comScore Releases First Comparative Report on Mobile Usage in Japan, United States and Europe

comScore Releases First Comparative Report on Mobile Usage in Japan, United States and Europe

Japan Mobile Audience “Most Connected” with 3 of 4 Users Accessing Mobile Media in June

Social Networking Shows Highest Reach among U.S. Mobile Users, While Europeans Text the Most RESTON, VA, October 7, 2010 – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on mobile usage and behaviors in Japan, the United States and Europe from its MobiLens service. The report examined multiple dimensions of mobile usage including content consumption, demographic comparisons and top social networking brands across markets to provide a comparative look at how consumers interact with mobile media across various geographic markets.

“Mobile media usage continues to accelerate across the globe, driven by advancing technologies and the growing number of content options available to consumers,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “As we look across markets, dramatic differences in mobile media consumption, brand adoption and user behavior become evident. These differences are even more pronounced than they are for PC-based Internet usage due to the complex nature of mobile – including various device capabilities, operating systems and methods of accessing content. For brands seeking to establish a multi-market presence, understanding usage dynamics across geographies is essential to implementing a successful global mobile marketing strategy.”


Mobile Behavior Varies Across Markets
A cross-market analysis of mobile activities in Japan, the U.S. and Europe revealed significant differences among consumers by geography. Mobile users in Japan were the “most connected” of the three markets, with more than 75 percent using connected media (browsed, accessed applications or downloaded content) in June, compared to 43.7 percent in the U.S. and 38.5 percent in Europe.

Japanese mobile users also displayed the strongest usage of both applications and browsers with 59.3 percent of the entire mobile population accessing their browsers in June and 42.3 percent accessing applications. Comparatively 34.0 percent of mobile users in the U.S. and 25.8 percent in Europe used their mobile browsers, with 31.1 percent in the U.S. and 24.9 percent in Europe accessing applications.

Messaging methods also varied with Europeans displaying the strongest use of text messaging with 81.7 percent sending a text message in June, compared to 66.8 percent in the U.S. and just 40.1 percent in Japan. Japanese users exhibited the highest reach in the email category at 54 percent, while consumers in the U.S. were most likely to use instant messaging services on their mobile (17.2 percent).
Social networking/blogs reached the greatest percentage of mobile users in the U.S. at 21.3 percent, followed by Japan at 17.0 percent and Europe at 14.7 percent. Japanese users were most likely to capture photos (63.0 percent) and watch TV/video (22.0 percent) on their mobiles, while Europeans were most likely to listen to music (24.2 percent) and play games (24.1 percent).

Select Mobile Behaviors in Japan, United States and EU5 (UK, DE, FR, ES and IT) June 2010 Total Mobile Audience Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Percent of Total Mobile Audience
	Japan	United States	Europe
Total Audience: 13+ yrs old	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%
Used connected media (Browsed, Accessed Applications or Downloaded Content)	75.2%	43.7%	38.5%
Used browser	59.3%	34.0%	25.8%
Used application	42.3%	31.1%	24.9%
Messaging Usage
Sent text message to another phone	40.1%	66.8%	81.7%
Used major instant messaging service	3.3%	17.2%	12.6%
Used email (work or personal)	54.0%	27.9%	18.8%
Social Media/Entertainment
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog	17.0%	21.3%	14.7%
Listened to music on mobile phone	12.5%	13.9%	24.2%
Took photos	63.0%	50.6%	56.8%
Captured video	15.4%	19.2%	25.8%
Watched TV and/or video on mobile phone	22.0%	4.8%	5.4%
Played games	16.3%	22.5%	24.1%
Financial Information
Accessed bank accounts	8.0%	9.4%	7.1%
Accessed financial news or stock quotes	16.1%	10.0%	7.2%
Retail/Travel
Accessed online retail	7.2%	5.5%	4.1%
Accessed classifieds	4.2%	6.6%	4.2%
Accessed travel service	3.3%	4.7%	4.1%
Other
Accessed maps	15.7%	16.0%	10.8%
Accessed traffic reports	12.6%	8.2%	5.9%
Accessed weather	34.1%	22.3%	13.7%

Mobile Media Usage by Demographic Segment
A demographic analysis of mobile media users across markets showed that mobile media consumption was more balanced across age segments in Japan when compared to the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., 25-34 year olds were 44 percent more likely to access mobile media than an average mobile user, with 18-24 year olds 39 percent more likely. In Europe, 18-24 year olds represented the most-connected segment, 54 percent more likely to be mobile media users, while persons age 25-34 were 35 percent more likely.

The U.S. and Europe also showed greater gender disparity among mobile media audiences. Females were 9 percent less likely to be mobile media users in the U.S., while females in Europe were 16 percent less likely.

Mobile Media Usage in Japan, United States and EU5 (UK, DE, FR, ES and IT) by Demographic Segment June 2010 Total Mobile Audience Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
	Connected Media Audience Index*
	Japan	United States	Europe
Total Audience: 13+ yrs old	100	100	100
Male	102	110	116
Female	98	91	84
Persons Age:
13-17	114	130	133
18-24	117	139	154
25-34	114	144	135
35-44	111	117	103
45-54	105	85	78
55+	80	39	57

* Index = % demographic segment / % demographic base*100

Top Mobile Social Media Brands
Across markets, local and global brands showed varying levels of adoption by mobile audiences. In all three markets, the top mobile social media brand mirrored the top PC-based social networking brand with Facebook leading in the U.S. and Europe and Mixi leading in Japan. Local brands Gree and Mobage Town were the #2 and #4 most accessed social networking brands in Japan. Twitter was the only brand to be ranked in the top four in all markets.

Top Mobile Social Networking/Chat/Blog Brands in Japan, United States and EU5 (UK, DE, FR, ES and IT) by Audience Size June 2010 Total Mobile Audience Age 13+ Source: comScore MobiLens
Japan	United States	Europe
Mixi	Facebook	Facebook
Gree	MySpace	YouTube
Twitter	YouTube	MSN / Windows Live / Bing
Mobage Town	Twitter	Twitter

About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

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Sarah Radwanick
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comScore, Inc.
+1 206 268 6310
press@comscore.com
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NJ Attorney General Warns Against Social Media Scams

Stupid is as stupid does, mama always said. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I have a feeling it has something to do with giving money to people you don't know online.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by all sorts of exciting innovation by clever crooks, for example burglars spying on social network users to figure out when they'll be away from home. But social networks are even better-suited for con men and identity thieves, who exploit the inherent sense of trust and affection between friends to scam unsuspecting users. That's according to New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the state's Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni, who say they have seen an increase in the number of social media scams on Facebook or other sites, often using hijacked accounts.

The NJ officials' statement warns against one common approach in which scam artists hack into a user's account and access their address book, then send messages pleading with their friends to wire cash because they are stuck in some foreign country. To make it extra-alarming, they might construct elaborate stories about being robbed, getting sick, or having an accident in some place that is nice to visit, but not somewhere you'd really want to stay. They can even throw in details like the names of spouses or boyfriends/girlfriend and various kinds of biographical information to make it extra-convincing -- all gleaned from the user's profile, of course.

