SEWELL, N.J. (CBS) — Phillies fans love to bring signs and banners to the ballpark to send a message to the opposition.
The Phillies did it again and dismantled the Atlanta Braves in South Philadelphia.
“Anytime you get to go to a clinching game it’s a blessing and that stadium was rocking,” Brian Matthews.
Matthews was inside Citizens Bank Park Thursday night.
He’s a long-time fan and also the president of East Coast Sign Art in Sewell, New Jersey where orders of these metal Phillies lawn signs are rolling in.
“People love that Phillies P right now and it’s getting out there,” Matthews said. “Customers and people want to support and show the rest of their neighborhood hey we’re supporting the Phillies right now.”
East Coast Sign Art invited CBS News Philadelphia into its warehouse. The small company started making the metal signs about a year ago.
“I’m from Philadelphia so designing anything Philadelphia is for me…I’m all for it,” Shaun Ramsuer said.
Ramsuer draws all the designs and sends them to a laser cutting table. A clean sheet of metal is pushed through the table as a laser then carefully cuts and creates the sign.
“There’s a computer at the laser machine that can pick up my drawing and the machine will burn everything,” Ramsuer said. “So basically if I can draw it, we can do it.”
The laser beam inside the machine is more than 1000 degrees. It can cut any custom design in a matter of minutes, including the CBS News Philadelphia logo.
But during Red October, the Phillies P has become the most popular and die-hard fan CJ Smith ordered a sign for his yard.
“It’s been pretty amazing the run taking down the Braves, it’s like beating the Cowboys for the Eagles, so it’s great,” Smith said.
“Everyone really rallied around this team,” Matthews said. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what your differences are, everybody puts that aside right now for the playoffs.”
With each precise cut, this company is helping fans cheer on their team.
Rutgers University’s Food Innovation Center, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, along with Middlesex County, announce the New Jersey FoodTech 2024 Conference, which will be held on June 26 at the Rutgers College Avenue Student Center, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The conference costs $50 with registration by June 24. Registration is free for Rutgers faculty, staff, students and conference partners by emailing ayg6@njaes.rutgers.edu. (photos by Rutgers University)
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Rutgers University’s Food Innovation Center, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, along with Middlesex County, announce the New Jersey FoodTech 2024 Conference, which will be held on June 26 at the Rutgers College Avenue Student Center, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The conference costs $50 with registration by June 24. Registration is free for Rutgers faculty, staff, students and conference partners by emailing ayg6@njaes.rutgers.edu.
The conference, which was inaugurated last year to great success, is designed to help promote the growth of New Jersey’s food technology sector by building awareness of its strength in food innovation.
Keynote speaker, Lou Cooperhouse, is the founder, president & CEO of BlueNalu, and expressed his excitement at returning in this role.
“I’m excited to serve as keynote speaker again for this outstanding conference. The food industry is going through such an extraordinary transformation now and over the coming years, in which technologies are enabling precision agriculture, resulting in new forms of protein, personalizing nutrition, creating new methods for distribution and utilizing AI to better understand consumer motivations and product satisfaction.”
Cooperhouse, a leading global authority in food innovation, business and product differentiation, and technology commercialization, will speak on the topic, “Food for Thought: Food Industry Trends and the Power of Partnerships.”
He emphasizes this basic formula. “Success in the food industry begins with the identification of your company’s problem statement, and how your business differentiation creates a unique and valued selling proposition.”
To help businesses, from concept to commercialization, many established early-stage entrepreneurs and existing food companies often turn to the Rutgers Food Innovation Center (FIC) for support.
Rutgers Food Innovation Center.
Nolan Lewin is the executive director of FIC, a unique food business incubator in Bridgeton, NJ. Since 2001, FIC has been a strategic partner to New Jersey companies, providing enormous value to businesses and accelerating their pathway to market.
“FIC is a trusted source of information, expertise and capabilities, unmatched by other universities. It is FDA and USDA registered, capable of manufacturing goods that can be sold directly into market. Our Marketing and Food Safety programs also cover many facets of food and beverage manufacturing, including Competitive Sensory analysis, FSMA certificate training, Servesafe and GAP audit facility reviews.”
In addition to helping to grow NJ’s food technology sector, the FoodTech conference also aims to highlight business retention capacity and opportunities in the state.
Sho Islam, Division Head of Life Sciences & Food Innovation at Middlesex County’s Office of Business Engagement, is a speaker at NJ FoodTech 2024. He started his career with FIC, focusing on business development, entrepreneurship, innovation commercialization and strategic business consulting. Currently, Islam is responsible for providing business expansion and advisory support to companies located or interested in locating to Middlesex County.
