Business View City & Municipal | August 2022

104 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 7 OLD BR IDGE TOWNSHI P , NEW JERSEY marketing strategy behind this branding, “The key point about Old Bridge is we have five major roads that run through the town. Those five roads are the only access point to get to the south, if you’re traveling on the east side of New Jersey to get down to the shore. So, that makes us very desirable for businesses to locate here. We have proximity to the airports, Pennsylvania, New York City, Upstate New York. We’re centrally located in the state. So that’s key to why people are coming here to open their businesses.” Old Bridge is experiencing a surge in commercial development, with major corporations like Chick Fil A, and Tractor Supply opening in the community. Home to a Hampton by Hilton Hotel, eight Dunkin Donuts, four Wawa gas stations and two Walmart stores, the township is now looking forward to a new major supermarket chain opening in the Old Bridge Gateway shopping center. Retail shopping center owner and developer Brixmor Property Group is currently redeveloping the space, which will be the new home of several major chains, and is located on the busy route 9 corridor. Mamakas believes this major commercial investment is partly due to a proposal for an H2Q Amazon headquarters, which was not successful “because the large-scale project was just too big for our route 9 corridor, but that’s transposed into major development.” As one of 230 communities competing for this opportunity, it brought national attention to the “Think Old Bridge” marketing campaign, and helped to put the township on the map as being open for business. “We are seeing exponential growth of the population, because we are a viable town, we are a safe town. With all of these economic development components, the mayor has also