Jeffrey Nash: This CEO Starts His Days Getting His Hands Dirty

CAMDEN – Jeffrey Nash rises at about 5 a.m. every day and focuses on the essential duty of the hour: feeding 28 hungry mouths.

The two donkeys get hay and carrots, the 11 chickens a special mix (“best-fed chickens in America,” he quips) and other varied food goes to the cats, dogs, pigs and goats.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

"I feed everybody. It is a labor of love because they are so sweet," says Nash, whose animal advocate wife is Krista Nash. They decided together about five years ago to move from Cherry Hill – his home for decades – to a 3.5-acre farm in Winslow Township.

"In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would do that," says the Brooklyn native, who after Hofstra University Law School practiced as a young lawyer in the New York City public defender’s office.

That first hour of Nash’s day under his farmer hat belies his other activities the rest of the day in Camden and around Camden County.

The former Center City Philadelphia lawyer has spent nearly 33 years on the Camden County Board of Commissioners (formerly Freeholders) and 22 years on the board of the Delaware River Port Authority, which operates the Ben Franklin, Walt Whitman, Betsy Ross and Commodore Barry bridges and the PATCO High Speed Line.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

But the 66-year-old’s day job since January 2023 has been CEO of the Rowan University/Rutgers-Camden Joint Board of Directors, a position that had been held by former Mayor Dana L. Redd, who left to become the CEO of the nonprofit Camden Community Partnership.

The Joint Board was created in 2012 by the New Jersey Medical and Health Sciences Education Restructuring Act with a mission “to leverage and expand Camden’s significant medical, research and education assets to support growth in the region’s health care capacity,” according to the board website .

Much of that realm for expansion can be seen from the offices of the board in the Joint Health Sciences Center on South Broadway.

Nash looks out the window at Camden and the skyline of Philadelphia beyond.

"There are no cranes in Camden,” remarks Nash, who motions toward Philadelphia and its building boom and cranes.

Much needs to be done to bridge the gap between the cost of developing a project and the developer’s return on that investment, Nash explains.

"Once developers see there is money to be made, it is like rolling a snowball downhill," he adds.

Nash says a fabulous opportunity to spark more development in downtown Camden will be the $250-million construction of the new Walter Rand Transportation Center, which will continue as a transportation hub, as well as could include offices or other investments.

Some institutions should give way to the development of Camden’s future. That would include the Camden County Jail on Federal Street in the middle of downtown. Nash says he subscribes to a concept being discussed that would see the jail demolished and Camden County, in partnership with other counties, building a new jail elsewhere, preferably in another town.

The notion of getting rid of a penal institution in Camden is not unique. The 24-year-old Riverfront State Prison next to the Ben Franklin Bridge was razed in 2010 with the hope that the property could be used for development.

“We have to change the dynamic in this city,” says Nash.

Nash calls the state of health care for Camden’s residents “troubling with such great medical care under our noses…. There obviously is a disconnect.”

The Joint Board has also been working on a program to improve pre-natal care in the city.

It also worked with other nonprofits and partners on a Pathway Program to train residents for a career as a Certified Medical Assistant. The future CMA’s education is paid for, and social services are brought to bear to help the student through the program.

Another long-standing issue: the lack of a regular grocery store in the city.

“If people could make money selling food here, they would,” Nash explains.

He says a prime spot for a grocery would be at Clinton Street and Broadway on the site of the old Broadway School. Nash envisions a grocery on the first floor and a health care clinic on the upper floors.

Like others, Nash says he believes there is a lack of market-rate housing in the downtown area. With it, some of the thousands working at corporations with headquarters in Camden may also choose to live there.

Workers just drive in to the city and then out of the city, he says. The discussion under way includes incentives to get employees to move in, from help with down payments to short-term property tax abatements.

“It is really getting that first group of people to come here,” he adds, noting one attraction is the reduction in crime that has taken place since the founding of the Camden County Police Department.

Most of Nash’s work life has been as a lawyer.

He worked for nearly 29 years as a lawyer with the Philadelphia firm of Cozen O’Connor, specializing in representing insurance companies in the investigation of fire damage.  He was a senior partner and shareholder.

In 2015, he opened the Nash Law Group LLC in Camden and later signed up as a pro bono counsel with the Volunteer UP Legal Clinic in Camden. He now serves as chair of the clinic’s advisory board.

He has maintained his legal offices, but brought in a law partner, Rafael Perez, who joined him in January 2023. Like Nash, Perez previously worked at Cozen O’Connor.

One of Nash’s hobbies grew from a passion he shared with his father – horse racing. He used to accompany his father to horse races and meet up with his father’s racing pals.

He is a handicapper on his own site, fastlanehandicapper.com , and owns three race horses with a group of 10 investors. “They’re nice animals, but slow,” he notes.

While Nash has played many roles, the animals that wait for him back in Winslow Township each day demand time.

He shares chores with wife, Krista, who also is busy with her duties as a commissioner in Trenton on the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

But maintaining the small farm is a lifestyle, with animals that cannot be ignored.

“Going away is complicated,” Nash says of taking vacations.

He adds: “Camden is a special place to me.  In many respects, Camden reminds me of my childhood home of Brooklyn, N.Y., where some of the conditions in the city where people live are simply unacceptable.  It is the reason why I have spent my life working to improve the quality of life for Camden residents by investing in parks and open spaces.

“I believe that every neighborhood should have a community park centerpiece as part of Camden’s redevelopment strategy,” Nash said.  “Kids and residents deserve a safe place to play and exist, an opportunity to connect to nature and the outdoors.

“As long as I live, I plan to do my part to help Camden,” he added. “The city was at one time the economic engine that fueled South Jersey.  I believe Camden can be that place again, with eds and meds as the economic driver.”

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net