Fact Line Nationwide, New Jersey ranks the first in pharmaceuticals, second in chemicals, fifth in instrumentation and related products, seventh in petroleum, ninth in plastics and tenth in electrical equipment. Small businesses are responsible for more than half of the innovations developed during the 20 th Century, including the zipper, the helicopter, the personal computer and important advances in the medical world such as insulin, the artificial heart valve and the pacemaker. New Jersey ranks twelfth in the number of exports with export sales exceeding 10 billion. Studies show that small firms produce twice as many innovations as large firms relative to the number of persons employed, for the most significant as well as the less significant innovations, and including the employment of firms that do not innovate.
New Jersey boasts an outstanding climate for scientific research and technological advancement.