Ocean County Teams Up With the Joint Base

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Joint Base Mcguire, Dix, Lakehurst strengthens its ties to Ocean County's stakeholders and business community as part of a new initiative launched by Ocean County government.

The catalyst of this communication is the new Ocean County Military Support Committee where base officials and the public can dialogue about how each can help the other. Joint Base Engineer Mauricio Borrero, of Naval Air Systems Command, explains the base's goal.

"In here I want to open their eyes to the possibilities of them doing business with us and also what we bring to the community, that the large number of employees that we have and how much we pay our employees," said Borrero.

This mutual support comes at a crucial time as our region continues to get off the mat from Superstorm Sandy and as the Pentagon is looking to streamline its operations through another possible Defense Base Realignment and Closure Committee (BRAC) decision.

Borrero said there's no doubt that community support played a crucial role in saving the Joint Base from the chopping block twice.

"They look at many factors and one is its ties with the community. In other places where the community did not want the base because of noise or any other reasons, that has played against the base," he explained.

David Nicola, Executive Director of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce, paid close attention to Borrero, saying that he sees a lot of opportunities on the base and the need to let the public know about those opportunities.

"When you hear about millions or billions of dollars, hundreds of employees, all sorts of people looking to do business locally. That's something that's very attractive to a lot of Ocean County business people," said Nicola.

The Ocean County Military Support Committee met at the Clarion Hotel in Toms River Friday. The Committee is an initiative launched by the Ocean County Business Development & Tourism Department. Get more information at www.oceancountytourism.com or call (732) 929-2000.