Sussex County
25 types of business
On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, The Sussex County Chamber of Commerce published a very interesting brochure containing two interesting sections: one dealing with 25 things you should know about Sussex County, the other one informing the reader about 25 types of business in Sussex County. If you are interested in one of them or both, continue reading.
25 types of business in Sussex County
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| schools and colleges |
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Sussex County's service sector has become one of our most outstanding business assets
by Willie Cramlee
Several levels of service exist to benefit a community's life and commerce. They consist of government-provided services, regulated industries, social service organizations, and commercially-based services. Just Iike the bedrock supporting a building, commercial services form part of the foundation of a community, an interdependent network that makes the community viable and vibrant for its businesses and residents. Despite Sussex County's rusticity and quaintness, its service businesses comprise an infrastructure that fully meets the 21st century's demanding standards.
For example, the banking industry provides residents and businesses with a range of decentralized modern services at locations sprinkled throughout the county. Individuals and businesses can easily find a full range of locally based financial services, including mortgages, brokerage, investment, trust and other banking services.
Meeting a related need, dedicated financial planning services furnish advice on where to best direct income and plan for financial growth and home loan options. Additional financial services have developed and nurtured the flexibility to accommodate people and businesses that do not fit traditional lending guidelines and profiles.
Area hospitals protect the physical and mental health of county residents through an array of services. Newton Memorial Hospital, a short-term acute care facility with 162 beds, has physicians representing more than 40 specialties and sub-specialties. Its services include rehabilitation, advanced diagnostics and treatment, laboratory pathology, and mental health services. It recently completed a state of the art emergency room to accommodate growing health care needs.
The Renal Center of Newton, NMH's newest affiliate, is a Medicare-certified facility that opened in 2003. lt is operated by Renal Ventures Management, which provides services in six states.
The Sparta Cancer Treatment Center, another NMH affiliate, is just a year older. lt offers a broad spectrum of cancer treatments, including radiation, medical oncology, primary care, general surgery, and other cancer detection and treatment services.
Saint Clare's Hospital traces its involvement with the health and well being of the people of Sussex County back almost 100 years to the establishment of the Franklin and Alexander Linn hospitals. Today, it is a first-class community hospital, combining the benefits of a hometown hospital with those of a multi-location cutting-edge medical center and employs more than 300 people to help Sussex County residents stay healthy.
Despite incredible medical advances over the past centuries, death is still an inevitable constant for the human race. For that end of the life span, the Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice was established in 1980 to help terminally ill patients in the final six months of their lives, and their families. The center was established in memory of Karen Ann Quinlan, whose parents won a New Jersey State Supreme Court battle for the right to have their comatose daughter removed from a respirator. Her case led to the creation and adoption of living wills, and requirements that hospitals establish ethics committees to review treatment.
Another provider, Compassionate Care Hospice, is a community-based organization providing care and services to patients, their families and close friends throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Texas. For each patient, a team of professionals and volunteers, under the direction of the patient's physician and a hospice medical director, prepares and implements personalized plans of physical, emotional and spiritual care, which are continually reviewed and adapted to meet the patient's changing needs.
Health care industrv services include the chiropractic community which offers specialized therapy for treatment of a condition called vertebral subluxation. That mouthful refers to situations when one or more bones in the spinal column moves out of position and creates pressure on or irritates nerves.
Farther up the spine from where subluxation problems occur, we find the head. A number of experienced mental health professionals offer faceto-face and telephone therapy for what goes on in that part of the body. As one mental health professional states, her goal is to create "solutions for a happier, more productive lifestyle."
There are other ways to promote the "healing of mind, body and spirit," which is the goal of several massage therapists, who provide services to release muscle tension, relieve pain, improve circulation and mental relaxation through craniosacral therapy, Swedish, and lymphatic massage. Massage therapy advocates state that it benefits general health by encouraging increased blood oxygen levels, lessening fatigue, and alleviating such problem conditions as headaches, myofascial pain, TMJ, anxiety and mental fatigue, muscle stiffness, pain, and soreness resulting from sports activities.
