January 2017 | Business View Magazine

84 85 break ground right across the street to build an- other 145-unit building,” says Armstead. All of these sites are close to the Northeast Corridor and Jersey Coast Lines Amtrak station, which makes them ideal locations for people who wish to commute to New York or Newark for work. Another initiative on the city’s agenda is called the Landfill Project. “This is one of our ‘green’ projects,” says Arm- stead. “We’re looking to put solar panels on our closed landfill that we have that can generate upwards of 4.5 MW of electricity. That electric- ity won’t be sold to the grid; we’re looking to sell it directly to some of the companies right in the area, so we can offer them a better rate than PSE&G, and, of course, receive a higher return than we would if we were selling it directly to the grid.” George R. Vircik, Linden’s City Engineer, says that Linden has always been known as a business-friendly city. “When developments come in, other towns take six months to approve them,” he says. “If everything is complete, our planning board can generally grant approvals in one linden, New jersey T:7.5” T:4.9” Incollaborationwith There’s a smarter way to build a city. As communities across the world steadily grow, cities are challenged withmaintaining high standards of livability, resiliency, and sustainability. Forward-thinking city planners are partnering with initiatives like Verizon Smart Communities tomake rapid urbanization possible. These solutions use Internet of Things (IoT) to solve problems like energy management, intelligent transportation, and public safety—overall improving quality of life for every citizen. Find out howVerizon can help you create better places for people to live, work and play. Contact your local business sales partner or find themat vzw.com/myrep. All rights reserved. The Verizon name and logo and all other names, logos and slogans identifying Verizon’s products and services are trademarks and service marks or registered trademarks and service marks of Verizon Trademark Services, LLC or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. ©2017 Verizon. AT A GLANCE LINDEN, NJ WHAT: A city of 45,000 WHERE: Union County, about 20 miles southwest of Manhattan WEBSITE: www.linden-nj.com to two months.” In addition, Linden is one city that usually doesn’t need to offer many incentives to businesses in order to locate there. “Peo- ple seem to want to come to Linden, because it’s close to New York City and 10 million people within 20 miles or so,” he explains. “Also, since 1977, we’ve received almost $27 million in community development grants. About half was used for housing rehabilitation; we’ve gotten almost $9 million for street www.commercialutility.com ENERGY PROCUREMENT CUC solicits “real-time” bids through an online auction platform. ENERGY AGGREGATION Government entities utilize CUC to implement a procurement process for licensed suppliers in NJ to provide energy at a discount to residents. UTILITY BILL ANALYSIS We review current and past utility bills to find discrepancies and savings through extensive tariff research. EXPERIENCED STAFF Our analysts are a proven asset to our customers by finding cost saving opportunities since 1975. ONGOING REVIEW CUC continues to monitor your utility bills on a monthly basis to ensure future savings.