Archived Notice of Funding Availabilities

New Jersey Indoor Amusement Park Program
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA” or “Authority”) will begin accepting applications for the New Jersey Indoor Amusement Park Program on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 10:00AM EST. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis as of the date and time in which the Authority receives the application and will close on November 1, 2023, at 5:00PM EST. A non-refundable application fee of $1,000 is due at time of application for each product.

The application can be accessed at New Jersey Indoor (NJ) Amusement Park Grant Program – NJEDA.

Purpose

The New Jersey Indoor Amusement Park Grant Program (“Program”) will provide eligible applicants with up to $550,000 if the project is located in an Opportunity Zone eligible census tract and up to $500,000 for projects not located in an Opportunity Zone eligible census tract to offset losses incurred due to decreased business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background

This Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) modifies the prior NOFA posted on June 8, 2023 here: Public Information – NJEDA.

As COVID-19 restrictions prohibited or restricted public gatherings, this public safety measure resulted in a significant reduction in indoor amusement park and arcade attendance and usage, leading to significant loss of revenue to establishments that rely on admission fees to support operations. On June 30, 2022, Governor Murphy signed S2023, the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Act (“FY2023 Act”), into law as P.L. 2022, c.49. The FY2023 Act allocates significant State funding for numerous strategic economic development investments to support key industries, continue to bolster

recovery for New Jersey (“NJ”) businesses, and assist with statewide growth. One of the specific strategic reinvestments in the FY2023 Act is an appropriation of $5 million to support NJ indoor amusement parks impacted by COVID-19. This funding is specific to NJ businesses primarily engaged in activities under specific North American Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) codes 713110 – Amusement and Theme Parks or 713120 – Amusement Arcades as of April 1, 2020. This budget appropriation allows NJEDA to create and administer a COVID-specific non-competitive grant product for this specific industry.

Grant Amounts and Eligible Uses

Grant awards will be calculated by the amount of decrease in the applicant’s self-declared gross revenue from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020 and April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, or $500,000, whichever is less. If the applicant is located in an Opportunity Zone eligible census tract, the award cap will be $550,000. However, if there are more eligible applicants than anticipated with unmet needs greater than the total available funding, the amount provided to each eligible applicant will be reduced such that all applicants receive a share of the funding pool proportional to their eligible unmet need.

Awards will be based purely on the reduction of the applicant-provided gross revenue demonstrated by a minimum 50 percent reduction in gross revenue from indoor operations for the 12-month period beginning April 1, 2019. Applicants are allowed to receive one grant award per EIN, with a minimum award of $5,000.00 per EIN.

Applicants that are approved for an award will enter into a grant agreement with NJEDA that the uses of the grant proceeds are limited to support the applicant’s working capital costs only. The grant cannot be used for any other use. Specific ineligible uses may include, but are not limited to, any construction work or contract labor costs, purchase of land, improvements to their facility, and any equipment purchases that exceed costs of $1,999.99.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible for this grant:

– Must be a for profit entity located in NJ.

– Primarily engaged in business activities described in NAICS Code 713110 or 713120, (as those codes read on April 1, 2020) Applicants must provide federal tax returns for 2019, 2020, 2021, and current tax return.

– Demonstrate a minimum 50 percent reduction in indoor gross revenue for the 12-month period beginning April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 and April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 as certified by applicant at time of application.

– Registered to do business in NJ and in good standing with the NJ Division of Taxation, as evidenced by a current NJ Tax Clearance Certificate prior to approval.

– Must be in good standing at time of approval with the NJ Department of Labor, NJ Department of Environmental Protection and NJ EDA.

– Certify at time of application that their business operation has at least a portion that is indoors in the NJ commercial space, and their business is currently open and operating.

– NJ formation documentation that verifies the applicant was formed on or prior to March 9, 2020.

– Ineligible applicants: waterparks that have only outdoor operations, activities, rides, or services. An indoor component of operations, rides, activities, or services must be within the applicant’s commercial space.

Application Submission and Review Process

Applications for this Program will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date and time in which the Authority receives the application for a period of at least 30 days, or until funds are exhausted, whichever is first. All applications will be reviewed for completeness in the order that they are received by the Authority. At the sole discretion of the Authority, staff may ask for any necessary clarifications of the information provided in the application including, but not limited to, responses, documentation, and attachments . Applicants will be given 5 business days to respond to cure any deficiencies. If at the end of the cure period the applicant is non-responsive, the application will be deemed withdrawn. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Limit of one grant award per EIN.

Fees:

Applicants for the Program will be charged a $1,000 at the time of application, as required for pilot products under the Authority’s fee rules.

Additional information may be found at New Jersey Indoor (NJ) Amusement Park Grant Program – NJEDA.

Questions concerning this Notice of Funding Availability should be submitted via email to customercare@njeda.gov.

The NJEDA is subject to State and Federal statutes including but not limited to the following which may impact affiliates: N.J.S.A. 52:32-60.1, et seq., which prevents New Jersey government entities from certain dealings with businesses on the Treasury list of those engaged in prohibited activities in Belarus or Russia; N.J.S.A. 24:6I-49 which provides that the following are not eligible for most State or local economic incentives (a) a person or entity issued a license to operate as a cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, or delivery service, or that employs a certified personal use cannabis handler to perform work for or on behalf of a cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service; and (b) a property owner, developer, or operator of a project to be used, in whole or in part, by or to benefit a cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, or delivery service, or to employ a certified personal use cannabis handler to perform work for or on behalf of a cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service; and N.J.S.A. 52:13D-12, et seq., which prohibits a member of the Legislature or a State officer or employee or their partners or a corporation in which they owns or controls more than 1% of the stock to undertake or execute any contract, agreement, sale, or purchase of $25.00 or more, made, entered into, awarded or granted by any State agency, with certain limited exceptions.

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Construction Inflation Fund – Pilot Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA” or “Authority”) will begin accepting applications for the Construction Inflation Fund (“Fund”) Pilot Grant Program on August 17, 2023 at 10:00am EST. Applications must be submitted by October 19, 2023 at 5:00pm. $10 million is available through a competitive application process to eligible small businesses for real estate development projects that have experienced increased construction costs and project funding gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the closure of the application period, applications will be evaluated for completeness and eligibility and then scored by a committee of NJEDA staff. The highest scoring applications will be presented to the NJEDA Board for approval.

The application can be accessed online at: Construction Inflation Fund – NJEDA.

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Purpose

The Fund is established to provide funding to eligible applicants for real estate development projects that have experienced increased construction costs and project funding gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible real estate projects include commercial/office, manufacturing, and mixed-use projects which are sized to have at least $5 million of total project costs.

Overview

The American Rescue Plan (ARP), which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill designed to rebuild and restart the American economy in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency by investing in families, communities, and small businesses. Through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), the ARP delivered $350 billion to state, local, and tribal governments to support their response to, and recovery from COVID-19.

In June 2022 the Murphy Administration and the New Jersey Legislature made $10 million of Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Funds (CSFRF) available to NJEDA through the State Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriation Act (“Act”) for “Gap Financing – Real Estate Projects Financing.” Accordingly, to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the Fund is established as a pilot program which will provide gap financing and assist real estate development projects that have increased construction costs and project funding gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the New Jersey economy continues to rebound in the wake of COVID-19, catalytic investment is essential for supporting local economies and promoting strong, resilient, and equitable economic recoveries.

In accordance with U.S. Treasury’s Final Rule, the Fund is established under Eligibility Category 6 (EC 6). Under federal guidelines, all program funding must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and must be expended by December 31, 2026, therefore project readiness is a key funding consideration and evidence of all other funding sources must be provided with the project application.

Funding

The approved purpose of the Construction Inflation Fund Pilot Grant Program’s SLFRF funds is for Revenue Replacement (Category 6) in accordance with U.S. Treasury’s Final Rule.

The Fund is established as a $10 million competitive grant program to mitigate the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund will provide a minimum grant of $500,000 and a maximum grant of $5,000,000 per approved project. Grant funding cannot exceed 20% of total project costs.

Grant funding will be provided based on demonstrated pandemic related cost increase and funding gap including review of construction contract wage requirements. Grant funding amounts will be determined following cost reasonableness and a Duplication of Benefits review.

A maximum of one grant will be awarded per real estate developer regardless of having different special purpose entities. NJEDA staff will review for common management or construction responsibilities between applicants.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are small businesses which are undertaking an eligible real estate project in New Jersey that experienced a COVID-19 related funding gap.

As defined in the CSFRF final rules (31 CFR 35.3), a small business is a business concern or other organization that:

Has no more than 500 employees or, if applicable, the size standard in number of employees established by the Administrator of the Small Business Administration for the industry in which the business concern or organization operates, and
Is a small business concern as defined in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)

Eligible projects for the Fund are limited to the following types of real estate projects (substantial rehabilitation and/or new construction):

Commercial (including office)
Manufacturing
Mixed-use developments; any residential portion must comply with the 20% reservation for low- and moderate-income households required by N.J.S.A. 52:27D-329.9(b)

Additional project eligibility requirements for the Fund include:

Projects consisting of 100% warehouse or 100% retail are ineligible for funding; however, warehouse space may be included as an ancillary project use in direct support of the project’s eligible primary use;
Projects must be sized to have at least $5 million of total project costs;
Developer must agree to 50% developer fee deferral;
All projects shall be subject to prevailing wage law and compliance with other labor standards requirements;
Projects that have started construction prior to application may include expenses as eligible covered costs only if either New Jersey state prevailing wage or federal Davis-Bacon wage requirements were incorporated into the construction contract prior to construction start, or the project has been paying either prevailing wage or Davis-Bacon wage rates as applicable.

Additional applicant requirements:

Must be in substantial good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection at the time of application to be eligible. A current tax clearance certificate must be provided prior to approval to demonstrate the applicant is in substantial good standing with the NJ Division of Taxation, unless the applicant is not required to register with the Division of Taxation.
Applicants will be reviewed against the Federal System for Award Management to ensure the entity is not debarred.

Please see “Additional Information” section for discussion of State and Federal statutory prohibitions that NJEDA is subject to (i.e. Russia/Belarus, cannabis related activities, and State Legislator / Officer/employees or their partners) that may impact affiliates.

Eligible Uses

Under the Construction Inflation Fund, funding can only be used for the approved real estate development project costs based on application, NJEDA review, and funding grant agreement. Grants will be used for prospective real estate development project hard and soft costs, where no more than 20% of a grant can be used to support project development soft costs.

Funding cannot be used for payment of developer fees.

Application Submission and Review Process (including Scoring)

Applications submitted after the application deadline of October 19, 2023 will not be accepted or reviewed.

