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

How to Do a Parking Study: Here is a free resource from the Massachusetts Metropolitan Area Planning Council providing a simple guide for how to conduct a parking study in your community or district. And Strong Towns has a nice walkthrough of how they recommend a grass-roots parking study process as well.

Small Business Saturday – Let’s Do It!: From signing up to be a Neighborhood Champion, to hosting events for your independent businesses and business districts, there are a variety to ways to plug into this national event, branding, and marketing supported by American Express and other partners like Main Street America. Take a look at 15 Ways to Celebrate Small Business Saturday for inspiration and then get going!

If You Can Do It There, You Can Do it Anywhere – Lane Reduction In NYC: New York City planners are redesigning 5th avenue between Bryant Park to Central Park to eliminate two traffic lanes and extend sidewalks by forty-six percent. This initiative is part of the core tenets of the “New” New York panel’s action plan, which identified public space as a key factor in the city’s economic recovery. In the coming years, there will be more room for programming, outdoor dining, street furniture, and more. NBC New York has renderings and a video report on this sweeping change. For those of us in New Jersey: Don’t say it can’t be done, because in this case New York is right – creating and enhancing productive public space is a key for economic development in our cities and towns.

Featured Grants & Support

Deadline Extended - Historic Property Reinvestment Program: The NJEDA’s Historic Property Reinvestment Program (HPRP) deadline has been moved to December 5, 2024. The Program focuses on historic preservation as a component of community development, encouraging long-term private investment into the State while preserving properties that are of historic significance.  The Program can be used to leverage the federal Historic Tax Credit program to incentivize rehabilitation of identified historic properties.  The amount of tax credits a rehabilitation project receives is a percentage of the project’s eligible costs, subject to a statutory cap determined by project type and on project location. Check out the HPRP webpage for all of the details and email NJEDA’s Historic Preservation Team at HistoricTaxCredit@njeda.gov with any questions about the program.

Asphalt Art Grants - Updated: Municipalities of 50,000 people or more (or smaller ones that can justify a similar population engagement level, for example, if they have a college in town) 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. Check out the website for more details. This is a fantastic opportunity!  Prospective applicants may access the application form through Submittable, and translated PDF versions of the application form and guidelines are available in Español or Français.

Job Opportunities

Executive Director – Red Bank RiverCenter: Red Bank RiverCenter is looking for a new ED to build on its many years of success in managing and enhancing downtown Red Bank, learn about and apply for the position at their website here.

Executive Director – Trenton Downtown Association: The TDA is seeking to hire a new ED to take downtown Trenton to the next level. You can find all of the information you need to pursue this job on this webpage.

Director of Finance and Operations – Hoboken Business Alliance: The HBA Team is growing!  Apply to become the Director of Finance and Operations in Hoboken’s BID with position information here.

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.