NJBIA, Audible to Host “2018 Economic Policy Forum:

A Tale of Tech Cities — Innovation & Urban Revitalization” Governor Phil Murphy, Audible Founder and CEO Don Katz to Keynote March 14 Event at NJPAC

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association, in partnership with Audible, will bring together tech industry experts, the investor community, public officials and entrepreneurs on March 14 for a major economic policy forum exploring best practices and policies for building strong tech-based ecosystems that create jobs, tax revenue and economic opportunity.

“The 2018 Economic Policy Forum: A Tale of Tech Cities—Innovation & Urban Revitalization” will include keynote remarks from Governor Phil Murphy, who will discuss his administration’s plans to grow New Jersey’s high-tech economy, and Don Katz, founder and CEO of Audible, the world’s largest producer and seller of audio entertainment. Katz will share insights into Audible’s decision to move to Newark and efforts to catalyze an early-stage tech growth economy that spurs economic opportunities for New Jersey residents.

“Technology-based startups are important drivers of economic growth and make significant contributions to economic opportunity and job creation in the cities they call home,” NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka said. “NJBIA is pleased to partner with Audible on this important event that will bring together experts and entrepreneurs for a lively discussion on the elements of strong tech-ecosystems and what they need to succeed.”

As founder and CEO of Audible, Katz leads Newark’s fastest growing company, which has gone from 120 to more than 1,000 employees in a decade. Katz also founded Newark Venture Partners, a venture fund and ultra-bandwidth accelerator that seeks to connect Newark to the early-stage technology economy.

The economic policy forum will open at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 14, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).  The agenda can be viewed here. Reporters who wish to cover the event are asked to contact Bob Considine at 609-858-9502.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio content, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible was created to unleash the emotive music in language and the habituating power and utility of verbal expression. Audible content includes more than 400,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store.