Businesses who are seeking additional assistance can apply for Phase 2 of the NJEDA Grant Program.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) today announced a $50 million expansion of its Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program, which provides funding to small businesses facing financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The expanded program will provide grants up to $10,000 to qualified businesses and relaxes eligibility criteria to include a broader variety of businesses as well as home-based businesses and sole proprietorships.
During Phase 2 of the Grant Program, $5 million will be used to fund businesses that were waitlisted during Phase 1, and $45 million in CARES Act funding will be used to provide grants up to $10,000 to a significantly broader range of businesses than were previously eligible. Those applicants on the oversubscribed list for Phase 1 will be encouraged to apply for the expanded second round program
Eligibility changes for Phase 2 increase the employee cap for businesses from 10 full-time employees (FTEs) to 25 FTEs and remove the NAICS code restrictions that were in place for Phase 1 to allow almost all businesses as well as 501(c)(3), 501 (c)(4), and 501(c)(7) nonprofit organizations to qualify for funding. Phase 2 also makes grants available to home-based businesses and sole proprietorships, which were ineligible during Phase 1. To ensure funding goes to businesses and communities that need it most, $15 million of Phase 2 funding will be set aside to support qualified businesses located in one of the 715 census tracts that were eligible to be selected as a New Jersey Opportunity Zone.
Applications for Phase 2 of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program will be available soon. NJEDA staff will process the applications on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be no application fee. More information about New Jersey’s COVID-19 response is available at https://cv.business.nj.gov.
As part of the application, the business’s Chief Executive Officer or equivalent officer must certify that the company was in operation on February 15, 2020, has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, and will make a best effort not to furlough or lay off any employees. To comply with duplication of benefits provisions within the Stafford Act, all applicants will also be required to fill out an affidavit identifying all funding previously received related to COVID-19, including Small Business Administration loans and grants, forgivable portions of Payroll Protection loans, and Economic Injury Disaster grants.
Applications will be available on June 9, 2020 at 9:00am
NJ released they will be extending the deadline for business owners to apply for Phase 2 of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program through July 8th, 2020 at 5:00 PM. Business owners can apply at https://forms.business.nj.gov/grant-2/.
Nicole Herlinsky, Supervisor