Shop WT one of the programs in place to help economic development grow in Washington Township
Washington Township is open for business — just ask Mayor Joann Gattinelli or Economic Development Consultant Nancy Mozzachio.
Gattinelli noticed an area for improvement in Washington Township, almost a need for revitalization on the economic development front.
“There was a point where Washington Township was more stagnant,” she said. “That’s not where we want to be. We want to be that pulse in South Jersey because we’re the largest town in Gloucester County. We want to bring everyone in here, we want to solidify the town,”
Enter Mozzachio, a 25-year veteran of the commercial real estate business. She was added to the roster to help boost the township’s economic development efforts.
“She’s very familiar with shopping centers, owners, management,” Gattinelli said. “She’s very familiar with developers and how things work.”
With the proper pieces in place, all that was left to do was formulate a plan, which Mozzachio outlined.
“There are multiple priority items that I began creating when I started in the role,” Mozzachio said. “First and foremost is to start a dialogue with existing shopping center owners in town — understand what their challenges may be in filling vacancies. We want to see a vibrant retail environment here in Washington Township but we understand the challenges in retail overall.”
Another aspect of the retail environment that Mozzachio wanted to focus on is the “pop-up shop” program, which allows businesses to come in and rent space on a temporary basis. Be it a weekend or 10 days, it gives business owners a taste of what the township can offer.
“I took the time to go to each department and really understand if I were a business owner looking to open a business, what the process might look like from their perspective,” Mozzachio said.
After talking to those departments, she compiled a list of opportunities to be more efficient and composed a guide that’s available both online and in print, to give a step-by-step guide to show what it takes to open a business in town.
“This gives them a takeaway to manage their expectations,” she said.
Gattinelli acknowledged retail is an evolving field and they are trying to stay ahead of the curve.
“There’s going to be so many different things that we can provide our residents in the town that, really, moving forward, they want to see,” she said. “They see other towns building and different businesses are going to other towns and they want to know why — we’re stopping that now. That’s where we’ve revisited our back end so the municipality itself, the zoning and planning, that’s where we’ve made our differences and strides in everything.”
Gattinelli said that in the past developers and commercial businesses were applying to the town and moving elsewhere because they weren’t getting any further in the planning and zoning stage.
“That’s what we worked on,” she said. “There’s a huge amount of moving components to this, and we’re seeing and hearing already there are voices coming back that the word is out — Washington Township is open for business. That is what we’re looking to do.”
With that in mind, the Shop Washington Township program is one of the items offered to residents. The goal is to promote residents of Washington Township to shop in town to receive a tax rebate.
“It’s grown immensely,” Gattinelli said of the program.
The concept for Shop Washington Township came around December 2017 and was rolled out toward the end of January, beginning of February.
“There are over 3,000 users now. We have over 40 businesses [participating] at this time,” Gattinelli added. “Last August, $8,400 in tax rebates went back to residents.”
Shop Washington Township cards are available at the municipal building, the only thing residents need to do is register the cards which can be done online at the Washington Township website under the Shop Washington Township tab. Once registered, residents can show the card, or have their account looked up, at select shops in town to receive a percentage back in the form of a tax rebate.
Residents can pick up a Shop Washington Township card at the municipal building
Between nurturing relationships with existing businesses and finding solutions for up-and-coming businesses, economic development requires a lot of balance. Mozzachio and Gattinelli believe the current businesses in town are the greatest voices for new businesses coming in. They can give rave reviews to those who ask what it’s like to operate in Washington Township.
Whether it’s creating partnerships with local restaurants without liquor licenses and local wineries to sell their wine or offering state-of-the-art GIS mapping technology to assist developers, Gattinelli and Mozzachio are leaving no stone unturned when spreading the word that Washington Township is open for business.
