Advancing NJ’s Innovation Legacy into a New Era of Global Leadership
New Jersey’s story is, at its core, a story of invention. It is a place where bold ideas have consistently been transformed into world-changing realities – where discovery has not only flourished, but endured across generations. From the earliest days of American industry to the frontiers of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, the state has cultivated a unique and powerful identity: a global epicenter of innovation.
Today, that legacy is being actively shaped and propelled forward by InnovationNJ, a coalition purpose-built to unify the state’s vast and diverse innovation ecosystem that serves as a critical nexus – one that ensures New Jersey’s leadership in innovation is not only preserved, but expanded in ways that meet the demands of a rapidly evolving world.
What is InnovationNJ?
Founded in 2010, “InnovationNJ is a long‑standing coalition co‑founded by HINJ and NJBIA and currently administered and led by HINJ.
Its mission focuses on policy
alignment with the goals of:
- Encouraging collaboration between industry, academia, economic development, and government
- Breaking down silos between
institutions - Supporting STEM jobs and workforce development
- Promoting policies that attract investment and innovation
- Highlighting the value of New Jersey’s life sciences and tech sectors
In short, it acts as a convening and advocacy platform for innovation-related policy in the state.
At a time when technological progress is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, InnovationNJ stands as a coordinating force – aligning vision, policy, and collaboration to sustain the state’s role at the forefront of discovery and economic growth.
A Legacy Rooted in Discovery
New Jersey’s innovation economy did not emerge overnight. It is the product of centuries of ingenuity and ambition.
Few places can claim a lineage as influential. Thomas Edison’s laboratories in Menlo Park ushered in the age of electric light, fundamentally reshaping modern life. The state’s deep involvement in early telecommunications helped refine the telephone and build the foundation for today’s hyper-connected world. Life-saving and life-enhancing inventions, from the Band-Aid to advances in pharmaceuticals, have long been associated with New Jersey’s biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies’ research and manufacturing prowess.
The influence extends even further back. Alexander Hamilton’s vision for Paterson as America’s first planned industrial city laid the groundwork for a manufacturing economy that would power a young nation. Decades later, Albert Einstein’s presence in Princeton reinforced New Jersey’s status as a center of intellectual and scientific excellence.
These milestones are not isolated achievements – they represent a continuous thread. New Jersey has consistently been a place where ideas are not only imagined, but realized, scaled, and shared with the world. InnovationNJ operates squarely within this tradition, ensuring that the state’s legacy remains a living, evolving force.