Tax Policy Work Earns KPMG and AT&T Executives NJBIA Award

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association today honored two of its members for their extensive work analyzing the state’s tax policies and advising policymakers on how to address them.

Jim Venere, managing director at KPMG, and Deborah Bierbaum, assistant vice president of External Tax Policy at AT&T, received the Leonard C. Johnson Award during today’s Public Policy Forum. The Johnson Award recognizes leaders who have distinguished themselves in their efforts to improve New Jersey’s business climate for employers and encourage job growth.

“Today, we are presenting this award to two distinguished professionals who were invaluable to the business community through all of the complex federal and state tax law changes in 2018,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka. “Their assistance, dedication and expertise helped us navigate through very technical and complex state tax policy legislation included in the FY2019 state budget, while advocating for the business community.”

Venere and Bierbaum serve as the chairpersons of NJBIA and the State Chamber’s Joint Taxation & Economic Development Policy Committee. They were honored for their past work on crafting tax policy recommendations to help improve the state’s business economy, and for their more recent work on helping to navigate complex tax changes made at both the state and federal levels.

The Johnson Award is named after past NJBIA president Leonard C. Johnson.