- Recently on our sister series, "Lessons in Leadership," my colleague Mary Gamba and I sat down and spoke with Jose Lazano, who is Executive Vice President, Chief Growth Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health, who was part of the team that helped bring the FIFA World Cup to New Jersey, both up in the Meadowlands and also down South Jersey by Philadelphia.

Jose has been a key player in that initiative, "The World Cup matters," big time from an economic and other perspectives.

This is that conversation Mary and I had with Jose Lozano.

- Good to see you, Jose.

- Great to see you, Steve.

- Mary, you know what I wanna start with?

- Oh, I knew you- - I did not grow up as a soccer fan.

By the way, we have new partners at New Jersey Transit.

You notice this ball, right, Jose?

You know it?

- I know it well.

It's in my car right now.

(panelists chuckle) - So listen, someone might ask, wait a minute, Jose Lazano, Hackensack Meridian Health, why are you talking about the FIFA World Cup coming to the Meadowlands and also South Jersey as well?

Explain to folks, Jose, the role that you have been playing, the key role to get the World Cup here with a group of terrific professionals committed to that effort, which was multi-year in the process.

- That's right.

Yeah, that's right.

It was a multi-year journey in order to get, to showcase what New Jersey and the New York region can really bring and host these games.

We did it several years back in which, when I was in the leadership role at Choose New Jersey, in combination with our counterparts in New York and the governor's office and the mayor's office and all of the major stakeholders in the area, we showcased on why we should be hosting and it was absolutely one of the most rewarding experiences to see that.

We were awarded it about a year or so ago, and we're about a hundred and some odd days before we actually get to actually host it.

What's really cool is now Hackensack Meridian Health is the hometown hospital for the host committee and we'll be actually providing the medical services.

So it's great to see you kind of circular.

- Before Mary jumps in, talk to folks about the economic, the potential economic impact of the World Cup being here.

- Yeah, we had estimated that the region itself will garner, it was well over a billion dollars of economic growth from the local eateries to the hotels, to the transportation.

We're gonna have millions of fans that will be entering the US for the games and we have games all the way across the country, but you're going all the way from Massachusetts down into the New York area and down to the Philadelphia area.

And so many of the fan base will be in the northeast.

And we're hoping that New Jersey ends up becoming their home as they travel to games.

- And before Mary jumps in, just log onto our website SteveAdubato.org because we're doing a whole range of programs leading up to the World Cup here and also after as well, trying to understand the economic impact, the cultural impact, in fact the impact of soccer becoming more popular in the region as well.

Go ahead, Mary.

- Talk about the journey, right?

I mean, as someone that lives here seeing the advertisements, and by the time this airs, it's gonna be full blown, but how many years in the making was it and what leadership and partnerships needed to happen in order to bring this huge main stage event to this region?

- Yeah, so it started originally under the Chris Christie administration was the initial initial patch and expressing interest in cities that wanted to potentially host.

And then the last eight years under the Murphy administration, right in the smack middle of COVID, is when we started to actually negotiate what those could be and how and why we should be able to host it.

And it was actually, again, it was a remarkable experience to have FIFA come into the New Jersey, New York area.

We highlighted everything that we could actually bring and you know, we were smack in the middle of COVID and there were moments wondering, will travel bans ever be lifted?

And what that world could look like by the time the 2026 games were actually started, and the one thing that we highlighted was if no one was ever able to travel, in New Jersey, there would be a fan base for any team that actually made the finals, just because of our thick diversity.

And we found that every major community around the world is actually represented here in New Jersey.

And I think that stuck with the FIFA folks.

- You know, a follow up to that, Jose, you and I talk about partnership, collaboration, and I'll tie it to the word trust.

It is very difficult to trust others, different organizations with different agendas, sometimes competing with each other in certain areas, to trust each other enough to partner together, to be vulnerable and to realize that you are stronger, I'll get off my soapbox, stronger together than you can ever be alone.

How the heck do you sell that as a leader?

- You know, it was challenging.

There were moments where even we questioned, could we all put our guards down to actually highlight who we were as a region.

And this was one of the first times that New York and New Jersey really teamed up together in one room in non-competition and saying, "We need them as much as they needed us."

