Paul Bralczyk, manager of basic gas supply service for PSE&G, echoes this, noting that while prices are currently low, there is no way of knowing if they will remain low, and the contract is key.

Tami Gerke of Elizabethtown Gas, which  serves natural gas customers in Union and Middlesex counties as well as in Northwestern New Jersey, explained the process of switching from the utility to a third-party supplier.

“A homeowner or business contacts a third-party supplier, or the third-party supplier through a sales effort contacts the customer,” she said. “Once the contractual price and other conditions of service are established with the third-party supplier, the supplier enrolls the customer through an automated electronic process.”

The switch is seamless in terms of delivery of the commodity itself. The natural gas is still delivered to the customer through the utility’s distribution system.

Under state law customers who switch to a third-party provider may switch back to their utility at any time, although contractual stipulations – including financial penalties – and/or a time delay may apply. Because of this, experts agree it is important for customers to understand the terms of their contract before making the switch. Regardless of contracts, however, customers will not face service interruptions should their third-party supplier default or go out of business.

“If a third-party energy provider goes out of business, Elizabethtown Gas will take the affected customers back into commodity service,” Gerke said.

While cost savings is certainly a strong draw for third-party suppliers, it is not the only draw.

“[T]hird-party suppliers can offer customers packaged products that a traditional utility cannot offer,” said Steven Maslak, president and CEO of Gateway Energy Services, a third-party supplier offering natural gas and electric choice to residential and business consumers. “At Gateway, our New Jersey customers can mix and match fixed- and variable-rate plans for their natural gas and electricity.

“For example, many of our customers choose to fix their electricity rates through the end of the year to avoid New Jersey utilities’ summer rate hikes, while opting for a variable rate on natural gas.”

Third-party suppliers also can offer various discounts and incentives, such as Gateway Energy Services’ sign-up promotions and Military Discount Program,  according to Maslak.

Steven Sooby, central region sales director for Hess Corporation – a third-party provider serving commercial and industrial customers – notes the big-picture dimension of energy choice benefits.

“Competitive energy providers have a range of pricing and usage options that help a business develop a long-term energy strategy that fits their needs and budget,” he said.“In many cases, products such as fixed and variable rate pricing and green energy are not available from the local utility.”

Sooby suggests that businesses shopping for a natural gas supplier consider six factors: total energy needs, risk tolerance, reliability, service and relationship, value/cost transparency, and environmental/conservation goals.

According to Jim Faulkner, an associate with Viridian Energy – a third-party supplier that offers green electricity with a minimum 20 percent renewable content – non-profit organizations also can benefit from switching.

“The first benefit is a potential 10 or 15 percent reduction in (the) energy bill, whether gas or electric,” Faulkner said.

Additionally, Viridian operates a referral program that rewards customers such as nonprofits for helping others switch, as well as an associate program that allows associates to earn a commission based on the total number of Viridian customers in their organization.

“There doesn’t appear to be a downside,” Faulkner said.

Consumers debating switching and wary of the unregulated third-party supplier versus the regulated utility should note that third-party suppliers must be licensed by the BPU before they can serve customers in New Jersey.

“(C)ustomers may be able to achieve cost savings or price stability by switching” to a third-party supplier, according to BPU public information officer Doyal Siddell.

Yet while low natural gas prices make it is a buyer’s market for third-party suppliers right now, that is not always the case, Siddell added.

“Utilities hedge a portion of their supply,” he said. “Therefore, in a rising market, it is more difficult for third-party suppliers to compete since a portion of the utility supply was locked in at lower prices. Conversely, in a declining market, it is easier for third-party suppliers to compete since the portion of the utility supply was locked in at higher prices.”

Consumers considering third-party options may visit the BPU web page for more information on shopping for an energy supplier: www.nj.gov/bpu/commercial/shopping.html.

Whether remaining with their utility or switching to a third-party supplier, however,

New Jersey customers can take comfort in knowing that, like the car they drive or the food they buy, the choice is fully theirs.

Crime-infested Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn and serene Memorial Park in Maplewood are as far apart as the North and South Poles yet can be visited through a click of the mouse in just two minutes.

It is an inspiring trip.

Carlos Sanchez, founder of the fitness business Maplewood BootCamps, recently turned to online technology to step back into his old haunt of Bed-Stuy and then magically into the safe confines of Maplewood to create a two-minute video about his business that landed a $50,000 grand prize in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce “I am Free Enterprise” contest.

Clients of Maplewood BootCamps find fitness made fun through a sense of community and group support.

