By Kevin Coughlin
Expect more entertainment options downtown…and fewer trips to town hall in 2017.
That’s the word from two local officials who addressed the Morristown Women in Business on Wednesday.
Jennifer Wehring, the new executive director of the Morristown Partnership, said she will work to attract more businesses like The Game Vault, which transformed a former South Street bank into a popular gaming arcade last year.
“I’m hoping to bring more of that kind of entertainment in the future,” said Wehring, who has run fall- and Christmas festivals and a farmers market for the Partnership during her dozen years there.
Town Administrator Jillian Barrick, who in October celebrated her first year in Morristown, said more e-government functions are coming to the municipal website, to spare residents from trekking to town hall.
An online complaint form already has proven popular, Barrick said. Now she is working to streamline zoning permits and, with help from the Partnership, devising ways to simplify the process of opening a business in town, she said. A major traffic study will include an interactive map where residents can lodge comments and report trouble spots, she added.
‘WE REALLY NEED TO GET THESE WOMEN TOGETHER’
The luncheon at J&K Steakhouse marked the third anniversary of the Women in Business, the brainchild of the late Chef Melody McGinley Whitelaw—Morristown’s “Caterer to the Stars”—and Morristown First Lady Mary Dougherty.
Wehring recounted Chef Melody telling her, “You know, we really need to get these women together. How do we get these women together?”
“And then, serendipitously, Mary was like, ‘Jenn, we really need to get these women together. How do we get these women together?’
“And I was like, ‘Ladies, go! Talk! Have fun! ‘ And that’s how the Morristown Women in Business really took off,” Wehring said.
Dougherty, a realtor in town, said she was thrilled to see so many women’s businesses thriving.
“When we started, it was a hope. Now it’s a reality,” said Dougherty, citing friendships and partnerships that have blossomed at WIB networking events.
Wednesday’s guests included Leslie Bensley, executive director of the Morris County Tourism Bureau; Allison Larena, president of the Mayo Performing Arts Center; Laura Cummings, executive director of the Southeast Morris Municipal Utilities Authority; Patrice Picard, executive director of Cornerstone Family Programs; and Trish Pongracz, executive director of the Macculloch Hall Historical Museum.
There also were marketing people from pharma companies; owners of wellness studios, spas, and charities; and assorted entrepreneurs. Ash Patiño of ViddyFly sponsored the luncheon.
This year the Women in Business will hold events every other month, instead of monthly, with speakers geared to help members boost their companies’ performance, Dougherty said.
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
FROM PAINT-AND-SIP TO POTHOLES
Wehring said Morristown entertainment enterprises now include three “paint and sip” studios, a role-playing venture called The Escape Room, and The Game Vault.
“For me, as someone who may not necessarily go out to the bars, like my 25-year-old brother does, it’s an opportunity for me to get together with my friends, go out, have a happy hour, and do some sort of interactive fun entertainment. Which I hope to bring more to downtown Morristown in the future,” said Wehring.
“I think that’s where we’re going in the future, to have those types of businesses, that are multi-purpose, multi-generational, and Game Vault’s a really good example of that,” she said.
Barrick held administrative jobs for the cities of Perth Amboy and East Orange, and was a consultant in Philadelphia, before coming to Morristown.
Growing up in Montclair, she fancied a career in architecture and studied that at George Tech.
“I hated it,” Barrick said.
Eventually, she found joy in helping people via municipal government, she said.
“I have a passion for what we do every day. It’s not always very sexy–filling potholes and picking up garbage. It doesn’t excite most people, but it kind of excites me, believe it or not. Because I think it’s really important,” Barrick said.
“There’s a lot of talk right now about the president and federal government, and all the things going on there. Which is very important. But what local government does every day is what touches you.
“You drive your streets every day. You get your garbage picked up. Those are the things that really touch everybody’s lives on a regular basis.
“And I think it’s really important that people who are committed and skilled and really interested in serving the community really ought to be doing this work every day,” Barrick said.
She anticipates helping Mayor Tim Dougherty (Mary’s husband) deliver his seventh straight municipal budget without a tax increase, a feat aided by the town’s landmark 2015 settlement with Atlantic Health. A court determined the nonprofit is liable for property taxes at Morristown Medical Center.
These are busy times in Morristown. Among other developments, Barrick noted:
- An ongoing $400,000 traffic study;
- Innovative “tree wells” that are designed to protect trees on downtown sidewalks;
- A triangular Market Street office for law firm Fox Rothschild, set to open this spring;
- Fifty-four rentals, with retail shops and a restaurant, also coming to Market Street; a hotel is proposed, too;
- The 185-unit Modera 55 apartments are scheduled to open near Speedwell Avenue, along with a park, in spring 2018;
- A real park finally may get built this year at Pioneer Park, the windswept slab of concrete outside Headquarters Plaza.
Morristown’s diversity–economically and racially–and its level of community engagement surprised her.
“A lot of places I’ve worked, you have a public meeting, you get the same two or three people,” the administrator said.
“Here, people come out, they want to be involved. They want to make their voices heard. But it’s not just in an adversarial way. It’s not just to be obstinate. They genuinely want to make this community better, and want to have their input to make it better. Which is so rare.
“I’ve worked in places where the only people who are showing up are showing up with pitchforks, because they want to stand in the way of any progress. And here it’s such positive community. That’s a big reason why it’s been so successful, and why everyone wants to be a part of it.”
The next Morristown Women in Business gathering is set for March 8, 2017, at the Morristown Deli.
