Small Business Lease Grant Program Archives

Mom and pop shops aiming to recover and grow following the COVID-19 pandemic can start applying this week for a $10 million pot of money meant to help with rent costs.

Under the state-run Small Business Lease Grant Program, businesses can get grants covering up to 20% of their rent costs if they enter a new lease – or amend their existing lease – for at least 250 square feet of street-level rental space.

Applications open in the morning on Oct. 20, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The state will set aside $4 million for businesses located in one of the New Jersey’s Opportunity Zone eligible areas, which represent some of the most impoverished communities in the state.

“This targeting will help to ensure resources are available to minority- and women-owned entities and communities that have faced disproportionate burdens as a result of COVID-19,” reads the Oct. 18 announcement from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which is running the program.

Business center closed due to COVID-19, sign with sorry in door window. Stores, restaurants, offices, other public places temporarily closed during coronavirus pandemic. Economy hit by corona virus. — The Small Business Lease Grant Program offers businesses grants to cover up to 20% of their rent costs if they enter a new lease – or amend their existing lease – for at least 250 square feet of street-level rental space. – DEPOSIT PHOTOS

State officials estimate that the state has rolled out more than $700 million in COVID-relief to businesses, mostly through grants and low-interest loans provided by the NJEDA.

The most recent funds released were $4.12 million to 26 arts and culture venues slammed by COVID-19 closures.

And a similarly named program – the Small Business Lease Emergency Assistance Grant Program – provides grants of up to $10,000 for COVID-hit employers to cover their rent costs.

This new rental assistance program is financed by the Main Street Recovery Fund, a $100 million pool of state funds meant to help mom and pop shops and other small employers recover from the pandemic, which itself is part of the mammoth $14.5 billion state incentive program.

At the height of the COVID-19 closures between March and May, the economy was put into a near-total lockdown. Retail, dining, gyms, salons, spas, casinos, theaters and many other businesses were closed during that time, and then for the next year operated at extremely reduced capacity. Unemployment levels rose to the highest points in decades amid those closures.

The massive economic incentive package was rushed through the state Legislature last winter in an effort to guide the state’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

So far, two major tax break awards have been announced, including a $109 million incentive for fintech giant Fiserv.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will accept applications next month for the first tranche of state aid under a $100 million “Main Street Recovery” program, which itself is part of a mammoth $14.5 billion state incentive economic package the governor approved in January.

This first pool of money clocks in at $10 million – potentially doubled to $20 million in the near future – and is meant to help businesses and nonprofits pay for the cost of street-level rent costs, the state agency announced on Sept. 15. Formally called the Small Business Lease Grant Program, applications open on Oct. 20, according to an NJEDA announcement.

The grants will cover up to 20% of annual lease payments, with one being paid immediately after approval and a second a year after lease payments were made. Eligibility is limited to establishments that rent at least 250 square feet of ground-level office, commercial or retail space, and which signed their current lease within the past year. They’ll have to commit to staying at that location for the next five years.

NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan delivers remarks as Gov. Phil Murphy signs Assembly Bill 5446 into law at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton, on April 12, 2021. (Josue Lora/ NJ Governor's Office). — NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan delivers remarks as Gov. Phil Murphy signs Assembly Bill 5446 into law at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton, on April 12, 2021. – JOSUE LORA/ OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

“Our Main Street Recovery Program will arm small businesses and nonprofits with the tools necessary to reopen and prepare for long-term success in the aftermath of the pandemic,” reads a statement from NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan, who called the lease program “an important first step.”

The NJEDA will set aside $4 million for businesses based out of the state’s 715 poorest communities, known as Opportunity Zone eligible census tracts.

Another $15 million from the Main Street Recovery funds – potentially doubled to $30 million – would go toward “Small Business Improvement Grants,” which cover up to 50% of eligible business improvement costs going back to March 9, 2020, at the start of the pandemic, the agency said in its board documents last month.

Grants are capped at $50,000 and would compensate businesses for expenses such as the purchase and installation of new furniture, fixtures and equipment.

Businesses need to pay workers at least $15 an hour or 120% of the state’s $12 hourly minimum wage, whichever is greater. And they need to stay at whatever facility they’ve moved into for however long it is outlined in the grant agreement.

Over the course of the pandemic and related business closures and restrictions, NJEDA officials have approved hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and low-interest loans to help those establishments stay afloat.

And now with the state still in the midst of its recovery from Hurricanes Ida and Henri, businesses are in the midst of seeking millions of dollars in state grants and low-interest federal loans.

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