The contest is part of the chamber’s Campaign for Free Enterprise, which is  supporting free enterprise, raising awareness of the important role small businesses play in the national economy and promoting creation of 20 million jobs in 10 years.

The chamber solicited videos from businesses that would tell their free enterprise and entrepreneurial story and received more than 130 submissions. Five finalist were aired on YouTube for one month, where they were viewed more than 95,000 times and voted on by the public.

“I am Carlos Sanchez and I am Free Enterprise” was voted the winner.

Sanchez is no newbie to electronic media. The entrepreneur has built his business not only on sweat and dreams but also on technology and connecting to target audiences through the Internet. He promotes his business through his company web site and blog; Facebook, YouTube and Twitter; and an electronic newsletter he sends to clients and perspective campers. He also leveraged his extensive sneaker collection to create videos that have been seen by more than 4 million viewers.

Sanchez also uses traditional marketing, such as fliers and direct mail, and recently introduced a session card that provides clients with more flexibility in attending the camp, recognizing today’s demanding schedules as well as the realities of a down economy in which consumers do not want to waste their spending dollars.

Entrepreneurs succeed when they identify consumer needs and create products or services that fill those voids. Sanchez developed the idea for his fitness boot camp while working as a personal trainer at a chain fitness center.

“The majority of people don’t get the results they want when working with a personal trainer or going to a gym,” he said. “But the group atmosphere provides support. They’re accountable to each other. It’s that sense of building the community.”

Maplewood BootCamps provides a structured, group exercise experience in fourweek programs of two, three or as many as seven days a week. Each day consists of 45-minute sessions comprising five- and 10-minute blocs of exercises working on different areas of the body. Campers work at their own pace but under the supervision of Sanchez and other trainers, yet often are teamed up for fun and competition and to strengthen the sense of community and accomplishment.

Sanchez focuses on both campers’ bodies and minds, he said.

“It’s great if you lose weight or get stronger, but it’s more about seeing an obstacle, making a plan and attacking and overcoming it,” he said. “That’s what fitness has done for me. When there was a time in my life when I was down I started to exercise and everything changed. I wanted to change the world.”

Sanchez came from a world of crime, drugs and poverty and made a plan to overcome these obstacles.

“Free enterprise was my ticket out,” he said.

Recognizing and supporting that vision and drive is the goal of the U.S. Chamber’s Campaign for Free Enterprise, according to Mary Kane, director, special projects at the chamber.

“We felt that the American people were losing their gut instincts of why businesses were started in this country,” said Kane, whose parents emigrated from Ireland in the 1950s seeking a chance to build new lives. “We wanted to say thank you for taking a huge risk and starting (their) own business.”

Not taking risk is true failure, according to Sanchez, a philosophy that drives his entrepreneurial spirit and which he tries to instill in his clients.

“BootCamp is not an intimidating place,” he said. “It’s a safe place that encourages them to do the best they can. The hardest part is just showing up. Once they’re there I keep them moving…There aren’t any mistakes. If you fall over, your body is learning what it needs to stay up. There is no failure. Failure is not showing up.”

Great poets express ideas and emotions beyond our day-to-day capacity. These poets activate and connect us with a dormant part of our humanity, helping us grow and experience life on a higher plane.

Great salespeople provide a similar function for their clients.

Very often the prospect or client can’t articulate what she needs.

Particularly for the infrequent purchase, the prospect usually is not an expert. Very often, he focuses on surface issues – product/service features – or the economics of the sale: “I need your very best price – after all, I’m in a pennies business.”

The great salesperson shows prospects the latent – or unexpressed – possibilities.

Economic history is the realization of latent demand – the fulfillment of possibilities.

For instance, consider the:

  1. Actual demand for automobiles in 1860.

  2. Actual demand for computers in 1945 (worldwide demand was reportedly estimated at one computer).

There was immense latent demand for both automobiles and computers. These latent demands were activated when:

  (1) new technologies made the innovations economical and

  (2) the message was effectively communicated to the target audience.

Great salespeople play the latter role – they convey the possibilities, the vision, to the prospect.

It doesn’t take a game-changing innovation like the computer to invoke the salesperson as poet – as visionary.

Consider the classic dichotomy of builder’s grade vs. quality – also known as first cost vs. total cost.

The buyer often has a short-term orientation: the money spent today. Thus, he focuses on first cost.

But most purchases have a future benefit or impact. Conceptually, this impact is not as obvious.

