Let's Do Lunch! (In Newark)

Last Wednesday I attended a very packed and hopping "Let’s Do Lunch!" event hosted by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey in partnership with the Newark Regional Business Partnership. It was held at the Nico Kitchen + Bar, a fun and elegant eatery located in the NJ Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) complex. NJPAC is located in my beloved Newark, which is experiencing a Phoenix-ish renaissance that is truly inspiring to behold. For example, right across from NJPAJ is the beautiful Military Park, which was recently renovated. 

And across from the Park is the exquisite Prudential Office Tower, as well as L+M Development's exciting mixed-use redevelopment of the Hahne's building featuring a Whole Foods, affordable housing and commercial space.

Also across the street from NJPAC is a curvy, new residential tower (One Theater Square) they have sponsored, which is being built by Dranoff Properties and constructed by Hunter Roberts Construction.

I love watching it's progress whenever I'm in town, and envisioning the urban loveliness that is taking place - imagine a summer Friday night, with folks enjoying a Jazz Band in the Park after work before driving home from the parking garage hidden under the Park. Happy residents walking a block, or just across the street to see world-class talent at NJPAC. Diners reveling at Nico's, where they'll hold your desert for you until intermission and where you can catch the light rail at the NJPAC station to Newark Penn Station - or way over to Jersey City. I could go on and on.

But I've digressed from the lovely "Let's Do Lunch" event. It really was fun - and great for networking. I sat at a table of friendly folks and exchanged cards all around. I sat next to a woman who is a business development manager for a company that designs amazing software, such as a type of breathalyzer that can detect cancer. She is also an entrepreneur, housed at an incubator at NJIT where she provides FEMA consulting. Aha! That was our connection. "Are you certified as a small, woman-owned business?" I asked her? Dewberry is - among many other things - a FEMA contractor and we often subcontract to such firms. In addition to business networking, I bumped into Gerry O'Conner, the Coach of my sons' basket ball team at St. Joseph's Church, where he is the Athletic Director. It turns out he is also runs a non-profit for the Newark Archdiocese that raises money for college scholarships. A cause after my own three-son heart. Lol. All in all the "Let's Do Lunch event was exciting, fun, community-building and good for business. I give it an A+ and hope to see you at the next one!

@CIANJ @NewarkRBP @DranProperties @NJPAC @CityofNewarkNJ