Chris Paladino, the president of New Brunswick Development Corp. and the man universally regarded as the expert when it comes to public-private partnerships, hesitates — just for a second — after a rapid-fire series of questions.

Paladino said he could talk about the 6.3 million square feet of public-private partnership projects that total $1.8 billion in investment that Devco has done over the past 25 years.

He could rattle off the incredible significance these projects have had on economic development — not to mention urban revitalization — during that period.