Applicant’s organizational documentation confirming eligibility as small business;
Experience and capacity of the applicant and development team that demonstrates implementation of projects of a similar size and scope;
Project overview and description;
Narrative describing COVID-19 impact and pandemic related cost increases;
Project budgets (Sources & Uses line-item detail), pro forma/cashflow projections, and evidence of financing;
Construction contract and related documents such as project cost breakdown comparisons, and evidence of efforts to reduce costs, such as value engineering efforts;
Narrative and documentation of local review and approvals/permits;
Project development timeline.

After the close of the application period, NJEDA staff will review all applications for completeness. At the sole discretion of the Authority, NJEDA staff may ask for any necessary clarifications to the application, including but not limited to responses, documentation, and attachments. Applicants will be given 10 business days to respond to cure any deficiencies. If at the end of the cure period the applicant is non-responsive, the application will not be advancing to be scored and will be deemed withdrawn.

Applications deemed complete will be reviewed and scored by the evaluation scoring committee that will be comprised of NJEDA staff. Applications will be scored on a scale of 0 – 104 points, with award recommendations limited to applications that meet or exceed the minimum score requirement of 65 points.

As outlined in the Construction Inflation Fund Program specifications, scoring factors and points will include:

Project proposal (community and economic growth impact and benefits of the proposed project) (up to 25 pts)
Project Financial Feasibility and Cost Effectiveness (up to 15 pts)
Readiness to proceed (up to 35 pts)
Experience & capacity of applicant/development team (up to 20 pts)
Efforts to reduce costs (up to 5 pts)
Bonus points for ** (up to 4 pts)
- ** location within low- or moderate-income community or qualified census tract (per SLFRF rules); participation by NJ certified Women, Minority, Veteran Business Enterprises (MWVBE)

Applications will be recommended to the Board for award approval starting with the highest scored application until all program funding is awarded. If all program funds are not awarded during the initial application period, then applications will be reopened on a rolling basis and grants will be awarded on a first come, first served basis to eligible applicants that meet the minimum score of 65 points.

All eligible applications will proceed to the Board for approvals, and all applications which have not been declined due to non-discretionary reasons will also proceed to the Board.

Grant Funding Disbursements

Once a project is approved for funding, NJEDA will enter into a grant agreement with the applicant detailing the project to be funded, eligible project costs, the amount of grant funding, and all financial programmatic requirements. The grant agreement will also include reporting, compliance, and other requirements per the US Treasury’s Compliance and Reporting Guidance for ARP SLFRF funding awards. Applicants will be responsible for assuring the compliance of the project with all terms and conditions of the application, the Fund program, and federal ARP SLFRF funding requirements.

The Authority will disburse grants only to the applicant. The grant funds will be disbursed either incrementally as eligible project expenses are incurred and prorated with other funding sources with the NJEDA’s standard construction retainage withheld until project completion or grant funds may be disbursed in coordination with the other lender’s disbursement process.

Funding disbursement requests must be evidenced by documentation supporting that the expenses were incurred, work has been performed in accordance with prevailing wage and labor standards compliance requirements, and work was done consistent with project approval and eligible uses of program funding.

Final payment of grant funds will be made upon NJEDA’s inspection of completed project and receipt of either temporary certificate of occupancy or certificate of occupancy as determined by the NJEDA.

Fees

A fee of $1,000 is due at time of application submission.

Additional Information

Comprehensive information about the Construction Inflation Fund is available at

Construction Inflation Fund – NJEDA

Questions concerning this Notice of Funding Availability should be submitted to realestateinfo@njeda.com.

The NJEDA is subject to State and Federal statutes including but not limited to the following which may impact affiliates: N.J.S.A. 52:32-60.1, et seq., which prevents the New Jersey government entities from certain dealings with businesses on the Treasury list of those engaged in prohibited activities in Belarus or Russia; N.J.S.A. 24:6I-49 which provides that the following are not eligible for most State or local economic incentives (a) a person or entity issued a license to operate as a cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, or delivery service, or that employs a certified personal use cannabis handler to perform work for or on behalf of a cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service; and (b) a property owner, developer, or operator of a project to be used, in whole or in part, by or to benefit a cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, retailer, or delivery service, or to employ a certified personal use cannabis handler to perform work for or on behalf of a cannabis establishment, distributor, or delivery service; and N.J.S.A. 52:13D-12, et seq., which prohibits a member of the Legislature or a State officer or employee or their partners or a corporation in which they owns or controls more than 1% of the stock to undertake or execute any contract, agreement, sale, or purchase of $25.00 or more, made, entered into, awarded or granted by any State agency, with certain limited exceptions.

New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology
The Food and Agriculture Research & Development Pilot Seed Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (“CSIT”) expects to launch an online application for the Food and Agriculture Research & Development Pilot Seed Grant Program at 9am am on June 5, 2023 at www.njeda.com/csit. Application will be open through July, 14 2023 at 5 pm. The Food and Agriculture Research & Development Pilot Seed Grant Program has a total budget of $750,000 for grant awards of up to $75,000 each. This is a competitive grant. No application, transaction, or termination fees will be collected by CSIT for this program. Decisions on this grant award are expected to be made by 4^th Quarter of 2023.

Purpose

The Food and Agriculture Research & Development Pilot Seed Grant Program (“Program”) supports innovation from researchers and entrepreneurs focused on developing technology and other solutions to addressing food insecurity in New Jersey (“NJ”). The Program will engage early-stage innovation-based companies to accelerate research and development of technologies into commercially viable products and services that address food security needs of communities across NJ. The Program seeks to identify and implement ways to increase access to nutritious foods and develop new approaches to alleviate food deserts. The Program supports the development of innovative technologies within the target areas listed below.

The Program is focused on companies conducting research and development or testing technologies in the following target areas:

Life Sciences (e.g., Next generation crop, soil health, indoor agriculture, and aquaculture)
Technology (e.g., Digital services and platform development for improved food access, digital services to reduce food waste, digital platform to access emergency food and other services necessary for food security)
Food and Beverage (Non-retail) (e.g., Improved connection between urban food systems and rural and urban communities to improve food access, increased capacity, and distribution of farm fresh products)
Transportation and Logistics (e.g., online platform designed to facilitate business-to-business connections with local food systems to address disruptions to the local food supply, innovative food delivery models with reduced carbon footprint)

All applicants for the Program must provide proof of concept for their project proposed for funding.

Overview

The total funding of $750,000 for the Program comes from New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s (“NJEDA”) Fiscal Year 2022 (“FY2022”) appropriations for “Food and Agriculture Innovation” via a Memorandum of Understanding between NJEDA and CSIT. The Program will be implemented by CSIT.

The Program will award grants of up to $75,000 to support ten (10) NJ-based early-stage innovation-based companies that have the potential to impact Food and Agriculture outcomes.

Program Details

Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with awards going to the highest scoring applicants, provided the minimum score is met.

Applicants can only submit one (1) application for this grant. Multiple applications from the same company will NOT be accepted. If an applicant submits two applications, they must select which application moves forward. Applicants that apply to this Program are not eligible to apply for the Round 2 Catalyst Research and Development Pilot Seed Grant Program

Each grant will be valid for a period of twelve (12) months, effective the from date of the execution of the grant agreement. Any unused approved grant amounts will be cancelled after the twelve (12) month period and returned to the CSIT program budget for future use. An extension for up to an additional three (3) months may be permitted at the discretion of CSIT.

Please note that CSIT grant applicants may adjust and resubmit grant budgets by the Program resubmission deadline if;

Submitted budget at the time of application exceed the approved grant amount
Submitted budget at the time of application includes ineligible budgetary items as stated in notice of funding
Submitted budget at the time of application exceeds the 30% marketing threshold as stated in the notice of funding
Submitted budget at the time of application does not include printed name of preparer and date

Applications with incorrect budgets that are not revised by the resubmission deadline will be declined.

Eligibility

Each applicant to the Program must meet the following eligibility criteria at the time of application and maintain eligibility during the entire review period in order to be eligible for an award:

Be authorized and in good standing to conduct business in NJ as evidenced by a current NJ tax clearance certificate addressed to CSIT. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
Have no more than twenty-five (25) full-time equivalent (“FTE”) workers (FTE calculated on a 35-hour work week) at time of application.
Have a minimum of one (1) full time worker. A worker may be the founder and may be paid or unpaid.
50% or more of the cumulative hours worked by all workers, founders, and contractors must be conducted in NJ (calculated on an FTE basis – 35 hrs. per week).
Have less than or equal to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in 2022 calendar year sales revenue (excluding grant revenue).

Eligible Uses

The grant funding can be utilized for project research and development activities.

Ineligible Uses

The following expense categories are ineligible for funding by this grant:

Direct services to individuals or organizations
Manufacturing of products for sale or commercial use
Real estate rental expenses
Patient clinical trial expenses
Construction costs
Travel, entertainment, and other similar expenses
Allocations of general overhead expenses
Any expenditures incurred before the “Effective date”, the date representing the last date of execution of the grant agreement by the respective parties
Any expenses for equipment and materials that applicant does not use for the project during the project period
Fees related to conferences not associated with the project

In addition, no more than 30% of the budget proposed for the Project, in the aggregate, may be spent on:

Marketing and customer discovery specific to the innovation
IP patent prosecution and licensing-related expenses
Conference registration fees

Disbursement of funds

First disbursement will equal 80% of grant award on the effective date of the grant agreement. Second disbursement of 20% after Final Report is submitted.

Application Process

All applications to the Program must include the following documentation:

Completed online application
Evidence that proof of concept has been achieved for the project. Submit one of the following:
- Description of the proof-of-concept results
- Published paper outlining results achieved Successful completion of a federal SBIR/STTR grant or contract related to the project
- Documentation from a university tech transfer office if the project relates to technology that has been developed at a university
Budget and Milestone Proposals (Excel template embedded within online application)
Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing -i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1, or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (“PEO”) is utilized, the applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the NJ Department of Labor (“DOL”), These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.
Summary of most recent internal payroll (Q4 2021 or Q1 2022) indicating each employee name and number of hours worked per week.
Most recent company tax filing: Federal 941 and either an NJ-CBT-100 (Schedule A), Form-1065 or Form -1040 (Schedule C) or whichever is applicable to the organizational form of the business, showing the total Gross Receipts or Sales for the year.
Current NJ tax clearance certificate addressed to CSIT Tax clearance must be dated May 15, 2023 or after. https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp
DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or application will be declined.
If applicable, copy of Women and/or Minority owned business NJ certification https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/
DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or relevant bonus points will not be awarded.
If applicable, copy of Veteran owned business NJ certification
DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or relevant bonus points will not be awarded.
If applicable, a copy of Executed University License Agreement with University. DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or relevant bonus points will not be awarded.
Complete Application Certification
Completed CSIT Legal Debarment Questionnaire
For companies with a Dba “doing business as”, we require a Proof of registration for “doing business as”.

