Panasonic North America Chairman Taylor Wins Leadership Award
Smart Growth Award Category: Cary Edwards Leadership Award
Winner: Joseph M. Taylor
Joseph M. Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of Panasonic North America
The Cary Edwards Leadership Award recognizes individuals who have an outstanding commitment to improving the quality of life and promoting smart growth in New Jersey through sustainable land-use policy and practice.
The recipients of this award are dedicated to strengthening communities by encouraging redevelopment and development where infrastructure already exists and by preserving and enhancing agricultural and natural resources.
This year’s winner—Joseph M. Taylor—has exhibited exceptional leadership and vision in choosing to relocate his company’s headquarters to downtown Newark.
Mr. Taylor serves as chairman and chief executive officer of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC) and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. The company develops, manufactures and distributes an extensive range of digital and other electronics products for consumer, workplace and industrial purposes primarily for the United States and Canada.
Under Mr. Taylor’s leadership, Panasonic Corporation of North America, which is based in Secaucus, plans to move its headquarters operations in 2013 to a new site in Newark as part of its effort to transform itself into an innovation leader in green business. The company’s new home will offer employees easy access to a major regional transit hub and will incorporate energy savings, water savings and accessibility throughout its design. The aim is to achieve LEED certification for the new office tower.
In addition to his role in leading Panasonic’s North American operations, Mr. Taylor serves as an executive officer of Osaka, Japan-based parent company Panasonic Corporation. In this role, Mr. Taylor formulates and executes Panasonic’s global business strategy.
From 2007 until his current appointment Mr. Taylor, a 28-year Panasonic veteran, served as the company’s chief operating officer, and before that was president and chief operating officer of Panasonic Industrial Company, as well as vice president and member of the board of Panasonic Corporation of North America.
Mr. Taylor has represented Panasonic in numerous board and technical educational initiatives, including programs with the Herrick Laboratories of Purdue University and New Jersey’s Liberty Science Center, NJIT and Rutgers University. He has been a member of the board of the National Association of Manufacturers, chairman of the board for the Electronic Manufacturers Recycling Company and serves on the boards of several Panasonic companies.
Mr. Taylor is a graduate of LaSalle University in Philadelphia and holds an honorary doctorate in engineering from NJIT.