Dow stated: "People lower their guard when someone they know from a social networking site needs their help. Rather than sending an email to random people, these thieves have learned they can improve their chances by hacking into social networking accounts and then directing pleas for money to the account holder's list of friends." Common tricks used by criminals trying to hack into social network accounts include anything which requires you to paste a URL into your browser, quizzes, polls or contests asking for personal information like your social security number, credit card number or bank account information, requests to update Flash or download a new program, and anything that asks you link to another page and invites your friends there.

Okay, I don't want to be too harsh here because I imagine the criminals can go to great lengths to present a convincing come-on, and they're taking advantage of good-natured, trusting individuals. But trust is overrated, and there is a right way and a wrong way to be good-natured.

First of all, if someone sends me a serious message over a social network, my first instinct would be to ask why they didn't send me an email or call. If they are sending the message to my email address (having located it in an online address book) I would be somewhat more inclined to hear them out, but it would be pretty easy to confirm that they are who they say they are, by asking questions like "where/when did we meet," "when's the last time I saw you," or something else -- not on their profile or anywhere else online -- only they would know. I'd also try calling them and sending messages to their other email accounts seeking confirmation of the story.

And after I finally confirmed they were real, then -- and only then -- would I tell my friend in Turkish prison to go hit up someone else cuz I blew it all in Vegas last week. Good luck and godspeed, voyager! P.S. send a postcard.

In New Jersey, the For-Sale Signs Are in Bloom

MAPLEWOOD

“GET ready for the block party! Great neighborhood!” That is how an agent named Heather Gilheany verbally baits the hook in her listing for 156 Oakland Road, a three-bedroom one-bath colonial built in 1925.

“Selling the neighborhood,” explained Ms. Gilheany of Coldwell Banker. “That is what we always do — sell not just the house, but the neighborhood.”

But it so happens that on this particular block of Oakland Road, and in the immediately surrounding three or four blocks, for-sale signs abound. While the agents are busy “selling the neighborhood,” someone just driving by might be forgiven for wondering whether the entire neighborhood was for sale — lock, stock and barrel.

Last week there was a for-sale sign in front of No. 157, and one at No. 160 on the opposite side of the street.

There was another at 66 Burnett Terrace around the corner, two on the same block of nearby Highland Avenue, two on contiguous blocks of Plymouth Avenue, and so on. In all, there were a dozen signs within a roughly four-block area, although in some cases, houses were already under contract and the signs were being kept up during the attorney-review process.

This neighborhood of 75 to 80 houses is sometimes called the Tuscan section of town, after the local Tuscan Elementary School. The houses were mostly built in the 1920s and 1930s. The price range on those for sale was $425,000 to $599,000, except for one, a larger house at 104 Plymouth Avenue, which was recently listed for $674,900.

In Maplewood over all, there are 126 active listings, out of 5,541 owner-occupied homes, according to Patricia Ross, a Coldwell Banker agent, who says she has lived in town all her life and sold real estate there since 1984. She found the number high but not unusually so. And she noted that many residents moved from one house to another within Maplewood over the course of their lives.

Ms. Ross has a listing for a three-bedroom one-bath Tudor at 93 Midland Avenue, two blocks from Oakland Road. It has been on the market for five months at an asking price of $459,000. She declined to discuss the situation of the sellers or to say whether she was contemplating a change in strategy as more houses are put on the market this spring. But several agents selling neighborhood houses, in some instances on behalf of heirs, said that they were pressing sellers to cut asking prices because of the growing inventory.

Robert Northfield, another Coldwell Banker agent, said it was “very important for the Realtor to take sellers around to see the competition, take them to open houses so they can understand how best to price theirs.”

Mr. Northfield, who has the listing for 104 Plymouth Avenue, said he thought the presence of two houses for sale side by side, or several on a block, could be a good thing in some ways. “It helps generate traffic,” he said. “The neighborhood sells itself, and each house has a unique character and will find its own buyer.”

He said 104 Plymouth would attract a “totally different” buyer than other houses in the neighborhood, but he would be happy to have other agents “piggyback” on the open houses he schedules there — because attracting home shoppers is positive however it occurs.

On Oakland Road, No. 160 — the largest of the three for sale, and at $549,900 the most expensive — was under contract a couple of days after the first open house on Feb. 28, said Jessica Keefe, the selling agent.

“There were five offers,” said Ms. Keefe of Coldwell Banker in Montclair, “four over asking price.”

The five-bedroom house last sold in 1998 for $200,000, according to Zillow.com. Ms. Keefe said the owners had put in a new kitchen and bath, and “made the product sparkle” before putting it on the market last month.

“Fresh towels in the baths, beautifully decorated family room and first floor, a pristine basement,” were all part of the packaging, she said.

“They had already bought another house in Glen Ridge,” Ms. Keefe said of the sellers, “which was also a multiple-bid situation. They looked very carefully at the multiple listings for homes in their neighborhood, and in setting the price, we thought about the best way to create a perception of value. That’s what it’s all about.”

There are, of course, larger market forces at work right now in all neighborhoods, no matter their size or status. Real estate specialists included the following:

¶Spring is traditionally the most popular time to show and sell a house, coinciding with better weather and the rhythms of the school year.

¶As the national recession eases, a “shadow inventory” is emerging: some homeowners who put off trying to sell are starting to try now.

¶The federal tax credit program for first-time buyers expires April 30, and many buyers are trying to beat the deadline.

Focusing more tightly, though, real estate agents in northern New Jersey said a concentration of for-sale signs was often the result of sociological change, rather than change of season or economy.

“I think what happens is a natural progression,” said Perri K. Feldman, an agent based in the Keller-Williams office in Summit. “People move into a neighborhood when their children are young, and then when everyone is older, and their children have stopped boomeranging back home, one decides to put their house on the market.

“Then, all the nosy neighbors come to the open house,” Ms. Feldman continued. “And they start to chat back and forth: ‘Oh, did you hear that the house on the next street over sold, and it went pretty fast? Oh, and this neighbor and that neighbor are putting their houses up, and the other one is thinking about it.’

“And pretty soon, they start calling me, because, well, they’ve been thinking — and it’s time.”

In New Jersey, No Consensus on Foreclosure Problem

IN gauging the severity of the foreclosure problem in New Jersey, the experts could hardly be farther apart. Some see the state as relatively unscathed at this point, with the situation about to improve; others see worsening conditions that may turn downright severe.

But then again these same experts are the first to admit that they are handicapped by extremely unreliable information. Real estate market analysts, lawyers, academics, public officials: there are clusters of them on either side of the debate.

“Precise numbers on foreclosures are very elusive,” said James W. Hughes, the dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. But he said he was hearing reports from researchers in the field that foreclosure filings in some county courts were increasing. That trend may pick up steam as federal home-buyer stimulus programs expire, and high-paying jobs continue migrating out of state.