The following steps detail the application submission process:

A document completeness review will be done as applications are received
Applicants with missing documentation will be notified and given 10 business days to submit missing documents. If the application remains incomplete by the resubmission deadline, it will be declined.
Only complete applications will be evaluated and scored. Applicants must submit the NJ tax clearance certificate by the start of the application scoring period; otherwise, the application will be declined. For any bonus points category, if the documentation is not received by the application scoring period, bonus points will not be applied.
Denied applications may appeal CSIT’s declination, provided they do so within the timeframe provided in CSIT’s declination letter. Appeals must be written and include an explanation as to how the applicant has met the all eligibility criteria.

Scoring

An evaluation committee comprised of CSIT and NJEDA staff will review and assign a score to each application, after receiving qualitative input from Subject Matter Experts (“SME”s). As part of the process, all applicants with complete applications will be invited, but are not required, to make a brief presentation about their project and submit it to the evaluation committee and SMEs.

All applicants must achieve a minimum score of 70 in the following criteria to be eligible for a grant.

Innovation (up to 30 points)
Market opportunity (up to 10 points)
Implementation plan – budget and milestones (up to 20 points)
Go-to-market strategy (up to 10 points)
Economic and community impact (up to10 points)
Team (up to 20 points)

Bonus Points – Bonus points will be awarded to applicants that achieve the minimum score and are also:

A company using technology initially developed at a NJ university, under an executed license agreement with such university (15 points)
NJ certified women-owned business (10 points)
NJ certified minority-owned business (10 points)
NJ certified veteran – owned business (10 points)
Primary place of business/research & development located within an opportunity zone eligible census tract or government restricted municipality (5 points)
Has not previously received a CSIT grant or voucher (10 points)

Grants will be awarded to applicants with the highest overall scores, provided the minimum score is met, until program funds are expended.

Board Approval

The CSIT Program Committee will review scored applications and make funding recommendations to the CSIT board. The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant award winners.

Fees

No application, transaction, or termination fees will be collected by CSIT for this program.

Additional Information

Other Terms & Conditions

For two years from the date of the grant agreement, workers and consultants who continue working on the project must conduct 50% of their work in a NJ location. Failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the applicant make full re-payment of the grant award.

All grant awardees must report economic impact data to CSIT upon the completion of the project and an additional two years after project completion by submitting an “Economic Impact Questionnaire” provided by CSIT.

All grant awardees are encouraged to commit to participate in one (1) in-person interim site visits from the CSIT/EDA team for update on project.

All grant awardees are encouraged to commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA alumni activities, such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about program experience.

Confidentiality

Applications received will be reviewed only by staff of CSIT and NJEDA and SMEs. SMEs will execute NDAs prior to reviewing the application. All applications submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to requests pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted to CSIT must be specifically identified and marked by the applicant as such.

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Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation Program

Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA” or “Authority”) will begin accepting applications for the Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation Program on Tuesday, May 30^th, 2023, at 10:00AM EST. Applications will be accepted during a competitive window and will close on Tuesday, August 22^nd, 2023 at 5PM EST. A non-refundable application fee of $1,000 is due at time of application for each product. Not-for-profit entities may apply for an undue hardship fee waiver. Undue hardship fee waiver can be demonstrated through the nonprofit’s most recent 990 form if Revenue Less Expenses (line 19) is less than or equal to $500,000 and Net Assets/Fund Balances (line 22) is less than or equal to $1,000,000.

The application can be accessed at Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation (ART) Program – NJEDA.

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Purpose:

The Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation Program (“ART Program”) is a competitive grant program that will proactively deploy $10 million in American Rescue Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery (SLFRF) Funds to address the impacts of COVID-19.

Administered by the NJEDA, the ART Program provides a total funding source of $10 million SLFRF funding from two separate funding sources. The funding will be split between two eligible cities, Atlantic City and Newark.

Background:

As outlined by Governor Murphy’s Fiscal Year 2023 Budget in Brief, and approved by the New Jersey Joint Budget Oversight Committee, five million dollars has been appropriated to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority for projects in Atlantic City. The remaining five million dollars has been appropriated to NJEDA to support projects that mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19 in commuter hub cities.

After the transition to a remote workforce in March of 2020, economic support for catalytic developments that increase and retain commuter foot-traffic is essential to support municipalities most impacted by workforce losses due to remote work. The remaining $5 million will be dedicated to one single municipality most impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency on the commuter base. The analysis looked at the municipality with the largest total difference between the residential population and the total daytime population. The City of Newark meets this criterion as per the data collected in 2015 – 2019 U.S. Census American Community Survey and as analyzed by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. The analysis states that Newark has a total daytime population of 401,712; residential population of 281,054 with a daytime population increase of 120,658. This data shows the largest total daytime population increase of all New Jersey municipalities.

The goal of the ART Program is to partner with local entities to proactively address the negative economic impacts of the pandemic by investing in projects that create the environment necessary to attract and retain residents and talent, enable business creation and attractions, enhance downtown vitality, and help local governments avoid future budget crises.

Funding:

The approved purpose of the ART Program’s SLFRF funds is Revenue Replacement (Category 6) in accordance with U.S. Treasury’s Final Rule.

This pilot program will support two products for both cities, Atlantic City and Newark: (1) Real Estate Rehabilitation and Development and (2) Public Space Activation. Funding can be fungible between the two products based on demand of each product. The minimum award request for both the Real Estate Rehabilitation and Development product and the Public Space Activation product is $250,000. The maximum award for the Real Estate Rehabilitation product is $3,500,000 and the maximum award for the Public Space product is $1,500,000. All applicants that receive ART Program funding are required to submit quarterly reports to demonstrate compliance to NJEDA.

Pursuant to federal program guidelines, all ART funds must be obligated by December 31, 2024, and must be expended by December 31, 2026.

Two ART Program Products:

Product 1) – Real Estate Rehabilitation and Development

Under the ART Program’s Real Estate Rehabilitation and Development grant product, up to seventy percent (70%) of total program funding (approximately $3.5 M in each municipality) will support project-specific hard and soft costs that revitalize commercial corridors and incentivize catalytic development.

Product 2) – Public Space Activation

Under the ART Program’s Public Space Activation grant product, thirty percent (30%) of total program funding (approximately $1.5 million in each municipality) can support the creation of public space activation initiatives.

Eligibility

In order for projects to be eligible for ART Program funding, all proposals must demonstrate how the proposed expenditure will mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in either Newark or Atlantic City. As part of the application, each project will be required to submit a narrative explicitly stating the harm that the proposed project will address, and how this expenditure will increase the economic resiliency and vitality of the commercial corridor as we transition from pandemic to endemic. All applicants must certify at time of application of their existing project costs and their financial need.

Projects must be located in either Atlantic City or Newark and within eligible areas within each city.

Atlantic City- Atlantic City projects in commercial corridor is defined as a project located in the boundaries of the City of Atlantic City that is within 1 ½ (1.5) miles radius of an active NJ Transit rail station,
Newark- Newark projects in a commercial corridor is defined as a project located in the boundaries of the City of Newark that is within 1½ (1.5) miles radius of an active NJ Transit rail station

Entities are eligible to apply for one or both programs.

Municipalities and government entities are not eligible to apply for either.

All applicants must certify at time of application to their existing project costs and their financial need.

Eligible Project Activities:

In order to be eligible for ART funding, all capital construction projects must have a total cost of less than $10M. These projects can include:

Renovation or restoration of vacant buildings, or square feet of vacant space within a partially occupied building.
New construction of at least 10,000 square feet on an existing vacant lot.
Acquisition costs.
Eligible projects can include mixed- used construction.

Ineligible activities include:

Demolition of a structure to create a vacant lot for future development.
Projects that are 100% residential construction.

Product (2) – Public Space Activation Product Eligibility:

Eligible Applicants:

Nonprofit organizations with a 501c(3) or 501c(19) status including but not limited to, Economic Development Corporations, Community Development Corporations, Nonprofit Economic Development or Redevelopment Agencies, Business Improvement Districts and City Improvement Districts and Art Organizations.

Eligible Project Activities:

Funding is expected to support the creation of public space activation initiatives, such as:

Placemaking projects, public art installations, signage, and streetscape improvements Activation of public spaces through events
Operating costs for arts organizations
Master/subleases for programmatic use (including incubator space, small business support, and events) in mixed use and commercial properties only

Project Considerations:

Competitive projects for both Product (1) and (2) will clearly address the impacts of the COVID-19 public health emergency by responding to the following considerations:

COVID Impact: Applicants must address how the proposal is responsive to the negative public health and/or economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and complies with all the SLFRF requirements.
Locations: Projects must be located in Atlantic City or Newark. All projects must support commercial corridors and be located in urban areas with mass transit.
Capacity: The applicant must have experience implementing a project of a similar scope.
Long-term impacts: Competitive applicants must articulate via the application process how the proposal will have a positive long-term impact in the community.

This may include certain factors like renovating a facility to support small businesses, including how it will enable growth in population and tax revenue.

Financial Viability: Must demonstrate long-term financial viability of the project and a time period for project completion through the submission of a pro forma.
Local impact considerations: A project must demonstrate how it supports the goals and visions stated (if available) in either a local master plan, downtown or neighborhood plan, capital improvements plan and/or economic development strategy, along with the readiness of infrastructure.
U.S. Treasury reporting: Ability to provide the U.S. Department of the Treasury with relevant reporting for all project expenditures exceeding $1 million, specifically, all proposals must provide a narrative on how the project will address the impacts of COVID-19 in either Atlantic City or Newark, and why this capital expenditure is the most appropriate to address the economic harms caused by COVID.

Scoring:

NJEDA is seeking 3 applications to evaluate. However, the Authority reserves the right to approve one grant award. All successful applicants must follow a uniform disbursement schedule. Applicants are required to submit progress reports in order to receive grant disbursements. At a minimum, the progress reports must include:

Summary of funds expended to date:
Narrative detailing milestones achieved and overall progress toward completion of final plan; and
Proof of State regulatory compliance for Prevailing Wage pursuant to N.J.A.C. 19:30-4.2 and Affirmative Action pursuant to N.J.A.C. 19:30-3.3.

Grants will be scored on a scale of 0-100 points, with award recommendations limited to applications that meet or exceed the minimum score requirement of 65 points. Applications will be evaluated and scored on each of the criteria found in Exhibit B.

Grant award recommendations will be made based on the highest scored applications received after the competitive application window closes. Awards will be recommended in order until the funding pool is fully utilized.

NJEDA staff will make up a scoring committee to score each complete application for each product. Staff will recommend applicants for approval to the Board based upon scoring that can be fully funded based on the applicant’s Funding Request Certification and staff’s review.