It’s the salesperson’s job to show the prospect the long-term impact of the decision – to consider the total cost. It is his or her job to show the prospect the difference between:

  1. Doing it right – minimizing total cost with quality versus…

  2. Doing it repeatedly by focusing on the short-term and buying low-cost builder’s grade.

Whereas the marketer does this en masse, the salesperson does this “belly to belly,” in the trenches, one person at a time – the most effective method of persuasion.

If the customer buys low-quality builder’s grade and suffers the consequences, there was a failure somewhere in selling.

The salesperson failed to rise to her role as poet.

Historically, nations acknowledged great poets as “Poet Laureates.” Our economic well-being would be substantially enhanced if we also designated great salespeople as “Salesperson Laureates.”

Copyright James Coyle 2010

After New Jersey legislators and Gov. Chris Christie reached a compromise to pass a $29.4 billion budget and then hammered out an agreement on capping annual property tax increases at 2 percent, Christie was reported to have told lawmakers he would get better at the budgeting process.

The Legislature had better join the governor at improving. While the negotiations that led to the budget compromise were surprisingly amicable and the compromise on the property tax cap was bipartisan, the final solution – a Legislature-passed cap versus a constitutional amendment passed by voter referendum – leaves much work to be done to ensure that New Jersey’s mayors and town councils can meet the cap without devastating local services and education and without subverting it with exemptions.

Make no mistake, reducing the cap on property tax increases from the current 4 percent to 2 percent is a step in the right direction. Property taxes in New Jersey have increased more than 70 percent in the last 11 years, more than double the rate of inflation. While the rate of increase has more than halved since the introduction of a 4 percent cap in 2007 – from 7.2 percent to 3.3 percent – New Jersey residents still pay the highest property taxes in the nation on a per capita basis.

The problem with the 2 percent solution is similar to that of the 4 percent cap. There are exceptions to the cap – albeit far fewer – that can allow local governments to exceed the cap. Of greater concern, with a Legislature-passed cap versus a constitutional amendment, lawmakers can make changes later that might further weaken the cap and undermine its effectiveness.

A constitutional amendment would have (1) placed the issue directly in the hands of those most affected by it, the state’s residents and homeowners, and (2) removed any temptation on the Legislature to tweak the law in the future.

As the decision has not been left with the voters, it now falls on the governor and lawmakers to “get better” at helping local governments meet their obligations to residents while staying under the cap.

There are exceptions to the cap that include pension and health benefits, capital expenditures and certain emergencies. These are areas that are largely beyond the control of local governments.

Yet certain major drivers of increases in local expenses will not be addressed by the 2 percent cap – namely arbitrated salary increases for police and firefighters and unfunded state mandates. While police and fire salary increases statewide have averaged 4 percent since 2000, the real impact on municipal budgets averages between 6 and 10 percent due to administrative calculations, according to the New Jersey League of Municipalities.

Unfunded mandates that place severe and undue strain on municipal budgets touch on everything from planning for constantly changing affordable housing regulations to storm water management. In a state known for home rule, municipalities have been overrun by the cost of mandates that often have no logical relation to the realities within their borders.

While the 2 percent cap will limit increases in property taxes, it will not place such a constraint on arbitrated salary increases and unfunded mandates. Therefore, the Christie administration has proposed a slate of 33 bills – the so-called tool kit – that the governor believes will help municipalities rein in expenses currently beyond the control of local governments, including capping annual increases in public employee contracts, inclusive of binding arbitration awards. The governor also has taken positive steps toward reducing unfunded mandates and onerous regulations on municipalities and the business community.

These are steps that need to be turned into strides and then leaps if local governments are to be given a fair shot at meeting the new limits on property tax increases without shortchanging residents. This is the time for the Legislature to join Gov. Christie in getting better at this.

As with economic downturns of the past, the current recession has brought one silver lining. Businesses of all sizes and within every sector have learned to operate more efficiently.

Companies have discovered or developed ways of producing products and services with fewer resources.

This is a lesson local government and school boards will learn over the next few years as they strive to creatively do more with less while New Jersey rights its foundering ship of state. A constitutional amendment for a 2 percent cap in property tax increases would have been more in line with the sink-or-swim scenario the business community faced during the recession. For now the compromise between the governor and Legislature has a built-in life preserver.

We’re not out of the deep water yet. We still need to get better at this.

By Thomas Donohue

Carlos Sanchez is discussed on the front page of this newspaper because he represents American free enterprise at its best. With hard work and a good idea, Carlos built something out of nothing and, in the process, helped those who attend his boot camps live healthier lives.

