Leading Companies

-- Leading Companies

* Automatic Data Processing * Becton Dickinson * Bed, Bath & Beyond * Chubb
*   Church & Dwight * Cognizant Technologies * Dun & Bradstreet * Goya
* Honeywell International * Horizon BlueCross * IDT * Hackensack Meridian
* Hovnanian    * Investors Bank * Johnson & Johnson * Mars * Merck
* NJM Insurance *   NRG Energy * PBF Energy * Provident Bank   * Prudential
* Quest * Quick Chek * RWJBarnabas * PSEG * TD Bank * Toys 'R' Us
* Valley National Bank * Wakefern Food

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Ad celebrating Campbell Soup's national recognition circa 1930s. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com

-- 'Leading companies'

New Jersey's best-known companies include those founded in the nineteenth century such as Prudential, Campbell Soup and Johnson & Johnson. The "leading companies" profiled in this section include these prominent names as well as a highly-subjective list of other major firms that have significant roles in the state due to its serving as their corporate headquarters or operating units. It omits some of the largest employers, such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot and others who have significant economic impact as a result of their workforces but otherwise do not have special ties to New Jersey.

-- History

     For much of its history, New Jersey has aggressively encouraged economic development, both through promoting the formation of new businesses and soliciting the relocation or expansion of existing out-of-state firms to establish operations within the state.

     Shortly after the Revolution, Alexander Hamilton obtained a charter and subsidies from the state to form a company, the "Society for Useful Manufactures," to harness the water power from the Great Falls at what is now Paterson for his proposed manufacturing complex, a project which he saw as a model for similar ventures in other states.

       From the 1830s to the Civil War, the state government's close--and often corrupt--relationship with the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which financed much of the state government's budget through fees from its operations, led to cynics branding New Jersey as "the state of the Camden and Amboy." At the turn of the century, the state legislature's approval of laws catering to the interests of giant corporate trusts and monopolies brought charges that New Jersey was a "traitor state," allowing price-fixing and other collusion banned in other states.

While most of these practices were reined in by court decisions and reform movements, New Jersey continued well into the 20th century to provide a legal and political climate supportive of business, keeping taxes low and avoiding excessive regulation. Later in the twentieth century, the state's suburban communities increasingly attracted leading executives as residents, with some firms relocating their headquarters to take advantage of shorter commuting times, more space for expansion and lifestyles seen as helpful for recruitment of executives and other employees.

* "New Jersey: A Traitor State," Lincoln Steffens, April 1905, McClure's Magazine, The Archive of American Jornalism

In recent years, the influence of business leaders has become more limited as a result of various factors. The national trend toward the consolidation of smaller businesses into national and global firms has eliminated some traditional New Jersey-based firms, perhaps most visible in industries like banking and retailing. Deregulation also has reduced public utilities. Some corporations also have reduced their efforts to influence legislative and regulatory efforts, perhaps due to the enactment of stricter laws and disclosure of campaign contributions and lobbying activities, as well as risking the potential adverse publicity which has been produced by questionable relationships with politicians.

Johnson & Johnson world headquarters in New Brunswick. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com

Original Johnson & Johnson building in New Brunswick. Image: KilmerHouse.org

* * Hyatt **

Ad in Scribner's Magazine featuring drawing of Prudential home office buildings in Newark superimposed on Rock of Gibralter. Image: NewJerseyAlmanac.com

--Fortune 500 companies

Currently, New Jersey is the site for the headquarters of 21 companies in the Fortune 500 list of the nation's largest companies by revenue published in June 2017. The state ranked tied with Pennsylvania for seventh among the 50 states, behind New York (54); California (53); Texas (50); Illinois (36); and Virginia and Ohio (tied at 25). New Jersey based companies with the highest rankings were Johnson & Johnson (#35), Prudential Financial (#48), Merck (#69) and Honeywell International (#73).

* Fortune 500 2017, Fortune Magazine

-- Largest employers

       Annual surveys ranking the state's largest employers include those compiled by NJBIZ and New Jersey Business in their print and online publications. The five largest employers in the Top 100 Employers list published by New Jersey Business IN 2022 were Amazon (50,000); Wakefern Food (36,409); Wal-Mart Stores (20,563); UPS (19,826); Johnson & Johnson (15,990);and PSEG (12,500).

        Some county economic development agencies and chambers of commerce also publish lists of largest employers in the county along with other occupational information, such as Monmouth County and Ocean County. Lists of largest employers in the Philadelphia metropolitan and New York City metropolitan regions are published, respectively, by the Philadelphia Business Journal and Crain's New York Business. Choose: New Jersey, a nonprofit established by the Christie Administration to promote economic development, also publishes lists and data relating to large employers in the state.

-- Employer organizations (See more at Business Associations)

Statewide, regional and local business organizations offer diverse support services for New Jersey employers. The New Jersey Business and Industry Association and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce are the most active lobbying organizations on major business issues, and sponsor events and programs on special topics. More focused industry, trade and professional organizations include the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey; Employers Association of New Jersey (human resources); NFIB-New Jersey (small business); New Jersey Retail Merchants Association; New Jersey Builders Association; NAIOP-NJ (commercial real estate development); New Jersey Hospital Association; Medical Society of New Jersey; New Jersey State Bar Association; and Chemistry Council of New Jersey. Regional, county and local chambers of commerce meet regularly for networking and discussion forums. (See more at Business Associations)

  Economy
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*  Real estate * Business Associations