If the next ranked applicant (that scored above the minimum score) cannot be fully funded, NJEDA staff will notify that applicant of the available amount that can be awarded. The applicant will have 15 business days from the date of the notice to accept the amount of the grant and to provide proof of an additional funding to ensure the project can still be completed by using a letter of intent, commitment letter, bank statements, or any other means. If the applicant decides not to accept the amount available or does not identify additional funding to complete the project, the application will be incomplete and deemed withdrawn by NJEDA. The application may also be denied if the additional funding does not meet the product requirement for such funding. If no award is given to that applicant, NJEDA will proceed with the same process to the next highest scored application (above the minimum score). Throughout this process, the applicant will not be allowed to change its project, as that would impact scoring.

The full scoring criteria and available points can be viewed here: https://www.njeda.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ART-Scoring-Specifications.pdf

Grant Disbursements

NJEDA will disburse grants only to applicant. Applicant shall be responsible for assuring the compliance of any strategic partners and/or subcontractors with all terms and conditions of the application. The applicant assumes the sole and absolute responsibility for any payments due to any municipal, county, or strategic partners.

Under the Real Estate Rehabilitation and Development program, applicants will receive one disbursement of 50% of the total award amount upon 50% of project completion as demonstrated through their contract documents such as their AIA (American Institute of Architects) documents. Second disbursement will occur when the applicant can provide a Certificate of Occupancy and proof of completion.

Under the Public Space Activation Program, the Applicant will receive the full grant amount upon execution of the grant agreement, and then will be required to submit quarterly reporting until project completion. NJEDA will provide the applicant with the report, and they will complete the required documentation indicating proper use of funds.

Application Process:

The ART Program will be a competitive grant program accepting applications during a 60-business day window. Applicants may apply for both products at the same time if their project is eligible.

The Authority will perform a review of applications after the closing of the application period for completeness. Applicants will be given five business days to cure any deficiencies. If the applicant is non-responsive, then at the end of the five-day period, the applications will be deemed withdrawn. At the sole discretion of the Authority, staff may ask for clarification of the application information, including but not limited to responses, documentation, and attachments. Once an application is deemed complete, it will be reviewed for eligibility.

Fees:

NJEDA will charge applicants the following fees:

NJEDA will charge a non-refundable application fee of $1,000 to all entities applying for funding through the Real Estate Rehabilitation and Development product, and $1,000 to all entities applying for funding through the Public Space Activation product.
Not-for-profit entities may apply for an undue hardship fee waiver at time of application. Fee waivers for Undue hardship can be demonstrated through the nonprofit’s most recent 990 form if Revenue Less Expenses (line 19) is less than or equal to $500,000 and Net Assets/Fund Balances (line 22) is less than or equal to $1,000,000.

Additional information on ART may be found at Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation (ART) Program – NJEDA.

Questions concerning this Notice of Funding Availability should be submitted via email to ART@njeda.gov.

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Film & Digital Media Studio Infrastructure Program (“Program”) – Pilot Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

Revision extends the application submission deadline from August 16, 2023 to October 19, 2023 at 5PM.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA” or “Authority”) will begin accepting applications for the Program on May 18, 2023 at 10:00am. The application can be accessed at: Film & Digital Media Studio Infrastructure Program – NJEDA. Applications for this program will be available for a minimum of ninety days after the launch of the online application. Applications must be submitted by October 19, 2023 at 5:00 pm. The Program will make use of $9,500,000 for infrastructure improvements and sitework in support of the development of a film or digital media studio production facility. This is a competitive application process and following the closure of the application period, applications will be evaluated for completeness and eligibility and then scored by a committee of NJEDA staff. The highest scoring applications will be presented to the NJEDA Board for approval.

Purpose

The Program is established to fund infrastructure improvements and sitework in support of the development of a film or digital media studio production facility. The Program is established to stimulate economic growth and enhance the State’s long-term economic competitiveness by supporting and encouraging strategic economic development investments in the designated Film & Digital Media industry target sector. The Program will provide a minimum grant of $50,000 and a maximum grant of $4,750,000 per approved project.

Overview

Governor Murphy’s Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Act (“Act”) allocates significant State funding for numerous strategic economic development investments to support key industries, advance the innovation economy, continue to bolster recovery, and spur statewide growth. These strategic investments include $15 million for a Film Industry Strategic Support Fund to grow and strengthen the state’s film and digital media industry, including attracting film studio production facilities to the state and expanding job opportunities.

Program Details

The Program is a competitive grant program that will proactively deploy $9.5 million to fund infrastructure improvements and sitework (“Project”) in support of the development of a film or digital media studio production facility.

The Program will provide funding to eligible applicants as described below that are undertaking eligible Projects that support the development of a film or digital media studio production facility.

Eligibility

The Program will provide a minimum grant of $50,000 and a maximum grant of $4,750,000 per approved project to the below eligible applicants that are undertaking infrastructure improvements or sitework to support the development of a film or digital media studio production facility (collectively defined as “Applicants”):

Municipalities,
Municipal entities,
Counties,
County entities, and/or
State instrumentalities.

Eligible Projects are limited to infrastructure improvements and sitework in support of the development of a film or digital media studio production facility; such infrastructure improvements may include but are not limited to the following:

Roadwork or transportation improvements
Water and/or sewer lines/service
Gas lines/service
Telecommunications
High speed broadband
Electrical utility lines/grid/supply
Accessibility and safety improvements (i.e. sidewalks, fire hydrants)
Site remediation or site work on government owned property

All Projects shall be subject to prevailing wage law and compliance with other labor standards requirements.

Additional applicant requirements:

Must be in substantial good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection at the time of application. A current tax clearance certificate must be provided prior to approval to demonstrate the applicant is in substantial good standing with the NJ Division of Taxation unless the applicant is not required to register with the Division of Taxation.

Application Submission and Review Process

Applications submitted after the application deadline will not be accepted or reviewed.

Project overview and description;
Letter from the studio production facility confirming studio plans to build/expand studio production facility (indicate sf size) on the site with an estimated number of full-time equivalent jobs when operational, and that the proposed infrastructure improvements in Applicant’s proposal are being undertaken in support of the studio production facility;
Project budget (Sources & Uses line-item detail) including evidence of additional financing if applicable per Project budget;
Project development timeline;
Experience and capacity of the applicant (and contractors/consultants if applicable) to implement Project within Project development timeline; and
Narrative and/or documentation regarding Small, Women, Minority, Veteran Business Enterprises (“SWMVBE”) participation, if applicable

After the close of the application period, EDA staff will review all applications for completeness and will respond to the applicant(s) to request any necessary clarifications to the application(s). Applicants will be given ten business days to cure any deficiencies, or the application will be withdrawn.

Applications deemed complete will be reviewed and scored by NJEDA evaluation scoring committee. Applications will be scored on a scale of 0 – 100 points, with award recommendations limited to applications that meet or exceed the minimum score requirement of 65 points.

Scoring factors and points will include:

Applicant readiness to proceed	(up to 35 pts)
Project merits (community and regional economic impact and benefits of the proposed project as catalyst for and connection to local development)	(up to 35 pts)
Project Feasibility	(up to 15 pts)
Applicant (and contractor/consultant) experience & capacity	(up to 10 pts)
SWMVBE participation	(up to 5 pts)

Applications that meet the minimum score requirement of 65 out of a possible 100 points will initially be separated into two groups –

applications in support of a Film or Digital Media Studio production facility in excess of 250,000 square feet, and
applications in support of a Film or Digital Media Studio production facility less than 250,000 square feet

Provided that one or more applications are submitted in each group that meet or exceed the minimum score requirement of 65 points, the highest ranked application from each group shall be recommended to the Board for approval. Following this step, all remaining applications will be merged into a single group and recommended to the Board for award approval starting with the highest scored application until all Program funding is awarded.

If an applicant requests grant funding for an eligible Project but there are not sufficient Program funds available to fund the full grant request, NJEDA would inform the applicant of the amount of grant funds available. If the applicant wishes to proceed, the applicant would be required to fund the difference to fill the gap to ensure the submitted Project proposal is undertaken as described.

If all Program funds are not awarded during the initial application period, then applications will be reopened on a rolling basis with applications that meet the minimum score being recommended for award based on the order in which completed and eligible applications are received.

All eligible applications will proceed to the Board for approvals, and all applications which have not been declined due to non-discretionary reasons will also proceed to the Board.

Funding Disbursements

NJEDA will disburse grants only to the applicant. The applicant shall be responsible for assuring the compliance of the project with all terms and conditions of the application and the Program funding requirements.

Once a Project is approved for funding, NJEDA will enter into a grant agreement with the applicant detailing the Project to be funded, eligible Project costs, the amount of grant funding, and all financial programmatic requirements.

The grant funds will be disbursed either incrementally as eligible Project expenses are incurred and prorated with other funding sources if applicable with the NJEDA’s standard construction retainage withheld until Project completion, or grant funds may be disbursed in coordination with the other funder’s disbursement process if applicable.

If the approved Film or Digital Media Studio Infrastructure Project has not been completed and the supported studio production facility has been terminated (for example, applicable redevelopment agreement is terminated, site plan approvals are denied or expire), the Applicant will no longer be eligible for any remaining unused grant funds.

Final payment of grant funds will be made upon the NJEDA’s inspection of completed Project and receipt of certificate of completion.

Grant Amounts

The minimum amount of grant funding is $50,000 and the maximum amount of grant funding is $4,750,000 to any one Project. Grant funding may fund 100% of an approved Project’s costs.

Fees

A fee of $1,000 is due at time of application submission.

Additional Information

Comprehensive information about the Film & Digital Media Studio Infrastructure Program is available at Film & Digital Media Studio Infrastructure Program – NJEDA

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New Jersey Innovation Fellows Program (NJIF) Application
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)

Revision extends the application deadline from May 15, 2023 5PM to June 19, 2023 5PM

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will begin accepting applications for the New Jersey Innovation Fellows Program at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, March 14, 2023 and closes on Monday, June 19, 2023 at 5PM. The application can be accessed at https://www.njeda.gov/new-jersey-innovation-fellows-program/.

Purpose

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA” or “Authority”) is seeking applications from qualified applicants for the New Jersey Innovation Fellows Grant Program (“NJIF”). The program aims to provide income-replacement* funding to teams of entrepreneurs, through the disbursement of fellowship grants in the base amount of $200,000, and up to $400,000 with qualified bonuses, thereby facilitating economic growth and job creation in eligible municipalities.

* “Income-replacement” capital is purposed to replace a stream of income an entrepreneur might forego to launch an early-stage business.

