Bob Grady Delivers Presentation at CSI•NJ Gathering

On an afternoon in November, almost 100 friends and supporters of CSI•NJ gathered at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park to hear from Bob Grady. A native of Livingston, New Jersey, the Grady family was friendly with that of Governor Chris Christie. Mr. Grady’s career spans politics and finance: After graduating from Harvard College and Stanford Business School and working for New Jersey leaders Rep. Millicent Fenwick and Gov. Tom Kean, he was White House Deputy Assistant to President George H.W. Bush and Executive Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); and later a senior partner at the investment bank Robertson Stephens & Company and at the private equity giant The Carlyle Group in San Francisco, before moving to Wyoming. Now Managing Director of the $500 million private equity fund Cheyenne Capital, Mr. Grady is Chairman of both New Jersey’s State Investment Council (which oversees the state’s $77 billion pension system) and the State Council of Economic Advisors.

Veiw Mr. Grady’s Slideshow Presentation Below…

As such, he is a speechwriter and key advisor to Governor Christie on all fiscal issues and is an architect of the state’s budget — balanced four times without raising taxes by Governor Christie. Mr. Grady believes bold leadership is responsible for the recent landslide reelection. He challenged conventional wisdom that the Governor benefited from an array of fortuitous circumstances like a weak, out-funded opponent in Barbara Buono, post Hurricane Sandy goodwill, a chummy relationship with President Obama, and even the death of Senator Frank Lautenberg.

To demonstrate, Mr. Grady pointed out that in polls leading to the election, Hurricane Sandy was a miniscule six percent consideration for voters while the economy registered 49 percent as the main issue of concern. Additionally, Governor Christie’s approval rating increased over 20 percent from Election Day in 2009 to the fall of 2010 - demonstrating that even many who voted against him approved of the job he was doing early on in his administration, when he won passage of balanced budgets, vetoed a tax increase, and secured a cap on the growth of property taxes.

Mr. Grady reviewed many of these first term economic and fiscal achievements with particular detail on the public pension fund reforms that have restored stability to New Jersey’s pension system. However, Governor Christie still faces considerable challenges in his second term like the lingering high unemployment rate, the exodus of wealth and population from New Jersey to more hospitable states to live and work, and the performance of certain failing districts in the public school system – all issues of key concern to CSI•NJ. Mr. Grady assured the group that the Governor has many smart and achievable ideas and the courage to implement them. (Mr. Grady’s presentation is available below.)

After the presentation, Mr. Grady joined guests for a cocktail reception and further conversation. The event was sponsored by New York Waterway and board member Arthur Imperatore, Jr. with additional support from fellow board members Vic Richel and Tony Vespa.