Politics & Government

State of the Township Focuses on Business Climate

East Windsor Mayor Mironov gave the address last week.

Calling 2011 a “very hopeful year,” East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov presented businesspeople with an overview of the local business climate in her State of the Township address May 4.

At the , before a crowd of about 100 people from the Mercer County Regional Chamber of Commerce, Mironov described what she characterized as a pro-business town.

Overall, the mayor said the township wants “to try and provide a nicer environment for businesses and our residents who live here.”

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“I hope as much as I stand here today and say East Windsor is a business -friendly community, this is a business-friendly administration, we want you to stay here, we want you to come here, we want you to grow here and we want you to be our partner, we hope that those businesses that have had the experience to work with us can be our best spokespeople,” she said.

“Everyone has to follow the rules, I believe in that also, but I think it’s fair to say that through our staff and our boards we’ve reached out very effectively and professionally to assist you,” she said.

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Mayor Mironov focused on the three major corridors of commerce in town—routes 130 and 571 and the New Jersey Turnpike. She also touched on the and open space preservation.

Some of the projects she described included the of the first SciPark building to chemical company Elementis  and the Turnpike Expansion Project and associated reforestation work, as well as endeavors to improve the township like to Twin Rivers Drive.

Mayor Mironov also gave some hints of what’s in store for East Windsor’s future.

“We also intend to continue our goal of seeking to site a YMCA community center here in East Windsor,” she said. “Obviously with the economic climate we’ve decelerated the speed of some of those efforts, but that goal remains very much on our agenda.”

The mayor also said the township has meet with officials and is looking at increasing public transit options like having more buses or adding a park-and-ride.

In response to a question from the audience, she said there was not yet a new tenant for the site of the former in the Windsor-Hights Shopping Center at routes 130 and 571. The supermarket after its parent company, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, Inc. (or simply A&P), went into bankruptcy.

“Obviously we’re very sad about it, and we have been in touch with the owners of the center since we first learned about it,” she said. “They have been working on it very actively in outreaching and undertaking discussions with new tenants. We have no news at this point, but we are very hopeful, and of course we hope the building is filled relatively soon. It is certainly a big loss.”

The mayor also called on the state to stop appropriating Energy Tax Receipts, a revenue stream the state calls state aid but which local officials have long considered their money that was recently appropriated by the state. Items like that, she said, were part of the reason for the this year.

But in general, Mayor Mironov highlighted the township as a place for businesses to thrive through the support it already gives enterprises within its borders.

“I pledge to continue those efforts, and again we hope that you will help be our advocates,” she said. “Let others know that they should join you and that this is the place to be in today’s economy, in today’s world.”


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