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Melanie Willoughby serves as the Senior Vice President of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA). NJBIA is the largest statewide business organization in the country with over 23, 000 business members. Ms. Willoughby manages the association’s government affairs department.
Prior to joining NJBIA in 2003, she served for eighteen years as the President and CEO of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, the statewide retail business organization, representing over 3,500 stores with over seventy-five percent of the retail sales in New Jersey.
Prior to joining the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, she served for four years, as the Assistant Vice President for Marketing at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association.
Ms. Willoughby started her career in the government arena thirty years ago when she joined the administration of New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne. She served as the Director of State and Federal Government Affairs for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
Ms. Willoughby serves on many State Boards and Commissions in order to represent the business viewpoint. She served as the Vice Chair of the New Jersey Small Employer Health Benefits Board when it was first established in 1992, serving until 2004. In 2004, Ms. Willoughby was appointed by Senate President Richard Codey to serve on the State’s Mandated Health Benefits Commission. Since 1998, she has served as the Chair of the New Jersey Department of Labor Employer Council, assisting employers in the State with connecting with the services and programs of the Department.
She has been very active with Rutgers University, her alma mater, serving as the President of the Rutgers Alumni Association and as a member of the Rutgers University Board of Trustees. She serves as an Eagleton Institute Fellow, mentoring the undergraduate and graduate students of the Institute. Through each academic year, she teaches many classes in lobbying at the Institute.
Ms. Willoughby is actively involved in many community and civic organizations, such as the Regional Planning Partnership, the Regional Planning Association, the Girl Scout Council of Delaware & Raritan and the New Jersey Women’s Political Caucus.