Overview

P.L.2021, c.160 (C.34:1B-370 through 34:1B-373), establishes the New Jersey Innovation Fellows Program, which provides a total of $10 million in funding to support would-be entrepreneurs, particularly diverse entrepreneurs, with “income replacement” grants. This resource creates an opportunity for new entrepreneurs to pursue a unique startup business venture with the security of initial income replacement funding in the two-year ideation and formation period of their business.

In accordance with the statute and the NJEDA Board Memo dated November 16, 2022, approved teams will be qualified to receive $200,000 as a base award with up to $200,000 in bonuses that would result in a total award of up to $400,000. See Bonus section below. Furthermore, award disbursements are subject to teams meeting and maintaining compliance milestones. With satisfactory compliance milestones, funding will be disbursed over eight quarters.

Additionally, the NJIF legislation requires all members of the approved entrepreneur team (each an “entrepreneur fellow”) to participate in a mentorship program. The Authority will seek to execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with third-party partners, to help structure and administer a State-wide mentorship program.

Entrepreneur fellows will be required to participate in the mentorship programs facilitated by the third-party partners as a condition of their grant award, which will incorporate virtual and in-person meetings. Mandatory attendance of the mentorship program will be required throughout the two-year duration of the fellowship program.

The initial general-operations curriculum may train the entrepreneurs in the following subject matters:

• Managerial Finance, Accounting, & Financial Statements preparations

• Human Resources development & management

• Marketing & Customer Development

• Product design, development & management

• Capital sourcing & raise

• Vision Mapping

• Buyer Personas

• Business Model Design

• Contracts & Business structures (Legal studies).

Bonuses

The Fellowship grant awards $200,000 per team of no less than three (3), first-time entrepreneurs as a base award. Teams may access an additional $50,000 award on top of the $200,000 base award if one entrepreneur team member verifies residency in a designated Opportunity Zone in New Jersey. Opportunity zone means a federal population census tract in New Jersey that was eligible to be designated as a qualified opportunity zone pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s.1400Z-1. Teams may also be awarded an additional $50,000 in bonuses for each entrepreneur leader, who self-certifies as a “diverse entrepreneur” (as defined in section 2 of P.L.1997, c.349 (C.54:10A-5.29) OR is a “graduate of a New Jersey college or university” (including 2yr, and 4yr schools) in the State, as evidenced by corresponding degree or certification documents. Qualifying teams may receive total bonuses of up to $150,000 for certifying team members, resulting in a potential total award of $400,000.

“Diverse entrepreneur” is defined in N.J.S.A. 54:10A-5.29 as individuals meeting the criteria for “minority business” or “female business” defined in N.J.S.A. 52:32-19 as either “persons who are black, Hispanic, Portuguese, Asian-American, American Indian or Alaskan natives” or a woman. – Thus, the Authority will accept an individual entrepreneur’s minority self-certification, if the individual identifies as one of the ethnic and racial categories recognized for minority-owned businesses for the purposes of State certification or identifies as a woman.

Eligibility

The NJIF program will support teams of at least three entrepreneurs, of which half must be first-time entrepreneurs. A team with an odd number of entrepreneur leaders must demonstrate more than half the team must be first-time entrepreneurs. The NJIF program defines a first-time entrepreneur as an entrepreneur who has never been listed as a founder, co-founder, or owner of a business entity that operated in a targeted industry in the State of New Jersey, or has not received third-party, institutional, funding for past entrepreneurial opportunities as early as the ideation phase. Entrepreneurs who have received State and/or federal funding for past entrepreneurial opportunities with entities which did not operate in a targeted industry in the State of New Jersey are eligible for the grant’s consideration.

At least half of the self-identified entrepreneur team (i.e., the minimum three entrepreneurs that will manage the new start-up venture) must certify as “first-time entrepreneurs” and must come directly from the workforce. A team with an odd number of entrepreneur leaders must demonstrate more than half the team must be first-time entrepreneurs.

NJIF Legislation also requires all grant recipients to pay gross income tax at the time of application or demonstrate gross income tax paid within 60 days prior to application date.

Detailed eligibility criteria can be found on the NJIF web page here: New Jersey Innovation Fellows Program – NJEDA.

Application Process

Applications for the NJIFs program will be accepted during distinct application rounds, where the application and any supporting information will be made available on the NJEDA website. There will be a total of four (4) distinct application periods over the course of the Fellowship’s two-year tenure (two application periods within a calendar year, open approximately six months apart), or until funds are exhausted. Each application period will be preceded by a 30-day open Q&A period, followed by an approximately 60-day application period.

Members of the Authority’s staff will ensure qualified applicants meet all minimum requirements for program participation by reviewing a minimum requirement checklist and supporting documentation.

Fees

There is a $250 application fee due at the time of application submission. Applications will not be considered complete without payment of the application fee.

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Wind Institute Fellowship Program for Private Research Universities

REVISED AS OF FEBRUARY 10, 2023 EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

This Notice of Funding is subject to the Governor’s veto pursuant to N.J.S.A. 34:1B-4.i and remains conditional until February 23, 2023.

Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA”) will begin accepting applications for the Wind Institute Fellowship Program for Private Research Universities on February 24, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. and will close on March 3, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. The application is open for 6 calendar days. There is a $1,000 non-refundable application fee. This is a non-competitive program. A total of $844,800 will be available through this program, with a maximum award amount of $281,000 per university. The application can be accessed at: https://www.njeda.gov/wind-institute-fellowship-program-for-private-research-universities/

Purpose

This grant opportunity is issued by the NJEDA seeking applications from qualified universities to participate in the Wind Institute Fellowship Program (“Fellowship Program”). NJEDA entered into Memorandums of Understanding with New Jersey’s public research universities for the first year of the Fellowship Program, which covers academic year 2022-2023. For Fellowship Program Year 2 and Fellowship Program Year 3, NJEDA seeks to also enter into agreements with New Jersey’s private, public mission research universities to expand the Fellowship Program.

Overview

The Fellowship Program is designed to encourage and support student research in topics that further the development of offshore wind in New Jersey and build student and faculty advisor expertise in offshore wind. Participating students (“Fellows”) will conduct independent research under the tutelage of a faculty advisor at their home institution. Fellows will convene as a cohort to participate in industry trainings, guest lectures, site visits and other activities to support their knowledge of the offshore wind industry, providing exposure to industry stakeholders.

For each Fellowship Program Year, each school will be responsible for recruiting a diverse set of students and managing their own application and selection process. Fellows may be upper class undergraduate (juniors and seniors) and graduate students, including masters and doctoral students, in any discipline/degree program as long as the research conducted for the Fellowship Program is focused on offshore wind. NJEDA will provide funding to each school to disburse as stipends for a capped number of students as described below. Undergraduate Fellows will receive a $15,000 stipend and graduate Fellows will receive a $30,000 stipend. Each Fellow will be provided an additional $1,000 stipend for travel, material, equipment, and other research expenses related to their Fellowship. Each private, public mission university will be able to select up to four (4) Fellows, with a goal of selecting at least one undergraduate (junior and senior) and one graduate (masters or ph.d) Fellow for each Fellowship Program Year. In addition, each faculty advisor will receive a $1,000 honorarium, and each school will be provided 10% of the total grant amount for facilities and administration expenses.

The Fellows’ research is expected to be completed over the course of the academic year, with the addition of the preceding or following Summer semester at each school’s discretion. Overall, the Fellowship should be in place for a minimum of 25 weeks and a maximum of 40 weeks. Fellowship Program Year 2 will take place during the 2023-2024 academic year beginning no later than the Fall 2023 semester and ending no later than the Summer 2024 semester. Fellowship Program Year 3 will take place during the 2024-2025 academic year beginning no later than the Fall 2024 semester and ending no later than the Summer 2025 semester. For each Fellowship Program Year, NJEDA will organize cohort meetings from October to April as well as an April symposium where Fellows will present their research findings to an audience of government, academic, and industry stakeholders.

Eligibility

Only New Jersey private, public-mission universities designated by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education as R1 (Very High Research Activity) or R2 (High Research Activity) are eligible to apply for this grant.

The university applicant must be in substantial good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The university applicant must provide a current tax clearance certificate as part of the application from the New Jersey Division of Taxation. Certificates may be requested through the State of New Jersey Premier Business Services Portal online at: https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp.

Project Scope

In support of the Fellowship Program, each of the selected universities will:

Develop and submit a Fellowship Program marketing and selection process plan that will guide efforts to advertise the program widely and support engagement of a diverse group of students and faculty advisors.
Conduct an application and selection process with established selection criteria
Facilitate connections between Fellows and faculty advisors and relevant resources at the university
Submit the names of the selected students, advisors, project descriptions, and signed participation forms to NJEDA within fifteen (15) days of completing the selection process and no later than September 1, 2023 for Fellowship Program Year 2 and September 1, 2024 for Fellowship Program Year 3
Begin the Fellowship Program no later than the Fall 2023 semester and conclude the program no later than the Summer 2024 semester for Fellowship Year 2 and begin no later than the Fall 2024 semester and conclude no later than the Summer 2025 semester for Fellowship Year 3
Assign a university representative to support NJEDA staff on communications with the Fellows and advisors throughout the Fellowship Program
Disburse and track program expenditures including payments to Fellows and honorariums to advisors per the university’s internal policies and procedures

Submit a report detailing the use of funds throughout the Fellowship Program no later than September 1, 2024 for Fellowship Program Year 2 and no later than September 1, 2025 for Fellowship Program Year 3
Return any funds not utilized for the program to NJEDA by September 30, 2024 for Fellowship Program Year 2 and September 30, 2025 for Fellowship Program Year 2. With NJEDA’s written approval, each university may roll over any unutilized Fellowship Program Year 2 funding to be used for Fellowship Program Year 3.

In support of the Fellowship Program, NJEDA will:

Provide communication materials and support the schools in marketing the Fellowship Program
Organize five to eight Fellowship cohort meetings from October to April of each Fellowship Program Year for Fellows to participate in industry trainings, guest lectures, site visits, and/or presentations
Recruit and engage key industry stakeholders throughout the program to maximize the Fellows’ exposure to the industry
Organize the Wind Institute Fellowship Symposium to take place in April of each Fellowship Program Year
Upon receiving the names of the selected students and their project descriptions, provide schools with funding based on the number and graduate level of the selected Fellows for each Fellowship Program Year.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted between February 24, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. and March 3, 2023 at 5:00

p.m. All interested applicants must complete and submit their applications online through the portal by the deadline to be considered for the program. The application can be found at: https://www.njeda.gov/wind-institute-fellowship-program-for-private-research-universities/

After the application window is closed, NJEDA staff will review all applications for completeness and compliance with the required documentation. All eligible applicants will be notified of their selection. NJEDA staff may request clarifying or additional information from applicants with incomplete or noncompliant applications and such information must be received within five (5) business days of the date of request or the response may be rejected.

