South Jersey Forward, a nonprofit and nonpartisan think tank and advocacy organization, will hold a virtual roundtable 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb 1 to discuss “Building Tomorrow: Exploring Manufacturing’s Role in South Jersey.”

The program will explore the fledgling manufacturing industry in South Jersey and ways to bolster the sector when compared to its more established counterparts in the northern and central parts of the state.

Moderated by SJF founder Mike Suleiman, panelists will include Peter Connolly, CEO of the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, and Christa Groeller, COO of IPAK, a renowned manufacturing company based in Camden.

“Despite being home to 1,800 manufacturing firms, there exists ample room for expansion of the manufacturing industry in South Jersey, particularly in comparison to the northern and central parts of the state,” Suleiman said in a release. “The potential particularly in life sciences manufacturing provides a unique opportunity to create jobs and make South Jersey less on casino gaming.”

The discussion will stream live on the South Jersey Forward’s Youtube channel,  southjerseyforward.org, and on South Jersey Forward’s Facebook and X accounts.


Nanette LoBiondo Galloway

Award winning journalist covering news, events and people of Atlantic County for more than 20 years.