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Government Affairs

Chair: Alan Zakin, Alan Zakin Associates

Mission: To monitor and address legislative and public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels of government as they relate to the interests of business and economic development in Morris County and among Chamber members, and to draft and recommend to the Board positions on such issues to be adopted and promulgated to appropriate government officials, the membership and the public. 

Upcoming Meetings:

The Morris County Chamber Government Affairs Committee meets monthly (when possible) at 7:30 a.m. to discuss current policy and political issues that affect the business community. At 8:00 a.m. we are joined by members of the Morris ELC, a grass roots affiliate of the NJ Business and Industry Association, as well as by government leaders who address the group and engage in an informal and lively exchange. 

Activities and Highlights:

The Government Affairs Committee plans:

• The Government Affairs Committee plans:
• Annual Legislative Breakfast where we discuss key government issues that affect business
• Monthly Breakfast meetings in conjunction with the NJ Business & Industry Association where we meet key government officials and review emerging government and political issues
• Policy Position Papers on key government issues that affect the general business community.  Examples of key positions include:

• Opposing Onerous Advance Lay-off Notice Provisions for Employers
• Opposing Mandatory Paid Family Leave for All Businesses with 2 or more Employees
• Opposing Onerous Disclosure Regulations for Non-Profit Organizations

Past speakers have included:

• U.S. Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen
• U.S. Attorney Chris Christie
• Alan Steinberg, Esq., Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Christine Serrano Glassner, Regional Advocate for the U.S. Small Business Administration
• Republican Senate Leader Leonard Lance
• Republican Assembly Leader Alex DeCroce
• NJ State Senator Joe Doria
• NJ State Senator Tom Kean, Jr.
• NJ State Senator Tony Bucco
• NJ State Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula
• NJ State Assemblyman Joe Cryan
• NJ State Assemblyman Guy Gregg
• NJ State Assemblyman Rick Merkt
• Morris County Freeholder and Former Candidate for Governor, John Murphy
• Morris County Freeholder Director Margaret Nordstrom
• Morris County Freeholder Deputy Director John Inglesino

Committee Members:

Councilman Gary Algeier, Township of Randolph
Michael Alwell, Atlantic Health
David Beck, Chiropractic Physician
Gadi Ben-Menachem, Oppenheimer & Company

Steven K. Brisgel, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
Senator Leanna Brown, Brown Global Enterprises
Lee Campbell, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Lew Candura, Morris County Democratic Committee
John F. Ciaffone, TransOptions

Denis Ciklic, Bank of America Home Loans

Barry J. Cohorsky, NAI James E. Hanson, Inc.

Melverne E. Cooke, NJ State Assembly, 26th District
Patrick DeDeo, William Paterson University

Devin DeMarco, First Environment

Jim Duffy, MWW Group
Richard Eastman, Virtual Presence International
Robert Ellis, Institute for Leadership Studies & History

David Felder, Ryan Video Productions, Inc.
Maria Florio, Employment Horizons

Andy Germak, Mental Health Association of Morris County

Steven J. Goldberg, BASF Corp.

Jim Hannan, WithumSmith+Brown
John Harper, Laufer, Knapp, Torzewski & Dalena LLC

Bruce A. Harris, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Steve Herbes, Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, LLP
William Hutchinson, SMCMUA

James D. Jones, Commercial Property Managers, Inc.

Holly Kunzman, The CSI Group
Shawn Laurenti, Laurenti Consultants LLC
Wendy Lazarus, Pfizer Inc

Cathleen Lewis, AAA New Jersey Automobile Club

Louise Lindenmeier, Bayada Nurses
James Lynch, Sobel & Company

Thomas M. Mallaney, CBRE, Inc.

Lisa Delventhal Marelli, Montgomery Academy

Patrick Marotta, Marotta Controls, Inc.

Jake McCarthy, Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP

James M. McDonnell, Jackson Lewis LLP

Andrew McElroy, American Federal Mortgage Corp.

Karen McVeigh, AAA New Jersey Automobile Club

Bruce Meringolo, Newmark Associates, Inc.

Lissette Miquel, The RBA Group

Alfred Moffit, Environmental Waste

Thomas O'Dowd, O'Dowd Advertising

Martin Okun, Randolph Services

Ernie Osle, Bernstein Global Wealth

John M. Pellecchia, Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti, LLP

Robert Peluso, Capital One Bank

Stenley G. Puszcz, H2M Architects & Engineers, Inc.

Judy Raines, Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP

Laurie A. Roy, Alcoa-Howmet

Tricia Russo, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
Douglas Sanborn, Delta Dental Plan

Everton Scott, Public Service Electric & Gas
John Sette, Morris County Republican Committee

Brian P. Sharkey, Esq., Porzio Bromberg & Newman, P.C.

Julie Smolin, AxisPointe Inc.
George Sous, PSE&G
Tom Spiesman, Porzio Bromberg & Newman

Richard S. Thomas, Celadon Communications Management

Paul C. VanGelder, Cough, Harbour & Associates

Aida Visakay, AxisPointe Inc.
Ed Yaw, County College of Morris
Alan Zakin, Alan Zakin Associates

Robert Zwigard, LPL Financial

Interested in Joining the Committee?

Click here to send an email indicating why you would like to join the committee and in which ways you would like to contribute. Someone will contact you with 2-3 business days.