I joined R&J at the tail end of 1999, when the world was on the precipice of the Y2K transition and all the uncertainty that came with it was swirling. It was literally the dawn of a new century, and there was very real talk, in many circles, about the possibility that the whole world would be completely transformed in an instant at the stroke of midnight.

When I look back at the mid-to-late 1990s, I see a defining stretch that set the trajectory for everything R&J Strategic Communications would become. We now refer to it as our Expansion & Specialization Era, a time when both our agency and the broader communications landscape were undergoing rapid, transformative change.

This story in today’s edition of The Record is an interesting microcosm of many of the biggest issues that communities throughout New Jersey, and the wider region, are grappling with right now. On the surface, it looks like a garden-variety story about a developer who wants to repurpose a vacant 44-acre office campus for a new use that better serves the needs of the community in changing times.

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