BREAKING NEWS
NJEDA Online Application Center
The Phase 4 NJEDA Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program Pre-Registration is now open. The Pre-Registration will remain open until 5 p.m. EST on April 29, 2021. Reminder: The Pre-Registration IS NOT first-come, first-served.
COVID Phase 4 Grant Pre-Registration
PPE Access Program Eligibility Verification
PRE-REGISTER NOW – New NJEDA Grants for Businesses Impacted by COVID-19
In order to apply, you must pre-register between Monday, October 19th at 9:00 a.m. and Tuesday, October 27th at 5:00 p.m. here.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has just launched an additional $70 million in funding for grants to small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Phase 3 of the Grant Program provides grants of $5,000 to $20,000 to New Jersey businesses and nonprofits with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees (FTEs), including sole proprietorships and home-based businesses.
• Restaurants: $35 million of funding be reserved to support businesses classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722
• Micro-businesses: $15 million of funding be reserved to support businesses that have had 5 or fewer FTEs in each of their past six quarters of WR-30 filings (including businesses with no FTEs)
• Other small businesses: The remaining $20 million of funding will be reserved to support businesses that had 6 to 50 FTEs in any of the past six quarters of WR-30 filings.
Applicants that applied for funding during Phase 1 or Phase 2 of the program may be eligible for funding in Phase 3, whether they received funding, or were declined or waitlisted.
Due to anticipated high demand for grant funding, the NJEDA is requiring all applicants to pre-register online.
In order to apply, you must pre-register between Monday, October 19th at 9:00 a.m. and Tuesday, October 27th at 5:00 p.m. here.
Pre-registered applicants must return to the site to complete an application based on the following schedule, depending on the type of business:
• Restaurants (NAICS code starting with 722) – 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2020
• Micro businesses (5 or fewer employees) – 9:00 a.m. on Friday, October 30, 2020
• All other businesses, excluding restaurants and micro businesses - 9:00 am on Monday, November 2, 2020
Questions related to the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program should be directed to 844-965-1125.
Additional information about the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program and other government support for small businesses is available at https://cv.business.nj.gov.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 13, 2020
Contact: Darryl Isherwood
Press Office: Governor's Office
Email: Darryl.Isherwood@nj.gov
Governor Murphy, Lieutenant Governor Oliver, Legislative Leadership, and Congressional Representatives Announce Additional $100 Million for COVID-19 Economic Recovery
Funding Will Support Grants for Restaurants and Micro-Businesses, Reduced-Price PPE for Small Companies, Rent Relief for Tenants, and Food Insecurity
TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy, Lieutenant Governor Oliver, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, and Congressman Tom Malinowski today announced $100 million in additional Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to support New Jersey residents and businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bulk of the money, $70 million, will be distributed to restaurants, microbusinesses, and other small businesses through Phase 3 of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program; an additional $10 million will be used to help small businesses purchase Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) through the NJEDA Small and Micro Business PPE Access Program; $15 million will go to support renters through the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program; and $5 million will support food banks and other hunger relief efforts.
“Small businesses and the people they employ are the backbone of New Jersey’s economy, yet they have borne a disproportionate share of the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Governor Murphy. “If we are to emerge from this pandemic stronger and more resilient than we were before, it is incumbent on us to support them in any way possible. This additional funding helps us accomplish that goal.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating economic impact on many vulnerable New Jersey families and keeping a roof over their heads is our top priority,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as DCA Commissioner. “The additional support we are providing will extend relief to tenants so they can focus their limited resources on staying safe and secure.”
"Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and critical to the vitality and quality of life in our downtowns," said Senate President Steve Sweeney. “This $100 million aid package funded out of the federal CARES Act will help ensure the survival of thousands of small businesses, particularly the many restaurants that have had a hard time staying afloat even with outdoor dining and are now facing an uncertain winter. Our economic recovery depends on the ability of our small businesses to survive until an effective treatment and cure for the coronavirus can be found. Today marks an important step forward, but I know the Governor and Assembly Speaker join me in saying we need Washington to step up now with another stimulus package to keep us from sliding further into recession."
"Small businesses are an economic driver for our state and they need every bit of support we can provide," said Assembly Speaker Coughlin. “As we continue our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, this infusion of funding is critical. It protects jobs and our working families. Together, we will get through this."
“I want to commend our state leaders for working together to get the federal coronavirus relief dollars we passed last spring into the hands of those who need it most,” said U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. “This $100 million fund announced today by the Governor and our legislative leaders comes from the money we in Congress included in the CARES Act to help combat the economic fallout of this pandemic. The federal money will help struggling New Jersey small businesses stay open, help them get the personal protective gear they need to keep employees and customers safe, and provide additional rental and food assistance to residents who need it most.”
“Small businesses and workers across New Jersey have sacrificed so much to help keep our communities safe as we continue to fight this pandemic,” said Congressman Tom Malinowski. “The funding announced today from the CARES Act will help businesses survive and families stay in their homes. I will continue fighting in Congress to provide the relief our state and local governments need to provide these services.”
