FORWARDNJ LAUNCHES TV & DIGITAL AD CAMPAIGN TO HIGHLIGHT THE BENEFITS OF GOVERNOR MURPHY’S INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PLAN

Asbury Park – Forward New Jersey – the coalition of more than 75 New Jersey-based organizations representing over 1.5 million New Jersey residents and more than 140,000 New Jersey businesses – launched a new campaign today to highlight the benefits of Governor Phil Murphy’s infrastructure investment plan. The six figure TV and digital ad campaign – supported financially by the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the Utility and Transportation Contractors Association of New Jersey – will focus on the 18,000 new jobs that will be created annually and the $69 billion in economic activity that will be created by providing an additional $1.65 billion in capital investment in the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, New Jersey Transit & The South Jersey Transportation Authority.

“Infrastructure investment is critical to New Jersey’s economic recovery,” said Tom Bracken, Chair of Forward New Jersey. “This campaign will educate the public on how investing an additional $1.65 billion in infrastructure means creating thousands of jobs, generating billions in economic activity and ensuring we are making the kinds of improvements to our roads and bridges that are sorely needed. If we are going to dig ourselves out of the economic hole that COVID-19 has created, this is a great place to start.”

A study conducted by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) found that, in addition to 18,000 new annual jobs and over $69 billion in economic activity, the Murphy administration’s investment in transportation infrastructure would:

• Create additional business activity for New Jersey firms adding up to nearly $38 billion, increasing from $3.3 billion in 2020 to over $4 billion in 2030. This includes all sectors of the economy—industries such as retail and wholesale trade, manufacturing, finance and healthcare.

• Support an average of 18,856 jobs per year throughout the economy. This grows from 16,354 jobs in 2020 to 21,090 supported jobs in 2030. Most of those jobs—54 percent—are outside of the construction industry.

• Workers from these jobs will earn an estimated $10.3 billion, with average annual wages growing from $896 million in 2020 to $1.2 billion in 2030.

• Allow the state to gain additional tax revenues, increasing from $1.9 billion in 2020 to $2.4 billion in 2030.

The ARTBA report can be viewed at here.

An example of one of Forward New Jersey’s ads can be found here.

ForwardNJ is a partnership of more than 75 New Jersey-based organizations representing over 1.5 million New Jersey residents and more than 140,000 New Jersey businesses that first came together to raise awareness about New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) crisis and to find a solution to that crisis by replenishing the TTF in a smart, robust, sustainable, and constitutionally dedicated way.

For more information on ForwardNJ, log on to http://www.forwardnewjersey.com/ follow us on Twitter @ForwardNJ and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/ForwardNJ.

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