With COVID-19 leaving small businesses stranded, I’ve compiled this set of the top five resources available to small business owners and entrepreneurs in New Jersey.
While I’m not an expert in the space, I have had the opportunity to work with, help, and advise a number of small businesses. From entrepreneurial basement start-ups to flourishing enterprises, they are well-known within their regions. Both at Georgetown University, and home in New Jersey, I’ve seen the power of small businesses and of working together to survive and thrive.
1. Small Business Administration Disaster Loans
The SBA has a number of loan options available to small businesses. While the EIDL loan is currently unavailable, if the program come online, the application takes ten minutes to fill out. Decisions tend to come back within 7 – 10 days. The average loan size tends to be around $200 thousand dollars.
The SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program is another great option! You can apply through your current business banker, or through certain companies offering PPP loans to non-existing customers. See here for a list of PPP lenders that I have created.
Click here for more information on the SBA’s response to the Coronavirus.
2. New Jersey Business and Industry Association
The NJBIA has a ton of great resources for financing, employment law information, and other information regarding the coronavirus, and how New Jersey is reacting to it.
The NJBIA is also the official NJ representative to the National Association of Manufacturers. They have many resources to buy and sell Personal Protective Equipment, such as this marketplace, where businesses can submit their production capabilities for PPE or find suppliers for their own needs!
3. New Jersey State Business First Stop Initiative
The Business First Stop initiative is the state’s program to provide aspiring business owners with the tools they need to start, operate, and grow their businesses.
Their website on the coronavirus has great information regarding your business’s responsibilities. They also discuss what parts of your business can continue to operate on a normal or abbreviated basis, if that optionality exists. They also have information specific to niche businesses such as Childcare, Medical Offices, Construction, and more.
4. Small Business Development Center
The SBDC is a network of local and state-level organizations focused on growing small businesses in the US. Their site has webinars, guides, and more on navigating national organizations such as the CDC, IRS, Treasury Department, OSHA, and Department of Labor.
The SBDC also partners with large national corporations such as Facebook, Visa, and Amazon to deliver trainings, webinars, grants and more for small businesses. Those partnerships and resources are available here.
The New Jersey SBDC’s Coronavirus site has similar resources as a state level, which you can access here.
5. New Jersey Economic Development Authority
The NJEDA is New Jersey’s agency for driving economic growth through sustainable and inclusive development. They offer grants, loans, training, networking, and more for starting and existing small businesses, non profits, and more, which can be found here.
Their Small and Mid-Sized Business Financing Program operates a number of loan and grant programs, with assistance ranging from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the size and scope of the business. For more information, visit their site here.
For questions, please feel free to reach out to Kuran Malhotra here, or by reaching out on LinkedIn.