There is no scoring criteria for this Program. NJEDA will enter an agreement with any and all applicants meeting the eligibility criteria subject to the availability of funds.

Grant Amounts

For each Fellowship Year, the maximum grant amount for each university is $140,800 (calculation based on all four Fellows at the graduate level). The grant award for each university would be less if the university selects fewer than the specified number of Fellows in total and/or a mix of undergraduate and graduate Fellows.

Eligible Uses

Funds may only be used for the Wind Institute Fellowship Program for:

Student research
Travel/material stipends
Faculty advisor honorariums (one faculty advisor per Fellow)
10% of the total grant amount for facilities and administrative expenses

Disbursement

Within fifteen (15) days of completing the selection process and no later than September 1, 2023 for Fellowship Program Year 2 and September 1, 2024 for Fellowship Program Year 3, the university must submit to NJEDA documentation on the selected students including the names of the selected students, advisors, project descriptions, and signed participation forms. Once received, NJEDA will disburse funds for each Fellowship Program Year based on:

$30,000 per graduate Fellow
- $15,000 per undergraduate Fellow
- $1,000 stipend per undergraduate or graduate Fellow for travel, materials, and other Fellowship expenses
- $1,000 faculty honorarium per faculty advisor
- 10% of the grant amount for Facilities and Administration expenses

Additional Information

Information about the Wind Institute Fellowship Program for Private Research Universities can be found at: https://www.njeda.gov/wind-institute-fellowship-program-for-private-research- universities/

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Food Security Planning Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

REVISED AS OF NOVEMBER 16, 2022 EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Revision clarifies application is open for 60 business days and therefore, closes December 20, 2022 at 5:00 PM.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA or Authority) hereby announces the availability of grant funding under the Food Security Planning Grant Program, with the purpose to serve as a pilot program to explore the potential for improving food access and food security in New Jersey’s designated Food Desert Communities (FDCs) by leveraging distressed assets.

The pilot planning grant program makes up to $1,500,000 available to competitively award grants up to $125,000 to municipal governments, county governments, and/or redevelopment agencies whose geographic catchment areas include an FDC.

Applications will open on September 27, 2022, at 10:00 am. Applications will be accepted for sixty business days after the opening of the application. Applications for this program will be accepted up to the closing date, December 20,2022 at 5:00 pm. Applications will be evaluated for completeness and scored by a committee of Authority staff. The highest scoring applications will be approved by the Chief Executive Officer of the NJEDA for funding.

A non-refundable fee of $1,000 shall accompany every application. An application fee waiver may be requested at the time of application for proposals led by municipalities or municipal authorities, boards, commissions, or other municipal entities ranked in the top 10 percent of the Municipal Revitalization Index (MRI).

The application can be accessed at https://www.njeda.gov/food-security-planning-grant/.

Purpose

The Food Security Planning Grant Program will support the development of an action plan leveraging distressed assets located in FDCs across New Jersey to improve food access and food security.

For the Food Security Planning Grant program, a distressed asset shall be defined as a commercial building or series of buildings, its attachments, and appurtenances; or vacant land that is fully or partially vacant for at least one year, that due to deteriorated condition or appearance of its exterior (because of deferred maintenance such as deteriorated paint or overgrown vegetation, boarded up door and/or windows), can be leveraged to improve food access and food security.

Overview

This funding opportunity is issued as part of Governor Phil Murphy’s campaign to build a stronger and fairer New Jersey by investing in communities and to improve food access and food security for all Garden State residents. The Food Security Planning Grant program will fund development of plans that improve food access and food security in the FDCs by leveraging distressed assets.

Not having access to food, and more specifically nutritious food, has a direct impact on one’s health. For this reason, access to nutritious, affordable, and culturally relevant food is a key component not only in a healthy, sustainable local food system, but also in creating vibrant communities and building a stronger and fairer New Jersey. The Food Security Planning Grant Program is one tool that NJEDA will deploy to empower local governments and redevelopment agencies to develop and submit plans to improve food access while transforming distressed assets that have presented a hindrance to economic growth.

The Food Security Planning Grant funding allocated in the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Act was assigned to the Economic Recovery Fund to create this planning grant program.

Eligibility

Eligibility under the program will be limited to the following entities whose geographic catchment areas include an FDC:

New Jersey municipal governments,
County governments, and
Redevelopment agencies.

While the applicant may serve or have offices in a broader geographic area, proposals must be for a distressed asset located within the borders of an FDC.[1]

For the Food Security Planning Grant program, the proposed plan must be for an asset which meets the above-mentioned definition of a distressed asset, and the proposed plan must leverage a distressed asset within one of the 50 FDCs.

Along with their application, applicants must provide a letter of support from the office of the mayor or chief executive of the municipality where the asset is located and at least one letter of support from a stakeholder located within the boundaries of the FDC.

For a property owned by a New Jersey County, municipal government entity, independent agency, or authority, the applicant must provide a letter of support from the property owner or their designee for the proposed project; this must be signed by the chief executive of the government entity, independent agency or authority or their designee.

For a property owned by a private individual or by a non-governmental for-profit or non-profit entity, the applicant is required to provide a letter of support signed by the owner, co-owner, corporate officer, or their designee.

Proposals for directly owned New Jersey state land will not be considered.

A municipality, a county, or redevelopment agency may submit multiple applications in a lead role and can be included as a partner in additional applications where they play a non-lead role. A municipality, county, and redevelopment agency whose geographic catchment areas include an FDC may each submit a proposal focused on the same FDC but are strongly encouraged to coordinate and submit a single application.

Eligible Uses

The Food Security Planning Grant Program will support the development of action plans focused on improving food access and food security in newly designated FDCs across New Jersey by leveraging distressed assets. Applicants must have identified a distressed asset within the borders of a FDC to be eligible for this grant.

The proposed plan may include but are not limited to strategies such as:

Identification and development of a community-based initiative/program or resource that improves access to affordable, fresh, and healthy produce and other food items.
Determining cost-benefits of retrofitting, redeveloping, or regreening the distressed asset as it relates to food access and food security.
Developing a plan to drive economic growth for the locality by implementing innovations around food access and food security solutions.
Creating greater social, economic, and environmental sustainability by identifying ways to grow, process and sell fresh produce.
Stakeholder engagement and facilitation to identify community desires and needs pertaining to food access and food security.
The identification of appropriate additional funding sources to support community led re-use of one or more properties to support food access and food security.
Feasibility study for a supermarket or food retailer.

Grant Amounts

The Food Security Planning Grant Program is a competitive grant program. Grant amounts will range from $75,000 to $125,000 and will be determined based on the Composite Food Desert Factor Score[2] for the FDC where the distressed asset is located:

Applicants with a distressed asset in an FDC with a Composite Food Desert Factor Score between 86.5 – 63.9 will be eligible to receive an award of $125,000.
Applicants with a distressed asset in an FDC with a Composite Food Desert Factor Score between 61.2 – 51.5 will be eligible to receive an award of $100,000.
Applicants with a distressed asset in an FDC with a Composite Food Desert Score between 51.2 -24.1 will be eligible to receive an award of $75,000.

Application Process

Online applications will be accepted for a 60-day period from the date the application is opened to the public, which will be communicated to all potential applicants via the Authority’s website and social media accounts. Applications submitted after the application deadline will not be accepted or reviewed.

To apply, an applicant must register or log into the online application portal, complete all required application questions fully, and upload all required PDF document attachments. After the close of the application period, EDA staff will review all applications for completeness and respond with any necessary rectifications to the application. The applicant will have five business days to cure any deficiencies, or the application will be withdrawn. Applications deemed complete will be scored by a committee of EDA staff. Applications must meet a minimum score of 55 to be recommended for grant funding.

Each application must contain the following documents:

Required Application Information

A full completed online application.
Religious Activities questionnaire, if applicable.
Signed Letter of Support from the Office of the Mayor or chief executive of the municipality where the asset is located.
Signed Letter of Support from at least one stakeholder located within the boundaries of the FDC.
Signed Letter of Support from the property owner of the distressed asset:
- For a property owned by a New Jersey County, municipal government entity, independent agency, or authority, the applicant must provide a letter of support from the property owner or their designee for the proposed project; this must be signed by the chief executive of the government entity, independent agency or authority or their designee.
- For a property owned by a private individual or by a non-governmental for-profit or non-profit entity, the applicant is required to provide a letter of support signed by the owner, co-owner, corporate officer, or their designee.
Completed Legal Questionnaire.
Application Fee or Fee Waiver Request.

Required Proposal Component of Application

Distressed Asset Description.
Plan Description/Specification/Statement of work
- Must identify current food security need and challenges in the FDC.
- Must identify opportunities for creating a viable and sustainable solution to improve food access and food security in the community.
- Must include emphasis on long term viability and adaptability of a given concept.
- Must identify and collaborate with other key stakeholders to create an inclusive plan.
Workplan
- Must provide Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound (SMART) objectives in the work plan with a timeline.
- Must identify appropriate staff responsible for implementing each activity.
- Must describe goals/outcomes for each activity.
- Must clearly describe the timeline needed to implement each activity within the grant period.
Organizational Capacity
- Demonstrate their ability to work effectively on a collaborative project with a state or federal agency or on a multi-stakeholder project.
- Must provide at least one example of working successfully within the FDC and with other collaborators.
- Must clearly state how this project aligns with and will impact applicant’s overall efforts to address the diverse food security and food access needs within the FDC they serve.
Community Engagement
- Must demonstrate partnership and engagement with various stakeholders across different sectors to address community needs. This will be supported by a letter of support from community stakeholders.
- Must demonstrate prior experience working with community members, stakeholders, and/or advocates in addressing food insecurity.
- Must demonstrate efforts to ensure programs are built to promote social and economic equity.
- Must be able to consider and mitigate any past difficulties that created challenges for the asset selected.
- Should demonstrate experience in community redevelopment with focus on equitable redevelopment projects, community focused adaptive reuse or innovative food distribution concepts.
Budget and Budget Justification
- Requested level of funding must be broken down line-by-line and its uses clearly illustrated in the budget narrative.
- Requested level of funding must be reasonable for proposed activities within the timeline.
- The 20 percent match requirement must be included.

Applications deemed complete will be scored by a committee of EDA staff. Applications that meet a minimum score of 55 points to be considered for an award.

Food Security Planning Grant is a competitive grant program. Applications will be evaluated and scored based on the following scoring criteria:

Location of the distressed asset in the FDC (5 – 10 points).
Plan description stating impact of the proposed plan on the distressed asset and the FDC (up to 20 points).
Work plan that describes the project’s purpose and merits, which must address the specific needs or the FDC as it relates to improved food access and food security (up to 20 points).
Organizational capacity of the applicant entity to successfully complete the project with meaningful outcome (up to 20 points).
Community engagement (up to 20 points).
Budget (up to 10 points).

