NJ Chamber History

Founded in 1911, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce's headquarters in Trenton is located across the street from the State House, which enables our staff to mobilize and react quickly to the rapid events that often unfold in the state's capital. Our team of lobbyists interact daily with key legislative players in Trenton and our reach extends to Washington, where we represent our members in the halls of Congress and at the White House.

In addition to lobbying, the Chamber provides members with networking events, educational programs and money-saving discounts.

Although the state has transformed from an industrial society to a technological one, the State Chamber's goal has always remained the same – to represent the varying interests of our members and to help them clear burdensome regulatory hurdles that stifle growth. Our membership has always been broad-based, ranging from solo proprietors to Fortune 500 companies.

Throughout the chamber's rich history, the organization's talented leaders have always provided the guidance necessary to develop proactive solutions to the important and tough issues of the day.

Our Beginnings 

The below text appeared in a 1986 publication commemorating the 75th anniversary of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

The United States was quite a different place in 1911. Still in their infancy, were the radio and motion picture industries. The landscape of the country was about to undergo a dramatic change with the advent of automobile production.

In an effort to direct the tremendous growth occurring in New Jersey, five business leaders saw the need to create a cooperative organization among the many industries. They wanted not only to help the business community, but enhance the overall image of the state as well, hoping to attract more industries and people to the region. Thus, in 1911, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce was founded.

More than 350 individuals – representing a multitude of business concerns – were charter members. All these years later, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is one of the most powerful and respected business organizations in the state. It’s lobbying efforts in legislative halls, coupled with outstanding leadership, have significantly elevated the state to the position in enjoys today.

The Story of the Founding of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce

By John T. Cunningham

Thomas Greenwood, Passaic lawyer, spent much of the year 1911 riding trains across New Jersey, knocking on doors of the state's business leaders, and, when the unpredictable telephone worked, talking to important strangers. Each day he jotted down expenses; during the year he spent $365, a sum voluntarily shared by five men with a vision that New Jersey needed a state Chamber of Commerce.

Consider those five founders:

Arthur S. Corbin, Passaic banker (who would in time become known as "The Father of the State Chamber"); P.J. Hover, Ridgewood realtor; William Lambert, Nutley realtor; Arthur Johnson, Passaic Board of Trade, and George B. Corsa, Bound Brook businessman.

The quintet invested their money ($73 each the first year), but Greenwood was the workhorse. He spread the word, particularly that the new group was not just another private North Jersey scheme.

Greenwood called on owners of brick works, hotel owners in Atlantic City and Cape May, glassworks entrepreneurs in Cumberland County, tomato canners in Salem and Camden, operators of coal and lumber yards - as well as bankers, insurance executives and mine owners.

Why was he calling?

Officially, he was pushing "the need for an instrument to represent business and manufacturing interests ... and seek a permanent plan for publicity to advocate the advantages of New Jersey for home seekers, manufacturers and others (the official pronouncement of the self-appointed founding committee).

Greenwood quite likely also brought up whenever possible the implications of what appeared to be a rising anti-business sentiment within both the state and nation.

Woodrow Wilson, disappointing his conservative backers, had turned liberal after inauguration as governor in 1911. Laws were brewing in the state legislature to add to New Jersey’s dubious national reputation as the “the Mother of Trusts.“

The Supreme Court had stunned the business community by ordering a breakup of Standard Oil of New Jersey in the same year. Teddy Roosevelt, getting ready to challenge for U.S. president, was bully for progressive thought.

The time was ripe for New Jersey businessmen and industrialist to act. The New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce had been born thanks to Attorney Greenwood, his five sponsors, and the more than 350 individuals who already agreed to become members,

Greenwood had indeed knocked on some splendid doors, for his charter membership group included not only top corporate executives, but also one Thomas A. Edison of West Orange – who modestly gave his occupation as “electrician and inventor.”

Phillipsburg jarred to the testing of jackhammers, Butler’s rubber mills gave the town a smell of burning overshoes, Dover’s streets reflected throughout every long night a fiery glow from a rolling mill near the town center.

The moon, much less the sun, never set on Newark’s incredibly varied factories. Glassworks in Cumberland County ran 24 hours a day. Camden boasted of its output of condensed soup, talking machines and ocean liners.

Perth Amboy’s copper smelters and refineries turned out half of America’s copper, Bayonne claimed that it was the world’s leading producer of petroleum products, and Atlantic City wanted no business except that of welcoming visitors to its staid old wooden hotels.

In Burlington, James Birch’s workers made nearly all of the jinrickshas used in Japan, China and India.

It was 1911, when the world teetered on the edge of innocence, buoyed by assurances from Europe that three blood cousins - England’s King George V, Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm, and Russia’s Czar Nicholas – NEVER would wage war on one another.

In New Jersey, old ways continued acceptable as 948 water wheels ran mills along every stream with even a modest water flow. State officials called waterpower “a most vital energy resource.”

Thomas Edison’s electric motors were somewhat acceptable, although steam continued to provide nearly 80 percent of all industrial energy.

This was New Jersey industry in 1911:

• Smelting and refining copper comprised more than 10 percent of all industrial output.
• Paterson’s scores of silk mills made it one of the world’s great silk centers.
• More than anything, New Jersey factory workers could produce nearly everything.

That would be an enduring legacy.

If you queried an industrialist on the streets of any New Jersey city in 1911, he would have insisted that the state’s major cities would always be pre-eminent, that automobiles and airplanes might be interesting but would never eliminate the horse, and that immigrants, while numerous, would never replace “good American labor.”

As for the 325,000 workers in New Jersey factories (25 percent of them female), they endured an average work week of 60 hours – for less than $10 a week (in good times).

It WAS an age of innocence, an age which in times yet to come could, for some reason, be called “the good old days.”

“The need of an instrument to represent to the business and manufacturing interest of New Jersey, as well as the need of a channel for the expression of the views and wishes of these important interests, and also the possibilities of a persistent plan of publicity, with references to the advantages of New Jersey for home seekers, manufacturers, and others were the considerations which gave rise to the idea that a state Chamber of Commerce be organized. The combined acumen and strength of New Jersey’s bankers, manufactures, and other business men could certainly produce results most beneficial to the people of the state.”

Arthur S. Corbin, Co-Founder of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, at first meeting in 1911

Centennial Celebration

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce kicked off a year-long centennial celebration on December 7, 2010. Members signed a new business charter reaffirming its mission to promote businesses across the state. The event, held at the offices of law firm K&L Gates in Newark, featured Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, in her role as secretary of state, ratifying the document.

"I need all of you to do what you are doing today - getting together, talking, networking and supporting a great institution like the New Jersey Chamber," Guadagno said. "The only way we can fix the problems we have in New Jersey is by putting people back to work … and we need your help."

Our Home

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce headquarters is located at 216 West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey. The building was once the home of Ferdinand W. Roebling, Jr. (1878-1936) who was elected president of John A. Roebling’s Sons Company in 1926, following the death of his uncle Washington A. Roebling. It was during his time as president that the company heled to erect the George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River in 1931. Generous with his wealth, he was a constant supporter of various hospitals and churches throughout New Jersey.

LEADERSHIP

Chairman of the Board: 1912 to Present (Volunteer Position)

President

Prior to 1923, there was no designated president of the chamber. The Board Chairman oversaw the executive functions of the organization.