Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich

Co-Founder and CEO

Gail Friedberg Rottenstrich is Co-Founder and CEO of ZAGO Manufacturing Co. a certified Women Business Enterprise (WBE) that manufactures sustainable sealing fasteners for a sustainable world. Gail and her husband, Harvey Rottenstrich, an engineer, co-founded ZAGO at Newark’s NJIT Enterprise Development Center Small Business Incubator. Today, ZAGO is headquartered and thriving in Newark, and employees 34 people.

Gail earned a Political Science degree from SUNY Albany (Summa Cum Laude) and a Law degree from George Washington University Law School (Cum Laude) and practiced commercial litigation and trademark law for over a decade. Gail resides in Fair Lawn, New Jersey where she serves on its Borough Council and is liaison to its Green Team and Shade Tree Advisory Committees. In 2023, she received the New Jersey Governor's Volunteer Award for her dedication to the creation of Fair Lawn's Main Street NJ Program.

Gail serves on the Board of Trustees, New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP), the board of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), Advisory Board of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey, and Board of Trustees, New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA).

In 2017, ZAGO was named the NJMEP Manufacturer of the Year (Small Manufacturer). In 2022, ZAGO earned the 2022 CIANJ Sustainable Manufacturing Award, CIANJ 2022 Environmental Leadership Award, and NJBIZ Business of the Year 1-50 employees.

In 2022, NJBIZ recognized Gail as a Best Fifty Women in Business, and as No. 5 on its Manufacturing Power 50. ROI-NJ placed Gail on its Top 40 Women in Business, and she earned the CIANJ Enterprising Women (Manufacturing) Award.

In 2024, NJBIZ recognized Gail as a Power 100, and ROI-NJ named Gail to its ROI Influencers: Power 100 and Women in Business lists.