Jeffrey G. Otteau, whose Otteau Valuation Group provides real estate market analysis to the industry, sounded a similar note on the quality of available statistics. “The numbers from the various sources do not square,” was how he put it. Mr. Otteau quoted data from RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that monitors court filings around the country, in characterizing New Jersey’s current foreclosure rate as very low — just .04 percent of households. He also predicted that foreclosure actions would decline as the overall economy improved. RealtyTrac, a subscriber service, is a primary source of information about distressed properties for investors.

As one of very few sources for up-to-date statistics detailed down to the local level, it also provides data to Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. But its tracking and counting methods have been criticized, not only by Mr. Otteau in New Jersey but also by state officials in Colorado and Georgia, among others.

For instance, in 2008, when RealtyTrac reported that New Jersey’s rate of foreclosures increased 101 percent, Mr. Otteau accused the company of overcounting — in effect listing the same property repeatedly as it moved through the various steps in court. That might include a lender’s initial filing when an owner is 90 days delinquent on payments, as well as transfer of ownership to a lender, and a court-ordered sheriff’s auction.

“All indications are that RealtyTrac has stopped doing that,” Mr. Otteau said last week. “But the accuracy can in no way be positively verified.”

In 2009, according to RealtyTrac’s numbers, the rate of foreclosure filings in New Jersey increased by just 1 percent, to 1.8 percent, which equates to 18 of every 1,000 homeowners, Mr. Otteau noted. Nationally, foreclosures were reported to be up by 21 percent, for a foreclosure rate of 22.1 per 1,000 homeowners.

“That meant New Jersey ranked 39th of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia,” he said, “placing it in the better-of-the-pack.”

Cross-checking RealtyTrac numbers with other statistics often amounts to an “apples and oranges” problem, according to Mr. Otteau and Mr. Hughes. For instance, a report last month by the New Jersey court system estimated the number of foreclosure filings rose 29 percent from 2008. But the number is a raw count, not a calculation of rate.

Still, Mr. Otteau said, it does not jibe with RealtyTrac’s report as best he can tell. Goldie Sommer, a real estate lawyer who specializes in short sales for the firm Sommer & Engelhart in Fairfield, said she had ended up relying on the anecdotal reports of brokers who list properties available for short sale — and on the fact that she is extremely busy — to infer that the number of homeowners facing foreclosure was “bouncing up again.”

Ms. Sommer said she had handled about 250 short sales in the last two years. In her view, the process benefits both sides: the bank can avoid higher court costs, the potential need to evict after foreclosure and the prospect of the low-bidding “sharks” who show up at sheriff’s sales. And borrowers are saved from a damaging credit report, Ms. Sommer said. “Rather than show a foreclosure on a credit report, which takes off 200 points on a person’s credit score,” she said, “with a short sale a person will be able to get another mortgage later on.”

Information on short sales is not published by the state Multiple Listing Services. But the tally of short sales is disclosed to brokers as members of the listing services, and some do try to keep track of trends.

For instance Michael Hawley, of the United Association of Realtors, said that 35 to 40 percent of Essex County homes currently listed in the $300,000-to-$350,000 price range were short sales. At $700,000 and above, he added, 10 to 15 percent of listings are short sales.

An office manager for Weichert in Caldwell estimated that 15 percent of all listings right now were delinquent-mortgage properties; at Unicasa United Realty in Newark, a manager estimated that more than 60 percent of the agency’s listings were for properties whose owners were “underwater,” or owed more than the home was worth.

The short-sale alternative does complicate the calculating of foreclosure rates, Mr. Otteau said, because it means a large proportion of homes fall out of the process before actual foreclosure. He said that was why statisticians usually relied instead on the number of foreclosure filings — even though it too can be suspect, presenting “the potential for another type of miscounting.”

“It’s uneven,” Mr. Otteau said of all the estimates and anecdotes. “We do know that, but again, it’s a general sense of things, not a snapshot.”

Free Business Symposium to Bolster Monmouth & Ocean County Year-Round Tourism

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Robert Hilton
Executive Director
Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tel: 732.337.7061
robertjhilton@aol.com

BUSINESSES OF ALL SECTORS UNITING TO SHOWCASE A SHORE FOR ALL SEASONS
Free February 12 Symposium to launch “A Partnership for Success” to promote year-round tourism in Monmouth and Ocean Counties

Freehold, NJ – February 8, 2010 – Drawing from nearly every business sector – from hotels, restaurants and seaside arcades to commercial laundries, restaurant supply houses and local markets – a new business force is rising like high tide and launching a wave to showcase Monmouth and Ocean counties as a shore for all seasons.

“A Partnership for Success” is the powerful idea behind the newly organized Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau (JSCVB) and its 2010 Symposium scheduled for February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakewood, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The JSCVB is supported by a joint effort of the Monmouth County and Ocean County departments of tourism created to foster a coordinated partnership between government and the wide variety of businesses in both counties impacted by tourism. The symposium is being co-hosted by the MODC Cultural & Tourism Committee.

The symposium will allow businesses, as well as local chambers of commerce and government bodies, to learn about the benefits of the $100 membership in the JSCVB, which include preferred treatment on the web site; priority consideration for inclusion in press and travel trade tours; priority consideration for reference in press releases and marketing campaigns; representation at consumer and travel expositions; and advocacy through the NJ Travel Industry Association and the U.S. Travel Association.

“We are a destination marketing organization and our goal is to market the Jersey Shore,” said Robert Hilton, executive director of the JSCVB. “With the economy the way it is today, the greatest challenge is letting people know what’s going on in this region. People can’t advertise individually the way they did before. We have the ability to advertise, get to trade shows, put information on the Internet and reach people to tell them what’s happening year-round. Individually, businesses don’t have the budget to do all that.”

For example, the JSCVB soon will be launching a $35,000, five-week media marketing campaign using radio station WPLJ that will promote local activities and drive consumers to www.visitthejerseyshore.com.

“Tourism makes a vital contribution to the social and economic well-being of the region,” said Jeanne DeYoung, director of tourism for Monmouth County, who noted that each visitor spends nearly $550 and creates $64 in state and local tax revenue and that every 160 visitors creates one job and $240 in wages. “Tourism is an economic engine that provides jobs, builds interest in the environment and maintains the economic viability of many local businesses.”

Barbara Steele, director of public affairs and tourism for Ocean County, added, “This symposium will be an opportunity to network. It will provide nuts and bolts information about the resources and support that are available to anybody who has tourism dollars flowing through their business or organization, either directly or indirectly.”

That brush paints a very wide stroke, according to Hilton. While many business sectors benefiting from tourism are obvious – such as hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts; restaurants; seaside entertainment and shopping outlets – others are less apparent, he said. They can include such disparate businesses as commercial laundries and restaurant supply houses; non-traditional shore entertainment venues for rainy days; local markets and convenience stores that enjoy greater foot-traffic when tourism increases; contractors and construction companies; business services firms; and many others, he said.

The JSCVB already boasts an impressive membership list, including Monmouth Park Racetrack, Six Flags Great Adventure, the Molly Pitcher Inn and the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, Jenkinson’s Pavilion in Point Pleasant, Seastreak Ferry and Seaside Heights. However, the JSCVB is not just for large businesses, DeYoung stresses.

