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11/4/2019 - Freeholder Director Showcases County Progress

Cumberland County Freeholder Director Joe Derella said that the County has made great strides in 2019. He said, “From the very first day that I began my service as a Freeholder, my colleagues and I worked very hard and succeeded in creating exceptional educational opportunities for our area youth as well as adults.

The Director stated, “The new full time technical high school that will graduate its first Senior High School Class is a great example of the progress we are making. Not only will these seniors’ have earned their High School Diploma, but also an Associates’ Degree. The program is now also being offered in our area high schools. Our Students are reaching higher as they understand that excellence is not the exception, but the norm. We are also very proud of the positive impact that the Merger between Cumberland County College and Rowan College of Gloucester has made here in Cumberland. As a result of the efforts and completion of the merger to create Rowan College of South Jersey/Cumberland Campus, our College enrollment is already up by 2.5%. We are now able to provide a number of low cost four year opportunities never before available to our students.

Unemployment is the lowest it has been in 30 years. Our cooperative Economic Development Program with our County Improvement Authority has resulted in over one billion dollars in private investment in the last 30 months. Having the CCIA serve as our Project Manager has truly had a huge impact with our construction and building rehab projects.

Since October 9, 2019 we have cut a ribbon dedicating our new Region 3 Public Works location and broke ground on the County’s second of three Communications Towers that, when complete, will allow us to transition on to the NJ State 700 MHz P-25 radio system. On October 21, 2019 we gathered for a ground breaking celebration for the new Cumberland County Correctional Facility. We look forward to completion in late spring of 2021.

As a result of the project management arm of the CCIA we were also able to attend and celebrate with the City of Vineland on the dedication of their new Police Department which took place on October 24, 2019. As recently as October 28th we kicked off the Capital Recovery Center building rehabilitation project in the Great City of Bridgeton. The County also celebrated a ribbon cutting in partnership with the CCIA with the new and innovative energy projects taking place at the landfill, including the Clean Natural Gas Station and Energy HUB.

Derella said, “We have been able to achieve these significant accomplishments while adhering to our County’s Fiscal Policy and Budgetary Process that was first implemented in April 2014 and recently updated at reaffirmed at our October 22, 2019 Freeholder Meeting. We believe that is absolutely necessary for the citizens of Cumberland County that this Board move forward with its continual self- improvement that includes planning and executing budgets based upon responsible fiscal benchmarks and budgetary best – practices.”

“I am so proud of the work that this Freeholder Board has achieved. We know that we must continue to reach high and work hard. We are honored to serve the citizens of Cumberland County and remain humbled by their faith and support in our efforts to put Cumberland County First!”


 

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