Article
NJ OKs $60.5M tax credit for Amneal’s 337-job Piscataway expansion
New Jersey’s Economic Development Authority on Thursday, Oct. 22, approved a tax credit of up to $60.5 million for Amneal Pharmaceuticals to expand its drug-making campus in Piscataway, N.J., where authority staff said the company plans to add 337 full-time manufacturing jobs. The board approved it by voice vote with no opposition heard, according to the authority’s own meeting recording.
The same board, meeting in New Brunswick, N.J., also approved about $5.4 million in tax credits to restore Lucy the Elephant in Margate City, N.J., up to $6.5 million for two life-science venture funds and a $5 million Microsoft software agreement. Also in this roundup of New Jersey public meetings: the Toms River, N.J. council deadlock on affordable housing, and two votes we still have not confirmed.
Image: Jersey Intel infographic. Photo: Evan Weiss, NJEDA CEO, State of New Jersey, Office of the Governor (official portrait) / Wikimedia Commons (public domain).
- What we know: The NJEDA figures below come from staff presentations and voice votes in the authority’s Oct. 22 board recording, which Jersey Intel transcribed twice. NJEDA’s Oct. 23 press release covered only the Aspire housing awards, not these items.
- Why it matters: A board member described Amneal’s award as the third under a $500 million state program, and staff told the board the program could be oversubscribed by spring. The credits are paid only if the company meets its job and spending targets.
- What’s next: Amneal has three years, with two possible six-month extensions, to meet the targets. In Toms River, the council is due to take up its affordable-housing plan again Oct. 28.
NJEDA (Oct. 22): $60.5 million for Amneal’s Piscataway expansion
Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC, which has its offices in Bridgewater, N.J., applied under the Next New Jersey Manufacturing Program, a tax credit for manufacturers that add at least 20 jobs and spend at least $10 million. NJEDA staff told the board the company plans 337 new full-time manufacturing jobs at a proposed median salary of $84,000, with $242.2 million in eligible project costs. The potential credit is $12.1 million a year for five years, a total of $60.5 million (about 43:00 to 44:10 in the recording).
Staff said Amneal is growing its Piscataway campus from five buildings to eight and moving to a 24-hour operation. They said the 153 employees Amneal took on when it bought Kashiv BioSciences, which Amneal says it completed in August, count toward its existing workforce and not toward the new jobs. Staff also told the board that Amneal, like many other drug companies, reached a settlement with New Jersey in opioid litigation that requires it to make Narcan, and that the project tied to this award is not for Narcan production. Amneal signed a letter of intent with Rutgers University for internships to meet the program’s education partnership requirement.
A board member called this the program’s third award from its initial $500 million authorization. Asked how much is left, staff said the authority has issued about $130 million in credits, leaving roughly $350 million, and that “we could be oversubscribed by springtime” (about 44:43). Approved companies get three years, plus two possible six-month extensions, to meet job and spending requirements before any credits are awarded, staff said. The board approved the award by voice vote, and no opposition, recusals or abstentions were heard when the chair asked (about 46:40 to 47:05).
Lucy the Elephant: $5.4 million credit on top of city bonds
The board approved a Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion (CAFE) tax credit of about $5.4 million for the Save Lucy Committee, Inc., to restore the inside of Lucy the Elephant, a National Historic Landmark at 9200 Atlantic Ave., and build an accessible visitor and museum center. Staff put the total project cost at $6,271,188, with $5,451,188 eligible. The agenda says the credit covers 100% of eligible cost.
According to the staff presentation, the project’s financing includes “just over $5 million” from Margate City’s general obligation bond, plus grants from the New Jersey Historic Trust, a federal congressional grant and a City of Margate grant. Construction is expected to start Feb. 1, 2028, and finish about January 2029. In response to a board member’s question, staff agreed the committee gets no money up front; the credits come after construction is complete, spread over five years. The presentation did not explain how the state credits relate to the city’s bond. The award passed by voice vote with no opposition heard (about 33:00 to 39:27).
Also approved Oct. 22
- Life-science venture funds: Up to $6.5 million combined from the federally funded State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI): up to $1.5 million to NLC Fund Management, LLC and up to $5 million to Portal Innovations Momentum, LLC, with the CEO delegated to finalize fees and legal structure. Staff said the approval switches the funding source for both managers to SSBCI and pays for investments in companies, not the overhead of the state’s Innovation Hub in New Brunswick (about 26:48 to 29:34).
- Microsoft: A $5 million Microsoft software and services enterprise agreement for 2027 to 2030, under the state contract. Staff said the last agreement was $4.2 million “and we did use every bit of that” (about 24:40 to 26:48).
- The board also approved its 2025 annual activities report and audited financial statements, and declined eight applicants to its NJ BASE program for international companies, based on scoring.
Earlier Friday, Jersey Intel reported the board’s rent cut for Ascendia Pharmaceuticals and the $77.5 million in Aspire credits for three Newark projects, approved at the same meeting.
Recording note: NJEDA posts its board meetings as an audio file on its own website, not on YouTube, so we link to it in the Sources box with the times above instead of embedding it.
Toms River, N.J.: council deadlocks on affordable-housing plan
The Toms River Township Council deadlocked this week on a court-approved affordable-housing plan, Shorebeat reported Oct. 22. With Councilman Robert Bianchini absent, a motion by Council President David Ciccozzi to postpone the vote failed on a tie, and a motion to adopt the plan also tied, according to the report. The settlement with the state and Fair Share Housing Center allows 183 new housing units, the report said. Mayor Daniel Rodrick warned that failing to adopt it could nullify the settlement and restore the township’s original obligation of about 1,870 units, and Shorebeat noted it would open the township to “builder’s remedy” lawsuits. Shorebeat reported that Ciccozzi wants to vote at the Oct. 28 meeting, when Bianchini returns, and that the township’s immunity from those lawsuits expires Oct. 30. Jersey Intel has not reviewed a recording or minutes of the meeting.
On the agenda, outcome not yet confirmed
- Monmouth County, N.J. (Oct. 22): The commissioners’ agenda listed a three-year contract with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to run the county’s self-funded employee health plan, estimated at $243,923,950.98 for 2027 through 2029, as Jersey Intel first reported Oct. 21. We have not confirmed the vote. Friday night, about 9:30 p.m. ET, we checked the county’s YouTube channel (no regular-meeting recording among its most recent posted streams and videos), its Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 news releases (they cover an early-voting proclamation and tick identification, not the contract) and its meeting records portal, which did not load for us. We will report the outcome from the county’s record.
- Passaic, N.J. (Oct. 20): Still unconfirmed: item 23, a resolution rejecting bids for the 287 Monroe Street building rehabilitation, which the city bid on behalf of a private developer. When we checked the city’s Agenda Center about 9:23 p.m. ET Oct. 23, it listed the Oct. 20 agenda but no minutes.
What should we dig into next on these awards and votes? If you have documents or know more, email jerseyintel@gmail.com.
