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Jerold Zaro
Counsel at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C.
Professional Background
Jerold L. Zaro is a distinguished legal and business professional whose career spans decades in both public service and private practice. With an extensive background in Corporate Law, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, and Government Relations, Mr. Zaro has established himself as a key figure in New Jersey's economic development. His impressive portfolio includes serving as the Chief of the New Jersey Office of Economic Growth, a position appointed under the cabinets of two governors, Jon S. Corzine and Chris Christie. This unique bipartisan experience showcases his adaptability and dedication to fostering a thriving economic landscape in New Jersey.
Before embarking on his career in public service, Jerold Zaro was the President and Managing Partner at Ansell Zaro Grimm & Aaron, where he played a pivotal role in shaping the firm’s direction and overseeing its operations. His expertise was particularly evident in his leadership as Chair of the Commercial Real Estate and Finance & Banking departments, where he provided valuable insights and strategic guidance. Mr. Zaro’s legal journey began as a judicial secretary to the Honorable Thomas F. Shebell, Jr. in the Superior Court of Monmouth County, laying a strong foundation for his future endeavors.
Mr. Zaro’s service in New Jersey’s government has been nothing short of remarkable. Appointed by six different governors—three from the Republican party and three from the Democratic party—he has taken on various leadership roles, including Commissioner of the New Jersey Highway Authority and Chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. In his most recent cabinet-level role as Chief of the Office of Economic Growth, Zaro was known as the state’s economic “Czar.” During his tenure, he made significant strides to enhance the business climate in New Jersey, resulting in the creation and retention of thousands of jobs.
Education and Achievements
Mr. Zaro's educational background provides the backbone for his legal expertise and understanding of government operations. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from Boston University, which laid the groundwork for his future pursuits in law and public administration. Furthering his education, he obtained a Doctor of Jurisprudence in Law from Boston College, equipping him with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate complex legal challenges.
In addition to his educational accomplishments, Mr. Zaro's career is punctuated by his numerous achievements and contributions to the state. As Chief of the Office of Economic Growth, he implemented initiatives that made New Jersey an attractive place for business investment, thereby bolstering the economy and creating a supportive environment where businesses can thrive. Among his notable projects, Mr. Zaro played a crucial role in the establishment of the Real Estate Advisory Board and the Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Act, which sought to streamline processes and promote responsible redevelopment throughout the state.
One of Mr. Zaro's most innovative contributions to economic development was the launch of the Patent Bank, a program designed to support inventors and entrepreneurs in realizing their ideas and bringing them to market. This initiative exemplifies his commitment to fostering innovation and growth within the New Jersey business ecosystem.
Involvement and Community Engagement
Beyond his professional commitments, Jerold Zaro is also heavily engaged in charitable and civic organizations, reflecting his dedication to giving back to the community. His leadership and expertise are not limited to the courtroom or boardroom; his involvement in various community initiatives underscores his belief in corporate social responsibility and public service. Catering to both the needs of businesses and the welfare of citizens, Mr. Zaro actively participates in fostering a collaborative relationship between the public and private sectors.
As Counsel at Sills Cummis & Gross P.C., Mr. Zaro continues to influence the legal landscape and offer sound counsel to clients navigating the complexities of corporate, financial, and real estate transactions. His ongoing contributions to legal and governmental affairs further reinforce his reputation as a trusted advisor and leader in New Jersey’s economic development initiatives.
Achievements
Mr. Zaro’s contributions to the state of New Jersey have significantly shaped the business environment and strengthened the state’s economic foundation. Through his various roles in government, he has successfully:
- Created thousands of jobs and retained those at risk of relocation through strategic economic initiatives.
- Established the Real Estate Advisory Board to enhance the efficiency of real estate processes.
- Played a fundamental role in implementing the Licensed Site Remediation Professionals Act, streamlining environmental remediation processes.
- Launched the Patent Bank to support innovations and reinforce New Jersey’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
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Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.