The Address will Highlight Chamber's Diamond Anniversary Event

The NJ Chamber Of Commerce today announced Gov. Chris Christie will keynote its 75th annual Congressional Dinner on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C.

The dinner is the highlight of the N.J. Chamber's annual trek to the nation's capital. Each January, Chamber members board a chartered Amtrak train and spend an evening discussing important business issues with the state's top political and business leaders.

"People across New Jersey should come to our Congressional Dinner to show support for what Gov. Christie is doing to improve the business climate in our state," said Thomas A. Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. "We need the whole business community to clearly show our leaders that we need them to continue the work they have started to turn the state around economically and that everybody in New Jersey benefits from pro-growth policies."

Members of Gov. Christie's administration are scheduled to be at the dinner, as well as members of New Jersey's Congressional Delegation and state Legislature.

The "Walk To Washington"

The Chamber's trip to Washington, D.C. has come to be called the "Walk to Washington" because participants spend the entire train trip to D.C. walking through the various cars, meeting people and making connections.

"It's the old fashion face-to-face way of networking and it works," Bracken said. "That is why we have been doing it for three-quarters of a century."

The 2012 "Walk to Washington" begins on January 26 when the Chamber's chartered Amtrak train first picks up passengers at Penn Station in Newark. The train then makes stops in Iselin (MetroPark), New Brunswick, Trenton, Philadelphia and Wilmington before heading into Washington, DC.

Participants spend the evening at a reception and the Congressional Dinner, and the next morning return to their point of origin via another Amtrak charter.

For more information about the Walk to Washington and about joining the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, visit the Chamber's website at www.njchamber.com or call the Chamber's Trenton office at 609-989-7888.

###

The NJ Chamber Of Commerce is a business advocacy organization that represents its members on a wide range of business and education issues. Based in Trenton, the organization also links the state's local and regional chambers on issues of importance through its grassroots legislative network. For more information, visit www.njchamber.com.

Contact Address:

NJ Chamber of Commerce

216 West State Street

Trenton

N.J.

(609) 989-7888

08608