Facts about the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce

    * The New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce is a Garden State institution with more than 1,200 member companies and associations representing 500,000 employees and billions of dollars in annual revenue.

    * We are not government funded - we are funded by and work for our members, which are companies, nonprofit organizations and other associations.

    * Founded in Newark in 1911, the State Chamber has been in Trenton for about 15 years, located across the Street from the State House.

    * While the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is not a government agency, we work with our local, state and federal elected representatives to promote economic growth and job creation.

    * In addition to lobbying, the Chamber provides members with business networking events and educational programs.

    * Thomas A. Edison is one of our founders. He served as one of the Chamber's first vice presidents.

    * Veteran banker Thomas A. Bracken became the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce's president and CEO in February of 2011, taking the reins of the state's business advocacy organization as it celebrates its 100th year. The Skillman resident served as chairman of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce's Board of Directors from 2005 to 2007, and has been involved with the Chamber for more than 30 years.

    * We will hold our 75th annual Walk to Washington in January. Guests board a chartered Amtrak train that leaves from Penn Station in Newark and stops at various stations across New Jersey as well as stops in Philadelphia and Wilmington. After the train arrives in the nation's capital, guests are joined by governors, state legislators, New Jersey's Congressional delegation and other prominent business and political leaders from the Garden State for the annual Congressional Dinner. The Walk to Washington obtained its name when folks realized that few sit on the train; they literally walk up and down the train the whole way to Washington.

    * The NJ Chamber of Commerce Foundation, our non-profit affiliation, is dedicated to improving work force quality in New Jersey. It provides programs to bolster public education in kindergarten through high school; increase the employment rate of qualified people with disabilities; and supports programs that look to help mitigate the nurse and nurse faculty shortage in New Jersey.