New Grants for NJ Restaurants and Micro-Businesses
The State of New Jersey 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. Funding will support grants for restaurants and micro-businesses, reduced-price PPE for small companies, and rent relief for tenants. The application will be available in late October.
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.
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.
Mandatory Pre-Registration and Application Periods
Pre-Registration is now open through 5pm EST on October 27, 2020. To be Eligible for Phase 3 funding your business MUST pre-register. Access the Pre-Registration here.
Pre-registered applicants will need to return to complete an application based on the following schedule:
- Restaurants – 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2020
- Micro businesses – 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
Applications for each category will be open for a period of one week will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
To prepare for the pre-registration process, please review the Sample of the Pre-Registration Process.
Read the full press release.