NJEDA Opens Pre-registration for Phase 4 of Small Business Relief

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) announced Phase 4 of the Authority’s Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program on Wednesday, April 14, adding $85 million in funds from the CARES Act. Phase 4 will provide grants up to $20,000 to New Jersey small and medium sized businesses and non-profits that have been negatively impacted during the past year’s pandemic.

Interested business owners will need to pre-register at programs.njeda.com between Monday, April 19, 2021 at 9:00 am and Thursday, April 29 at 5:00 pm. Businesses that do not pre-register will not be eligible for Phase 4 grants. Below are details outlining Phase 4 of the Small Business Emergency Grant Program.

NJEDA Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant – Phase 4

Phase 4 funding is designed to support the most adversely affected businesses such as restaurants, micro-businesses, and child-care providers, along with other small businesses. The funds aim to reimburse lost revenue as a result of the business interruption caused by the pandemic providing the necessary resources to any eligible business that:

  • Temporarily shut down
  • Required to reduce hours of operation
  • Experienced at least a 20% drop in revenue
  • Materially impacted by employees who cannot work due to the outbreak
  • Supply chain was disrupted and therefore slowed firm-level production

 

In order to receive a Phase 4 grant, your business must be properly registered with the State of New Jersey. To help business owners ensure they are properly registered, the NJEDA is hosting a Phase 4 Document Preparation Session with the NJ Department of Treasury. The session will be held on Monday, April 19th at 5:00 p.m. You can access the Zoom session here. When asked to enter a password, type: GRANT. Business owners will need to pre-register at programs.njeda.com to access the application. Applications must be completed in full in order to be considered for a grant.

 

Following pre-registration, applications will become available on a rolling basis. Pre-registered applicants will need to return to programs.njeda.com to complete an application based on the following schedule:

  • Businesses that did not apply for, or were not approved for Phase 3 funding – 9:00 a.m. on May 3, 2021
  • Restaurants and child care providers – 9:00 a.m. on May 5, 2021
  • Micro businesses (five or fewer FTEs) – 9:00 a.m. on May 10, 2021
  • All other small businesses – 9:00 a.m. on May 12, 2021

Applications for each category will be open for a period of one week and will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, based upon the date and time the Authority receives a completed application submission.

 

Grant awards will be calculated based on the number of full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) businesses employ. A grant size estimator is available here.

  • Micro-businesses with five or fewer FTEs and sole proprietorships will receive up to $10,000
  • Businesses with six to 25 FTEs will receive up to $15,000
  • Businesses with 26 to 50 FTEs will receive up to $20,000

To maximize the funding businesses can receive in Phase 4, grant awards will be based on the peak FTE count from a business’s past eight quarters of WR-30 filings. Businesses must use funds from the Grant Program for reimbursement of lost revenue as a result of business interruption caused by the pandemic. Businesses may not use grant funds for capital expenses.

 

The $85,000,000 in funds available through Phase 4 will be allocated as follows:

  • Restaurants: $35 million of funding to support businesses classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722, given the disproportionate impact these businesses have experienced due to the pandemic, including caps on on-location dining and unusual costs they incurred to adapt their business models for safe operations.
  • Child Care Providers: $10 million of funding to support businesses classified as “Child Day Care Services” under NAICS code 624410, given the disproportionate impact these businesses have experienced due to the pandemic, including caps on capacity numbers and unusual costs they incurred to adapt their business models for safe operations.
  • Micro-businesses: $25 million of funding to support businesses that have had 5 or fewer FTEs in each of their past eight quarters of WR-30 filings (including businesses with no FTEs), given the unique financial vulnerability experienced because of the pandemic by micro-businesses, which typically have lower financial reserves.
  • Other small businesses (6-50 FTE): The remaining $15 million of funding will support businesses that are not eligible under the micro-business category.

 

You can find more information about NJEDA website.

We are constantly updating our COVID Resource Center as changes are being made. As always, if you need assistance determining your eligibility or have additional questions, please contact us at 973-298-8500.

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