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The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee Thursday approved legislation to establish innovation zones in an effort to stimulate technology industry clusters around research universities and hospitals in the Newark, Camden and Central Jersey regions.

This bill (A-904) requires the state Economic Development Authority to establish three innovation zones, with each zone surrounding a New Jersey research university, college or research hospitals.

Under the bill, the Camden area includes Camden, Glassboro, Mantua in Camden County.

The Greater New Brunswick Area includes New Brunswick, South Brunswick, North Brunswick, Piscataway in Middlesex County, Franklin in Somerset County and Princeton Township, Princeton Borough, Plainsboro, East Windsor and West Windsor in Mercer County.

The sponsors of the legislation noted the Central Jersey zone, for instance, could draw on such prestigious institutions as the Sarnoff Center, Rutgers University, Princeton University and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and could spur new levels of investment in Central Jersey communities along the Route 1 corridor.

The sponsors said an innovation zone is a geographic area surrounding a New Jersey research university, college or research hospital, or any combination thereof, that has the potential to attract a collaborative research effort between the academic communities, research hospitals and New Jersey's technology industry, resulting in business and job growth.

The state EDA director is to recommend the precise geographic boundaries of the innovation zones and subzones to the members of the authority, who shall give their final approval. The bill requires the authority, with the approval of the state treasurer, to modify its existing programs where permissible to give bonuses or other enhanced incentives to businesses located in an innovation zone.

The bill also requires the state Commission on Science and Technology to modify its programs where permissible by law to promote and support networks and collaboration between the technology industry and university or hospital researchers in the innovation zones, increase federal funding to universities of strategic importance to New Jersey's technology industry, promote the transfer of technology and commercialization of new ideas in the innovation zones and to further develop support for technology companies in the innovation zones.

The proposal is sponsored by Assembly members Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset), Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex), Pamela R. Lampitt (D-Camden) and Joseph Egan (D-Middlesex).

"By creating a means for a collaborative support system among universities, hospitals and businesses across the state, New Jersey will continue to lead the way academically, technologically and economically and see business and job growth," Greenstein said. "Innovation zones create a network for businesses in New Jersey and maintain a pipeline of new employees through relationships with our higher education institutions."

The measure was approved 4-1 by committee.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM