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hefty new research book promises to deliver everything you always wanted to know about New Jersey. The 912-page Encyclopedia of New Jersey may be of interest to site seekers, too, as it contains entries on every one of the state's 566 municipalities. It even has a section on a topic near the heart of New Jersey economic development efforts: brownfields.
      But perhaps a more timely read on the state can be had by looking at where some of the latest projects are going. In the north, the state has seen some nice additions to its stable of regional and national headquarters while South Jersey remains a distribution center mecca.
      A recent move by Pentax of America is indicative of the occasional border skirmishes between northern New Jersey and southern New York. Pentax Corporation of Japan, which recently merged its Pentax Precision Instruments Corp. and Pentax USA subsidiaries into Pentax of America, moved its U.S. headquarters from Orangeburg, N.Y., to Montvale, N.J., about 14 miles (23 km.) south. With its lease expiring in Orangeburg, Pentax began a search for a more modern facility.
      "We looked at a number of buildings in New York and a number in New Jersey to find a building conducive to the image we want to portray," said Tom McFarland, Pentax of America's controller. "It allows for some expansion of our business. We wanted to stay close to our employees."
      McFarland says while the company's costs will be lower in New Jersey, that wasn't the primary reason for the move. He said criteria included having a stand-alone building that was identifiable as the company's North American headquarters.
      Pentax is one of the latest firms to chose Bergen County, which encompasses 70 municipalities and more than 880,000 people and has been the recipient of several of the cross-border moves. Beth Gorin, pres ident of the Bergen Economic Development Corporation, believes that in addition to offering relatively low costs, northern New Jersey offers a good quality of life along with its proximity to Manhattan. She says that while the county is home to about 25 U.S. or East Coast headquarters --including those of Mercedes and BMW -- it is also attractive to life sciences companies such as Pro Genitor Cell Therapy, which is expanding its facilities in Hackensack. The county is also home to Interchem, the world's largest manufacturer of generic drugs, which has headquarters in Paramus.