News Articles Archives - Page 56 of 74

Morris News Bee
December 19, 2012

MORRISTOWN Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno on Friday visited Morristown-based The Seeing Eye, which helps blind and visually impaired individuals gain independence and mobility by using trained dogs.

The Seeing Eye teaches up to 288 people a year to use and benefit from a trained Seeing Eye dog. The 83-year old school, the oldest of its kind in the world, has 155 employees and more than 700 active volunteers. Its mission is to enhance the independence, dignity and self-confidence of the blind through the use of trained dogs.

“The Seeing Eye is a unique New Jersey institution,” said Guadagno. “For more than more 80 years, The Seeing Eye has helped thousands overcome visual impairments to become mobile and live independently. Thanks to The Seeing Eye, individuals with visual disabilities are able to attend school, have good and well-paying jobs and live productive and meaningful lives. We are especially proud that this organization calls New Jersey home.”

By Melinda Caliendo/NJBIZ
December 17, 2012

Small-business owners have a chance to voice their concerns and ideas to the state that could help them get the assistance they need after Hurricane Sandy.

Along with the state Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, and the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the state’s Business Action Center created a business impact assessment for owners who were affected by the storm.

“Helping small businesses means helping the backbone of our economy statewide — and particularly in the hardest-hit shore communities, where our small businesses are a foundation of our way of life,” Gov. Chris Christie said Friday, when announcing the survey. “This business impact survey will help us better understand what resources these businesses need to get back to normal operations, whether it’s low-interest loans, streamlining the permitting process or identifying emerging issues and concerns.”

By Melissa Hayes/The Record
December 11, 2012

Governor Christie announced three new state grant programs totaling $26 million, aimed at helping create and retain jobs in New Jersey in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.

“We’re going to continue to try to innovate and do things with the money we have at the state level,” Christie said as he announced the programs at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s 2012 Public Policy Forum at the Renaissance Woodbridge Hotel. “Then when the federal money gets here, to leverage that federal money through the Economic Development Authority. We’re not going to set up a new bureaucracy to try to do this.”

Christie said during a trip to Washington, D.C. last week that he also has asked President Obama to provide funds for small business grants. Obama has asked Congress to approve $2 billion in grants for New York and New Jersey.

By Katie Eder/NJBIZ
December 11, 2012

An indicator of businesses’ outlook on the state economy reached positive territory for the first time in five years, but companies still balk at the cost of doing business here, which is holding back hiring, according to a survey released by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association at its annual public policy forum today in the Iselin section of Woodbridge.

According to the NJBIA 2013 Business Outlook survey, 17 percent of the 1,470 respondents hired additional workers in 2012, while 22 percent laid off employees this year. However, NJBIA President Philip Kirschner called that an improvement from 2011’s numbers which were 15 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

By Harvey Lipman/The Record
December 10, 2012

Low-income victims of superstorm Sandy suffered some of the most devastating financial damages from the hurricane.

Many who owned their homes lacked flood insurance or had inadequate coverage. Those whose rental housing was washed away or left uninhabitable often lacked the financial wherewithal to afford security deposits and other expenses they needed to move into new apartments. And many whose homes were undamaged found themselves unable to continue paying the rent when the businesses where they worked were shut down due to storm damage.

Now two major non-profits are funding efforts to provide legal assistance and home rebuilding help to those victims.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s next public Board Meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 36 West State St., Trenton, NJ 08625. 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.

A meeting of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority has been scheduled for Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 7:00 pm at the Eatontown Municipal Building, 47 Broad Street, Eatontown, NJ. 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.nj.gov/fmera, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority: www.njeda.gov.

By James Queally and Eunice Lee/The Star-Ledger
November 27, 2012

Most New Jerseyans have had their fill of “Black Friday,” “Small Business Saturday” and “Cyber Monday.”

But after a weekend spent stuffing stomachs and swiping credit cards, charities around the state and country are hoping residents emerge from their post-Thanksgiving shopping blitz believing it is better to give than receive.

More than 2,000 nonprofit organizations across the nation are championing today as “Giving Tuesday.” They hope they can use the popularity of the weekend consumer craze to remind people to donate to organizations, such as The Salvation Army and Red Cross as they approach their busiest time of the year.

“I really do think going forward it will ingrain itself as a part of the post-Thanksgiving culture,” said Bram Applin, community relations manager for The Salvation Army in New Jersey. “We have a day to give thanks, we have a day to get deals, and now we have a day to give back.”

By Esther Surden/NJ Tech Weekly
November 27, 2012

On November 14, 2012, TechLaunch — the first tech accelerator supported by the state of New Jersey — graduated its first class of companies during a Demo Day that clearly showed how an intensive education and mentoring program can help entrepreneurs turn an idea into a business.

It goes without saying that the 10 teams enrolled in TechLaunch have come a long way since they presented their ideas, hoping to be accepted, to Mario Casabona and his group at the accelerator.

Some background: in the summer of 2011, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA), in conjunction with the New Jersey tech and angel investment communities, devised the idea for the Edison Innovation Tech Accelerator Initiative. Under the plan, the state would contribute $150,000 per year for three years to partially finance a program through which innovative tech start-ups could be nurtured and receive funding. An industry partner would contribute equity and administer the program.

By Katie Eder/NJBIZ
November 27, 2012

While Black Friday sales met the expectations of New Jersey retailers as a whole, the state’s mom-and-pop stores saw a bigger boost than anticipated for Small Business Saturday.

According to the National Federation of Independent Businesses and American Express, which have partnered to entice consumers to shop small for the past three Christmas seasons, consumers spent a total of $5.5 billion at independent merchants on Nov. 24, though surveys had estimated the total would be $200 million less than that. And while American Express offered the same promotion as last year, providing cardholders a $25 statement credit if they spent $25 at an independent store, Amex transactions at small-business merchants rose approximately 21 percent compared to last year’s Small Business Saturday.

Before the initiative was launched in 2010, Doris Crater, owner of clothing boutique DJ Crater, in Chatham, would see her sales drop to around $2,000 on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving — nearly $2,000 less than a typical Saturday for the store, as “people stayed away from downtown because they were busy shopping at the malls and online.”