Cumberland County tours Bayshore with USDA to spur investment

Cumberland County used a May 22 Bayshore tour to turn a federal visit into a development pitch, showing USDA Rural Development officials Port Norris, Bivalve and the A.J. Meerwald as leaders looked for projects that could bring money, jobs and infrastructure to the county’s southern edge.

Commissioner Director Sandra Taylor joined Jerry Velazquez and Dylan Wulderk of the Cumberland County Improvement Authority, along with USDA Rural Development State Director Richard Stern and Deputy Director Dianna Morrison, for what county officials described as a working session focused on future collaboration and investment. The county said the group talked through where federal and local dollars could be paired for projects in the Bayshore region, giving USDA a broad look at the area’s geography, economic strengths and environmental assets.

The tour stopped in Port Norris and at the historic A.J. Meerwald, with time spent alongside local oystermen to underscore how the Bayshore economy still depends on the water. That mix of heritage and production is the core of the pitch: Cumberland County wants investment that supports working waterfronts, aquaculture, and the public infrastructure needed to keep both viable.

The Cumberland County Improvement Authority, which says it has served as the county’s lead economic development and redevelopment entity since 2014, says it has invested more than $650 million in construction and public improvement projects and oversees more than 30 shared-services agreements with local governments and other entities. Those numbers show the scale of the county’s development ambitions, but the next step will depend on whether the Bayshore can attract specific USDA-backed projects, grant support and planning help.

The county’s Maurice River Corridor Study points to the kind of long-term strategy officials are trying to advance: beneficial, sustainable economic development that uses the river as an amenity while preserving ecological integrity. In practice, that means projects in places like Port Norris, Bivalve and the broader Maurice River corridor will have to clear hurdles tied to infrastructure, permitting and the costs of building in a coastal environment.

The cultural centerpiece of the visit, the A.J. Meerwald, carries that same dual identity. Bayshore Center at Bivalve says New Jersey’s official tall ship was launched in 1928 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1995. State historic preservation records say the Bivalve Shipping Sheds were built in 1904 and purchased by the Bayshore Center in 2001, linking the site to the oyster industry that once employed thousands and helped define the regional economy.

New Jersey’s aquaculture office defines shellfish aquaculture as water-dependent agriculture, which makes the Bayshore’s investment pitch unusually tied to place. Richard Stern, listed by USDA Rural Development as New Jersey’s state director and identified by USDA as a third-generation farmer from Cream Ridge, brought a rural-development perspective to the visit that county officials will likely hope turns into program support, planning conversations and, eventually, real projects on the ground.