Fees

A non-refundable fee of $1,000 shall accompany every application.

An application fee waiver may be requested at the time of application for proposals led by municipalities or municipal authorities, boards, commissions, or other municipal entities ranked in the top 10 percent of the Municipal Revitalization Index (MRI). Applicants will self-identify in the application as a municipality or municipal government entity requesting a waiver. Staff will determine if the entity meets the criteria for a waiver. Eligible entities will be granted a waiver for the program. Ineligible entities will be notified and a cure in the form of fee payment will be requested to complete the application.

Additional Information

Comprehensive information on Food Desert Community Designation is available here.

Comprehensive information about the Food Security Planning Grant program is available here

Click here for full PDF

[1] Most FDCs are not inclusive of the entire municipality, only parts of a municipality. Potential applicants can see if potential distressed assets are located within the boundaries of an FDC by viewing the FDC map at https://njdca.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=cd59d206f39c40a691d6ba38598134fb

[2] Composite factor scores are included in the list of FDC designations found at: https://www.njeda.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Food-Desert-Communities-Designation-Final-2-9-22.pdf

NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (CSIT)
NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY
Maternal and Infant Health Research and Development (R&D) Grant Program

The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT) expects to launch an online application for The Maternal and Infant Health Research and Development (R&D) Grant Program at 9:00 am on July 1, 2022 at https://www.njeda.gov/maternal-and-infant-health-grant/. The application will be open through August 26, 2022 at 5pm. The Maternal and Infant Health R&D Grant Program has a total budget of $750,000 for grant awards of up to $75,000 each. This is a competitive grant. No fees will be charged for this program. Decisions on this grant award are expected to be made by the CSIT Board by January 2023.

Purpose

The goal of the Maternal and Infant Health R&D Grant Program is to support innovation from researchers and entrepreneurs focused on developing technology, therapeutics, and other solutions to address maternal and infant health challenges in New Jersey. The grant will engage early-stage innovation-based companies in New Jersey and help to accelerate research and development of technologies, transforming new discoveries from research stage into commercially viable products and services.

The grant funds will support the research and development of technologies, products and services that enhance the quality of care for and service delivery activities to women, infants, and healthcare agencies from prenatal care through the postpartum period.

Prenatal care is the health care a woman gets during pregnancy. Early and regular prenatal visits with a health care provider are important for the health of both the mother and the fetus. Prenatal care can help prevent complications and inform women about important steps they can take to protect their infant and ensure a healthy pregnancy. With regular prenatal care women can:

Reduce the risk of pregnancy complications.
Reduce the fetus’s and infant’s risk for complications.
Help ensure the medications women take are safe

The postpartum period, also known as the fourth trimester, refers to the time after delivery when maternal physiologic changes related to pregnancy return to the nonpregnant state. In addition to physiologic changes and medical issues that may arise during this period, health care providers emphasize the psychological needs of the postpartum mother.

The Maternal and Infant Health R&D Grant Program is for companies conducting research and development or testing technologies related to maternal and infant health in the following target areas:

Life Sciences – (e.g., therapeutic drug development, medical devices),
Technology (e.g., digital and telehealth services and platform development, mental health services),
Food and beverage (non-retail).

Overview

The Maternal and Infant Health R&D Grant Program has a total budget of $750,000 for grant awards. Eligible applicants will receive awards of up to $75,000.

The objectives of the program are to:

Support innovation from researchers and entrepreneurs focused on developing technology, therapeutics, and other solutions to address maternal and infant health challenges from prenatal to 12 months postpartum.

Engage early-stage innovation-based companies in New Jersey to accelerate research and development of technologies to transform new discoveries from research stage into commercially viable products and services that impact maternal and infant health.

Program Details

Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with awards going to the highest scoring applicants provided the minimum score is met. All materials must be submitted after July 1, 2022 at 9 am and before the grant application deadline on August 26, 2022 at 5:00pm.

Each approved grant will be valid for a period of 12 months (starting from date of the execution of the grant agreement). Any unused approved grant amounts will be cancelled after the 12-month period and returned to the program budget for future use.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Maternal and Infant Health R&D Grant Program, the applicant must meet the following eligibility criteria at the time of submission and throughout the application review period:

• Be authorized and in good standing to conduct business in New Jersey as evidenced by a current New Jersey tax clearance certificate (listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology). All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.

• Have no more than 25 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers (FTE calculated on a 35-hour work week) at time of application.

• Have a minimum of one full-time worker (FTE calculated on a 35-hour work week). A founder can be counted as a worker; a worker may be paid or unpaid.

• Fifty percent or more of the cumulative hours worked by all workers, founders, and contractors must be conducted in New Jersey (as calculated on an FTE basis of 35 hours per week).

• Have less than or equal to $1,000,000 in 2021 calendar year sales revenue.

Scoring Criteria – the applicant must achieve a minimum score of 10 in the following criteria to be eligible for a grant.

Innovation (up to 5 points),
Implementation plan – budget and milestones (up to 5 points),
Community engagement and impact (up to 5 points),
Go-to-market strategy (up to 5 points),
Team (up to 5 points).

Bonus Points – Bonus points will be awarded to applicants that achieve the minimum score and are also:

New Jersey Certified women-owned business (2 points),
New Jersey Certified minority-owned business (2 points),
New Jersey Certified veteran-owned business (2 points),
Primary place of business/R&D located within an opportunity zone eligible census tract or primary place of business/R&D located within Trenton, Paterson, or Atlantic City (2 points).

Eligible Uses
The Maternal and Infant Health R&D Grant Program funding can be used to maintain project activities and cover general operating costs.

The following expense categories are ineligible for funding by this grant:

Direct counseling and clinical services,
Manufacturing of products for sale or commercial use,
Real estate rental expenses,
Patient clinical trial expenses,
Construction costs.

Grant Amounts
Eligible applicants can receive grant awards of up to $75,000.

Application Process
The application will open at 9:00 am on July 1, 2022 at https://www.njeda.gov/maternal-and-infant-health-grant/ and close on August 26 at 5:00pm. All applications to the Maternal and Infant Health Program must include the following documentation:

Completed online application.
To evidence that proof of concept has been achieved for the project. Submit one of the following:
- Description of the proof-of-concept results,
- Published paper outlining results achieved,
- Detailed description of patent application for proposed technology,
- Successful completion of a federal SBIR/STTR grant or contract related to the project,
- Confirmation documentation from a university tech transfer office if the project relates to technology that has been developed at a university.
Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing (i.e., most recent New Jersey WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors)), Shareholder Agreement or K-1, or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL), These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.
Summary of most recent Internal Payroll (Q4 2020 or Q1 2021) indicating each employee name and number of hours worked per week.
Most recent company tax filing: Federal 941 and either an NJ-CBT-100 (Schedule A), Form-1065 or Form -1040 (Schedule C), as applicable, showing the total gross receipts or sales for the year.
Current New Jersey tax clearance certificate (listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology). See https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
If applicable, copy of Women and/or Minority-owned business certification https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/.
If applicable, copy of Veteran-owned, Minority-owned, or Women-owned business certification.
Completed Application Certifications.
Completed CSIT Legal Debarment Questionnaire.
Completed Non-Involvement in Russia/Belarus Certification.

The following steps detail the application submission process:

Applications will be open for a limited timeframe.
A document completeness review will be done on a rolling basis as applications are received.
Applicants with missing documentation will be notified and given 10 business days to submit missing documents.
After the missing documentation deadline, only complete applications will be evaluated and scored.
An evaluation committee will review and assign a score to each application, after receiving qualitative input from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). As part of the process, all complete applicants will be invited to make a brief presentation about their project to CSIT staff and SMEs.
In order to be eligible for funding, an applicant must receive a minimum of 10 of the available 25 points on the standard scoring criteria before allocation of bonus points.
If more applications are received than available funding, priority will be given to applications that score the highest against the scoring criteria.

Board Approval

The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant award winners.

Fees

No fees will be collected by CSIT for this program.

Additional Information

Other Terms & Conditions
For two years from the date of the grant agreement, workers and consultants who continue working on the project must conduct 50 percent of their work in a New Jersey location. Failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the applicant make full re-payment of the grant award.

All grant awardees must report economic impact data to CSIT upon the completion of the project for a period of two years by submitting an Economic Impact Questionnaire provided by CSIT.

All grant awardees are asked to commit to participate in one in-person interim site visits from the CSIT/EDA team for update on project.

All grant awardees are asked to commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA alumni activities, such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about program experience.

Confidentiality
Applications received will be reviewed only by staff of CSIT, NJEDA, and participating universities/colleges, federal labs, and non-profit organizations. All applications submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to requests pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted must be specifically identified and marked by the applicant as such.

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New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology
Round 2 Catalyst Research and Development Pilot Seed Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (“CSIT”) expects to launch an online application for Round 2 Catalyst Research and Development Pilot Seed Grant Program (“Program”) at 9am am on June 5, 2023 at www.njeda.com/csit . Application will be open through July 14, 2023 at 5 pm. The Program has a total budget of $1,500,000 for grant awards of up to $150,000 each. This is a competitive grant. No application, transaction, or termination fees will be collected by CSIT for this program. Decisions on this grant award are expected to be made by 4^th Quarter of 2023.

Purpose

The Program helps early-stage innovation-based New Jersey (“NJ”) companies accelerate development of technologies to transform new discoveries from research stage into commercially viable products and services. The grant funds will enable applicants to make significant progress and impact on their commercialization outcomes.

The Program focused on companies conducting research and development or testing technologies in the following target area:

Life Sciences (e.g., Therapeutic drug discovery). Medical devices are NOT eligible for this grant.

All applicants for the Program must provide a proof of concept for their project proposed for funding.

Overview

The Program has a total budget of $1,500,000will award grants of up to $150,000 to support ten (10) early-stage innovation-based NJ companies that have the potential to impact the Life Science Industry. Total funding for the Program will come from CSIT’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget. The Program will be implemented by CSIT.

Program Details

Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with awards going to the 10 highest scoring applicants, provided the minimum score is met.

Applicants can only submit one (1) application for this grant. Multiple applications from the same company will NOT be accepted. If an applicant submits two applications, they must select which application moves forward. Applicants that apply to the Round 2 Catalyst R&S Pilot Seed Grant Program are not eligible to apply for the CSIT Food and Agriculture Research & Development Pilot Seed Grant Program.