Stiffness and pain are not the only problems afflicting muscles. Sussex County also offers opportunities where men and women can improve their muscle tone. One fitness and weight loss facility offers a 30-minute exercise program designed specifically for women. Members warm up, perform strength and cardiovascular training simultaneously, cool down and stretch, all in that time period.
For the health needs of furry, feathery or scaly family members, Newton Veterinary Hospital "is modeled after a human hospital with an ICU unit, two surgery suites, ultrasound room, radiology department, consultation room, dental suites, and an in-house lab and pharmacy". The facility's doctors are on call seven days a week, 365 days a year. lt also offers such less urgent but still important services as pet boarding, grooming, and adoption services.
Dr. Lori Walker of Sparta's Veterinary House Calls comes directly to your home in care for your small animal. Dr. Sam Castimere of Augusta-based Animal General was recently recognized by New Jersey Public Television and Radio for donating spay or neuter services to animals adopted from a shelter or rescue group.
Pet owners can find final resting places for their deceased companions at Abbey Glen Pet Memorial Park. It's a true park-Iike alternative to a traditional cemetery setting, with carefully manicured grounds and flush memorial markers instead of raised tombstones. lt also provides, at the pet owner's option, formal burial or individual cremation, along with a selection of caskets, markers and urns. The land for Abbey Glen Memorial Park is deed restricted so it will always stay undeveloped, and an interest from a trust fund assures its permanent upkeep.
The permanent upkeep of one's knowledge through the Internet is now a necessary task and an enjoyable activity for many people. Net Access Corporation, one of the largest Internet service providers in the Massachusetts to Washington D.C. area, makes that possible for residential, business, and educational cusomers. The company is now deploying high-speed services for its customers through DSL, wireless and cable modem. It also provides Web, mail and application hosting services, Internet broadcasting services, and recently extended services into Europe.
Business computing not only needs links to the World Wide Web, but also Internet links through computer networks. That's the specialty of Creative Networking Concepts Inc., which provides networking services, integration and support, IT recruiting and staffing, training, and hardware and software sales in the tri-stare area and Delaware.
Creative Networking is the only integrator in New Jersey to be a Novell Platinum Named Partner, Microsoft Public Sector Consulting Partner, and Nortel Networks Premiere Partner. To meet today's increased challenges to safeguard computer networks and operations, the company aims to "inject security into everything we do."
Security of a more traditional sort is also available through several Iocal insurance companies. One of them, Selective Insurance Group, is now poised to celebrate its 80th anniversary. Headquartered in Branchville, Selective Insurance is a holding company for six property and casualty
insurance companies, all rated A+ (superior) by the insurace rating company A.M. Best. Commercial, life, and personal coverages are also available through insurance agents.
A different sort of agent represents businesses seeking to fill positions with temporary staffing help and permanent employees, while also representing job seekers looking for permanent or temporary work. Several employment agencies throughout the area help companies and employees find each other to create a productive workfore and benefit local companies and the economy.
Sometimes it's a job to ship things, so United Parcel Service does that for both businesses and individuals. Formed in 1907 as a messenger company, the Corporation is now the largest package delivery company in the world. Last year it delivered 3.6 billion packages, some of which were shipped from U.P.S. stores in Byram, Hampton, Sparta, and Vernon.
Sometimes there's not even enough time to take advantage of Sussex County's wide range of time-saving services. In those time-crunched situations, people and businesses may need a service company to deal wich service companies. That's the slot filled by Crystal Concierge service, a Iifestyle management company that helps out both individuals and businesses. Its services range frome running errands, to event planning, household services, office services, and even personal shopping.
With all that's going on, it's inevitable that some cleaning up will be needed. That's why some businesses and townships contract with the Chelbus Cleaning Company, which provides commercial janitorial and custodial services for office buildings and medical facilities.
The appeal of living and working in Sussex County increases proportionally as its service-based business roster grows and diversifies. This puts much needed human services nearby, serving and sustaining the economic viability of the communities we call home.
Polish your potential. Be a winning student and spotlight your success.
Few needs are as varied as those requiring education and training. So a spotlight scanning Sussex County's educational horizon would illuminate a wide variety of resources. Here's a partial listing.
