Tim Sullivan, CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, sat down with NJBIZ for a wide-ranging discussion about the state's initiative to reclaim its leadership position in innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as challenges, priorities, goals and top issues for the rest of 2022 and beyond.

Funds from the New Jersey Asset Activation Planning program are intended for plans that revitalize community resources and drive equitable growth.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority announced a number of personnel moves as a result of the new department, including appointing its former chief of staff Jorge Santos as chief real estate development officer.

Programs and projects around the state are working toward this goal, hoping to recapture New Jersey’s role as a leader in innovation while also creating the most diverse and inclusive such ecosystem in the U.S.

Ten awards of $75,000 each will go toward helping early-stage, innovation-based companies in New Jersey accelerate the development of technologies, products and services that support pregnant women from pre-natal, through birth and post-partum, and into infancy.

Launched in 2018, the initiative provides training and surety bonding education through a series of workshops and strategic counseling sessions to help better prepared companies to bid on government contracts.

On May 11, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved the Child Care Facilities Improvement Pilot Program, which in its first phase will provide nearly $15 million in grants to cover costs for upgrading facilities.

Funding for the forgivable working capital lending, which carry a 2% interest rate and no interest and no payments due for the first year, will be available through the organization's Main Street Recovery Program.

Since its inception in the late 1990s, the program that allows state technology and life sciences companies to sell their net operating losses and unused R&D tax credits has distributed over $1.126 billion to more than 570 such entities.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Mayor Ras Baraka and officials from the NJEDA made stops along Halsey Street at The Walla, BrownMill, Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea, and Halsey Cleaners.

“Gathering insights into how a fintech innovation center could contribute to the economic vitality and quality of life in the State will help us identify best practices and innovative ideas for developing a successful center that makes sense for New Jersey in terms of its long-term economic competitiveness," CEO Tim Sullivan said.

The new agreement with the Salem County Vocational Technical School is essentially modeled after a similar one from December with Gloucester County Institute of Technology.