By Tom Dwyer

These days, running a business is not easy.  The volatile stock market is creating heartburn for many and shoppers are holding on to their money. One thing that business people in Hudson County are doing to get a leg up, is networking with other business people at events promoted by the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce. It’s a smart way to find out what’s working and not working for other businesses and a great way to pitch one’s own company.  The Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, located at 660 Newark Avenue in Jersey City, has been a center of networking for businesses since 1888 when it started as the Jersey City Chamber of Commerce.  With close to four hundred members, the organization provides support for Hudson County businesses.
Joanne Vandorn, the president of HCCC has been with the organization since 1992 and the president of the organization for the past five years.  Before joining the chamber, she was the assistant executive director for the Jersey City Economic Development Association.  “We’re here to help companies in Hudson County who are interested in growing. We are an advocacy group that helps with certain legislative concerns that companies might have, and, are a countywide resource when it comes to running a business,” Vandorn said. Continue reading HUDSON COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE →

…music history being made here

By Tom Dwyer

                                                                                                   

Rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop, country and everything in between has been recorded at Hoboken’s famed music recording studio (Water Music Recorders) over the past twenty-seven years. Music legends and international stars like Dave Mathews, the Allman Brothers, Joey Ramone, Spyro Gyra, U2, Sarah McLachlan and even Nancy Sinatra have recorded at this residential music studio.

The creator behind this worldwide-known recording studio is Rob Grenoble, a musician in his own right who back in the late 1970’s and 1980’s played with a group called Cries. He was signed as a recording artist with RCA Records in 1989. But it was in 1980 when he created Water Music studio solely for his band to record that things really got interesting. No sooner did the recording studio get up and running, that Steve Fallon, the owner and visionary behind Maxwell’s–the famed rock club in Hoboken—asked Rob to record a solo album for songwriter Chris Stamey (who still records at Water Music). The original studio was located at 201 Grand Street and before long, a line of extraordinary musicians like Yo La Tengo, Freedy Johnston, the Feelies, Chris Stamey, Marshall Crenshaw and dozens of other bands made Water Music their home.

Continue reading November Cover Story-Hoboken’s Water Music Recorders →