AS ‘MYSTERY SHOPPER,’ U.K. MAGAZINE EDITOR GIVES HIGH MARKS TO N.J.’S BUSINESS ACTION CENTER
By Katie Eder/NJBIZ
9/21/2012
After a run-in with New Jersey’s nonprofit marketing arm three months ago at an international biotechnology convention in Boston, Michal Kaczmarski, markets editor of England-based Foreign Direct Investment Magazine, pitched a feature idea to his editor to determine firsthand if the state lives up to the group’s enthusiasm about its business-friendly climate.
“The biotech conference was a good opportunity for me to speak to the most active and helpful agencies about how they go about promoting their states … but there’s a difference between speaking to a promotional agency and them telling you they have great business opportunities, and actually experiencing it,” Kaczmarski said. “On this trip, I’ve been kind of like a mystery shopper, and I think the business-to-business approach of Choose New Jersey in trying to engage as many companies as possible is working well. If it’s easy for me to work with them, then it’s got to be easy for foreign investors.”
Kaczmarski said the state’s best bet for attracting foreign direct investment is through the Partnership for Action, which is made up of the state Economic Development Authority, Business Action Center and Choose New Jersey.
