*By Conor White*
New Jersey could become a home to increased innovation with more hands-on support from lawmakers, said one of the state's leading advocates for technology innovation.
Aaron Price, the founder and CEO of Propelify, said that Gov. Chris Murphy, a Democrat elected last year to succeed the two-term Republican administration of Chris Christie, could help revive the state's tech sector.
"I think we have the right leadership, in my opinion, finally," said Price in an interview Monday with Cheddar. "We reached out to Christie's administration, who was more hands-off, I'm pleased so far that Gov. Murphy has been extremely supportive and he's making a lot of steps in the right direction."
Price founded the Propelify Innovation Festival three years ago.
"If you're looking to advance your business, or advance your career, this is the place that you should be," said Price.
Last year's festival had 10,000 people participate from around the world. Past speakers include Gary Vaynerchuk and Ariana Huffington. This year, Gov. Murphy and Sen. Cory Booker will speak to the conference participants.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/turning-ideas-into-action-at-propelify).
Virtual reality startup Sandbox VR recently announced it raised $37 million Series B funding round. It is a location-based VR company, a space that was hit hard during the pandemic. Sandbox was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy; however, the company is emerging from the pandemic with a fresh round of funding and plans to open new retail locations around the world. Sandbox VR CEO Steve Zhao joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Jill and Carlo cover the latest with the infrastructure bill, the growing state rebellion over boosters, Trump's dereliction of duty on the pandemic, Taylor Swift's reign of cultural domination and more.
2021 has been the year of many things, and one of them is the NFT or non-fungible token. We've seen NFTs come about for so many different things.
Digital artists have used them to sell their artwork in a more traditional art transaction than the internet had previously allowed. We've seen specific NFT campaigns like the pudgy penguins amass large followings. And now we're seeing them expand into horror films just in time for spooky season.
The iconic horror movie franchise "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" has launched its debut NFT line entitled "Leatherfaces." the illustrations are designed by Skinner in partnership with Ultra Rare to reveal a total of over 10,000 Leatherface avatars. The collection gives fans, NFT fiends and blockchain fanatics access to a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre metaverse unlike any that has been seen before.
Richie Hobson, co-founder of Ultra Rare, joins None of the Above to discuss.