“In the current challenging economy, the JSCVB offers an additional outlet for businesses, large and small alike, to access a customer base through cooperative marketing and partnerships year-round that perhaps would not be accessible to them on their own,” she said.

Hilton added, “The local food market, pharmacist or hardware store may never have felt a need to advertise to out-of-town travelers, but when more people visit the region, they have more customers. Tourism benefits all of us. When people come to the Jersey Shore it creates revenue, it generates taxes and keeps property taxes down. It raises all boats.”

The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium – Tourism & Business / A Partnership for Success will be held Friday, February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1885 Route 70, Lakewood. Networking and a continental breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9:00 a.m. There is no charge to attend.

To register for the symposium, contact the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau by phone at 732-303-5984, fax at 732-845-0412 or email at director@visitthejerseyshore.com.


What:
The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium
Tourism & Business - “A Partnership for Success”

A panel discussion about the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, its activities to promote year-round tourism for Monmouth and Ocean counties and the benefits of membership.

Where:
Hilton Garden Inn
1885 Route 70, Lakewood

When:
Friday – February 12
Networking and Continental Breakfast - 8:30 a.m.
Program - 9:00-11:00 a.m.

How:
To Register:
Call 732-303-5984
Fax 732-845-0412
Email director@visitthejerseyshore.com
There is no charge to attend the symposium

Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc. Announces Record Earnings

FORT LEE, N.J., Feb. 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc. (NYSE Amex:BKJ), holding company for Bank of New Jersey, reported record annual and fourth quarter net income. For the year ended December 31, 2009, net income reached $1.3 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to $527 thousand, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, net income reached a fourth quarter record level of $435 thousand, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to $174 thousand, or $0.03 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. The net income generated during each of these periods represents the highest net income ever achieved by the Company during these respective periods and continues the Company's profitability.

During the year ended December 31, 2009, net interest income increased by 38.3% and exceeded $9.5 million compared to approximately $6.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, net interest income reached $2.7 million, an increase of approximately $800 thousand, or approximately 44.7%, over the $1.9 million of net interest income earned during the fourth quarter of 2008. These increases are reflective of management's focus on and success improving its net interest income during periods of falling interest rates. As a result of improved net interest income, the company was able to absorb increases in noninterest expense as a result of increased FDIC insurance expense, the impact of the FDIC special assessment during the year, and increased costs associated with continued branch expansion during 2009.

Bancorp of New Jersey's total assets grew by approximately 5.1% to $319.6 million at December 31, 2009 compared to $304.1 million at December 31, 2008. The Company also experienced continued growth in its loans, deposits, and equity as well. Total loans reached $263.9 million at December 31, 2009 compared to $234.9 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $29.0 million, or 12.3%. Total deposits increased to $267.1 million at December 31, 2009 from $254.0 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $13.1 million, or 5.2%. Stockholders' equity grew to $49.5 million at December 31, 2009 from $47.9 million at December 31, 2008, reflecting an increase of $1.7 million, or 3.5%. The increase in equity is net of the effect of the 30 cent per share special cash dividend which was declared during 2009 and totaled approximately $1.5 million.

Bank of New Jersey, headquartered at 1365 Palisade Avenue, Fort Lee, New Jersey, offers convenient hours and a high level of service for traditional consumer and commercial products and services. The Bank, currently, has 6 branch offices located in Fort Lee (3 locations), Hackensack, Haworth, and Harrington Park, all in Bergen County, NJ. A seventh location in Englewood, NJ, has received regulatory approvals and is expected to open during the summer of 2010.

For more information about Bank of New Jersey and its products and services, please visit http://www.bonj.net or call 201-944-8600.

Dramatic rise in NJ bankruptcies in 2009

The number of bankruptcies in New Jersey surged 35 percent in 2009, with businesses filing at an even faster rate, as the recession battered the economy and unemployment shot up.

Personal bankruptcies, which account for 96 percent of all state bankruptcies, were 35 percent higher last year than in 2008, according to figures released by the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for New Jersey.

Business bankruptcies rose by 46 percent to 1,550, or about 30 a week, figures show.

In North Jersey, personal bankruptcies rose even faster than at the state level, with a jump of 56 percent in Bergen County over 2008 and a 39 percent leap in Passaic County.

Business bankruptcies in Bergen soared 46 percent over 2008, and the number in Passaic remained flat.

Eric R. Perkins, a Ridgewood bankruptcy attorney, said the struggle to pay off health care bills was a key driver in the rise of personal filings in 2009, as it was before the recession. But unemployment worsened the situation, as many people found themselves unable to pay their bills, and even employed people struggled to pay their mortgages.

"What people do is they lose their job, or they are unable to pay their mortgage, they use their credit card to pay daily expenses" and deplete their savings and cash paying the mortgage or health care costs, he said. "At some point, they run out of cash and can't do it anymore."

The figures were in line with national numbers reported by the Alexandria, Va.-based American Bankruptcy Institute. They showed personal bankruptcies rising by 32 percent to about 1.4 million.

Michael Sirota, a Hackensack corporate bankruptcy specialist, said the financial shocks in the fall of 2008, the slowing economy and the lack of credit forced many companies into bankruptcy. And some were pushed over the edge by lenders losing patience as they waited for payment, he said.

But the actual number of New Jersey business bankruptcies was likely far higher than reported, because many companies file in New York, where they do business, or in Delaware, where they are incorporated, he said. There also has been a rise in companies avoiding bankruptcy in order to cut time and expense and negotiating a restructuring with creditors, he said.

Both attorneys said they expect the numbers to go up this year, even if the economy improves, because it will happen too late to help many people and companies.

"There is always a lag," Perkins said. "There are people right now holding on for dear life, thinking that tomorrow is going to get better. But it doesn't."

The number of bankruptcies in New Jersey surged 35 percent in 2009, with businesses filing at an even faster rate, as the recession battered the economy and unemployment shot up.

Personal bankruptcies, which account for 96 percent of all state bankruptcies, were 35 percent higher last year than in 2008, according to figures released by the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court for New Jersey.

Business bankruptcies rose by 46 percent to 1,550, or about 30 a week, figures show.

In North Jersey, personal bankruptcies rose even faster than at the state level, with a jump of 56 percent in Bergen County over 2008 and a 39 percent leap in Passaic County.

Business bankruptcies in Bergen soared 46 percent over 2008, and the number in Passaic remained flat.

Eric R. Perkins, a Ridgewood bankruptcy attorney, said the struggle to pay off health care bills was a key driver in the rise of personal filings in 2009, as it was before the recession. But unemployment worsened the situation, as many people found themselves unable to pay their bills, and even employed people struggled to pay their mortgages.

"What people do is they lose their job, or they are unable to pay their mortgage, they use their credit card to pay daily expenses" and deplete their savings and cash paying the mortgage or health care costs, he said. "At some point, they run out of cash and can't do it anymore."

