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Holt summit gets down to business
by Cheryl Sarfaty, Home News Tribune (NJ)
December 10, 2003

EAST BRUNSWICK: Piscataway entrepreneur Rosemarie Strawn, a motivational speaker and trainer, attended Rep. Rush Holt's "Einstein's Alley: The Economic Summit" yesterday, hoping to network and learn what local and state organizations are doing to buoy entrepreneurship in Central New Jersey.

For her, Holt's vision for economic sustainability and vibrancy in the region, was already panning out.

"I've met some people from the bigger companies -- PSE&G (Public Service Electric and Gas Co.) and Pfizer -- and I'm trying to make contacts to provide services there," said Strawn, whose company is called Positive Actions.

For the congressman, a 12th District Democrat, yesterday's day-long program at the Hilton in East Brunswick, which attracted nearly 300 people, was designed to bring together and start a conversation among the area's "stakeholders" -- Holt's definition of everyone who has a stake in the region's future.

"The premise (of the economic summit) is that not all futures are created equal; that some futures are better than others, and if you just wait for it to happen, you'll probably get one of the less desirable futures," Holt said.

"Einstein's Alley" is a phrase that Holt said would make a good branding device for the Central New Jersey region, which he compared to the once red-hot Silicon Valley.

"Silicon Valley is not so much a place as it is a frame of mind," he said of his concept. "We're Einstein's Alley, where people want to live, to bring their kids, where a hotshot scientist or a hotshot entrepreneur would want to come and get involved in town government, as well as building a business."

By noontime yesterday, it was obvious to Holt that attendees were enthusiastic and willing to contribute their two cents about what is needed to build on the area's advantages, as each table in the conference room had a voting pad allowing participants to key in immediate feedback.

"By far, the leading answer was better communication, cooperation," Holt said. "I say the problem is 'fragmented communication.' There are a lot of good organizations looking at and doing economic planning, environmental and transportation planning . . . looking to the future. They want to build business and so forth, but no one is saying, 'Let's share our vision for this part of the state.' "

Dr. Wei-hsing Wang, president of Internet resources company NicheUSA in Princeton, agreed with Holt's thoughts about the need for improved communication.

"There's so many entities involved: the government, the universities, industries and associations. Today, I don't see good cooperation among them," Wang said. "Just a one-day discussion is not enough. There should be some form of continuation that after today would provide more information. Where will we find all of these people tomorrow?"

Dr. Fatemeh Mjotabai, founder and president of Novatarg Pharmaceuticals in Demarest in Bergen County, came to the summit to speak directly with Holt about her concerns.

"There are major issues within the biotechnology entrepreneurial community that are not represented," she said. "While (Gov. James E. McGreevey) has this initiative of developing the biotechnology cluster of innovation, at the same time, they are chasing out the biotechnology startups because there is no support, no funding, no infrastructure, no entrepreneurial biotechnology network. There is no representation."

Yesterday's program included breakout sessions and panelists from a variety of organizations and companies, including Rutgers University, Pfizer, PSE&G and the state Department of Labor.

Both Wang and Strawn expressed hope that Holt can help make life easier for Central New Jersey's small business community by opening doors, increasing accessibility and centralizing their efforts as vendors to reach out to big corporations and government entities.

"The judgment is going to be withheld until I give (Holt) some time to see what is being done," Strawn said. "They have a Web site. I'm going to look at it on a periodic basis to monitor and see, 'OK, what else have they done that they've heard from us here?' "

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