NJEDA’s $1M small business pilot offers free e-commerce, marketing services

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) launched a $1 million pilot program this week that will provide free e-commerce and digital marketing consulting services to small businesses across the Garden State.

NJEDA says the Small Business E-Commerce Support Program will help restaurants, retail shops and personal care businesses expand, build resilience and adapt to the growing e-commerce economy that has boomed since the pandemic.

The program, which was approved during the NJEDA board’s December meeting, will offer up to $11,400 in consulting services to eligible businesses to assist with the development of websites, e-commerce platforms and digital marketing plans. To be eligible, the restaurant, retail store, or personal care business must be in a commercial location with a physical storefront and meet the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) definition of a small business.

Services these small businesses can receive include:

• web page design and development
• online ordering implementation
• online appointment booking implementation
• e-commerce design and development
• online marketing plan development

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The NJEDA signed contracts with seven New Jersey consulting firms to provide e-commerce and digital marketing services to small businesses for a two-year term with two, one-year extension options.

Those firms are: Beyond Media Global (Paramus); eGrove Systems Corp. (East Brunswick); Masterpiece Advertising (Atlantic City); New Frontier (Millburn); Positive Solutions (Robbinsville); Tara Dowdell Group (Jersey City); and 360 Marketing and PR (Camden).

NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan said that as consumers become more reliant on online services, small businesses along Main Street need resources to help them modernize, expand their customer base and to stay competitive.

“Under Gov. [Phil] Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey invested hundreds of millions of dollars to help small businesses keep their doors open during the pandemic,” said Sullivan. “The Small Business E-Commerce Support Program, and others in the pipeline, will continue to help bolster the resilience of small businesses and preserve our Main Streets as the bedrock of New Jersey’s economy.”

The effort is the fifth pilot program the NJEDA has approved under the Main Street Recovery Finance Program.

“When we invest in the growth of small businesses, we invest in the growth of entire communities – paving the way for economic empowerment,” said NJEDA Chief Community Development Officer Tai Cooper. “With a concentration on women, minority, and veteran-owned small businesses in Opportunity Zones, this program will help our most diverse businesses grow, thrive, and succeed.”