Schools and Colleges
Franklin Borough Board of Education
Hamburg Board of Education (Hamburg High School)
High Point Regional Board of Education
Hopatcong Board of Education
Kittatinny Regional High School
Lenape Valley Regional High School Board of Education
Netwon Board of Education
Sussex County Community College
Sussex County Educational Services Commission
Sussex County Technical School
Sussex-Wantage Regional School District
Vernon Township Board of Education
Wallkill Valley Regional Board of Education
Other than Schools and Colleges
Literacy Volunteers of Sussex County
Rutgers Cooperative Research & Extension of Sussex County
Child Development and Child Care
Little Children's World (Branchville)
NORWESCAP Child and Family Resource Services
The Goddard School
Historical Society
Montague Association for Restoration of Community History (M.A.R.C.H., NJ's Historical Society)
Libraries
Sussex County Library System (SCLS)
Training and Consulting Services
Center for Humanistic Change of NJ
Compuguides
Creative Networking Concepts, Inc.
Domestic Abuse & Sexual Assault Intervention Services
Easter Seals-NJ/Franklin and others
Finance in Action, LLC and others
Tri State Speech Center, LLC and others
Museums
Waterloo Foundation for the Arts
Only 50 miles from Times Square and as colourful as the lights on Broadway
by Marc Grobman
Sussex County is undeniably rural. But urban visitors can still enjoy attractions here similar to those that helped New York City live up to its old nickname of "Fun City". But New York area residents visiting Sussex might have to make one difficult adjustment. They'll find it much tougher here to get rid of excess money.
In New York, for example, ticket prices for a Yankees basehall game make that chore a snap, since they start at $40 each. However, visitors to a New Jersey Cardinals basehall game in the modernized Skylands Park in Augusta will have a tougher time emptying their wallets. Adult admission prices to Cards' games start at seven dollars.
That figure is even lower than it appears, since Cards' games pitch extras to fans at no additional cost, such as humorous outfield contests between innings. Free fireworks displays follow some games, and on the team's annual Bat Day, the first thousand kids under the age of 16 receive a free bat. Monday night Cardinals games provide free Iaptop meals for all kids aged 15 and younger through a promotion.00" height="10"> Laptop meals are just one end of a spectrum of meal choices the county offers. Visitors won't have to forgo fine dining if they know about such establishments as the Restaurant Latour at Crystal Springs Country Club in Hardyston. The Star Ledger rated it the second best fine dining restaurant in the state. The restaurant achieves that excellence in part by carefully selecting the foods it prepares. "We use a lot of local produce," says Crystal Spring director of sales and marketing Carole Huettig. She adds that the restaurant also uses locallyproduced cheeses from the milk of grain fed cows, and also uses local meats and sausages. The restaurant takes a different tack to intrigue the taste buds of wine connoisseurs. They can choose from a twenty thousand-bottle wine cellar collection, which the Star Ledger calls "unmatched in the Northeast." Visitors seeking a middle price point between the festive fast food of Cards' games and the fine dining of Restaurant Latour will find it at Arthur's St. Moritz in Sparta, where meals start as low as $4.95 for a bowl of soup and a half sandwich. lts selection of appetizers includes a famous local specialty, smoked salmon from Perona Farms in Andover, which Food & Wine magazine heralded as one of the nation's top varieties. The Arthur's St. Moritz menu also presents such notables as a doublecheese onion soup, and a salad with organic baby salad greens as its bed. lt offers seafood, pasta, and poultry entrées, and is praised for its steaks. A recent Internet poll ranked it as the numher one steakhouse in northem New Jersey. Its grilled Filet mignon drizzled with green peppercorn sauce commands the highest price point an the menu at a still affordable $23.95. The abundance of enticing food serves as a reminder that visitors have ample opportunity to take in some physical activity. lf the weather's warm the place to go is Mountain Creek Waterpark in Vernon, which recently lowered both its gate and group rate admissions. lt's one of the most natural-Iooking waterparks in the nation, artfully carved into a mountain. The giant gray boulders and swaying trees make the waterpark look more Iike a scene from a white water rafting documentary than the usual aquatic eqilvalent of an outdoor gymnasium. The white water comparison aptly describes the level of excitement that awaits the most daring waterpark enthusiasts. Mountain Creek's Tarzan Swing lets people indulge their inner ape to fly thirty feet through the air to a cool pool splashdown. Its H2Oh-No! Speed Slide lets people zoom down ninety-nine feet in seconds. The High Anxiety extreme