“Supporting small businesses is vital to ensuring New Jersey’s economy withstands the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and is well-positioned for a strong recovery. The Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program and the PPE Access Program are powerful tools that will help thousands of business owners and employees face the challenges the pandemic has created,” said NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan. “Governor Murphy’s strong leadership throughout this outbreak and commitment to supporting these critical programs will provide immediate relief to the business owners and workers who need it most while continuing our progress toward a stronger, fairer recovery.”
“The coronavirus outbreak has exacerbated existing hunger issues and has created new struggles for families who have lost jobs and wages,” said NJ Agriculture Secretary Douglas Fisher. “New Jersey’s food banks, pantries, and soup kitchens will use this additional funding to help expand their capacity for these continually increase demands.”
Launched in early April, the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program provides grants to small businesses impacted by the pandemic. To date, over 19,000 small businesses have benefitted from the program.
Phase 3 of the Grant Program expands eligibility to any business with 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) and increases the amount of funding businesses can receive. To ensure funds flow to businesses that need them most, Phase 3 includes set-asides for grants to restaurants and micro-businesses. $35 million will be dedicated to support businesses classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722 and $15 million will be directed to support “micro-businesses” that have five or fewer employees. The remaining $20 million will be available to support any eligible business.
In line with Governor Murphy’s commitment to a stronger, fairer recovery, one third of each of these pools of will be directed to support entities that are located in census tracts that were eligible to be selected as a New Jersey Opportunity Zone.
The Administration is also providing $10 million of additional CARES Act funding to support the Authority’s Small and Micro Business PPE Access Program. Launching in late October, this program will utilize an innovative public-private partnership model to enable businesses with 100 employees or fewer to receive grants in the form of automatic discounts on PPE purchased through NJEDA-approved “Designated Vendors”.
The Administration will also provide $15 million more in rent relief for New Jersey tenants through the DCA’s COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. This program reduces the burden renters face by paying landlords directly for up to six months. The funding announced today will cover rent incurred from August 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020. Payments per household will depend on a variety of factors such as location, rental market, family size, and average per household income.
The remaining $5 million will be used to provide relief for New Jersey residentsfacing food insecurity. These funds will build off of the $20 million announced in July that the Department of Agriculture (NJDA) used to support Emergency Feeding Organizations, which have been supporting food banks, food pantries, hunger relief centers, and soup kitchens that provide food to those in need.
The $100 million announced today will supplement the $115 million in CARES Act funds already allocated for economic development and re-employment programs and the $100 million allocated for housing assistance programs. On Friday, the Department of Human Services announced its new Housing Assistance Program, which will use $12 million from the CARES Act to provide rental or mortgage assistance payments on behalf of eligible households that have suffered a financial hardship due to COVID-19. More information on that program is available here.
Murphy unveils $100M in business COVID-relief
By: Daniel J. Munoz
October 13, 2020 3:05 pm
The Murphy administration is rolling out another $100 million of relief aid for businesses hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of whom were forced to close for months on end or dramatically scale back operations.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday, at the Flounder Brewing Co. in Hillsborough, said the money would be vital to “keep our economic recovery moving” and to “help businesses get through this pandemic but emerge primed and ready for growth.”
The money is coming out of the state’s $2.3 billion federal COVID-19 relief aid, with the largest chunk of aid handled by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
Earlier in the year, businesses such as restaurants, gyms, nail and hair salons, and non-essential retailers had to shut down or scale back operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Other businesses, like malls, theaters and casinos, also had to close down for several months, having just been allowed to reopen late in the summer.
Murphy said $70 million will go toward the small business grant program run by the NJEDA, of which $35 million goes toward the foodservice industry – like restaurants, bars and dining – and $15 million goes toward micro-businesses with up to five employees.
Many restaurants, while seeing varying degrees of success with outdoor, sit-down dining over the summer, have warily eyed how they will fare during the chilly weather of the fall and winter, which could render most outdoor dining arrangements useless.
Under the Tuesday announcement, another $10 million is going toward an NJEDA program to subsidize the cost of businesses to purchase personal protective equipment, such as gloves and facemasks, with an eye toward propping up New Jersey-based producers.
Tim Sullivan, the agency’s chief executive officer, said last week that upward of 55,000 applications have been processed by the NJEDA, compared to a “normal year” where it typically interacts with less than 500 companies for state financial assistance.
Roughly 14,000 businesses applied for NJEDA grants from a $45 million pool of money an hour after applications opened in July.
As of Oct. 9, the NJEDA approved 20,073 businesses for a combined $74.2 million of business relief, including grants, low-interest loans, and loan guarantees meant to offer a financial cushion for investors putting money into struggling startups.
“The economic impact of this pandemic is extraordinary and ongoing – and our efforts to do all we can to support small businesses must continue as well,” Sullivan said in a statement last week.
The administration announced a $6 million business rent relief program over the summer, run by the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, for businesses situated in New Jersey’s lowest-income towns and cities.
Another $15 million is going toward that, while $5 million will go toward food banks, soup kitchens and other hunger relief programs, and $15 million toward rental assistance.