Annie D'Agostino, Author at NJEDA

Businesses Encouraged to Sign Up for Program Updates at application.njeda.com/strongernjbusiness

Trenton, NJ –Continuing the Christie Administration’s commitment to helping-storm impacted businesses and communities recover, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) today approved the creation of the Stronger NJ Business Loan Program at its monthly Board meeting. Beginning in July, the program will offer direct, low-cost loans of up to $5 million to businesses and non-profits that suffered physical damage, as well as to businesses looking to expand within storm-impacted communities.

Following the approval of New Jersey’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery Action Plan, Governor Christie called on the EDA to administer $460 million of the state’s CDBG Disaster Recovery allocation to assist storm-impacted businesses. Following the May launch of the Stronger NJ Business Grant Program, the Stronger NJ Business Loan Program is the second of these CDBG-funded business recovery initiatives and will utilize $100 million of the allocation.

“Small businesses are the social and economic backbone of so many of the New Jersey communities that experienced damage as a result of Superstorm Sandy,” said Governor Christie. “Today’s EDA Board approval of the Stronger NJ Business Loan Program represents the next step in assisting these storm-impacted businesses with their rebuilding and recovery so that they can get back to normal operations, generating the revenues and jobs that keep New Jersey moving.”

The Stronger NJ Business Loan Program will be available to impacted small businesses statewide, with a focus on the nine most impacted counties of Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To be eligible, businesses located within the nine counties must: 1) positively impact the economy of their community through either capital investment or the creation or retention of jobs; and/or 2) evidence a minimum of $5,000 in physical damage to real property and/or loss or damage of non-perishable and non-consumable inventory. Businesses located outside of the nine counties must meet the $5,000 damage/loss requirement.

“Through the grant and loan programs, we are working to ensure that New Jersey’s impacted businesses and communities are able to recover, rebuild and thrive,” said EDA Chief Executive Officer Michele Brown. “It is critical that every business in need knows that funding is available and help is just a phone call away. We want to encourage businesses to grow and invest in our hardest hit communities to strengthen the local economy and promote the creation and retention of jobs.”

The loans are available to support working capital needs and/or renovations or new construction of the place of business. The maximum working capital loan amount is $500,000, exclusive of equipment. Working capital needs could include: repaying or refinancing debt used to pay working capital (not physical damage) after the storm; salary, wages and fringe benefits; mortgage, rent or property lease payments; perishable and non-perishable inventory; supplies; utility bills; equipment and machinery leases, rentals or purchases that do not require installation; marketing; insurance premiums related to the business; and, federal, state, county, local or other taxes and assessments not in arrears.

Through the renovation or new construction component, the maximum loan is $5 million. Eligible uses could include: repair or replacement of the physical structure, building systems, electrical, plumbing, furnishings, exterior structures, or equipment or machinery of any costs that also requires installation; carpentry or other construction costs associated with repair or replacement of the place of business; installation of fixtures; mitigation; new construction and renovations; landscaping; paving; architectural or engineering services; other construction-related services, with the exclusion of accounting, legal and financing; and, any of the above costs paid to satisfy insurance deductibles.

To be eligible, businesses must have at least one location in New Jersey and entities must have been in existence at the time of the storm. Applicants must also be a small business, as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA), and have annual revenues of at least $25,000. As required by HUD for CDBG Disaster Recovery funds, loans under the program must be used to satisfy “unmet needs,” which are defined as financial needs not satisfied by other public or private funding sources. As CDBG Disaster Recovery funds are meant to be funding of last resort, HUD requires that businesses must have applied to and received a declination or approval for an SBA disaster loan if the SBA program is still active.

The SBA deadline for Physical Damage loans was May 1, 2013; the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan deadline is currently July 31, 2013. If an entity still has a pending application with SBA from the recently closed Physical Damage Disaster Loan, they will need to wait for a determination before submitting their application to EDA. If a company is seeking funds related to physical damage, which could include construction, but did not apply for the SBA program before it lapsed, the company may still apply for the Stronger NJ Business Loan program. If an entity has needs that could be funded by an Economic Injury Disaster Loan, which could include working capital to cover salaries and expenses, they will need to apply to SBA and receive a final determination before they will be able to submit a Stronger NJ Business Loan application.