tubing water slide shoots human water hugs down a four-story drop. There are also less challenging water-based activities, so even children under four feet tall can enjoy size-appropriate fun. For those prone to less boisterous activity, Crystal Springs Resort offers six golf courses out of 120 in the county all within a five-mile radius. Rates range $39 to $135 a round, and give golfers the chance to swing their irons and to birdie on courses designed by Roger Rulewich and Robert Trent Jones, Sr. One of the six, Ballyowen, was rated the number one public golf course in the state by several major publications. While New York's Central Park provides rides an horse-drawn carriages, the Spring Valley Equestrian Center in Newton eliminates the middle waggon for a more direct horsepower experience. It rents horses to ride on an extensive trail system threading through a 125-acre wooded expanse. lt also offers fiveday summer riding camps from June to August, and individualized instruction year round. Visitors who want to commune instead with undomesticated animals can satisfy their wish with a jaunt through the Space Farms Zoo. The bobcats, lions, jaguars, und tigers, monkeys, elk from Korea and deer from Taiwan, ring-tailed lemurs and a variety of other exotic animals "Iove the parade of colorful people marching by," says Lori Day, whose hook, The Zookeeper's Daughter, describes how her grandfather founded the zoo. In 2005 the zoo added an aviary that houses macaws and parrots. Lori's grandfather also started amassing what has become the Space Farm Museum, a collection of antique cars, motorcycles and carriages, weapons and rifles from the Revolutionary and Civil wars, dolls, Indian artifacts, antique toys, and many other old and unusual items. lf viewing the Space Farms Museum's collection leaves some hardcore antiques aficionados hungering for more, they may find that to satisfy their appetites, it takes more than eleven buildings of antiques. lt takes a village. Fortunately, there is one in the southern part of Sussex County, It's called Waterloo Village, and it's a completely restored 19th-century port town on the Morris Canal, where guides dressed in period clothing lead exhibit tours relating to the Lenape Indians, and exhibits featuring a blacksmith, a potter, and a broom maker. The Village also presents more modern exhibitions through such events as spring and fall antiques fairs, wine and beer festivals, a story-telling festival, and demonstrations of sheep shearing, wool weaving and dying, candle-making, a polka festival, and a historic games weekend. For more festivals, visitors need only journey north to the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, where special events are held yearround. Here is the complete calendar! A "not to-be-missed-event" held in August, is the New Jersey State Fair's acres of exhibits of farm animals, carnival, a flower show, bees and honey making, home-baked goods, chainsaw wood carving, and many more displays and live performances. In September the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce presents the Annual Champion of the Grill Community Festival at the Fairgrounds. The fun for all ages event kicks off at noon with a Grill-Off (Municipal, Professional, Amateur-Adults & Kids), Sussex County Idol Singing Competition, Classic Car Show, Arts and Crafts, professional entertainment and children's activities. The festival boasts cash prizes, free admission and free parking. Food & beverages are available and some of the grilled entries will be offered for free tastings. The Fairgrounds also house the Peters Valley Crafts Fair, held in September. The juried crafts show presents about 150 exhibitors with wearable art, basketry, ceramics, jewelry, hand‑made paper, music boxes, stained glass, and other craft forms. The show will in part raise funds for Peters Valley Craft Education Center, a non-profit organization in Layton offering instruction in blacksmithing, ceramics, fine metals, photography, woodworking and other crafts from May through September. The Center has an all-day open house on May 1 with craft-making demonstrations and live music, and is also open weekend afternoons for visits by the public. Year-round, it operates a store and gallery selling consigned crafts from about 350 different artists. In a related endeavor, the Sussex-Warren Arts Foundation arranges arts exhibits and organizes live performances throughout the county. Among those are over a dozen talent shows, from which the top performers are invited to perform on Talent Day at the New Jersey State Fair. Crystal Springs Resort brings a festive Oktoberfest in September that features a polka band, German brass band, German food and beer, and pony rides and face painting for the kids. On Friday and Saturday nights, Arthur's St. Moritz brings in popular rock bands to propel the motion on a crowded dance floor. How crowded? One night the place "was so packed that most drinks were served in spillproof plastic cups to reduce broken glass