He notes that New Jersey’s world class facilities – 22 million square feet of lab space that is expected to grow 27% by 2026, and highly skilled workforce – firmly establish the state as a hub for the life sciences.
According to Islam, “the same labs and talent pool that support life sciences are also spurring growth in food innovation across the state.”
Angel Planet Foods – a plant-based food company specializing in Asian cuisine – is one such New Jersey-based success story. A former incubated company with FIC, the company was founded in 2020 by Zheng Song, who served as a panelist at the inaugural NJ FoodTech conference in 2023.
“My experience was extraordinary. I was honored to be in the company of other entrepreneurs and investors, and found the conference to be a rewarding experience. The debut of the FoodTech conference was very successful.”
Song adds that “the plant-based presentations were very informative and I also enjoyed the networking and learning about the trends in the industry.”
FoodTech 2024 keynote speaker Lou Cooperhouse brings 40 years of experience in the food industry. He has close ties to FIC and New Jersey food innovation, having previously served as a founder and executive director of this award-winning program. He’s also the current chair of the Rutgers University Food Innovation Center Advisory Board.
His portfolio includes extensive entrepreneurial expertise leading cross-functional teams in a wide array of settings, including new business startups, multinational corporations, foodservice and retail operations, non-profits and trade associations, and university food incubation programs
Cooperhouse sums up why entrepreneurial startups, established businesses, industry suppliers, venture capital sources, non-profits, and others should attend the conference.
“Strategic partnerships can provide enormous value to an entrepreneurial company, as well as an established multinational corporation, and accelerate and support food innovation and market differentiation, and I look forward to sharing these insights at New Jersey FoodTech 2024.”
–Rutgers University
Prosecutors last week entered piles of cash and 13 gold bars into evidence in the federal corruption trial of Sen. Robert Menendez, who is accused along with his wife Nadine of accepting bribes from a trio of New Jersey businessmen. Canva for NJ.com
The FBI agents stepped quietly inside U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez’s modest white house tucked in an upscale neighborhood along New Jersey’s scenic Palisades one morning in June 2022, creeping in through the garage.
They were directed to move discreetly, none of the shock and awe of a pre-dawn raid and perp walk. Nobody was even home.
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About the Authors
S.P. Sullivan
Sean Sullivan is a senior reporter on NJ Advance Media’s news team, covering criminal justice issues and government corruption in New Jersey for over a decade. He is chronicling the federal trial of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez for NJ.com and its affiliated newspapers. He does not invest in gold.
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HADDONFIELD, N.J. (CBS) — A man from Haddon Township was arrested and charged Friday in connection with an arson incident in South Jersey last October and other incidents of criminal mischief, harassment and stalking in Haddonfield and Medford Township.
The Camden County prosecutor, Haddonfield police chief and Medford Township police chief announced the arrest on Saturday.
Haddonfield police said Michael McNeely, 42, was charged with second-degree aggravated arson and third-degree criminal mischief in connection with an arson in October 2023 where a car was intentionally set on fire. McNeely was also charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief for a June 2019 incident. Both incidents happened in Haddonfield.
McNeely was additionally charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief and harassment for an incident on Nov. 9, 2023, in Medford Township where police said a bench was vandalized with spray paint on High Point Drive. The 42-year-old was also charged with fourth-degree stalking on multiple occasions from 2019 to 2023 in Haddonfield and Medford Township, according to the news release.
McNeely is in custody at the Camden County Correctional Facility pending a court date.
The news release said Haddonfield officers responded to a report of a car on fire on the 1000 block of Concord Circle on Oct. 21 and surveillance video showed a suspect pouring gasoline onto the car and lighting it on fire.
Authorities said officers previously responded to two car fires at the same home on Concord Circle on June 25, 2021, and Oct. 18, 2017. Investigators also mentioned they responded to the same house after a concrete block was thrown through a window on June 20, 2019. The two car fires at the residence are still under investigation.
Detectives said they identified McNeely as a suspect through digital evidence.
“I’m very proud of and grateful to our detective bureau, and for the collaboration between our detectives, CCPO, and the Medford Twp PD that helped bring this case to a positive resolution,” Haddonfield Police Chief Jason Cutler said in the release.
Authorities urge anyone with information to call Detective Jason Roland of the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 856-225-5125, Detective Corporal Kristin O’Neill of the Haddonfield Police Department at 856-429-3000 or Detective Mark Hunsinger of the Medford Township Police Department at 609-654-7511.
Tips can also be sent anonymously through CAMDEN.TIPS.
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