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FOOD DESERT RELIEF PROGRAM

The Food Desert Relief Program addresses the food security needs of communities across New Jersey by providing up to $40 million per year in tax credits, loans, grants, and/or technical assistance to increase access to nutritious foods and develop new approaches to alleviate food deserts.

Through the Program, the NJEDA has identified 50 food desert communities across the state in coordination with the Departments of Community Affairs and Agriculture. NJEDA will also award tax credits to incentivize businesses to establish and retain new supermarkets and grocery stores in food desert communities, offer technical assistance on best practices for increasing the accessibility of nutritious foods, and provide grants and loans for food retailers of all sizes to fund equipment costs associated with providing fresh food, technology costs associated with supporting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) payments, and initiatives to ensure food security.

ELIGIBILITY

To receive tax credits through the Food Desert Relief Program, supermarkets or grocery stores must:

  • Be a retail outlet with at least 16,000 square feet where 80 percent of space is occupied by food and related products.
  • Be the first or second new supermarket or grocery store in a designated food desert community to be approved under this program.
  • Commit to accept benefits from federal nutrition assistance programs, including SNAP and WIC.

The Program will also make grants and loans for equipment, technology costs, and initiatives to ensure food security of residents available to eligible entities within designated food desert communities, including supermarkets and grocery stores, midsize food retailers that are 2,500 to 16,000 square feet, small food retailers less than 2,500 square feet, and other entities supporting food security.

Funding will be available for designated Food Desert Communities. Please find the list of Food Desert Communities.

AWARD SIZE

Developers will be eligible to receive tax credits up to 40% of the total project cost for the first approved supermarket/grocery store in an FDC and up to 20% for the second approved supermarket/grocery store in an FDC, capped at the project financing gap.

Owners/operators of supermarkets/grocery stores will be eligible to receive three years of tax credits up to 100% of initial operating costs for the first approved supermarket/grocery store in an FDC and up to 50% of initial operating costs for the second approved supermarket/grocery store in an FDC, capped at the initial operating shortfall.

Technical assistance may be available to any entity that is eligible for tax credits, grants, or loans to assist in implementation of best practices for increasing the accessibility of nutritious foods in food desert communities. This assistance will be available in New Jersey’s two most commonly spoken languages.

The NJEDA may sell all or a portion of the tax credits made available in a fiscal year and dedicate the proceeds to provide grants and loans to qualified supermarkets, grocery stores, and small- and mid-sized food retailers in food desert communities for equipment, technology costs, and initiatives to ensure food security of residents.

FISCAL AND RESIDENT PROTECTIONS

In order to receive support through the Food Desert Relief Tax Credit Program, an applicant must be in good standing with the NJ Department of Labor, NJ Department of Treasury, and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. Entities receiving Food Desert Relief Tax Credits must also demonstrate that each worker employed to perform construction on the project is paid at or above the prevailing wage rate, as determined by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development. A supermarket or grocery store developer may be eligible for a higher cap on the Financing Gap Tax Credit tax credit if the developer commits that workers at the supermarket will be covered by a Labor Harmony Agreement or collective bargaining agreement. 

The full statutory text of the program can be found in sections 35-42 of the Economic Recovery Act of 2020.