syndrome", said a recent review in the Daily Record. "Steakhouse by day, party stake-out come Friday and Saturday nights best sums up the weekend scene at this Sparta hotspot." For people who find that Sparta spot too hot, there's a much quieter, older rock scene up Rte. 517 in the Ogdensburg-Franklin area. Compared to weekends at Arthur's St. Moritz, it's absolutely sedate, and cool instead of hot. But it does boast a stunning light show. It's there visitors can enter the non-profit Sterling Hills Mine, which houses a mineral museum and gives tours of an underground zinc mine that's Iisted on the Register of Historic Sites. Trustee Robert Hauck cautions that even during hot summer months, visitors should come prepared with a sweater or light jacket, as the mine's temperature is a constant 56 degrees F. Circumstances practically mandated that a rock museum be built in the area, as it boasts the highest diversity of minerals in the world. There's also a second museum, the Thomas S. Warren Museum of Fluorescence, which displays more than 550 mineral specimens that glow Iike multicolored variations of kryptonite, Superman's dreaded weakening agent, when they're exposed to ultraviolet light. Occupying three rooms of a 1916 ore mill, the museum offers exhibits on bioluminescence (light from living organisms, such as mushrooms and fireflies), triboluminescence (light from friction), phosphorescent minerals, fluorescent art, fluorescent crystals, and commercial and industrial uses of fluorescence, such as drinking glasses, golf balls, plastic toys, and postage stamps. Visitors who would like to take home souvenirs of their visit can choose among the offerings at the Sterling Hills museum's gift shop, or pick through its Mine Run Dump, where their admission fee entitles them to up to 10 pounds of the minerals they collect. For this endeavor, the museum requires mineralogy mavens to come prepared with safety goggles, rugged footwear, and proper rock hammers. Other souvenirs from Sussex won't last nearly as long as Sterling Hill's rocks, but they provide other advantages. Since Sussex County is one of the more rural areas of the Garden State, it's rich in homegrown produce. To connect farmer to consumer, the Sussex County Farmer's Marketing Association has organized a venue where visitors can buy locally-grown and processed fresh vegetables, fruit, berries, cheese, bedding plants, wine, wool products, eggs, cider, baked goods and more. Those fresh-fromthe-farm treasures are offered at the Olde Lafayette Village Farmers Market an Sundays on route 15 in Olde Lafayette from the opening day at the end of June through October. The association also provides literature at the market and at its State Fair booth Iisting some 125 farms that are open to the public, including a number of pick-your-own farms. The Olde Lafayette Village Farmers Market also offers monthly events, such as a tasting of local wines and cheeses, a pie-eating contest, a wool gathering and spinning display, and a garlic gathering. Given the astounding variety of activities in Sussex County, it's easy to understand why the notion of New York area residents coming here for entertainment not only isn't farfetched, but a reality. That's because they know that in Sussex County there's something — actually, many things — for everyone. Perhaps we've reached the point where we should consider adapting New York City's old nickname for our own use, and start calling this area "Fun County". For flights of the imagination or getting down to earth ... you can buy it in Sussex County by Willie Cramlee Life is full of trade-offs, and legend has it that residents of picturesque rural areas must sacrifice convenience for their charming surroundings. Supposedly, these isolated folks must put up with limited choices in furnishings for their homes, what they can wear, and even the food they eat. Their only alternative, other than relying on care packages from sympathetic urban-based relatives or friends, is to spend hours traveling to the big city or to the well-stocked stores of suburban malls. But that hardly reflects today's reality of Sussex County, New Jersey. Rural though it may be, residents have almost all they need in shopping choices and convenience. The pattern of where they go does differ from that of urban areas or the suburbs. Instead of fiding everything in sprawling malls or clustered in a hustling downtown ringed by skyscrapers spiking toward the clouds, the county's stores and shops are sprinkled throughout the area. And instead of trumpeting their presence with billboards and massive buildings they just reside there quietly, patiently, waiting for you to discover them, to call, or stop by. There's something refreshing about shopping for fresh-baked goods and produce in the morning, so a first stop for a day shopping might be the Ideal Farm & Garden Center in Lafayette. That visit can start with the purchase and possible consumption of homemade pies, donuts, and pastries, perhaps washed down with apple