Greater Trenton and MCCC Join Forces to Assist Trenton Businesses with NJRA Grant Available on Monday

Greater Trenton has partnered with Mercer County Community College (MCCC) to have bilingual students and technology available to assist Trenton businesses in submitting grant applications to the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA).  The NJRA portal opens at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 10, 2020 and funding for this $6 million program will be on a first-come, first served basis with no fee required to participate.

MCCC is opening its James Kerney Campus building located at 102 North Broad Street on Monday to assist in this initiative. The building will be open as early as 8:00 a.m. that morning and will be open until 5:00 p.m.  All visitors will be required to check in with security guards and will be required to wear a mask/facial covering at all times.

The NJRA program provides up to $10,000 for small businesses leasing space in commercial or mixed-use buildings to pay rent by providing funds to the business’ landlord on behalf of the tenant.  The following are among the conditions in order to be eligible to receive the $$:

  • Business must have been operating prior to March 1, 2020 and not delinquent in rent payments at that time
  • Business square footage cannot exceed 5,000 SF
  • Business may be delinquent with current lease obligations provided it was not delinquent as of March 1, 2020
  • There is no minimum number of employees requirement
  • Business could not have previously received COVID-19 relief funds to assist in monthly lease payments
  • No NJ tax clearance certificate is required although business owners must certify that to the best of their knowledge, the business is not delinquent in NJ tax obligations

Additional information may be found in the following FAQ from the NJRA’s web site.

https://www.njra.us/media/SBLEAGP/Small%20Business%20Grant%20Program%20FAQ.pdf

In addition to the application, which must be completed electronically, business owners must submit a signed electronic copy of their existing lease. Students will be able to scan leases for businesses that do not have access to scanning equipment and also assist in completing the application on behalf of the business owner.

https://www.njra.us/media/SBLEAGP/Small%20Business%20Lease-EAGP%20Application.pdf

“Thanks to Dr. Wang, Dr. Conley and the team at MCCC for assisting in this important initiative and to Stu Bressler for his advocacy and suggestion that we partner with MCCC,” said George Sowa, Greater Trenton Chief Executive Officer. “Greater Trenton is also providing funding to pay students for each application submitted on behalf of Trenton businesses.”

Bryan O’Neal, Assistant to the Dean Conley’s, will be available to address any MCCC related questions and his contact information is:  OnealB@MCCC@edu and his phone number is (609) 570-3160.

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