Leaders from the state’s business community had a unique opportunity to voice their issues and concerns directly to the White House Monday.
Valerie B. Jarrett, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, met with CEOs and executives from about 25 New Jersey businesses. Jarrett was in the state to speak at Rutgers University Monday evening.
The visit, which took place at PSEG’s headquarters in Newark, was part of an effort by the White House Business Council to dispatch senior administration officials to hold roughly 100 roundtable discussions with business leaders across the country, said Elnardo J. Webster II, New Jersey’s representative on the council, and a partner at the Newark law firm Trenk, DiPasquale, Webster, Della Fera Sodono P.C.
Webster said many of the executives praised the federal government’s stimulus bill.
“People commented on a lot of programs that came out as a result of the stimulus package and how helpful it was, and just wanted to talk about how that kind of growth and that kind of stimulus could continue,” he said.
The executives at the meeting represented large companies, as well as mid-sized and small companies. PSEG Chairman and CEO Ralph Izzo was in attendance, as was Panasonic Chairman and CEO Joseph Taylor and Deputy Mayor of Newark Stefan Pryor.
Vaughn McKoy, president of the PSEG Foundation, and another attendee at the event, said Jarrett came ready to listen.
“She came to hear,” he said. “She talked for maybe two minutes, but the whole time was Q-and-A. It wasn’t a prepared speech or anything like that.”
McKoy said another…

As American Dream Meadowlands, the project formerly known as Xanadu will not only be one of the largest entertainment and retail complexes in North America, but also a major tourism destination, its new redeveloper announced Tuesday.
 

Gov. Chris Christie unveils a rendering of the exterior of American Dream Meadowlands with, from left, Jon F. Hanson and Nader Ghermezian. (Christina Mazza)

“This will be a tourism project in a major way,” said Nader Ghermezian, chairman of Triple Five at a press conference at the project site Tuesday morning. Half of the visitors to American Dream will be tourists, internationally and nationally, he said.
Ghermezian said the company is working on tourism packages to bring visitors to the complex, and is also talking with airlines about allowing passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport to shop at American Dream during long layovers. People will also be able to purchase tickets for flights at Newark airport at the complex, he added. These types of arrangements are already in place at Triple Five’s Mall of America in Minnesota, he said.
“This project will move forward now and be finished,” said Gov. Chris Christie, also speaking at the press conference. He said there will be a firm timeline for completing the project, by fall 2013. “When people come to the Super Bowl in 2014, they’ll be spending a lot of time here,” he said. “This will be an important part of the Super Bowl experience.”
American Dream will create about 9,000 construction jobs and 35,000 permanents jobs, said Christie.
Tuesday’s press conference signaled the advancement of a project…

In an effort to persuade fellow Pulse Electronics Corp. shareholders to reserve their final vote for independently nominated board of director nominees, Bel Fuse Inc. issued a presentation and letter to Pulse stockholders in anticipation of the May 18 annual meeting.
Bel Fuse, which is based in Jersey City, has attempted to combine with the Trevose, Penn., competitor since 2006, and earlier in 2011 nominated two independent candidates (http://bit.ly/kg2lhq), Timothy E. Berg and James Dennedy, for the Pulse board of directors. Bel Fuse and one of its subsidiaries, Bel Ventures Inc., own more than 300,000 shares of the 41.6 million shares of outstanding Pulse stock.
The letter, written by Bel Fuse’s CEO, president and director, Daniel Bernstein, refutes several of the claims made by Pulse in a letter responding to Bel Fuse’s proxy statement (http://bit.ly/mx3laJ) issued in April, dismissing the company’s claim that Bel Fuse’s board candidates are “hand picked” and could steal valuable intellectual property.
“Bel is not seeking to surreptitiously obtain Pulse’s intellectual property by planting spies on the Pulse Board. Bel’s nominees will be bound by the same confidentiality restrictions and fiduciary duties as every other board member,” Bernstein states in the letter.
Neither company will comment beyond the prepared statements.
Bernstein also continued to argue that Bel Fuse’s initial offer of $6 per share of Pulse stock is not opportunistic, backing up his claim with dollar figures. According to the Bel Fuse presentation, Pulse currently has a market cap of $247 million, and the $6-per-share offer would increase the market cap to $250 million.
Bel Fuse has a market cap of…

