CommVault Brings Significant Investment, Job Creation to Jersey Shore
Under the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), Fort Monmouth officially closed on September 15, 2011.
One of the world’s fastest growing data storage companies is staying in New Jersey and moving to Fort Monmouth in Eatontown/Tinton Falls. The State of New Jersey reached a significant milestone in the redevelopment of the former military installation when the first sale of property was finalized between the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) and CommVault.
At full build-out, the company anticipates up to 650,000 square feet of new high-tech office/research space in one or more buildings on the site. Once the three phases of the project are completed, CommVault could create a total of up to 1,500 new jobs in the State, although some estimates for job additions are higher.
“CommVault has said it will eventually add 2,000 employees at the new site in addition to its current 500 in its current headquarters in Oceanport. The company is bound by an agreement with FMERA to generate up to 225 of those jobs within three years of moving in. If it doesn’t, it will face penalties of $3,000 per job not created,” writes Christopher Sheldon of the Long Branch Patch.
The global technology leader plans to undertake a three-phase project on the 55-acre “Parcel E” site in Tinton Falls. CommVault will make a substantial investment to complete Phase I, which involves the construction of an approximately 275,000-square-foot facility to serve as its worldwide corporate headquarters. The project will result in the retention of several hundred existing jobs for New Jersey and the creation of new jobs.
“By deciding to remain, expand and invest in New Jersey, CommVault is providing further proof that our state is an ideal place for business,” said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno. “We are pleased to welcome CommVault to Fort Monmouth and will continue to work with the company as it grows in the Garden State.”
In an effort to begin the redevelopment process, FMERA issued its first Request for Offers to Purchase (RFOTP) in October 2011 for Parcel E. Following the evaluation and selection process, the FMERA Board approved the purchase-sale agreement with CommVault in April 2012. To encourage CommVault to remain and grow in the State, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved Business Employment Incentive Program and Business Retention and Relocation Assistance Grant awards in March 2012.
FMERA Chairman James V. Gorman thanked CommVault for its commitment to Monmouth County and lauded the company for its integrity and resilience throughout the multifaceted process.
“CommVault is a world-class company with an outstanding management team whose dedication and perseverance proved invaluable as we advanced the first sale of property at the Fort,” Gorman said. “This is a truly momentous day for the region and for all of us involved in the redevelopment process as we have achieved three key goals: job retention and creation, reinvestment and establishing an anchor that will undoubtedly enhance our ability to attract additional businesses and investors.”
In August 2010, Governor Chris Christie signed into law the “Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority Act,” creating FMERA and charging it with advancing the Reuse and Redevelopment Plan authored by FMERA’s predecessor agency, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Planning Authority.
Led by Chairman Gorman, FMERA Board members include EDA Chairman Alfred Koeppe, Governor’s Authorities Unit Director Regina Egea, Monmouth County Freeholder Lillian Burry, Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo, Oceanport Mayor Michael Mahon, Tinton Falls Mayor Michael Skudera, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard E. Constable III, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin, New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development Commissioner Harold Wirths, New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson, and Public Members Dr. Robert Lucky and Robert Ades.
About The Author
Joseph Irace, Council President, Borough of Oceanport
You have probably noticed that the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth has been back in the news with CommVault’s move out of Oceanport and into Tinton Falls. There have been a lot of glowing press releases issued by the Fort Monmouth Economic Redevelopment Authority (FMERA) and local and state officials. Each one of these press releases trumpeted the positive short and long term impact that this move will have on the Fort’s redevelopment and to the community at large. Indeed, the press releases spoke of the virtues of this move and the many thousands of jobs that would be created by CommVault as the result of its relocation from Oceanport to Tinton Falls.
Depending on whose press release you want to believe, CommVault will be creating between 1500 to 3000 jobs over the course of its expansion in Tinton Falls. Unfortunately, these numbers aren’t guaranteed. They are only projections, and self-serving ones at that. It would be nice if the taxpayers were provided actual facts when the government is spending taxpayer dollars. The lack of facts in these press releases seem to reflect that the government doesn’t think that the taxpayers are able to understand the facts or, quite possibly, that the facts aren’t consistent with the story that is being told.
I would like to take a few minutes to apply some FACTS to this transaction:
FACT #1: CommVault is currently located in Oceanport, only 2 miles away from the proposed new site in Tinton Falls. As such, FMERA didn’t attract business from outside the area to come to Monmouth County. Instead, it poached a local business from one Fort Monmouth community (Oceanport) and put it in another Fort Monmouth community (Tinton Falls.)
FACT #2: This is EXACTLY what Oceanport’s governing body feared when we fought against the New Jersey Economic Development Authority having control over the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth – control that was wrested away from us by virtue of unprecedented legislation.
FACT #3: CommVault is receiving $7.2 million under the Business Employment Incentive Program to create 225 jobs, according to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. That is $32,000 per job to be created. In the event that CommVault does not create 225 jobs, however, it must pay a penalty of $3,000 per job. So, by my calculations, even if CommVault fails to create ANY jobs, it will pay a penalty of only $675,000 out of the original $7.2 million provided to it. (Nice odds if you can get them)
FACT #4: CommVault received a $1.35 million Business Retention and Relocation Assistance Grant to keep 300 employees here in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s own numbers. When combined with the $7.2 million grant, that means the taxpayers of New Jersey have subsidized this move to the tune of $8.55 million.
FACT #5: The required 255 created jobs and the retention of 300 jobs totals 525 jobs. That is a far cry from the 3000 job creation numbers that are being thrown around.
FACT #6: Oceanport has lost its 2nd largest employer and neither the New Jersey Economic Redevelopment Authority nor FMERA has proposed anything at the Fort to offset that loss.
FACT #7: This does NOTHING to help the area as jobs are simply moving 2 miles down the road. Again, this isn’t job creation as the press releases would have us believe. At best, it is job retention; job retention at a substantial cost to us, the taxpayers.
FACT #8: It will be up to us, the taxpayers and local politicians, a few years from now, to figure out whether or not the taxpayer’s money has been spent wisely because nobody else will do it for us, ESPECIALLY if the numbers don’t turn out to be consistent with their pie-in-the-sky projections.
FACT #9: It will be up to us, the taxpayers and local politicians; a few years from now to hold FMERA and state officials accountable for this use of taxpayer dollars should the anticipated 3,000 jobs not materialize.