The New Jersey Business & Industry Association is coming out in support of two key executive orders announced by Gov. Mikie Sherrill shortly after her inauguration on Tuesday.

Both Executive Order No. 4, establishing the Office of the Chief Operating Officer, and Executive Order No. 5, creating a Cross-Agency Permitting Team within the COO office, are consistent with the business and economic recommendations found in NJBIA’s Blueprint for More Competitive New Jersey, released last year.

“We thank Governor Sherrill and her administration for moving so quickly on both EOs to drive efficiencies and reduce permitting delays and costs, as promised,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka.

“Both initiatives send a strong message that help is on the way for businesses, their customers and residents of the state. These are very positive developments that we look forward to helping with and seeing the results of.”

Late last year, Gov. Sherrill announced Kellie Doucette as New Jersey’s first COO.

Executive Order No. 4 establishes that position within the Office of Governor. According to the EO, it is designed “to drive efficiency, transparency, and accountability across state government.”

The COO is to serve as the Governor's principal advisor on strategic initiatives, operational performance, and organizational effectiveness and to lead the Governor’s efforts to improve customer service and streamline permitting and regulatory processes across agencies.

“As Governor Sherrill campaigned on, this EO should bring a more robust structure within all departments to bring about more organization and support for the state’s economic opportunities,” Siekerka said.

Siekerka said Executive Order No. 5, which capitalizes on Sherrill’s ‘Save You Time and Money Agenda,’ is where businesses can see more expediency and cost-savings.

The Cross-Agency Permitting Team seeks to streamline and expedite the state permitting process to reduce project delays and costs and to improve customer service, transparency, and accountability for permit applicants.

The EO includes the team’s development of a Permitting Dashboard that displays the status and progress of state permit applications for projects in New Jersey and permitting process timeframes that reduce permitting review and approval delays.

A Regulatory Simplification Team is also established under the EO, with the aim of reforming state regulatory structures and processes to reduce project delays and costs.

“Having this kind of organized integration will allow for better communication between departments, which ultimately should lead to less time, costs and frustration as it relates to permitting, particularly for larger-scale projects,” Siekerka said.

“The Permitting Dashboard also creates a level of accountability for our government offices and lets our constituents know that their projects status is not lost in some black hole.

“We have previously called for similar systems to move processes along,” Siekerka said. “We’re thrilled that Gov. Sherrill is taking these bold first steps to bring about better processes and transparency that our businesses and residents deserve.”