Five-county region sees relative advantage in Einstein name

by Cathy Bugman/The Star-Ledger
Sunday November 30, 2008, 9:33 AM

California has Silicon Valley. North Carolina, the Research Triangle.

Now some in New Jersey would like the central part of the state branded Einstein's Alley.

Trying to capitalize on Albert Einstein's ties to Princeton, where he lived in his last years, a group has launched an aggressive marketing campaign to lure high-tech industries to the five-county region of Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth.

"We want to help the economy in New Jersey," said Lou Wagman, co-executive director of Einstein's Alley, the nonprofit launched two years ago at the suggestion of Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Dist.). "And we're starting to have success."

Rive Technology, a start-up company focused on the refining industry, looked at three states before deciding to open a laboratory in Monmouth Junction, Middlesex County, last summer.

"The big thing I got from Einstein's Alley was a recommendation on a Realtor who found me a place within 10 days of starting the search," said Larry Dight, senior vice president for research and development for Rive.

He said the group also put him in touch with contacts at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the New Jersey Entrepreneurial Network. In addition, Einstein's Alley linked him to key researchers at Princeton University.

Rive started moving in last month and expects to start the new year with a 10-member staff.

Einstein's Alley also is focused on aiding entrenched technology companies with expansion plans. Hutchinson Industries, a rubber manufacturer in Trenton, came to the state capital 25 years ago with three employees. Today, it has 450 on the payroll.

"Einstein's Alley helped us expand and grow," said president Pascal Seradarian, adding that the company now has six manufacturing buildings.

Montgomery Township late last month planted a sign at Route 206 and Orchard Road, proclaiming that area of Somerset County a "high-tech corridor," the eighth town to do so.

Others are East Windsor, Lawrence, Princeton Township, Franklin Township (Somerset), South Brunswick, Trenton and West Windsor.

"We are proud that our location, quality of life, open space and cultural diversity attract both corporate leaders and their employees to Montgomery," said Mayor Cecilia Birge, who has a family link to Albert Einstein. Her grandfather, P.Y. Chou, a leading Chinese physicist, worked for a time in the 1940s with Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Princeton Township installed two signs on Washington Road and along Mercer Road adjacent to the institute two months ago.

"It's to promote the region as a tech-based area and a good location for technology companies to locate to," said Robert Kiser, township engineer. He said Einstein's Alley contacted the township, and the township committee "was excited about it."

"People who live here will certainly benefit from it because of the employment opportunities it will bring," he said.

James Hughes, dean of Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, praised the effort.

"New Jersey is severely under-marketed," he said. "Our image has taken a hit. During the current decade, a governor has resigned, a number of public officials have been indicted. Other states are trying to brand themselves and market themselves in an aggressive fashion. New Jersey hasn't. And we do have unique assets. The state should be marketed and it deserves state money."

In the 1980s, the Route 1 corridor was marketed to a certain extent and in the 1990s the Hudson waterfront was promoted as "Wall Street West," he noted.

"We need something equivalent to that in this decade," Hughes said. "The effort would be a step in the right direction."

Walter Geslak, chairman of Montgomery's Economic Development Commission, agrees.

"In these tough economic times, any way we can differentiate ourselves by attracting good-paying jobs will help us," he said. "There's no out-of-pocket cost to the township. What do we have to lose?"

Katherine Kish, who co-directs Einstein's Alley, described the effort as an exciting initiative.

"It's actually kind of sexy," she said.