Seven Honored with Alliance For Action Eagle Awards

On Oct 18, 2017

The New Jersey Alliance for Action recently held its 43rd annual Eagle Awards Celebration, which recognizes individuals and firms for their dedication and contribution towards improving the state’s economy.  Held at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick, seven awards were handed out to representatives from business, labor, engineering and government.

They include:

President’s Award: LG Electronics USA, Inc. The company is constructing a $300-million, world-class headquarters in Englewood Cliffs consisting of five stories and 350,000 square feet of space that will employ more than 1,000 people. The project is creating more than 2,000 construction jobs.

The Walter Rand South Jersey Award: Dr. Harvey J. Kesselman, president, Stockton University. As the fifth president of Stockton University, Dr. Kesselman is overseeing the construction of the school’s residential Atlantic City Gateway campus, which will allow Stockton to grow and help drive economic growth and change in Atlantic City. The campus will feature an academic building accommodating 1,800 students, a student center, a parking garage and new offices for South Jersey Gas. The project is a public/private partnership with Atlantic City Development (ACDEVCO).

Dr. John L. Bussi Engineering Award: Roy Little, deputy executive director and chief engineer, Delaware River Joint toll Bridge Commission. With more than 35 years of engineering and planning experience in transportation, Little oversees all aspects of the planning, design and construction of projects for all roadways and facilities in the DRJTBC’s $1.4-billion capital improvement program. He joined the organization in 2005 and was promoted to chief engineer in 2013.

Richard M. Hale Chairman’s Award: Rochelle Hendricks, secretary, NJ Department of Higher Education. Under Secretary Hendricks’ guidance, the state has spent billions of dollars on building and refurbishing college buildings and advanced the blueprint for higher education recommended by the Governor’s Higher Education Task Force.

Sigurd Lucassen Labor Award: Joseph Demark, president and business manager, Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 25; president, NJ State Council of Sheet Metal Workers. Demark leads the effort to protect his union members. His mission is to secure good wages and work conditions and ensure the strong welfare of his constituents. This has led to his appointment to several posts with the International Association of Sheet Metals Workers.

Ellis S. Vieser Lifetime Achievement Award: Raymond Pocino, vice president and eastern regional manager, Laborers’ International Union of North America. Some of Pocino’s major accomplishments include the newly funded New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund; voter approval of the Higher Education Construction Bond Issue; the largest capital improvement program in the history of the New Jersey Turnpike; and major capital initiatives at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. For more than five decades, Pocino’s leadership has created work opportunities for thousands of Laborers throughout the Northeast.

Special Recognition Award: Steven Oroho, State Senator, 24th Legislative District. Senator Oroho led the effort to refund the state’s Transportation Trust Fund. Through a 23-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase last fall, money raised by the tax is helping fund an eight-year, $16-billion transportation capital program – the largest and longest funding of the TTF ever. At the same time, the legislation eliminated the estate tax, rolled back the sales tax, increased the earned income tax credit and created a tax deduction for veterans.

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