“Even for the most experienced
developers in the world, the best
lawyers … they still find it difficult to
get through these credits,” he said.
“And when I watch the value of the
credits deteriorate on the market
because of the complexity, that’s not
what I want to see.”
Fixing that means working with
the state Treasury Department,
Office of the Attorney General and
stakeholders in the community.
“We want honest feedback about,
when we actually award you a
project, what are you getting in
return? How is that actually working
in the market?” he said. “I want to
make sure we’re getting the highest
cents on the dollar that we can
there.”
Weiss, who is highly respected across
the public and private sectors, said
he was “very, very, very lucky to be
inheriting an incredible team” at EDA
from his predecessor, Tim Sullivan,
and interim CEO Mary Maples. He
now hopes to leverage the agency’s
depth of talent and institutional reach
while “learning … from people on the
ground” throughout the state, as he
sought to do as head of the Newark
Alliance.
He also cited the continued focus on
ensuring that the benefits of EDA’s
incentives extend beyond a single
project. In Newark, Weiss said, he
believes both the city and the state
have “a really strong set of ground
rules around that … relative to
affordable housing.” That remains
a top priority for communities
throughout the state.
“It’s a somewhat boring answer, but
we’re doing more already with how
we’re looking at data to have a better
sense of how we know what we’re
impacting,” said Weiss, a former
senior adviser for finance and major
projects to Murphy. “To the point
of, nationally, what others can learn
from us, what the mayor has set
up, what Governor Murphy has set
up and what Governor Sherrill is
continuing, you can’t pass go without
hitting equity targets. That, to me, is
really important.”
Weiss noted that he “got to travel
up and down the state” during his
first week at EDA. It was a reminder
that public- and private-sector
stakeholder groups can interact
differently from city to city, he said,
and being able to learn the best of
each community “is an exciting part
of the job.”
In the meantime, he knows what
he’s getting in Newark — a level of
stakeholder engagement and buy-in
from public officials, business leaders
and nonprofits that may be unrivaled.
“It’s this room, it’s the people that are
here … the amount of interest that
people have in Newark — in Newark
— and how many different ways, all
the different tools they’re willing to
use to do that, I think, is amazing,”
Weiss said.
He later added: “We have such an
amazingly strong public sector that
complements the private sector and
a very strong third sector here. A lot
of cities have this, but the level of
intensity, the ability to then ideate
and then get something done, that is
unique.” RE
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