The figures were in line with national numbers reported by the Alexandria, Va.-based American Bankruptcy Institute. They showed personal bankruptcies rising by 32 percent to about 1.4 million.

Michael Sirota, a Hackensack corporate bankruptcy specialist, said the financial shocks in the fall of 2008, the slowing economy and the lack of credit forced many companies into bankruptcy. And some were pushed over the edge by lenders losing patience as they waited for payment, he said.

But the actual number of New Jersey business bankruptcies was likely far higher than reported, because many companies file in New York, where they do business, or in Delaware, where they are incorporated, he said. There also has been a rise in companies avoiding bankruptcy in order to cut time and expense and negotiating a restructuring with creditors, he said.

Both attorneys said they expect the numbers to go up this year, even if the economy improves, because it will happen too late to help many people and companies.

"There is always a lag," Perkins said. "There are people right now holding on for dear life, thinking that tomorrow is going to get better. But it doesn't."

Dunkin' Donuts manager accused of stealing $20,000 at Atlantic Highlands store

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — A manager at the local Dunkin' Donuts has been charged with stealing more than $20,000 from the business, police said.

Oscar Israel Mateos, 26, of Red Bank, who worked as a manager at the shop for about five years, was arrested Saturday by Patrolman Brian Phair, police said.

Mateos was charged with theft by failure to make required disposition of property.

Detective Sgt. Thomas Stone said Mateos was in charge of making the day's bank deposits, and while he gave his boss bank slips that he had filled out, he never deposited the money in the bank.

Stone said the owner of the Dunkin' Donuts called police after he realized there was a problem with his account. Mateos is charged with stealing the money in October and November and the investigation is continuing, police said.

New Jersey Losing $22,000-a-Day With Swap for Bonds Never Sold

New Jersey taxpayers are being saddled with a bill of about $657,000 a month from Bank of Montreal for an interest-rate swap approved by state officials and linked to bonds that were never sold.

The 11th-largest U.S. state by population, which is cutting expenses to close a $1 billion budget deficit, will pay Canada’s oldest lender $23.5 million. The sum, about the same as the salaries for 113 teachers over three years, will allow it to avoid a $50 million penalty for canceling the contract, which was tied to planned sales of school-construction bonds.

The interest rate swap, an agreement between borrowers to exchange fixed and variable-rate payments on a set amount of debt, was arranged in 2004 to protect taxpayers against rising borrowing costs. The strategy backfired after officials decided against issuing the securities.

“This is a classic case of a strategic error,” said Robert Brooks, a finance professor at the University of Alabama- Tuscaloosa and author of a book on derivatives. “It’s arrogant to believe that you have such a command of the future that you know with certainty what is going to happen.”

The payments, which work out to $21,892 a day for three years, show how elected and appointed officials failed taxpayers by agreeing to financial strategies they didn’t fully understand. New Jersey spent $21.3 million in 2008 to exit three contracts signed when James Florio and James McGreevey were governors. The state’s transportation trust fund is giving almost $1 million a month to a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partnership in an agreement linked to bonds that were redeemed.

Penalties and Losses

New Jersey isn’t alone. Borrowers from Massachusetts to California are struggling with billions of dollars in swap penalties and losses at the same time that budget deficits expand to an estimated $350 billion in 2010 and 2011, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The derivatives, mostly interest-rate swaps used to exchange fixed payments for variable rates, have grown to as much as $300 billion annually, the Alexandria, Virginia-based Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said in an April report, citing information from market participants.

Derivatives have created “unprecedented financial stress” for some of the 500 municipal issuers that sold variable-rate debt and purchased swaps from banks to lock in borrowing costs, according to an October report by Moody’s Investors Service. The biggest users of the arrangements are Pennsylvania, California, Texas and Tennessee.

The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Wall Street banks conspired with brokers to rig bids on the contracts.

Forward-Starting Agreement

Jefferson County, Alabama, is on the edge of bankruptcy mostly because of a $3 billion sewer project in which fixed-rate bonds were refinanced into floating-rate securities hedged with interest-rate swaps. Larry Langford, the former Democratic mayor of Birmingham, was convicted of federal corruption charges Oct. 29 for accepting bribes in exchange for giving underwriting contracts to a banker friend while he was county commission president.

New Jersey’s 2004 school-bond swap with Bank of Montreal was linked to a $250 million bond originally scheduled to be sold in 2007. The so-called forward-starting agreement was one of 15 such contracts the state set up to help finance construction.

The issue was deferred to 2009 because the school program wasn’t borrowing fast enough to use swaps coming due in 2007, according to treasury spokesman Tom Bell.

Fixed Rate

Under its contract, New Jersey agreed to pay the bank a fixed rate of about 4.6 percent, or $967,000 a month, on the $250 million principal. In return, it would receive unspecified variable-rate payments based on a percentage of the one-month London interbank offered rate, according to Treasury Department spokesman Tom Vincz.

The one-month rate was 0.23 percent on Dec. 3, down from 1.9 percent when the Bank of Montreal swap was set up, according to the British Bankers Association One-Month Libor U.S. Dollar Index. Libor is a benchmark for the cost of loans between banks.

In pushing the swap off to 2009, New Jersey agreed to a 9 basis-point reduction in its fixed interest rate and the bank changed the floating-rate formula to a lower percentage of Libor. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

When the revamped agreement took effect on Nov. 1, the state faced payments of $833,000 a month, Vincz said in an e- mail. Treasury officials allowed the bank to suspend floating- rate payments while lowering New Jersey’s fixed-rate cost to 3.1 percent, or $656,770 monthly, through November 2012.

Typical School

The cost would cover the $23.6 million price of a typical elementary school, according to New Jersey Schools Development Authority reports. It would also pay 113 teachers’ salaries for three years, based on data reported by the state Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund.

“It is obscene,” New Jersey Governor-elect Christopher Christie said at a Nov. 16 news conference in Trenton, referring to financial strategies such as swaps pursued largely during McGreevey’s term from 2001 to 2004. “It is extraordinary to me that someone could do that much damage in less than three years.”

McGreevey, who resigned in 2004 after saying he was gay, didn’t respond to phone messages left at his home and the office of his partner, Mark O’Donnell, at real-estate developer Kushner Cos. in New York City. The former governor also didn’t return a message left at the Episcopal All Saints Parish in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he serves as an assistant while seeking a Master of Divinity degree at Manhattan’s General Theological Seminary.

$3.4 Billion

John McCormac, Christie’s transition team economic development and growth adviser who served as state treasurer when most of New Jersey’s swaps were arranged, hung up when asked about them on Nov. 11.

“OK, thanks for calling,” McCormac, mayor of Woodbridge Township, said before disconnecting.

New Jersey refinanced $3.4 billion of debt tied to derivatives last year, according to a report from the state Treasury Department’s Office of Public Finance.

The renegotiated swap lets New Jersey avoid a termination fee, estimated at $50 million in an Oct. 31 state report. It will allow the original swap to be reinstated if officials want to sell school-construction bonds in 2012, Vincz said in the Nov. 16 e-mail.

