Kimberly McLain, President and Chief Executive Officer of Newark Alliance, writes in the Star Ledger:
Newark residents hold only 18 percent of all jobs in the city, a proportion much lower than most major cities, according to a New Jersey Institute for Social Justice report. And the city’s poverty rate is at 30 percent, more than double the national average.
People will argue there’s a moral imperative for Newark businesses to hire locally, and there is one. People will say good corporate citizens must do right by their residents, and they do. However, beyond these traditional principled arguments, for those leaders who must answer to their investors and bottom lines, there is also a compelling business case to be made.