Beginning July 1, businesses and non-profits can call EDA’s Sandy hotline at 1-855-SANDY-BZ (1-855-726-3929) to speak with a representative to start the Stronger NJ Business Loan application process. For more information, visit application.njeda.com/strongernjbusiness.

A meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) Board has been scheduled for Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm at the Tinton Falls Municipal Building, 556 Tinton Avenue, Tinton Falls. Formal action may be taken at this meeting. A copy of the proposed agenda can be found 48 hours prior to the meeting at the websites of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority: www.fortmonmouthredevelopment.com, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority: www.njeda.gov.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s next public Board Meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at at the Waterfront Technology Center of Camden, 200 Federal Street, Camden. A copy of the proposed agenda can be found prior to the meeting at www.njeda.gov/Board. Following the Board Meeting, minutes and the full agenda will also be available at www.njeda.gov/Board.

By Nicole Antonucci/Red Bank Hub
May 30, 2013

Storm-impacted business owners who are seeking funds from the state’s Stronger New Jersey Business Grants program will be able to meet with officials from the N.J. Economic Development Authority (EDA) without traveling to Trenton.

Officials from the EDA’s Office of Recovery are setting up space at Russell Hall on Fort Monmouth to process grant and loan applications submitted by business owners affected by the superstorm.

“The notion is to be here in the field. So when businesses have to talk to our business advocates about their applications, they don’t have to go all the way to Trenton,” EDA representative Tim Lizura said.

By Michelle Gladden and Amanda Oglesby/Asbury Park Press
May 27, 2013

A holiday weekend that began with cold temperatures and windy rain did not dash the hopes of Jersey Shore residents and business owners, who remained positive six months after superstorm Sandy destroyed coastal neighborhoods.

On Sunday Gov. Chris Christie visited seaside areas of Monmouth County, offering words of encouragement to throngs of supporters who gathered to shake his hand and pose for pictures.

By Rick Hampson/Asbury Park Press
May 27, 2013

Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore, the start of summer in the land mythologized by Springsteen and caricatured by Snooki, was like the region itself seven months after Sandy: some good, here; some bad, there; hope, almost everywhere.

Hope in Point Pleasant Beach, where the boardwalk was fixed and the deck at Martell’s Tiki Bar was packed.

Hope in Bay Head, where Mueller’s Bakery, more than a century old, briefly reopened in the midst of renovation to sell its cakes and sweet treats on a cash-only basis (the phone lines were still down).

By Joyce M. Rosenberg/The Record
May 26, 2013

When Martin Rawls-Meehan started making adjustable beds in 2004, it was a foregone conclusion that key parts would be made overseas. It was cheaper to manufacture in Taiwan than in the U.S. And from Taiwan it was easier to ship to customers in Asia.

But this year, his company, Reverie, began making some of its beds entirely in a factory in New York. Shipping costs from Taiwan have soared between 50 percent and 60 percent since the company was founded.

By Jacqueline L. Urgo/Philadelphia Inquirer
May 25, 2013

When a hundred or so suit-wearing, briefcase-carrying business owners plunge into the 57-degree ocean at noon Friday to signify the “unlocking” of the resort’s beaches, they’ll be hoping the world is watching.

Jersey Shore towns are seeking the attention more this holiday weekend than ever in the history of the decades-old event, repeated up and down the coast annually to signify the unofficial start of the lucrative summer tourist season.

By Candy Woodall/York Dispatch
May 23, 2013

You’ve probably seen the ads.

Billboards along Interstate 83, Route 30 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike have announced the New Jersey shore is open for business.

Television commercials featuring New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, surrounded by his family on a picturesque beach, declare the state’s shore is “Stronger than the Storm.”

By Mary Ann Bourbeau/NJBIZ
May 21, 2013

Despite the economic challenges facing businesses, 25 percent of CEOs in New Jersey said the state is a good-to-excellent place to do business, up from 12 percent in 2010, according to the results of the New Jersey Economic Policy Summit’s 2013 C-Suite Survey of Garden State CEOs.

“Confidence in New Jersey as a place to do business continues to improve,” said James W. Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, which conducts the survey. “In addition, 36 percent of CEOs participating in the survey expect to increase capital spending here over the next year, continuing a positive upward trend seen in earlier surveys.”