But if current trends continue, it may be harder for others to realize similar success.

The congressional leadership and the administration have taken their eyes off the ball when it comes to America’s top priority – creating jobs. Although the economy may be growing again, it is not growing nearly fast enough to create the 20 million jobs we’ll need in the next 10 years to replace those lost in the recession and to keep up with a growing population.

Instead of partnering with the business community and embracing proven ideas for job creation, the congressional leadership and the administration have embarked on a course of rapid government expansion, major tax increases and suffocating regulations.

As the president has said repeatedly, prosperity and job growth come from the private sector, not from the government. Government’s role is to establish the right conditions so that the private sector can invest, grow, compete, create new products and services, and put Americans back to work.

Here are the recommendations of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for jolting our economy back to life.

Let’s start by addressing America’s uncompetitive tax rates. This Congress has already raised taxes by almost $700 billion to pay for health care, stimulus and other programs. Proposals in the capital markets, energy and climate change arenas would raise hundreds of billions more.

And beginning next year, Americans will be hit with the largest tax increase in history.

Our weak economy simply cannot sustain such massive tax hikes. We urge Congress and the administration to immediately support at least a temporary extension of the tax relief passed in the prior decade. We must also reduce the corporate tax rate to spur investment and job growth.

The president said that millions of American jobs can be created by doubling U.S. exports in five years, and we agree. We can start by immediately passing pending free trade agreements and reviving global trade talks known as the Doha Round.

Millions of jobs, as well as our global competitiveness and quality of life, depend on modernizing all forms of American infrastructure. We must remove the regulatory, legal and  financial roadblocks to private investment.

The regulatory burden imposed on the job creators of our country has reached a tipping point. Congress approved a 2,800-page health care bill that includes a new employer mandate and hundreds of billions of dollars in business taxes. The Senate is poised to pass a sweeping financial reform bill fraught with unintended consequences, huge new bureaucracies, and higher taxes and fees. The Environmental Protection Agency and Labor Department are embarking on an unprecedented amount of regulatory action.

Congress and the administration must address the cumulative impact of this regulatory avalanche to restore certainty, unleash investment and create a better atmosphere for job creation.

It is imperative that business and government leaders work with each other, not against each other. Our current economic direction is not working, and it’s undermining our position in a tough and competitive global economy.

Thomas Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation.

By Keld Jensen

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, hundreds of millions of gallons of crude oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. But that is not the only thing leaking right now; the business community is watching trust and credibility slowly seep away.

The oil spill is just the latest example of the devastating economic effects of corporate irresponsibility. Questionable banking practices played a significant role in the recession, and now BP’s poor safety practices may have been responsible for causing the largest offshore oil spill in American history.

But these events also are having a more indirect economic impact by shaking the trust that is the foundation for all commercial transactions.

A recent article in Bloomberg Business Week cites various ways that a lack of trust can have economy-wide consequences. Lost faith in banks and other financial institutions, for instance, can dampen enthusiasm for investing, with obvious consequences for growth. One economist quoted in the article notes an enormous body of research showing that trust in institutions is vital to a country’s economic development.

But this is a problem that goes well beyond the public losing faith in the nation’s banks and corporations. Even within the business community, trust has been leaking away for years.

In 16 years as a negotiation consultant, I have seen countless transactions fall apart for one simple reason: a complete lack of honesty and trust. Instead of being open about their needs and cooperating toward a common goal, the two parties inevitably treat the negotiation like a poker game. They keep secrets, bluff the opposition and do everything to “win” at the expense of the person across the table.

It is an approach that causes more than a third of negotiations to fail. In those that succeed, the mutual distrust and secrecy causes the parties to miss out on countless variables that could have provided gains for both.

The hostile and untrusting attitude that pervades virtually any commercial transaction is cyclical: both sides know they can expect secrecy and deception from the other, and therefore instinctively come to the table from a position of mutual mistrust.

And do not think for a minute that contentious negotiations only happen in big corporate mergers. Thousands of negotiations take place every day, from the biggest acquisition to the smallest sale, and as long as things continue as they are, mistrust and dishonesty will remain the currency of the business world.

If trust is to return to the economy, it will not happen through increased regulation, which only creates new legal hoops for corporations to jump through without  addressing the underlying problem. Rather, it will happen when the business community creates a culture based on trust, honesty and fair dealing, and brings those values to every commercial transaction.