Diligent Work

“We are working diligently to manage and reduce the cost of the swap portfolio this administration inherited,” he said. “This temporary solution limits swap costs for a three-year period, after which time the state will retain the option of applying the original terms with a future borrowing as a hedge against rising interest rates.”

“We are not in a position to comment, out of an obligation of confidentiality to the client,” Kim Hanson, a spokeswoman for Bank of Montreal, said in a phone interview.

Peter Nissen, a financial adviser in Marlboro, New Jersey, who worked on the swap while at Public Financial Management, the state’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based adviser, declined to comment.

Marty Margolis, managing director at PFM, said in a phone interview that Nissen worked independently on the contract and hasn’t been associated with the company for more than two years.

“That swap was done by someone who hasn’t worked for the company for several years,” Margolis said. “I know nothing about it.”

Except for two deals to stem losses from existing derivative contracts, New Jersey has entered into no new swaps since Governor Jon Corzine, the former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, took office in 2006, according to Vincz. Christie, a former U.S. prosecutor, defeated Corzine last month and is to be sworn in Jan. 19.

UBS Contract

New Jersey paid $21.3 million last year to end three derivative contracts connected to bonds for business-incentive grants, the River Line Light Rail project from Trenton to Camden and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. On Nov. 18, the Delaware River Port Authority, a bistate agency that runs toll bridges and a rail line to Pennsylvania, agreed to give Zurich-based UBS AG $111 million if the authority can’t issue variable-rate debt to make use of an existing swap by February.

The state Transportation Trust Fund Authority is paying almost $1 million monthly to Goldman Sachs Mitsui Marine Derivative Products L.P., a partnership of the New York-based bank and Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc., under a swap agreement made during McGreevey’s administration in 2003. The derivatives were linked to $345 million in auction- rate bonds sold to finance road and rail projects.

Fixed-Rate Debt

While New Jersey replaced the debt with fixed-rate securities in 2008, the derivative payments aren’t scheduled to expire until 2019. The state plans to sell $150 million in variable-rate bonds on Dec. 7 to make use of part of the swap.

The state treasury “should continue to aggressively manage the termination, conversion and management of swaps that this administration inherited, while dealing with the realities of the most difficult credit conditions in history,” Corzine’s former spokesman, Steve Sigmund, said in an e-mail on Oct. 22.

New Jersey passed up borrowing costs of 4.6 percent to 4.9 percent when it opted to issue variable-rate bonds tied to swaps during McGreevey’s tenure, a 2008 state analysis shows. The net interest cost on the debt was about 4 percent while the original derivative agreements were in effect, according to the report.

Revenue Bonds

The yield on 25-year fixed-rate revenue bonds is now 4.98 percent, up from a yearly low of 4.69 percent in early October, according to a Bond Buyer Index.

Derivatives can save taxpayers money over longer periods if they’re managed properly, said Peter Shapiro, managing director of Swap Financial Group LLC, in South Orange, New Jersey, an adviser to companies and governments.

“Will municipal officers ever take for granted that floating-rate bonds will be dull, boring and predictable means of finance?” he said in a phone interview. “No, and they probably never should have.”

SBA reports pickup in lending activity

TD Bank approved the most Small Business Administration loans in New Jersey in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, when the Cherry Hill-based bank made 168 SBA loans totaling $60.7 million to New Jersey small-business owners.
“Even during these tough economic times, TD Bank recognizes that small-business growth is a vital component of our economy,” SBA District Director Jim Kocsi said Tuesday, as he recognized leading SBA lenders during an annual award ceremony in Newark.

The recession and the credit crunch reduced SBA lending across New Jersey during the fiscal year — but SBA lending began to recover in the second half of the year, as $730 million in federal stimulus money was deployed to eliminate the SBA loan fees charged to borrowers, and to raise the federal guarantee to 90 percent from 75 percent.

An SBA loan is made by a bank or other lender, with repayment guaranteed by the federal government. In the last six months of the year, the number of New Jersey SBA loans rose 30 percent, and the dollar amount rose 14 percent. For the full fiscal year, SBA lending in New Jersey declined to 1,116 loans for $338.2 million, compared to fiscal 2008, when New Jersey businesses received 2,394 loans for $492.1 million.

Kocsi said those stimulus provisions could be phased out unless Congress decides to extend them, but said he doesn’t think phasing out the 90 percent guarantee and the fee suspension will severely impact SBA lending.

“With the economy recovering, we are seeing positive signals from our lending partners that things are starting to ease up, and they are getting more applications that they can approve,” he said.

BNB Bank, of Fort Lee, was the second-ranked New Jersey SBA lender, with 109 loans totaling $51.6 million. Vice President Dan Cardone is hoping Congress will extend the stimulus initiatives that have boosted SBA lending.

“The economy is not doing well enough, we still have a long way to go — but if these initiatives were extended, it would help a great deal,” he said.

Ira Lutsky is president of the New Jersey Business Finance Corp., in Fort Lee, which makes larger, 504 SBA loans that borrowers typically use to acquire real estate or equipment. He is seeing the economy turn upward, but also thinks the stimulus incentives need to stay in place to keep the recovery moving.

“People have the confidence now, and are starting to take advantage of the real estate market to acquire a larger facility,” he said. “The signs are pointing the right way, and the stimulus had a lot to do with it.”

Republican victories in Va., N.J. hinged on economic worries

Voters worried about jobs and the shaky economy helped drive Republican gubernatorial victories in Virginia and New Jersey, according to exit polls, adding political urgency to Democratic efforts to combat the nation's surging unemployment rate.

While top White House officials dismissed suggestions that Tuesday's election amounted to a referendum on President Obama, gleeful Republicans portrayed the outcome as a signal of growing discontent with the president's economic initiatives.

"Certainly the president has put forth policies that are different, controversial, but I think out of the mainstream of where America is," said Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele, who called the election a "checkpoint" on Obama's policies. "America doesn't want the federal government running its health care. America doesn't want the federal government buying its cars for it and telling it what cars to drive. America doesn't want the federal government running its banks."

With the nation's unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, Republicans Robert F. McDonnell of Virginia and Chris Christie of New Jersey both campaigned heavily on the issue of jobs. Voters in both states rated the economy as the top issue, even if it was not the dominant concern it was a year ago. But in a major shift, voters who said they were "very worried" about the economy broke decidedly toward the Republican candidates this year after tilting heavily toward Obama in 2008.

That reversal accompanies a sharp increase in joblessness in each state over the past year. Unemployment in New Jersey stood at 9.8 percent in September, up four percentage points over the previous September. In Virginia, meanwhile, unemployment stood at 6.7 percent in September, up from 4.1 percent a year earlier.

"A year ago, the economy was bad, Bush was in charge, and if you wanted to change the economy you voted for Obama and against McCain," said Mark Mellman, a Democratic strategist. "In this case, the incumbent officeholders are Democrats. And if the economy is bad, there is a certain tendency to vote against those in power."

Christina Hoag, 58, who owns a catering business with about 25 employees in McLean, said that she hoped a Republican victory would slow government growth and block a health-care plan that she believes would hinder future economic growth. She said that with her vote for McDonnell and other Republicans, she wanted to send the message to Democrats that they do not have a mandate to remake the economy.

