The recovery is led mostly by high-tech operations that hire the nimble and the very skilled to turn out pioneering products and develop new services ahead of anyone else.

Some of the vendors are large, high-tech operations with hundreds of employees themselves.

Professor Branover established the first of the special "incubators," small research concerns modeled on American high-tech operations, that employ only Russian immigrants.

But the developers plan to build about 120,000 square feet for high-tech operations that will be started as soon as building plans are approved.

"So many tests are now offered on computer, and today you really need to be a high-tech operation."

"Any incinerator is a high-tech operation with a lot of working parts," said Mr. Wright, who has been helping opponents prepare their case.

Who needs a high-tech operation?

Repairing motor vehicles became a high-tech operation, with computer diagnostic tools replacing a mechanic's observation and experience.

While the presence of high-tech operations in the Meadowlands is growing, such companies are not completely new to the area.

The shop had a high-tech operation that impressed even Mr. Gilroy, who in his professional life heads Hewlett-Packard's small-business division.