NJBIA President & CEO Michele Siekerka issued the following statement regarding New Jersey’s placement of 30th overall in CNBC’s ranking of America’s Top States for Business in 2025, announced by the network this morning. 

“Like many of the states in this national ranking, New Jersey has much to be proud of and concerned with as it relates to business. We continue to be encouraged by our rankings in more foundational metrics like quality of life and education. We also saw good improvements in technology and innovation and infrastructure.

“What’s most frustrating, however, is the continuation of our bottom-of-the-pack ranking for business friendliness and non-competitive rankings for both cost of doing business and cost of living.

"This reaffirms that our exceedingly high businesses taxes, income taxes, property taxes and our extreme regulatory burdens do indeed have consequences both for our national business reputation and for our overall decline in Fortune 500 companies.

“As stated in great detail in our 2025 Blueprint for a Competitive New Jersey, we have the ability to make considerable improvements in our approach to business. We just need to have the will and the appetite for it and to comprehensively work toward policies that will make us a more competitive destination for job creators. We are looking to our next Governor to take bold steps to help us get there.”