Page 20 - RE-NJ

18 JANUARY 2025
FULLY MOBILIZED
Greek, chair of new ‘Circulate NJ’ coalition, sees breadth
of membership as key to promoting logistics industry’s impact
(and curbing misinformation)
L et there be no confusion: Circulate
NJ is not a lobbying group, as
David Greek is quick to point out,
but a well-organized, diverse coalition
that has assembled to promote the
vast economic benefi ts of New Jersey’s
logistics sector.
That message is at the heart of the
new public awareness campaign that
launched shortly before Thanksgiving,
led by a membership that includes
not just prominent developers but
stakeholders ranging from dock
workers and truckers to the likes of
Amazon. All of which have a vested
interest in promoting their collective
industry and, in turn, defusing the
hostile rhetoric and misinformation
that has derailed a growing number of
warehouse projects in recent years.
“We think it’s important to educate
local leaders in towns,” said Greek, a
managing partner of East Brunswick-
based Greek Real Estate Partners.
“But the real target audience for
this is New Jersey residents, New
Jersey consumers — really anyone
that interacts with the industrial
community, which is practically
everyone in the state — and anyone
that has any sort of interest in local
land use and local development.
Which, again, is pretty much everyone
in the state. So it’s a really broad
audience that we’re looking to tap
into.”
Circulate NJ debuted during the heart
of the holiday shopping season, a time
in which the transportation, logistics
and distribution industry is perhaps as
critical as ever. It did so while touting
By Joshua Burd
key data from the state’s Department
of Labor & Workforce Development:
TLD companies and facilities support
more than 400,000 jobs, employ
12 percent of the state’s private
workforce and provide 12.7 percent
of New Jersey private-sector wages,
while contributing $62.5 billion or 10
percent to the state’s overall GDP.
The stats have already played
prominently in a campaign that Greek
says will include both digital and
traditional media, which will also
highlight the sector’s role in cleaning
up highly contaminated sites through
redevelopment of fallow industrial
properties. But he hopes the messages
carry additional weight from the
support of stakeholders outside the
commercial real estate space, who
are among the group’s more than 35
members.
“I think one of the benefi ts of having
such a broad member base within so
many industries is that our members
are really our primary communicators
on this,” Greek said. “That is one of
the best things about having tenants,
trades and developers within this. We
each have our own touchpoints within
different communities that we believe
will help spread this message pretty
far and wide pretty quickly … and
make sure that the people involved in
each community are aware of who we
are, what we’re doing and how we can
help them if they need assistance with
something like this.”
Undoubtedly, the campaign is in its
earliest stages, but Circulate NJ has
clear goals and a fi rm commitment