The New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners announced Tuesday it disciplined three surgeons who participated in clinical trials of a medical device without disclosing payments tied to the results of the study.
The board reprimanded Drs. Richard A. Balderston, Thomas J. Errico and Jeffrey A. Goldstein, all of whom signed consent orders and did not admit or deny the allegations.
Goldstein and Errico were involved in clinical studies of the ProDisc spinal disc replacement device at the NYU Medical Center and Hospital for Joint Disease. Balderston was the clinical investigator of the device at the University of Pennsylvania’s Pennsylvania Hospital, according to the state board.
When physicians renew their New Jersey licenses, they have to disclose any financial payments in excess of $10,000 received from medical device manufacturers, according to the state board. Goldstein and Errico answered “no” to that question, and Balderston’s lack of disclosure to Pennsylvania Hospital violated certain New Jersey statutes, according to the consent order.
The board assessed $60,000 in civil penalties and $17,500 in cost reimbursements against Errico. Goldstein was assessed $30,000 in civil penalties and $10,000 in cost reimbursements. All three physicians must provide proof of successfully completing a board-approved ethics course.Goldstein issued the following statement to NJBIZ: “For the benefit of patients, I fully agree and support the need for disclosure with regard to physician and industry relationships and I proactively disclose my relationships to all of my surgical patients. Over the past 10 years, since the inception of the ProDisc study, the rules about disclosure have been rapidly changing and improving and making…

Hackensack University Medical Center has agreed to sell its hospice operation, which had 2010 revenue of $5 million, to Louisiana-based Amedisys, which acquired HUMC’s home-health care operation in 2009.
In a statement, Amedisys said it will buy Hospice of Hackensack, which operates one hospice agency and one eight-bed hospice inpatient unit, primarily serving Bergen and Hudson counties but licensed throughout New Jersey. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Amedisys said the transaction is subject to state regulatory approvals and is not expected to add materially to Amedisys’ earnings in 2011.
Dianne Aroh, HUMC executive vice president, chief nursing and patient care officer, said in a statement: “At HUMC, our focus is always on providing the most advanced, top-quality care possible to the people we serve, either directly or by partnering with providers who share our philosophy. We believe this vision is shared by Amedisys, and by completing this transaction and working together to streamline the transition of care to our patients, we will strengthen the end-of-life care being provided to our community.”
Amedisys CEO William F. Borne said in a statement: “We have worked closely with HUMC since acquiring their home-health operations in 2009 to provide patients a seamless transition of care from the hospital to home. We are eager to expand this relationship to hospice services.” He said the hospice acquisition “aligns nicely with our strategy of providing a continuum of at-home health care. We look forward to continuing to work together with HUMC to provide high-quality health care to the people of Hudson…

Managed Health Care Associates acquires group purchasing; Plainsboro medical ed company acquires competitor; PSE G completes Perth Amboy solar installation.

North

Managed Health Care Associates Inc., a Florham Park health care service company focused on alternate site providers, announced Monday the acquisition of Tidewater Group Purchasing from Omnicare Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Quest Diagnostics Inc., in Madison, announced Tuesday that Spark Acquisition Corp., its wholly owned subsidiary, has extended the expiration of its tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Celera Corp. for $8 per share in cash, to 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Central

Michael J. Hennessy Associates, in Plainsboro, through its medical education company, ArcMesa Educators, has acquired Physicians’ Education Resource, a continuing medical education company, the company announced Monday.
PSE G and Matrix Development Group on Monday marked the completion of two rooftop solar installations at adjacent Matrix-owned buildings in Perth Amboy. The 2.8-megawatt project is part of PSE G’s Solar 4 All program.