Hello, and welcome to the Mercer County website.

It is my pleasure to offer this online venue as a place to learn about Mercer County, from its history to what we can offer you right now. I hope you find navigating our website and finding the information you need as simple as we have intended. Among the many features on the site is an alphabetized index of all of Mercer County’s great services, information for visitors traveling to our Capital County, and a list of frequently used phone numbers.

I consider it an honor to serve as your County Executive, and this website is another step toward one of my Administration’s priorities: making Mercer County government open, accessible, and responsible.

County government brings our communities together, because it is regional and can improve the quality of life countywide, yet small enough to touch individual citizens.  I vow that my Administration will continue to be guided by a passion for public service, for doing the right thing, and for reaching those who feel overlooked.  I will continue to improve the quality of life for all Mercer County residents, always looking for new ways to make Mercer County a better place to work, live, play, and raise a family.

Mercer County has much to offer. We are rich in history — major battles in the Revolutionary War took place across our county, and Trenton contributed greatly to America’s development during the Industrial Revolution.

Today, waves of newcomers are adding new ideas to the chorus of energy that makes Mercer County a center for business, education and research, arts and entertainment, technology and entrepreneurship. Whether you visit one of our historic sites, enjoy one of our parks, take in a play or musical performance, shop in one of our many retail centers, or study at one of our institutions of higher learning, you will agree that Mercer County has it all.

The One-Stop Career Center is an extremely valuable resource for jobseekers and businesses alike. The Center assisted 85,154 customers in 2009 with everything from occupational counseling, employability workshops, and resume building to obtaining unemployment insurance. The Center assists businesses by pre-screening potential employees, an incentive program that pays 50 percent of a new employee’s wages for up to six months, and obtaining tax credits for businesses that hire from certain target groups.

We believe any business—large or small—can build a future here in Mercer County. Our County holds an advantage thanks to four major factors that offer potential for success: 1. proximity and easy access to customers and suppliers; 2. a high technology base; 3. state-of-the-art infrastructure; and 4. a highly skilled, educated workforce. Our regional economy keeps our residents employed and consistently outperforms other areas in New Jersey and in the U.S.—we welcome you to find out more information!

Mercer County has started construction on a new criminal courthouse in downtown Trenton to take the place of the existing, 106-year-old courthouse. This is the largest, most complex public construction project in the County’s history. This project will not only bring hundreds of new labor jobs, but will also restore some of the beauty to downtown Trenton. The new courthouse is being built to environmentally-friendly LEED standards as well, which simply means it will use energy, light, and water very efficiently. Also, other large construction projects are proceeding, such as a new hospital complex being built by Capital Health Systems in Hopewell and new commercial and retail outlets along Route 130 in Hamilton and Robbinsville. The new, $76 million renovation of the Trenton train station is completed and development is going up around it.

Two venues built by Mercer County — Waterfront Park and the Sun National Bank Center — continue to be a destination for sporting events, concerts, and trade shows in Trenton, our capital city. The Sun National Bank Center, home of the title-winning ECHL Trenton Titans hockey team, sees more than 500,000 visitors a year at more than 160 events, while the Trenton Thunder consistently draw huge crowds to Waterfront Park, an average of 450,000 fans a year. We work hard to ensure that these venues spark the private investment that adds jobs, revenue and opportunity for our residents.

Mercer County is home to more than 17,000 small businesses that comprise the backbone of our economy. We offer a wealth of resources for small businesses, their owners, and those interested opening their own business. Our Latino Business Institute caters specifically to Latino-owned businesses, and the County partners with the Small Business Development Center at The College of New Jersey to help small businesses with planning, financing, and getting government contracts. Meanwhile, the Mercer County Loan Fund can offer loans between $25,000 and $125,000. No community is complete without a vibrant and diverse economy, and we will continue to attract new economic opportunity to Mercer County.