Of course, tigers are not going to change their stripes overnight and they certainly are not going to turn over a new leaf out of an altruistic desire to help the economy. Instead, they will do it for the same reason they do everything – because it helps their bottom line. When it comes to negotiation, being open and honest with the guy on the other side of the table will help both parties, as they discover new opportunities to create value and see the benefits of building a long-term partnership.

If the business community wants to regain the public’s trust, then they have to start by changing their very culture. Or to put it another way: before corporations can expect people to trust them, they have to start by trusting each other.

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Berkeley College, with campuses throughout the New York metropolitan area, has launched the Berkeley College Combat Veterans Education Partnership, designed to meet the academic and career goals of disabled combat veterans. The distance learning program offers associate and bachelor degrees through the Berkeley College School of Business and the School of Professional Studies. Disabled combat veterans can enroll in the program and begin their studies while recovering at a military installation. Berkeley College also has been selected as an on-base partner at McGuire Air Force Base in New Hanover Township.

In addition, Berkeley College recently raised more than $5,300 for the 2010 Diversity Stride as more than 120 Berkeley team walkers participated in the event at Liberty State Park. Money raised funds the American Conference on Diversity’s Youth Leadership Institute Programs.

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Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper P.C. has named Tara Brown, Kevin Murphy and Brigitte Radigan as summer associates. Brown attends Rutgers Law School in Newark. Murphy is studying at Seton Hall University School of Law. Radigan also is attending Seton Hall University School of Law.

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Infineum has been recognized with the American Chemistry Council Responsible Care® Company of the Year Award in the medium-sized company. To be eligible for the award a company must perform in the top 10 percent of its size category in employee safety during the past three years, have zero significant process safety incidents in the past year, and utilize best practices in communications with communities and key stakeholders.

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The Lions Eye Bank of New Jersey recently hosted an open house at its new 4,000-square-foot residence in Clark. The open house featured different interactive stations and guests had an opportunity to tour the new laboratory, watch educational videos, view the Eye Bank’s Donor Tribute Web site (www.donortribute.org) and sign up on the Donate Life NJ Donor Registry.

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The Bayway Complex Community Advisory Panel, an organization of local community and industry representatives, recently awarded $1,000 scholarships to four local students: Adam Staryak of Rahway High School; Daniel Niedzwiedzki of Linden High School; Ahmad Masi Abdul Zaher of Elizabeth High School Upper Academy; and Nicholas Joseph Fusco of Moore Catholic High School in Staten Island. The four $1,000 scholarships were awarded to local high school seniors who will be pursuing careers in engineering or process technology.

In addition, two high school juniors, Piterson Massenat-Desir from Linden High School and Chisom Emeana from Benedictine Academy in Elizabeth, received scholarships to attend New Jersey Institute of Technology Pre-college Academy this summer. Guillermo Corrales, an Elizabeth High School Upper Academy student, also has been awarded the 2010 ConocoPhillips Excellence in Science scholarship. The $1,000 award will support Guillermo’s studies in aerospace and mechanical engineering at Rutgers College in Newark.

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PSE&G recently was awarded with the Celebrating Philanthropy Award honoring the Newark-based company at the Trinitas Health Foundation Annual Gala. The event, which celebrated the Medical Center’s 10th anniversary, raised nearly $450,000 for the hospital.

Staff members from L’Oréal USA, Clark Manufacturing, Consumer Products Division recently spent the day at Trinitas Regional Medical Center facilitating a day of volunteering. Partnering with Groundwork Elizabeth and the Elizabeth Garden Club, the volunteers beautified the landscaped triangle that welcomes visitors to the Williamson Street Campus of Trinitas while Brother Bonaventure Extended Care Center residents received special treatment from L’Oréal staff members.

In addition, Nancy DiLiegro, vice president of clinical services at Trinitas, has taken over as chair of the American Heart Association Northern New Jersey Regional Board of Directors, following a year as chair-elect.

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Spencer Savings Bank recently announced the local winners of its annual scholarship program. Vibhuti Shah (Union High School) and Olubusayo Grace Alofe (Union Burnet Middle School) were awarded academic scholarships. An award of $1,000 was give nto Vibhuti and a $500 Coverdell Education Savings Account (CESA) was awarded to Olubusayo, in recognition of their hard work and dedication throughout the school year.

Since its inception in 2002, the Spencer Scholarship Program has awarded more than $200,000 to exceptional students in recognition of their academic achievements. Spencer Savings Bank also recently co-sponsored “Movies Under the Stars,” along with the Cranford Jaycees, at Hanson Park in Cranford. Volunteers from both Spencer Savings and the Cranford Jaycees served refreshments and popcorn to more than 350 people.