"Small businesses can't absorb what the government thinks we can absorb, especially in today's economy," she said at her polling place. "There's anger right now within ourselves, and I think most of that comes from uncertainty and fear."

Despite the shift in sentiment by voters concerned about the economy, White House aides signaled no changes in their approach to the president's ambitious initiatives to overhaul the health-care system, limit greenhouse-gas emissions and stoke job creation.

White House officials said they knew long before the election that the economy was on voters' minds. "I don't think the president needed an election or exit poll to come to that conclusion," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's press secretary.

Employers have slashed 8 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007. While the rate of job losses has slowed substantially in the wake of Obama's economic initiatives and the overall economy has begun to expand again after a year of shrinking, economists have said it could be many months before the jobless rate begins to decline

The gloomy employment picture has pushed the administration and its congressional allies to highlight the job-creation aspects of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan enacted in February, while economic advisers weigh new ideas for creating jobs.

Meanwhile, the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board has recommended ramping up federal efforts to weatherize homes and public buildings. It also urged establishment of an infrastructure bank, which would allow the federal government to sell bonds for large infrastructure projects, an idea Obama advocated during the presidential campaign.

The Senate on Wednesday approved a bill that would extend unemployment benefits, the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and a package of small-business tax cuts. The House is expected to follow suit shortly.

"The president is governing in historically challenging economic times, and the economy will be a top issue in the 2010 elections," said Dan Pfeiffer, the White House deputy communications director. "But we knew that before Tuesday."

List of New Jersey Cities & Towns

A
Absecon
Aberdeen Township
Adelphia Fire Company
Alexandria Township
Allamuchy Township
Allendale
Allenhurst
Allentown
Alpha Borough
Alpine Borough
Andover Borough
Andover Township
Asbury Park
Atlantic City
Atlantic County
Atlantic Highlands
Audubon Borough
Audubon Park Borough
Avalon
Avon

B
Barnegat Light
Barnegat Township
Barrington Borough
Bass River Township
Bay Head Borough
Bayonne
Beach Haven Borough
Beachwood Borough
Bedminster
Bellmawr
Belmar
Belleville
Belvidere Town
Bergen County
Bergen County Emergency Management
Bergen County Utilities Authority
Bergenfield
Berkeley Township
Berkeley Heights Police
Berkeley Heights Township
Berlin
Bernards Township
Bernardsville
Bethlehem Township
Blackwood Fire Company
Blairstown Township
Bloomfield Township
Bloomingdale Borough
Bloomsbury Borough
Bogota
Boonton
Boonton Township
Bordentown Township
Bound Brook Borough
Bradley Beach
Branchburg
Branchville Borough
Brick Township
Brick Township Police Department
Bridgeton
Bridgewater Township
Brielle Borough
Brielle Police Department
Brigantine
Brooklawn
Budd Lake Volunteer Fire Department
Buena Borough
Buena Vista Township
Burlington City
Burlington County
Burlington County Municipalities
Burlington County Sheriff's Office
Burlington Township
Butler Borough
Byram Township

C
Caldwell
Camden
Camden County
Cape May
Cape May County
Cape May Point
Carlstadt
Carneys Point Fire Department and Rescue Squad
Carteret
Cedar Grove
Chatham Borough
Chatham Township
Cherry Hill
Chesilhurst
Chester Borough
Chester Township
Chesterfield Township
Cinnaminson Fire Department
Cinnaminson Township
Clark
Clayton Borough
Clementon Borough
Cliffside Park Borough
Clifton
Clinton
Clinton Township
Closter Borough
Collingswood Borough
Colts Neck
Commercial Township
Corbin City
Cranbury
Cranford
Cranford Police Department
Cresskill
Cumberland County
Cumberland County 9-1-1 Communications Center

D
Deal
Deerfield Township
Delanco Township
Delaware
Delran Township
Demarest Borough
Dennis Township
Denville Township
Deptford Township
Dover (Morris County)
Downe Township
Dumont
Dunellen

E
East Amwell Township
East Brunswick
East Brunswick Police Department
East Greenwich Township
East Hanover
East Newark Borough
East Orange
East Rutherford Borough
East Windsor
East Windsor Police Department
Eastampton
Eastampton Police Department
Eatontown
Edgewater
Edgewater Park Township
Edison
Egg Harbor City
Egg Harbor Township
Elizabeth
Elk Township
Elmer Borough
Elmwood Park
Emerson Borough
Englewood
Englewood Cliffs Borough
Englishtown
Essex County
Essex Fells Borough
Estell Manor City
Evesham Township
Ewing Township

F
Fair Haven Borough
Fair Lawn
Fairfield
Fairfield Police Department
Fairfield Township (Cumberland County)
Fanwood Borough
Finderne Fire Department (Bridgewater)
Flemington
Florence
Florham Park
Folsom Borough
Fort Lee
Frankford Township (Sussex County)
Franklin Borough
Franklin Lakes
Franklin Township (Gloucester County)
Franklin Township (Hunterdon County)
Franklin Township (Somerset County)
Franklin Township (Warren County)
Fredon Township
Freehold Borough
Freehold Borough Police Department
Freehold Township
Frelinghuysen Township
Frenchtown

G
Galloway Township
Garfield
Garwood
Gibbsboro
Glassboro
Glen Gardner Borough
Glen Ridge Borough
Glen Rock
Gloucester
Gloucester County
Gloucester Township
Green Brook Township
Green Township
Greenwich Township (Cumberland County)
Greenwich Township (Gloucester County)
Greenwich Township (Warren County)
Guttenberg Town

H
Hackensack
Hackettstown
Haddonfield
Haddon Heights Borough
Haddon Township
Hainesport
Haledon Borough
Hamburg Borough
Hamilton (Mercer County)
Hamilton Township(Atlantic County)
Hammonton
Hampton Borough
Hampton Township
Hanover Township
Harding Township
Hardwick Township
Hardyston Township
Harmony Township
Harrington Park
Harrison Town (Hudson County)
Harrison Township
Harvey Cedars
Hasbrouck Heights
Hawthorne Borough
Haworth Borough
Hazlet
High Bridge
Highlands
Highland Park
Hightstown Borough
Hillsborough
Hillsdale
Hillside Township
Hi-nella
Hoboken
Ho-Ho-Kus
Holland Township
Holmdel
Hopatcong
Hope Township
Hopewell Borough
Hopewell Township (Cumberland County)
Hopewell Township (Mercer County)
Howell
Hudson County
Hunterdon County

I
Independence Township
Interlaken
Irvington Township
Island Heights

J
Jackson Township
Jamesburg
Jefferson Township
Jersey City

K
Keansburg
Kearny
Kenilworth
Keyport Borough
Kingwood Township
Kinnelon
Knowlton Township