cider. During the harvest season, the roadside market carries asparagus, beans, corn, tomatoes and other produce. At other times of the year the farm offers pick-your-own pumpkins, flowers, and Christmas trees, while a gift shop stocks handmade jewelry, plus indoor and outdoor home decor items and decorations. lt also carries the area's langest selection of Amish lawn furniture. The neologism "homescaping" might describe what can be accomplished with the supplies stocked by Mohawk Tile & Stone. The company sells an extraordinary variety of tiles, stones, and hardwood flooring for kitchens, fireplaces, living rooms and other parts of the house. In stones alone, its Andover showroom displays slate, limestone, travertine, marble, granite and antique brick. The company supplies hardwood flooring in five kinds of maple, plus ash, cherry, hickory, walnut and two kinds of oak. In tiles, Mohawk carries ceramic, porcelain, stone, hand-made tile in many shapes, sizes, colors, themes, textures, glass, seashell, pewter and other materials. But if you can't find what you want even in that stock and you're "looking for a specific tile," the company suggests, "please e-mail or call us. We deal with many manufacturers and would be happy to help you with your search." ` Turngren's Country Store, home of Turngren Design, also presents ways to make homes more homelike, with hand-made furniture in primitive, country and classic Shaker and mission styles. The Branchville store's woodshop also makes custom furniture designed to customers' specifications. All the furniture at Turngren's can be finished as the customer chooses. Old furniture and other home furnishings may last a long time, but decades of wear, tear, use and appreciation may compromise its appearance or utility, creating a need for rehabilitation to excellence. That's the service Karl Hoffman provides through his business, Restorations by Pine Cove Associates. Hoffman's an exhibitor at the prestigious Stella Shows, such as the Pier Antiques Shows in New York, Waterloo Village, and shows in Chicago. He specializes in restoring furniture, oil lamps, and windup phonographs. All County Office Furniture appears committed to combating the notion that customers have to travel out of county for a large selection of furniture. lt stocks its 11,000 sqaure foot warehouse with furniture from over 70 manufacturers, aiming to supply the needs of customers ranging from home offices to corporations. The company also sells used furniture, but only those in excellent to mint condition. "In most cases", the company says of its used stuck, "no one can tell it's not new." Perhaps by this point it's time to take a break that's nutritious, entertaining, educational, and maybe also inspiring. That generally describes the resuIts of a trip to Bobolink Dairy and Bakeyard, LLC. The 200-acre farm near Vernon makes cheese on location, exclusively from grass-fed cows. lt also hosts a bakery, where breads are baked in a wood-fired oven. Bobolink's owners see their enterprise as a mission, and aim to develop it as a "center for promoting grassbased, sustainable, profitable, family-sized dairy farming as an alternative to... industrial, confinement-based farms." For people who are intrigued or motivated by the Bobolink example, the dairy offers internships and apprentice programs in cheesemaking, grass-based dairy farming, and bread baking. Looking elsewhere in the food chain, we find RoNetco Supermarkets, the management company that operates seven New Jersey Shop Rite supermarkets. Three of them are in the Sussex County locations of Byram, Newton and Franklin. Shop Rite Stores, when combined, position it as New Jersey's largest employer, are all part of the biggest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States. That enables them to provide a wide variety of food at low prices for consumers. RoNetco itself provides frequent monetary contributions to the local area; recipients of the management firm's recent support include Newton Memorial Hospital and Centenary College. lt also donates about $2 million each year to local feeding programs and food pantries. Its CEO and president, Dominick Romano, was awarded the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce Philanthropic Award in 1994. As its name suggests, it's difficult to classify Mcafee Ski & Patio. One section of this bi-seasonal Vernon-based firm - Mcafee Ski & Snowboard - specializes in winter sports equipment, with a ski and snowboard shop stocking numerous models and sizes of those two transportation devices, along with related boots, jackets, pants and other accesssories. But as the weather warms, the action shifts to McAfee Patio & Grill, which features outdoor furniture and hammocks, children's swing sets, along with gas grills and grill parts. (On the way back home, you can give your children an exercise in pronunciation skills by challenging them to say, "l've gone to get a green gas grill for my girl Glenda Grayson.") As you find yourself homeward bound, it