Post-Oyster Creek, Lacey Looks To Attract New Industries

LACEY, NJ — For decades, Lacey Township and nuclear power were synonymous. Oyster Creek supplied hundreds of jobs, boosted the local economy and is immortalized with an atom in the official township seal.

But with the plant's early closure in 2018, a hole was left in the township's economy. How will Lacey move forward and ensure its future? That's what BRS, Inc. is planning with township officials.

During a Zoom public meeting on April 13, Lacey officials and BRS officials joined to explain their initial plans for Lacey's economic future.

The goal, planner and project manager Alisa Goren said, is to attract and retain jobs and residents. They hope to do so by attracting industries that make sense for Lacey and show strong growth.

Development would primarily be on Oyster Creek land, as well as a few other township-owned lots that are underutilized and would complement the site, BRS economist Sonia Martin said.

Industries that officials look to attract are very specific, Martin said, so that they can analyze specific data and see how good of a fit it would be.

Initial target industries, selected with input from township officials and a steering committee of residents, are electric power transmission and distribution, pharmaceutical manufacturing, alternative and renewable power generation, light industrial manufacturing (for offshore wind industry), waterfront recreation and marinas and refrigerated warehousing.

These were selected by how well they would fit in Lacey, along with the amount of jobs and how well they pay, BRS officials said. Goren emphasized that they wanted jobs that would keep people in the community.

The information shared was met positively by residents who were on the call, with one noting that he liked that retail was a low priority in the plan.

"We don't want to wind up like Toms River or Manahawkin where it's malls, malls, retail, malls and that's it," he said. He added that he liked that the focus was on jobs, not housing, and that the jobs complement what was in Lacey before.

This was the first public meeting BRS held on the project.

If you missed the meeting, you can view the presentation and watch the video of it on the BRS website.