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

Guide for Winter Activations & Events:  While a few years old, here is a great resource about the important elements needed to foster successful winter events that are still absolutely valid: Key Winter Activation Elements.

Milburn’s Winter Villages Program: Looking for a local example that takes that winter activation guidance to heart? Check out the Winter Villages program run by Explore Millburn/Short Hills:  Winter Villages Images. These events in December 2024 leveraged their highly successful Town Hall Plaza program that started in the Summer of 2024.  Their Instagram page has numerous photos of Town Hall Plaza in action as well as from the Winter Villages events.

Got Flooding? Check Out These Model Floodplain Design Guidelines:  Highlands Borough has created and is using an amazing set of floodplain design guidelines that are focused on their Central Business District on Bay Avenue, which is also an Area in Need of Redevelopment.  These guidelines strike a balance between US and NJ-mandated requirements for flood zones which impact any and all current and future development there and the need to maintain and enhance the economic, place, social and civic value of the downtown district in question while ensuring that it can be sustainable and resilient (physically and economically) into the future. Kudos to the Borough for this creative, nuanced and effective model that can be a great tool for communities along the Shore and other flood-prone areas.

Creating Happier Cities Webinar/Public Life Study Tool: Looking for some free guidance on how to foster happiness “from the ground up” for your community? Pop into this free webinar to learn from the Happy Cities team: Creating Happier Cities Webinar Registration.  Happy Cities is a Canadian urban planning, research, and engagement firm based in Vancouver and Halifax. They work with cities, developers, and non-profits around the world to design public spaces, streets, and housing that nurture wellbeing for all community members. Happy Cities created an award-winning (and free to use!) Public Life Study tool for investigating and identifying the tangible ways that public space impacts community well-being.

Featured Grants & Support

America Walks Community Change Grants: The Community Change Grants program supports the growing network of community champions, organizations, and agencies working to advance walkability. Six $2,000 grants are awarded to innovative and engaging programs and projects that create change and opportunity for walking and movement at the community level.  But time is short as the application is due this Friday, January 17^th!  Apply here.

AARP Community Challenge Grants:  The AARP is offering three Community Challenge grant types for the 2025 grant round: Flagship Grants of up to $25,000 for creating vibrant public places and other goals, Capacity-Building Microgrants of $2,500 with technical support for Bike and Walk Audits and other topics, and Demonstration Grants of up to $25,000 focused on Enhancing Pedestrian Safety and other themes. There will be an optional Q & A webinar potential applicants on January 29 at 2 p.m. ET. (The webinar will be recorded and available for viewing soon after the event.)  Register here for the webinar.  Both non-profit organizations and government entities are eligible to apply.  The application deadline is March 5, 2025. Already know enough to apply? Apply here!

Creative Aging Initiative Grant:  The Creative Aging Initiative Grant (CAI) provides $10,000 to eligible arts organizations, libraries, veterans homes, senior and community centers, colleges/universities, and units of government to cover costs for arts learning experiences with New Jersey older adults aged 55 and over. Successful applicants will receive $10,000 of funding for each year of the two-year grant cycle (totaling $20,000), pending available resources. This kind of project must be designed as an arts-based learning experience that directly engages older adults for multiple sessions; it could be classes, workshops, or take some other form. Take a look at the grant guidelines in English here or in Spanish here. The deadline to apply is February 27, 2025.  There are also technical assistance opportunities online through videos (introduction, using the SAGE grant system, application support) and live online discussions: Creative Aging Technical Assistance Hours

Asphalt Art Grants Deadline is Approaching: This is a reminder that the deadline for municipalities of 50,000 or greater (that can include colleges and similar) to apply for the new round of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative grants is a few weeks away. The program will award 10 cities grants of up to $100,000 each, as well as on-call technical assistance from the tactical urbanism firm Street Plans and impact evaluation support from Sam Schwartz Consulting. Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59pm Eastern time on Friday, January 31, 2025 in order to be considered. To review application eligibility and guidelines, please visit the Asphalt Art Initiative website. A recording of a virtual information session is available here.  Please send any last minute questions to arts@bloomberg.org 

EDA Grants And Funding To Share With Your District/Community Businesses:

1. Main Street Acquisition Support Grant
   • Grant up to $50,000 to reimburse an eligible NJ small business for closing costs related to a NJ commercial property that the business purchased to operate from and available for both for-profit and non-profit entities that occupy at least 1,000 square feet of total usable commercial square footage of the building.
   • Closing must have taken place after 10/01/2024 and grant application date must be no later than one year from date of closing.
   • Program details and grant application are available here:  Main Street Acquisition Support Grant - NJEDA
2. New Jersey Capital Access Fund
   • Provides working capital loans up to $250,000 with fixed interest rates and flexible spending guidelines for 36-60 month terms and no prepayment penalties.
   • Must operate in NJ with fewer than 50 employees, not exceed $10 million on annual revenue and must have been in business for at least 1 year
   • Programs details and pre-apply can be found here- Pre-Apply - New Jersey Capital Access Fund. Applicants can also select to receive technical assistance along with the loan.

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 for english. A Spanish version of the manual is also available here for spanish. Individual businesses or organizations can order a printed copy as well by clicking this link. For bulk orders of up to 10 printed copies, please contact NJBAC’s Tracy Thomas directly.

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.