The 2021 NJBIZ Power 100

In this special “Power 100” issue, NJBIZ ranked the 100 most powerful people in New Jersey – its annual list of individuals who are propelling New Jersey’s economic future. Sills Cummis’ Jerry Zaro is included as one of the NJBIZ “Power 100” 2021.

NJBIZ had this to say about Zaro:
“Zaro is a trustee and former chairman of the Gateway Program Development Corp. and he chairs the Banking and Real Estate Services Department at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. He is routinely making the case to repair and replace the 108-year-old Hudson River rail tunnels that connect New Jersey and New York City and the 110-year-old Portal Bridge in New Jersey, which might see some funding now that the Biden Administration is in office. More than 200,000 people travel through the tunnels and across the bridge each day. Zaro and other supporters of the Gateway project note that 20% of the American economy depends on the Hudson River tunnels carrying trains between Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston. Zaro has cautioned that the project is being held hostage, calling it ‘a national disaster happening in slow motion.’ Part of Zaro’s job is to stop that disaster. ‘Jerry is a tremendous advocate for the projects,’ a source who works closely with him told NJBIZ. ‘The thing I think he did really better than anyone last year as chairman was delivering the message and spreading the message of the importance and urgency of the project to lots of different audiences. He was very committed to being out publicly at a time when the projects themselves hit significant roadblocks. We needed to keep stakeholders, elected officials, and everybody else motivated and on board and rowing together for the project. Jerry did a great job with being out there and being an advocate for them and an evangelist to keep people’s motivation and interest up.’ Gov. Phil Murphy saluted Zaro in a statement to NJBIZ. ‘Jerry Zaro’s extensive career in public service, under the last eight gubernatorial administrations, has made him one of our state’s most well-respected public policy voices,’ Murphy said. ‘As Chairman of the Gateway Program Development Corporation in 2019, Jerry’s expertise was instrumental to delivering a revised financial plan, passing the bi-state Gateway Development Commission Act, and strengthening partnerships with key stakeholders at the state and federal level. I will continue to call upon Jerry’s tireless advocacy to help bring the Gateway Program across the finish line.’

“In May 2020, Zaro was appointed as a member of Murphy’s Restart and Recovery Advisory Council and served on the Facilities and Construction Subcommittee.”