In Fiscal Year 2019, the Small Business Administration approved 72 loans to Garden State small manufacturers.
That adds up to $59 million and just over 1,000 jobs, according to data released by the U.S. Small Business Administration New Jersey District Office on Oct. 4, Manufacturing Day.
From Oct. 1, 2018 to Sept. 30, 2019, the SBA’s fiscal year, the New Jersey office saw an uptick of 7 percent over Fiscal Year 2018 for loans going to small manufacturers, according to SBA New Jersey District Director Al Titone.
The counties that received the most SBA loans were Bergen, with 8 loans for $10.4 million; Monmouth, with 8 loans for $3.8 million; Burlington, with 8 loans for $3.5 million; Camden, with 7 loans for $5.4 million; and Essex, with 6 loans for $6.5 million.
“Small manufacturing is alive and well in New Jersey,” Titone said in a prepared statement. “We’re seeing small manufacturers incorporating new technologies, working smarter, getting leaner and staying competitive.”
NJIT’s Aero SAE team spent the sprint semester building the team’s “largest plane yet” with a wing-span of eight feet in the Makerspace. – NJIT
The SBA also provided details about its partnership with the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Makerspace, which it was announced in August received $125,000 in SBA MaTCH Competition prize money.
The Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics Training program will consist of 22 meetings, twice a week, from November 2019 to February 2020.
“We realize that capital isn’t the only answer to keeping manufacturing going in New Jersey,” Titone said. “A big part of the solution will have to come from workforce development. Having enough qualified and trained workers for future job openings in the manufacturing sector is critical to the success of small manufacturers in the state.
“Partnerships, like the one we share with NJIT, will go a long way to changing the culture. I believe it is going to reinvigorate and strengthen manufacturing in New Jersey,” he added.
Spots in the program are available for individuals already employed in technical or engineering positions in manufacturing-related fields, those working in technical areas who are interested in manufacturing careers, and current or hopeful Engineering or Engineering Technology students at community colleges and universities, with a select number of seats available to high school seniors.
