Congressman Payne Leads Event on Resources Available for New Jersey’s Small Businesses

According to a press release from New Jersey’s Department of State distributed earlier this year, New Jersey is the home to almost one million small businesses which represent 99.6% of businesses in the state.

“Our small business community has grown at a remarkable rate,” said Governor Phil Murphy during his annual luncheon for the New Jersey League of Municipalities. “Since 2018 (when he entered office), we’ve seen more than 60,000 small businesses open their doors. That means today we have more small businesses than we have ever had before, and we beat our peer states in the northeast of the country. We are among the leaders of any state in terms of small businesses.”

In July 2023, CNBC’s listed New Jersey as this year’s most improved state on its 2023 America’s Top States for Business, climbing 23 places to No. 19, and vaulting convincingly into the top half from a 42nd place finish last year.

To bring New Jerseyans up to speed about the kinds of resources available for small business owners, Congressman Donald Payne Jr. led an event in Jersey City on Nov. 20 targeting services which may benefit small businesses in New Jersey. The event included representatives from the Small Business Association (SBA), Small Business Development Centers, the Economic Development Authority and other government agencies.

Marlene Citron, a regional administrator at the SBA, addressed one of the most important resources required for any small business: a loan.

“We tell the financial institutions we will back your loan and guarantee that if something happens to that loan, we will cover you somewhere between 70 to 80% of [the amount loaned] so that financial institutions who are risk averse know that we have [small businesses’] backs.”

New Jersey also has several programs specifically targeting minority-owned businesses. Unfortunately, owners who qualify and may need assistance the most often remain unaware of the kinds of resources available to them.

According to Kelly Brozyna, the state director and CEO of New Jersey Small Business Development Center (NJSBDC), some of the resources include access to capital, lines of credit and programs that work with work with business owners to assess their financial status and when appropriate, to determine where they may be losing money which could be avoided.

They also offer a series of learning labs that help businesses become state certified, as well as other labs that focus on credit repair, QuickBooks and other valuable resources. In addition, NJSBDC has experts in areas that include cybersecurity, export and import methods for international sales, marketing, social media, website development and growth and much more.

Michelle Osorio, the Senior Small Business Liaison of NJ Economic Development Authority, said business owners should be aware of active grants that may prove invaluable to their operations and success.

“There are almost 40 programs available across different industries and sectors for businesses in the state of New Jersey,” she said.

As an example, she pointed to one grant that serves as a lease grant that offers new brick and mortar small businesses an offset of 20% of their annual lease payments for the first two years.

A second grant represents small business improvement that offers a 50% reimbursement, up to $50,000, of expenses for improvements to businesses and is available to both new and existing businesses.

A third grant launched this year serves as an e-commerce support program. This grant helps brick and mortar restaurants, retail and personal care businesses build or develop a website, e-commerce platform, online ordering platform, or a digital marketing plan.

These are all grants that do not need to be paid back. Interested businesses can visit njeda.gov to apply and learn more. The federal government spends $700 billion a year on federal contracting opportunities.

“We have government funding set aside, so if you’re a woman-owned business, you’re eligible for 5% of that $700 billion – that’s a lot of money,” said John Blackstock, SBA district director.

Small business owners can learn about these resources and more through the SBA’s website at sba.gov.

“One thing I tell people about the federal government is they often won’t tell you about the many kinds of resources available. But if you ask the right questions, they will answer you. There is money out there,” Payne said.