New Jersey’s economy rides on the work of our state’s new car and truck dealerships and organizations like NJ CAR. Automotive retail makes up nearly 15% of the state’s largest economic sector, provides direct and indirect jobs for nearly 70,000 workers and over $1.73 billion in annual state and local taxes.

Your dealerships play vital roles in your communities, and I deeply admire your many charitable and community service contributions.

Over the past three-plus years, we’ve focused on ensuring that our state’s economy works for the middle-class – your largest consumer base – and medium-sized firms like your own.

Whether you are working with our Motor Vehicle Commission to identify unlicensed brokers or helping our Division of Consumer Affairs update their advertising regulations to reflect how businesses operate in 2021, we have valued the chance to hear your feedback.

We also look forward to working with you on two issues close to my heart and key to my administration’s agenda: clean vehicles and workforce training. We know that demand is increasing for electric vehicles, and we are grateful for your guidance on cutting obstacles to sales.

We aim to get over 300,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030, and we will not be able to do that without you.

Our administration will also make sure that businesses like yours have the workers they need – especially in the technical and mechanical fields. We are investing heavily to improve and expand state apprenticeship programs and support our public schools.

We may not always agree on every issue, but you will always know where I stand, and my door will always be open. Our state faces many challenges, but working together with civility and understanding should not be one of them. New Jersey succeeds as one state.

Together, we will keep building an economy that prepares our auto industry for another successful century. Together, we’ll shift New Jersey’s economy into another gear.