If you want the ears of the state’s wealthy and powerful, and smoke-filled rooms aren’t your cup of tea, how about a train ride?
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s 77th annual Walk to Washington, Thursday and Friday, February 13 and 14, will be a chance for the business community to hobnob with the state’s top politicians on a train to Washington. This will be the third time Gov. Chris Christie has joined the state’s business leaders and politicians, usually some 900 in all, as they trek to D.C. on an all-day power networking Amtrak ride ending at the nation’s capitol, where Christie will deliver a speech over dinner at the Marriott Wardman Park.
The specially chartered train starts in Newark and picks up passengers along the way, each of whom paid $590 for the privilege. Buying a ticket doesn’t necessarily mean buying a seat, as passengers tend to stand for the whole three-to-four-hour trip. (It’s called the “Walk” for a reason.)
Joining the governor will be senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez, congressman Chris Smith, and dozens of other politicians from across the state. The ride started in 1937 when the chamber took a train to the Congressional Dinner in Washington to meet the state’s delegates. The face time proved so popular that an entire train was chartered the next year, and the seeds of a tradition were planted.
For more information, visit www.njchamber.com or call 609-989-7888 ext. 150.