L
Lacey Township
Lafayette Township
Lake Como (formerly South Belmar)
Lakehurst
Lakewood Township
Lambertville
Laurel Springs
Laurel Springs Fire Department
Lavallette Borough
Lawnside
Lawrence Township (Cumberland County)
Lawrence Township (Mercer County)
Lebanon Borough
Lebanon Township
Leonia Borough
Liberty Township
Lincoln Park
Linden
Lindenwold
Lindenwold Fire Department
Linwood City
Little Egg Harbor Township
Little Falls
Little Ferry Borough
Little Silver Borough
Livingston
Loch Arbor Borough
Lodi Borough
Logan Township
Long Beach Township
Long Beach Township Police Department
Long Branch
Long Hill Township
Longport
Lopatcong Township
Lower Township
Lumberton
Lyndhurst

M
Madison
Magnolia
Mahwah
Manalapan
Manasquan
Manchester
Mansfield Township (Burlington County)
Mansfield Township (Warren County)
Mantoloking Borough
Mantua Township
Manville Borough
Maple Shade Township
Maplewood
Margate
Marlboro Township
Matawan
Maurice River Township
Medford
Medford Lakes
Medford Lakes Fire Department
Mendham Borough
Mendham Township
Mercer County
Merchantville
Metuchen
Middlesex Borough
Middlesex County
Middle Township
Middletown Township
Middletown Township EMS
Midland Park
Milford Borough
Millburn
Millburn Township
Millstone Borough
Millstone Township
Milltown
Millville
Mine Hill
Monmouth Beach Borough
Monmouth County
Monroe Township (Gloucester County)
Monroe Township (Middlesex County)
Monroe Township Municipal Utilities Authority
Montague
Montclair
Montgomery Township
Montvale
Montville Township
Moonachie Borough
Moonachie Police Department
Moorestown
Morris County
Morris County, Municipal Clerks' Association
Morris County Park Police
Morris County Sheriff's Office
Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority
Morris Plains Borough
Morris Township
Morristown
Mount Arlington
Mount Ephraim Borough
Mount Holly
Mount Laurel
Mount Laurel Township Municipal Utilities Authority
Mount Olive Township
Mountain Lakes
Mountainside
Mullica Township

N
National Park Borough
Neptune City
Neptune Township
Netcong
Newark
New Brunswick
New Milford Borough
New Milford Police Department
New Providence
Newton
North Arlington Borough
North Bergen
North Branch Volunteer Fire Company
North Brunswick Township
North Caldwell Borough
North Haledon
North Hanover Township
North Plainfield Borough
North Wildwood
Northfield
Northvale Borough
Norwood Borough
Nutley

O
Oakland
Oaklyn
Ocean City
Ocean County
Ocean County Clerk
Ocean Township (Monmouth County)
Ocean Township (Ocean County)
Ocean Township Police
Oceanport Borough
Old Bridge Township
Oldmans Township
Old Tappan
Oradell
Orange Township
Oxford Township

P
Palmyra Borough
Park Ridge
Paramus
Parsippany
Passaic
Passaic County
Passaic County Office of Natural Resource Programs
Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners
Paterson
Paulsboro
Peapack-Gladstone Borough
Pemberton Borough
Pemberton Township
Pemberton Township Police Department
Pennington Borough
Pennsauken Township
Penns Grove Borough
Pennsville
Pequannock
Perth Amboy
Phillipsburg
Pilesgrove Township
Pine Beach Borough
Pine Hill Borough
Pine Hill Fire Department
Pine Valley Borough
Piscataway Township
Pitman
Pittsgrove
Plainfield
Plainsboro
Pleasantville
Plumsted Township
Pohatcong
Point Pleasant Borough
Point Pleasant Beach
Pompton Lakes
Port Republic Borough
Princeton
Princeton Township
Prospect Park Borough

R
Rahway
Ramsey
Randolph
Raritan Borough
Raritan Township
Readington Township
Red Bank
Ridgefield Borough
Ridgefield Park
Ridgewood
Ringwood
River Edge Borough
Riverdale Borough
Riverside Township
Riverton
River Vale Township
Robbinsville Township
Robbinsville Township Fire Department
Rochelle Park Township
Rockaway Borough
Rockaway Township
Rocky Hill
Roseland
Roselle Borough
Roselle Office of Emergency Management
Roselle Park Borough
Roxbury Township
Rumson
Runnemede Borough
Rutherford
Rutherford First Aid-Ambulance Corps

S
Saddle Brook Police Department
Saddle River
Saddle River Police Department
Salem City
Salem County
Sayreville
Scotch Plains
Sea Bright Borough
Sea Girt Borough
Sea Girt Police
Sea Isle City
Seaside Heights
Seaside Park
Secaucus
Sergeantsville Volunteer Fire Company
Shamong Township
Shiloh Borough
Ship Bottom Borough
Shrewsbury Borough
Somerdale Borough
Somerset County
Somers Point
Somerville
Somerville Police Department
South Amboy
South Bound Brook Borough
South Bound Brook Fire Department
South Brunswick
South Brunswick Fire District #1
South Hackensack Township
South Harrison Township
South Orange
South Plainfield
South River Borough
South Toms River Borough
Southampton Township
Sparta Township
Spotswood
Springfield (Union County)
Spring Lake
Spring Lake Heights Borough
Stafford Township
Stanhope Borough
Stillwater Township
Stockton Borough
Stone Harbor
Stow Creek Township
Stratford
Summit
Sussex Borough
Sussex County
Swedesboro

T
Tabernacle
Tavistock Borough
Teaneck
Tenafly Borough
Tewksbury
Tinton Falls
Toms River Fire Department
Toms River Township
Totowa Borough
Trenton
Trenton Police
Tuckerton

U
Union Beach Borough
Union City
Union County
Union County Police Department
Union Township (Hunterdon County)
Union Township (Union County)
Upper Deerfield Township
Upper Freehold Township
Upper Pittsgrove Township
Upper Saddle River
Upper Township

V
Ventnor City
Vernon Township
Verona
Vineland
Voorhees

W
Waldwick
Wall Township
Wallington
Walpack Township
Wanaque Borough
Wantage Township
Warren County
Warren County Department of Public Safety
Warren Township
Washington Borough (Warren County)
Washington Township (Bergen County)
Washington Township (Gloucester County)
Washington Township (Morris County)
Washington Township (Warren County)
Washington Township Fire Department No. 3 (Schooley's Mountain, Morris Co.)
Watchung
Waterford Township
Wayne Township
Weehawken
Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad
Wenonah Borough
West Amwell
West Caldwell
West Cape May Borough
West Deptford Township
West Long Branch Borough
West Milford Township
West New York
West Orange
West Wildwood
West Windsor
Westampton Township
Westfield
Westville
Westwood
Weymouth
Wharton
White Township
Wildwood Crest Borough
Wildwood
Willingboro
Winfield Township
Winslow Township (Camden County)
Woodbine Borough
Woodbridge Township
Woodbury
Woodbury Fire Department
Woodbury Heights Borough
Woodcliff Lake
Woodcliff Lake Police Department
Woodland Park
Wood-Ridge
Woodstown Borough
Woolwich Township
Wyckoff