We are home to an outstanding Park System that sees more than 2 million visitors each year. Our parks boast numerous facilities for active and passive recreation, including athletic and recreational facilities, meeting places, wedding and catering halls, and our four golf courses for public use and private events.  We have improved our park facilities, increased the number of playing fields, added dog parks, and new features like pontoon boat rides. Under my Mercer at Play initiative, all of Mercer’s 13 municipalities have initiated or completed new outdoor recreation. We’ve recently revamped Baldpate Mountain in Hopewell Township and the Mercer County Wildlife Center to make them more accessible for visitors. Our Mercer County Tennis Center in Mercer County Park has been converted to a state-of-the-art indoor facility, and the Mountain View Golf Course features an award-winning clubhouse. As we move forward, residents can continue to expect improved facilities and new opportunities to enjoy Mercer County and its beauty to the fullest.

More than 19,000 acres of Mercer County’s total land has been protected from development into perpetuity.  Since 2004, Mercer County has preserved 3,390 acres of open space and farmland by working with its municipalities and its extensive network of partners. We will continue to purchase open space to ensure that development and congestion do not overtake our farms, forests, meadows, and stream corridors.  By preserving these precious acres while we can, not only are we protecting our quality of life, but we are also preserving a legacy for our children and grandchildren.

In cooperation with our towns, the Mercer County Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has repaved miles of roadway, improved dozens of intersections, installed pedestrian countdown readings at traffic signals and installed guide rails, and improved pavement markings. We have also rebuilt 16 aging and deficient bridges across the County since 2004. All of this work is designed to improve travel and reduce congestion — work that residents and the business community alike can appreciate.

We have expanded veterans’ services and opened the Mercer County Veterans Home to serve those who have protected our freedoms. This office handles VA compensation claims and many other services veterans need on a year-round basis. Job fairs specifically for veterans are held periodically throughout the year, as are celebrations on patriotic holidays. We are constantly seeking ways to improve our veteran services, and in 2010 added a drug and alcohol treatment component for veterans returning from combat.

The Mercer County Library System had 1.27 million patrons in 2009, and circulated 2,003,883 materials, the first time in the history of the library system that more than 2 million materials were circulated. Major enhancements, including high-tech improvements and a new “blog” feature, have attracted more people than ever to the system’s nine branches. In 2009, the Library System was ranked among the nation’s best with a five-star rating from the Library Journal. The nine branches of the Library System are: the East Windsor branches of Twin Rivers and Hickory Corner, the Ewing branches located on Scotch Road and in the Hollowbrook Community Center, the Hightstown Memorial Library branch, the Hopewell branch, the Lawrence branch, the Robbinsville branch, and the West Windsor branch.

The County Prosecutor’s Office of 42 prosecutors, 49 investigators and support staff handled 4,337 indictable complaints in 2009.  There were also 1,446 indictments returned and 828 defendants entered pleas to accusations. Further, the Prosecutor’s Office assists each municipality in monitoring registered sex offenders under Megan’s Law who reside in Mercer County. The County Sheriff’s Office and its 131 law enforcers that keep our neighborhoods safe lead thousands of cases, including serving warrants, evictions, and other civil papers and conducting Sheriff’s sales, in addition to providing security at most County buildings. The Mercer County Police Academy, opened in 2007, is stationed at Mercer County Community College and offers in-house training for Mercer County law enforcement personnel for the first time. It allows local law enforcement a readily accessible center for training recruits, provides uniform training across agencies, and facilitates inter-agency cooperation.

Mercer County works through our 12 nutrition sites to provide hot, low-cost meals through our Nutrition Project for the Elderly, which provides 700 nutritious meals per day to senior citizens for a total of about 168,000 meals each year. Mercer County is also home to several outstanding municipal senior centers, which provide social networking and recreational opportunities. We have expanded transportation opportunities and reduced waiting lists for our seniors and disabled citizens to move more freely throughout our area and through our T.R.A.D.E. (Transportation Resources to Aid the Disabled and Elderly) program through our Department of Transportation.  The County also offers free legal services to eligible seniors age 60 or older. Our Veteran Services Office is highly capable of assisting aging veterans and their families with obtaining military records, disability claims, and survivor benefits.

I think of the people of Mercer County as my extended family and my tenure in office as a privilege.  Serving you is an honor, and I vow to do my best each day to make our county a better place to live and work.  Look around, see everything we can offer you, and please let us know how we can better serve you.

Sincerely,
 
Brian M. Hughes
County Executive