EDITORIAL
What started out as an optimistic tour by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-12, of a new high-tech business last week, ended on a concerning note.
Mr. Holt visited the offices and laboratory of Liquid Light on Deer Park Drive in South Brunswick on May 19, followed by a forum with officials of several other high tech-businesses sharing space in that complex.
Liquid Light, started in 2008, is a company that is developing the technology to change carbon dioxide into other forms, including butanol alcohol, by using visible light, which could be used in vehicles as fuel.
This is a remarkable story of innovation that was fostered in the chemistry labs of Princeton University and then, using the college’s own transition program and federal grants, brought into the private sector to discover commercial applications for the technology.
It is a great example of how our nation moves forward by finding solutions to problems.
Companies like this one, and a couple others that met with Mr. Holt following the tour, told the congressman what they needed and what would make the process better for those that come after them.
Toward the end of that forum, representatives from these high-tech companies talked about their frustration with doing business in New Jersey.
Some even hinted, albeit in a joking manner, that after developing the technology here, they would be better off taking their operations somewhere else.
The reasons for moving out of the state included high taxes and over-regulation.
The principals of these dynamic companies were not just talking about business or corporate taxes, but what individuals pay and the difficulty to make ends meet for smaller enterprises in such an expensive state.
If we want to foster innovative business in this state, we need to take a long and hard look at what we ask of them to operate here.
At all levels of government, we need to decide what we need to do in order to give these businesses, and the decent paying jobs they create, a chance to start and flourish here in the Garden State.
Decent jobs based on cutting-edge technology are a good investment in our collective futures and are the stuff that makes our nation the best in the world.
These small enterprises are also the future and the hope for our state to move out of the financial darkness and back on a road to prosperity.
In order to show our support, we must work with these innovators to promote their ideas and businesses in our state and local communities.
We should let our state legislators and local officials know that we care about these firms and want them to stay and grow here in New Jersey.