may be worthwhile to consider picking up a gift for a friend or hostess. You may find the right stuff at Tweed, in Sparta. The store's variety of offerings encompasses items ranging from tables to accent lamps, fine teas, and women's fashion accessories. By this time it may be getting dark, which brings us to consider illuminating ideas from Lamplighters of Lafayette. The shop specializes in Victorian lighting systems and according to a store description, is "the place for hand-painted globes to match your Gone with the Wind lamps." Around Mother's Day the store holds a Tribute to Tiffany Celebration, with a large display of those lamps. As darkness descends, you may feel the pull of nightlife's call. But how to prepare? What to wear? One place women may consider to attire themselves for their night on the town is Uptown Girl, a clothing shop with locations in Sparta and Lafayette. The shops sell to females between the eights: eight to 80. Its emphasis is on the newest and hottest fashion accessories, including cosmetics, evening bags and handbags, hosiery, jewelry and jewelry cases, scarves, shawls and wraps. But to make the outfit complete, the store also sells some clothing, including those nightlife essentials, party dresses. From the usual to the unique, just about all the items a shopper could desire tun be found in Sussex County, proving that a satisfying day of shopping might he accomplished without facing the frenetic activity of a mall setting, leaving enough time to get home and take pleasure in those purchases. by Marc Grobman lt happens to the best restaurants and vacation destinations. Adventurers and just plain lucky people discover a previously unknown gem. Some of these pioneers quietly exult in their discovery. But some share their newfound secret with friends. Others find a way to profit from it. Word gets around. The beans are spilled and the cat's out of the bag. So it is with the scenic mountains and valleys and the gentle villages of Sussex County. Growth and development are now as much a part of life here as winter snows and hilly forests. In retrospect, it seems predestined. As Scott Brancy, owner-president of the commercial building company Trimble-Brancy Structures in Sussex bluntly notes, development "goes hand in hand wich residential growth... Services have to follow growth." Development has brought benefits. The growing variety of retail outlets, entertainment attractions, cultural and culinary offerings save residents the need to travel to distant urban counties or New York City. These allures also retain and bring capital into the county, and soften the effects of New Jersey's infamously painful property taxes. The county's rural landscape itself is conducive to development. lt may seem odd to conceive of golf as an "industry", but in Sussex County, that's what it's become. Golf in Sussex County is as much a major industry as skiing is in Colorado. And just Iike Colorado skiing, the opportunities for high-quality golf have had a major synergistic relationship with increased residential development, and commercial businesses. Crystal Springs and Mountain Creek in large part are to Sussex County golfing as the developments that surround skiing opportunities at Aspen. Development can also increase employment opportunities, something the county so severely lacks. Over 65 percent of the county's population commutes to jobs out of county, says Sussex County Chamber of Commerce president Tammie Norsfield, citing Department of Labor statistics. "With one of the lowest jobs to population ratios in New Jersey, we have the opportunity to provide more local jobs." Many county commuters are employed in advertising, engineering, and technology industries, says Jane Bracken, president of the Sussex County Association of Realtors. While these opportunities are limited at this time, she says, residents travel on route 23 and Interstate 80 to out of county jobs. We should continue to seek clean jobs here, such as technology, pharmaceutical, and advertising, says Bracken. Sussex County has so many talented people, she says, that if some of those companies were located here "we could change the flow of traffic" and keep residents working here. Branchville's Concrete Stone and Tile Corp. did just that when it opened shop. In the 1980's, the family owned and operated firm took over an existing outdated paver facility and today have nearly doubled their building space and expanded their employment base. The expansion continues, including a makeover of its current Branchville facility to include state of the art technology. Maybe, because local support for managed growth is broad-based. For example, contrary to the stereotype of builders and industry execs complaining about government "overregulation" and environmental concerns as impediments to progress, even the industry and construction sources interviewed for this article supported what's come to be known as smart growth. "Unchecked growth is no good," says Chuck Roberts, chief operating