Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Have A Business Need? NJBAC Can Help.

The NJBAC is offering no-cost technical assistance, training, and problem-solving – we are here to support all of your Business Enhancement needs. Whether you have a one-off resource question, are looking for a strategic assessment of a district, or could use some quick visualized tactical inspiration to foster visible and tangible change, NJBAC can help. Contact NJBAC Assistant Director Jef Buehler to start the conversation and move towards action.

Today’s email has information on assistance we can provide, as well as about technical and financial resources that may be a fit for your community or district. Please feel free to share this information with other officials, district management stakeholders, and businesses. To see all prior Business Enhancement Connection emails, click here!

Best Practices

Infrastructure Funding Planning Session - Webinar: Join the Local Infrastructure Hub for a webinar on how the updated Uniform Grants Guidance can help your municipality leverage federal funding to plan and implement impactful infrastructure and climate projects. The session will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 2pm ET. Register here.

Measuring What Matters – Locally Sourced Data To Make Change Happen: For those interested in capturing and quantifying the beneficial social impacts of a community’s public places so that your placemaking and connectivity efforts can be supported, this free toolkit can save you time and money: DIY Toolkit - Reimagining the Civic Commons

Creating Friendly (& Effective) Storefronts: This downloadable resource provides some great tips on how to make business storefronts more successful at encouraging commerce within them. For the TLDR version, check out this quick-read article, here.

Featured Grants & Support

Asphalt Art Grants Are Now Open: Municipalities of 50,000 people or more can apply for the largest Bloomberg Asphalt Art Initiative grants to date: Up to $100,000 for high-impact projects that use art to transform signature streets, create dynamic new public spaces, or make catalytic changes that can drive future projects across town or around their regions. The deadline for submission is January 31, 2025, and up to 10 winning cities will be announced next spring, with selected projects planned for installation throughout 2025 and 2026. Register for the virtual info session on October 28 to learn more and answer any questions, should you be interested in applying. Check out the website for more details. This is a fantastic opportunity!

Buying your Business Property? This Grant is for You: The NJEDA’s Main Street Acquisition Support Grant product will offer a grant of up to $50,000 to reimburse an eligible NJ small business for closing costs related to a New Jersey commercial property that the business purchased to operate from.  Applicants may be for-profit or non-profit businesses who purchase the property in which they are located after October 1, 2024.  See if you are qualified and get the details here or look at the FAQ list.  Use the application checklist to prepare. Starting October 1, 2024, visit the EDA incentives page to access the application.

NJBAC Can Work With All the Businesses in Your Community

We are here to support your communities’ and districts’ businesses. NJBAC offers free online chat and telephone (800-537-7397) assistance in English and Spanish to any business in NJ – any size, any location, and any type. Businesses can always download the NJBAC Small Business Manual – a one-stop tool for many business concerns – online here. Individual businesses or organizations can order up to 10 printed copies as well by clicking this link.

Our NJBAC team can advocate for businesses, concierge them to funding and technical solutions, help them find locations for growth or developing export markets, guide them to navigating the commercial cannabis sector, and much more. Want to set something up online or on-site for your businesses? Reach out to NJBAC Assistant Director Jef Buehler to get plugged in to all of our business success services.

NJBAC’s Business Enhancement Services is online:  Now you can refer to Business Enhancement Services directly online with just a click!  Please favorite the website – it will be expanding over time as we add new resources and tools that support municipal and district revitalization and place-based business enhancement.