And small businesses are hit particularly hard: Alex Chernoff, president of Cohn Benefits Consultants, said the survey found these employers pay 25 percent more on average than large companies.

The survey also revealed a significant trend toward high-deductible health plans, which reduce premiums by having employees pay a share of their health care bills that can total several thousands of dollars a year for a family.

But “when employers ask us, ‘how do these plans function, and will it be seamless?’ we have to tell them there is a learning curve,” he said. In some cases, employers aren’t willing to risk employee dissatisfaction and the increased burden on their already stretched human resources departments, he said.

The survey of 2,000 financial executives at New Jersey-based companies found 37 percent offer a high-deductible health plan, up from 11 percent in the 2007 survey.

A disproportionate number of small employers continue to offer only one health plan option. The survey found 80 percent of firms with more than 200 employees offer a choice of plans, while only half of companies with fewer than 200 employees offer a choice.

Chernoff said high-deductible plans drive lower use of health care, “but you need to create a balance. You don’t want to withhold access … what you want to do is encourage intelligent use of health care.”

He said a high-deductible plan, coupled with a health savings account that is funded with the premium savings, can help create more responsible use of health care. If the money in that account is owned by the employee, he or she will “think twice before spending it, and will start to ask doctors questions, and ask the pharmacist if there is a generic drug. When you do that, you are taking steps toward controlling the cost of health care.”

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com

Garden Terrace, winner in the category for sales up to $10 million, is a fourth-generation company founded in 1964 by the Flemming family, “which is what makes it stand out in an industry run by large corporations,” according to the Rothman Institute. The family operates the business, “in a stately renovated home on Main Street, with the aim to provide a positive and superior option for assisted care for the community’s elderly.”

The winner in the more-than-$10 million category was Morey’s Piers, founded in 1969 by brothers Will Morey and Jack Morey. It has grown to a complex of four amusement piers along Wildwood’s five-mile beach and two-mile boardwalk.

According to the Rothman Institute, the brothers are exploring reinventing the boardwalk “by developing new and exciting attractions that bring families together.”

The awards were presented today at a luncheon at the Crystal Plaza in Livingston.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com

The business award winners are: Jim D’Ovidio, president of Brown Dog Marketing, in Cranbury, Entrepreneur of the Year; William Rue, chief executive of Rue Insurance, in Hamilton, Innovator of the Year; and Phillip Griffin, co-chair of the law firm Fox Rothschild, in Lawrenceville, Business Leader of the Year.

Brown Dog, founded in 2001, supplies corporate gifts and promotional products, and D’Ovidio said he’s kept his revenue steady in the downturn by continuing to market his company.

“I didn’t play possum. Clients’ needs have changed with the recession — they are buying less and dropping down in price — and my job is to make sure they still get the quality they want at the price they can pay.”

Griffin said his firm, which has 70 lawyers in Princeton, 150 in New Jersey and 500 around the country, is focused on providing legal services to middle-market companies, where it can compete on price with big law firms while providing a greater depth of services and geographic reach than smaller firms. And despite the economic meltdown, the firm has record results for its fiscal year that ended March 31, he said. He said he’s especially proud that, unlike some large firms, his firm is not telling newly hired lawyers to delay their start dates: “We paid a lot of attention to making sure we kept our promises to those people.”

Rue said the current economy challenges his firm “to come up with creative solutions for our clients,” which are mainly small businesses. “Many are struggling, business is down, and at the same time they still have a lot of assets they have to protect. We try to find creative and affordable ways for them to buy the insurance they need.”

Additionally, the chamber this year created the Community Leader of the Year award, which will go to Judith and William Scheide of the Scheide Fund, in Princeton. The couple was recognized for their work on behalf of many philanthropic causes, including civil rights, the arts, education, health and poverty relief.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com

Participants will share advice on coping with the recession, increasing sales, improving marketing and finding new opportunities. An informational meeting about the program will be held Oct. 23, starting at 8 a.m., at the chamber offices, in Flemington.

Registration and other information on the program is available at the chamber’s Web site, www.hunterdon-chamber.org, or by calling (908) 782-7115.

E-mail João-Pierre Ruth at jpruth@njbiz.com

Follow me on Twitter @jpruth

MPhase said it will continue working with the Energy Storage Research Group at Rutgers University on the project. Nano batteries are often incorporated into handheld devices, such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, for commercial purposes. Per the grant, MPhase is developing the Smart NanoBattery, a three-volt lithium battery with a 20-year shelf life. Thus far, the company has built a prototype for use with computer memory.

E-mail João-Pierre Ruth at jpruth@njbiz.com

Follow me on Twitter @jpruth

Sirkar will be awarded the NJIT Excellence in Research Prize and Medal for his work developing more efficient ways to desalinate brackish groundwater and seawater. The prize includes a $2,500 research award from the NJIT Foundation.

Sirkar uses a process called membrane separation to clean water. The award puts him in the running for the annual NJIT Medal, which comes with $10,000 from the foundation.

E-mail João-Pierre Ruth at jpruth@njbiz.com

Follow me on Twitter @jpruth

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