officer of Ames Rubber, which has locations in Hamburg, Oak Ridge, and Wantage. He feels the county and municipalities have been good at allowing "selective growth." Probably 60 to 70 percent of Ames Rubber's 200 employees reside in the county, says Roberts. And the company may spare more county residents from a congested commute in the future, he says. Ames added about 30 positions to its workforce this year, and he expects it will continue to increase its number of employees. Scott Brancy lauds architects, engineers, planning and zoning boards that make efforts to design buildings that tie into the landscape and look attractive. He cites the new Lafayette Municipal Building, which his firm helped construct, as an example, and also praised landscaping requirements that new construction control storm water runoff to prevent flooding. New Jersey, he says, is quite advanced in controlling and managing growth. "The only state that's ahead of us is maybe California." But even the Golden State recognizes New Jersey's progress in that regard. Ten years ago, a California commission report titled "Making Land Use Work" noted that "New Jersey has created a statewide plan that through zoning and fiscal incentives encourages reuse, slightly higher densities, and compact development of targeted lands. Ongoing studies by Rutgers University have estimated that the plan will directly save $1.3 billion in infrastructure over 20 years and $400 million a year in operating costs to cities and school districts. ... The plan also is expected to keep prime agricultural lands in production, reduce air and water pollution, and avoid development of 80 percent of the environmentally sensitive lands that would otherwise be urbanized." There are now three major plans "that will limit the amount of growth we can have in designated areas," says Tammie Horsfield: the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan, the Highlands Planning and Protection Council, and the Sussex County Strategic Growth Plan. She's served on the group developing the county plan, and hopes it will replace the state's plan for the area. The state plan, Horsfield explains, allows room for service and retail companies and industrial parks, in specific areas designated for growth. But unlike the county plan, does not allow for stand-alone corporate campuses, which could provide more high-paying jobs. In addition to plans that guide growth, two major initiatives protect areas from further development. One is the Farmland Preservation Program, through which the county purchases easements that restrict farmland for agricultural use in perpetuity, says Donna Traylor, director of the county's Office of Conservation and Farmland Preservation. To date, the program has preserved some 8,500 acres in 59 farms in the county, Traylor says, with the state picking up 70 percent or more of farmland preservation costs. But more funding is needed she says, to expedite the process "before more farmland is lost to development." She notes that under the program, the land stays in private ownership, so the farm's owners still pay county taxes. The state also provides the bulk of funding used to purchase open space through the Green Acres program, says Traylor. That open space initiative purchases land that has a distinct potential use or mission, such as a habitat for a threatened or endangered species, a rare ecosystem, or land for active recreation, such as a sports field. Traylor's office also helps preserve farmland by providing technical assistance to farmers to help them stay in business. There's a technical assistance counterpart to preservation efforts in the area of growth. The Sussex County Economic Development Partnership, of which Horsfield is president, "facilitates the recruitment, retention and expansion of business that will complement, and be consistent with, the character and environment of Sussex County," according to its Web site. lt does that by maintaining an inventary of sites and buildings, working with local realtors to help find appropriate real estate, and working with local banks and other lenders to arrange financing. That multiple approach of preserving space while encouraging specific growth may be the only way the county can aim for that oftenelusive win-win situation. "You can't have all preservation, because then people couldn't afford to live here," says Traylor. But you "can't have all development, because then you lose the quality of life that people come to Sussex County to gain. You have to find that balance." Source: Silver Anniversary Edition - A Publication of The Sussex County Chamber of Commerce Design of this site: Dr. Susanne Pratscher 
Winter months roll for snow sports, and Mountain Creek Resorts responds in Vernon with six trails, 11 Iifts, the region's only Superpipe, and an extensive network of terrain parks for skiing, snowboarding, and snow tubing. In warmer seasons, Mountain Creek switches its offerings to mountain biking, hiking on the Appalachian Trail, and golfing.