And so we- - Hold on, Jose, are you implying that New York and New Jersey compete on some level?

I hadn't heard that.

- Well, you know what, they're just a little urban portion outside of New Jersey, is how we usually reflect that.

- Right, New York, New Jersey, how the heck did you come together?

- We came together in a really fascinating way and given how much leadership changes have actually happened in New York, I mean, think about New York is up to their third governor and their third mayor in this entire journey that we have gone through this entire process.

And every single one of them has been an absolute partner in ensuring that the games are actually a regional games.

Now they're gonna be hosted in New Jersey, but we do know that many of the fan festival, many of the activities, the hoteling will happen in New York, but there are gonna be dozens and countless activities that will actually happen in New Jersey.

- Before Mary jumps back in, I mentioned the soccer ball, New Jersey Transit, not to turn this into a commercial to disclose New Jersey trends.

It is a new underwriter of our programming, logistics of moving people around.

Critically important, correct, Jose?

- Oh, absolutely.

I mean, these games, many of the folks that are gonna be coming into this region are not gonna be self-driving.

And so they're gonna be utilizing and really relying on mass transit.

And that is something that this region is by far the best in the country.

- Mary, I know you love hockey first, but you're getting into soccer more.

Final question for Jose.

- I'm getting, or do we have to call it football, if we're going with the true FIFA, (chuckles)- - We should be calling it football for the next 200 days, we really should be calling it football.

- Okay, all right, go ahead, Mary.

Football.

- Football.

- European style.

- So the appeal of football coming here, and as Steve mentioned, yes, New Jersey Transit is a new underwriter and we're gonna be talking a lot about the way finding, getting people here and there, but we're also gonna be talking about kindness and courtesy.

And in this region, let's face it, New Jersey, New York, we're not known for being, you know, I was born and raised here, the kindest people in the world.

What message do you have for all of our viewers watching today?

I mean, for all of us, there's gonna be more traffic, more people coming, whether you're going to the games or not, we are going to feel that impact.

Talk a little bit about what that kindness and that courtesy should look like from all of us that are gonna be receiving these gifts of having these wonderful people coming from other countries.

- Yeah, I think number one, patience is key to all of this.

There is going to be millions of folks into this community, into these areas in a season that normally does not attract that many folks.

Number two, while we're going through some interesting times in our country, in this world with geopolitics, I think for the very first time in the northeast we have the ability to show that all are welcome.

An, original pitch, you know, it's the irony of what it is today.

Our original pitch was, "Welcome World," and I do think the New York and the New Jersey area needs to live by what we originally had pitched, is that the entire world is actually welcome in our backyards and that we're absolutely looking just like if you invite 'em to your home, this is our home and we're opening it up and we just need to be a little bit more patient.

- Final point I wanna make is we're gonna be talking to the new Attorney General in the great state of New Jersey about the issue of human trafficking.

And you may ask, what does that have to do with the World Cup?

Well, when you have an event like this, and Jose knows it because he is been dealing with it and talking about it with his colleagues, human trafficking is an issue.

It was with the Super Bowl, when the Super Bowl was here.

It will potentially be with the World Cup and a FIFA World Cup.

And we're gonna be talking to law enforcement professionals and others who are engaged, involved in making sure that human trafficking is not the problem it has been in the past.

By the way, am I right about that, Jose?

Or is that hyperbole?

- No, no, no.

You are spot out right.

And actually Hackensack Meridian Health is actually serving as a leader and as a guiding point to many healthcare organizations around the country via FIFA and the host committees.

So our clinicians are putting a little bit of a playbook together for healthcare providers, are the signs of what they can see for human trafficking.

We actually will be hosting a symposium in the springtime just before the games, and we'll be providing materials all around the country to multiple host cities.

And so our clinicians have been really leading the way in Hackensack Meridian Health and it's an area we take absolutely serious.

- My friend, Jose Lozano, Executive Vice President, Chief Growth Officer at HMH, Hackensack Meridian Health.

Thank you Jose.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much for watching.

See you next time.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Johnson & Johnson.

NJ Transit.

South Jersey Industries.

Newark Board of Education.

PSEG Foundation.

EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

And by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Promotional support provided by BestofNJ.com.

And by NJBIZ.