Joan Verplanck To Join Cushman & Wakefield's New Jersey Team

Former Chamber President Brings 24 Years of Experience in Advancing N.J. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) April 07, 2011 - MORRISTOWN, N.J. - Joan Verplanck, former New Jersey Chamber of Commerce president, will be joining Cushman & Wakefield, in Morristown as senior director. She brings with her 24 years of experience guiding economic development initiatives and job creation in New Jersey.

Verplanck is working with one of Cushman & Wakefield's nationally top-producing office leasing teams. Headed by Bob Donnelly and Marc Rosenberg, the group specializes in corporate advisory and representation for Fortune 1000 companies, including AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent and General Electric, among many others.

"We are pleased to welcome Joan to the Cushman & Wakefield organization," Donnelly said. "Just as she has been an incredible asset in promoting the State of New Jersey to the corporate community for nearly a quarter century, she will enhance Cushman & Wakefield's ability to provide value for clients and create new opportunities through her deep business relationships. In short, she will enhance our effort to keep and grow jobs in the Garden State."

In her new role, Verplanck is focusing on client relationships and development, and special projects. This initially includes the coordination of the CFO Roundtable, a Cushman & Wakefield national forum. Cushman &Wakefield will be partnering with Skillman Business School at Seton Hall University, as well as McCarter & English and Grant Thornton in New Jersey.

"My transition to commercial real estate, and to this position at Cushman & Wakefield in particular, is a natural extension of my experience," Verplanck noted. "Providing quality service to clients always has been a big part of my approach, and that is very much in keeping with the Cushman & Wakefield culture. My past work has involved close ties with the real estate community and deep involvement in leading programs that provide value for customers. This is a great fit, and I look forward to continuing my efforts with such a powerful brand as Cushman & Wakefield and to promote New Jersey as a place to do business."

Verplanck's work on behalf of the state chamber for the past 16 years included identifying and advancing opportunities for New Jersey companies. She also orchestrated economic development-centric projects like the Economic Policy Summit, which the chamber helped to launch in 2007 with Cushman & Wakefield, Rutgers University and several key trade organizations.

Prior to joining the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Verplanck served as president for the Morris County Chamber of Commerce for eight years, where she founded the Morris Area Development Group, an economic development initiative strongly supported by the commercial real estate community. Before that, she led two chambers of commerce in Rhode Island for 10 years - the first served as the economic development vehicle for its town, and the second included a foundation that owned and developed industrial parks.

Verplanck's prominence in New Jersey is well recognized. She ranked No. 58 on the Politics NJ Power List, and was named one of the state's 10 most powerful women in business by the Star-Ledger and one of five "business power players" by New Jersey Monthly magazine. Verplanck is a past recipient of the Alain Daniels Civic Responsibility Award (Center for Civic Responsibility), the Lewis R. Applegate Outstanding Business Leader Award (NJ SEED), the Barbara Boggs Sigmund Award for Women of Vision (Women's Political Caucus-New Jersey), and the Virginia Apgar Award (March of Dimes).

Today, Verplanck serves on the boards of Maser Consulting, the Center for Civic Responsibility and the Clean Communities Council and on the board and executive committee of the National Chamber Foundation (NCF) in Washington, D.C. She previously served on the boards of the Economic Development Authority, Elizabethtown Water Company and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She was the first woman to chair the National Board of Trustees of the Institutes for Organization Management, a continuing education program of the U.S. Chamber.

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