The Star Ledger reports:
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show there were about 13,700 firms operating in Newark in 2002. According to the lastest available numbers from, 2012, there were 22,800 firms operating.
Yet Newarkers hold only 18 percent of all jobs in the city, according to a report from New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. In Baltimore, residents hold 33 percent of jobs; in Detroit, that number is 25 percent, the 2017 report said.
Baraka is pushing a local-hiring initiative to make sure residents reap the benefits when major companies come to Newark. And with more eyes on Newark, that commitment — should Amazon land in the city — will be put to the test.
“The mayor will personally hold their feet to the fire,” Aisha Glover, CEO of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, said Thursday.