Each approved grant will be valid for a period of twelve (12) months effective from date of the execution of the grant agreement. Any unused approved grant amounts will be cancelled after the twelve (12) month period and returned to CSIT program budget for future use. An extension for up to an additional three (3) months may be permitted at the discretion of CSIT.

Please note that CSIT grant applicants may adjust and resubmit grant budgets by the program resubmission deadline if;

Submitted budget at the time of application exceed the approved grant amount
Submitted budget at the time of application includes ineligible budgetary items as stated in notice of funding
Submitted budget at the time of application exceeds the 30% marketing threshold as stated in the notice of funding
Submitted budget at the time of application does not include printed name of preparer and date.

Applications with incorrect budgets that are not revised by the resubmission deadline will be declined.

Eligibility

Each applicant to the Program must meet the following eligibility criteria at the time of application and must maintain eligibility during the entire review period in order to be eligible for an award:

Be authorized and in good standing to conduct business in NJ as evidenced by a current NJ tax clearance certificate addressed to New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
Have no more than 25 full-time equivalent (“FTE”) workers (FTE calculated on a 35-hour work week) at time of application.
Have a minimum of one (1) full-time worker (35 – hour work week). A worker may be the founder can be counted as a worker, and a worker may be paid or unpaid.
50% or more of the cumulative hours worked by all workers, founders, and contractors must be conducted in NJ (as calculated on an FTE basis of 35 hours per week).
Have less than or equal to two million dollars ($2,000,000) in 2022 calendar year sales revenue (excluding grant revenue).

Eligible Uses

The grant funding can be utilized for project research and development activities.

Ineligible Uses

The following expense categories are ineligible for funding by this grant:

Direct services to individuals or organizations
Manufacturing of products for sale or commercial use
Real estate rental expenses
Patient clinical trial expenses
Construction costs
Travel, entertainment, and other similar expenses
Allocations of general overhead expenses
Any expenditures incurred before the “Effective date”, the date representing the last date of execution of the Grant Agreement by the respective Parties
Any expenses for equipment and materials that Applicant does not use for the Project during the Project period
Fees related to Conferences not associated with the Project

In addition, no more than 30% of the budget proposed for the Project, in the aggregate, may be spent on:

• Marketing and customer discovery specific to the innovation

• IP patent prosecution and licensing-related expenses

• Conference registration fees

Disbursement of funds

First disbursement of 80% of grant award at the Execution Date of Grant Agreement. Second disbursement of 20% after Final Report is submitted.

Application Process

All applications to the Program must include the following documentation:

Completed online application
Demonstration evidence that proof of concept has been achieved for the project. Submit one or more of the following:
- Description of the proof-of-concept results
- Published paper outlining results achieved
- Successful completion of a federal SBIR/STTR grant or contract related to the project
- Confirmation documentation from a university tech transfer office if the project relates to technology that has been developed at a university
Budget and Milestone Proposals (Excel templated embedded within online application)
Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing -i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1, or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL). These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.
Summary of most recent Internal Payroll (Q4 2021 or Q1 2022) indicating each employee name and number of hours worked per week.
Most recent Company tax filing; Federal 941 and either an NJ-CBT-100 (Schedule A), Form-1065 or Form -1040 (Schedule C) or whichever is applicable to the organizational form of your business, showing the total Gross Receipts or Sales for the year.
Current NJ tax clearance certificate addressed to CSIT (Tax clearance must be dated May 15,2023 or after. https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp
DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or application will be declined.
If applicable, copy of Women and/or Minority owned business NJ certification https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/
DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or relevant bonus points will not be awarded.
If applicable, copy of Veteran owned business NJ certification
DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or relevant bonus points will not be awarded.
If applicable, a copy of Executed University License Agreement with University. DUE No Later Than October 6, 2023 or relevant bonus points will not be awarded.
Complete Application Certification
Completed CSIT Legal Debarment Questionnaire

The following steps detail the application submission process:

A document completeness review will be done as applications are received
Applicants with missing documentation will be notified and given 10 business days to submit missing documents. If the application remains incomplete by the resubmission deadline, it will be declined.
Only complete applications will be evaluated and scored. Applicants must submit the NJ tax clearance certificate by the start of the application scoring period. Otherwise, the application will be declined. For any bonus category, if the documentation is not received by the application scoring period, bonus points will not be applied.

Applicants that have indicated in the application that they are a minority/women/veteran owned business and did not submit the NJ state certification at the time of the application will also have up to the start of the Application Scoring period to submit the document. If the documentation is not received by that point, bonus points will not be applied to the application.
An evaluation committee comprised of CSIT and NJEDA staff will review and assign a score to each application, after receiving qualitative input from Subject Matter Experts (“SMEs”). As part of the process, all applicants with complete applications will be invited, but are not required, to make a brief presentation about their project and submit it to the evaluation committee and SMEs.
In order to be eligible for funding, an applicant must receive a minimum score of 70 out of the available 100 points on the standard scoring criteria before allocation of bonus points.
Denied applications may appeal CSIT’s declination within the timeframe provided in CSIT’s declination letter. Appeals must be written and include an explanation as to how the applicant has met the application criteria.

Grants will be awarded to 10 applicants with the highest overall scores, provided the minimum score is met, until program funds are expended.

Scoring

Scoring Criteria – All applicants must achieve a minimum score of 70 in the following criteria to be eligible for a grant.

Innovation (up to 30 points)
Market opportunity (up to 10 points)
Implementation plan -budget and milestones (up to 20 points)
Go-to-market strategy (up to 10 points)
Economic and community impact (up to10 points)
Team (up to 20 points)

Bonus Points – Bonus points will be awarded to applicants that achieve the minimum score plus the following:

Company is using technology initially developed at a NJ university, under an executed license agreement with such university (15 points)
NJ certified women-owned business (10 points)
NJ certified minority-owned business (10 points)
NJ certified veteran – owned business (10 points)
Primary place of business/research & development located within an opportunity zone eligible census tract or government restricted municipality (5 points)
Has not previously received a CSIT grant or voucher (10 points)

Board Approval

The CSIT Program Committee will review scored applications and make funding recommendations to the CSIT board. The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant award winners.

Fees

No fees application, transaction, or termination fees will be collected by CSIT for this program.

Additional Information

Other Terms & Conditions

For three years from the date of the grant Agreement, workers and consultants who continue working on the project must conduct 50% of their work in a NJ location. Failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the awardee make full re-payment of the grant award.

All grant awardees must report economic impact data to CSIT upon the completion of the project and an additional two years after project completion by submitting an Economic Impact Questionnaire provided by CSIT.

All grant awardees are encouraged to commit to participate in one (1) in-person interim site visits from the CSIT/EDA team for update on project.

All grant awardees are encouraged to commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA alumni activities, such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about program experience.

Confidentiality

Applications received will be reviewed only by staff of CSIT and NJEDA and SMEs. SMEs will execute NDAs prior to reviewing the applications. All applications submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to requests pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted to CSIT must be specifically identified and marked by the applicant as such.

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Offshore Wind Workforce and Skills Development Grant Challenge

Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will begin accepting applications for the Offshore Wind Workforce and Skills Development Grant Challenge at 10:00 a.m. December 8, 2022 AND WILL CLOSE ON February 1, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. The application is open for 56 calendar days, including federal holidays. Due to the objective of this program, the standard $1,000 application fee is waived. This is a competitive program. A total of $3,725,000 will be available through this program, with minimum and maximum award amounts set at $100,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. The application can be accessed at: www.njeda.gov/offshore-wind-workforce-and-skills-development-grant-challenge/ .

Purpose

This grant opportunity is issued by the NJEDA seeking applications from qualified applicants to launch or expand offshore wind workforce and skills development programs.

Overview

The Offshore Wind Workforce and Skills Development Grant Challenge(Grant Challenge) is a competitive program that will award grants to selected applicants to launch or expand workforce training and skills programs focused on strengthening and diversifying the New Jersey offshore wind workforce. A total of $3,725,000 will be available through this program, with minimum and maximum award amounts set at $100,000 and $1,000,000, respectively. Priority in this Grant Challenge will be given to applicants or applicant teams that propose initiatives supporting training and job access for residents of overburdened communities. Grants will be awarded to proposals that achieve the highest overall scores based on the scoring criteria set forth in the product specifications.

Eligibility

This Grant Challenge is open to public and non-profit entities that can design and execute workforce and skills training programs for the offshore wind industry. Such entities may include, but are not limited to, community-based organizations, workforce training organizations, labor unions, workforce placement intermediaries, technical high schools, community colleges, universities, non-profit organizations and regional workforce development boards. Private, for-profit entities cannot apply as the primary applicant but may be part of an applicant team as a collaborator.

NJEDA will enter into a grant agreement with each successful primary applicant, and the primary applicant will be held solely responsible for complying with the terms of the grant. However, applicants must collaborate with, and adhere to, the following guidance on collaboration with other entities to develop and support robust workforce training programs:

Required: All applications must include at least one Community-Based Organization (CBO) with demonstrated experience serving a New Jersey Overburdened Community, as defined by New Jersey’s Environmental Justice Law, N.J.S.A. 13:1D-157, et seq. The CBO must either be the primary applicant or a strategic collaborator with the primary applicant. All applications that include the CBO as a strategic collaborator must clearly define the CBO’s role, alignment with the CBO’s mission and/or services, and the amount of the grant request allocated to the CBO for the agreed upon role. For the purposes of this Grant Challenge, a Community-Based Organization is defined as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides direct services or supports to a specific geographic New Jersey community(ies) or specific segments of a New Jersey community(ies). Per the New Jersey Division of Taxation, a 501(c)(3) Organization refers to a nonprofit organization that has received a determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stating that the organization is exempt from federal Income Tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The term also may refer to a church or ministry that may qualify for an IRS 501(c) (3) determination letter, even though it does not intend to apply for an IRS determination. www.irs.gov/charities-and-nonprofits. Government entities, K-12 schools, and institutions of higher learning do not qualify as CBOs. However, these entities may be the primary applicant or an additional collaborator on the applicant team. New Jersey’s Environmental Justice Law, defines “overburdened community” as any census block group, as determined in accordance with the most recent United States Census, in which: (1) at least 35 percent of the households qualify as low-income households; (2) at least 40 percent of residents identify as minority or as members of a State recognized tribal community; or (3) at least 40 percent of the households have limited English proficiency. N.J.S.A 13:1D-158.

Encouraged: Applicants may collaborate with additional entities, including for-profit or non-profit entities, to design and implement the training program.

In addition to the eligibility parameters already stated above, the primary applicant must also be in substantial good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to participate in the program. The primary applicant must provide a current tax clearance certificate as part of the application from the New Jersey Division of Taxation. Certificates may be requested through the State of NJ Premier Business Services (PBS) portal online at: https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp

Applicants must submit proposals that include:

A compelling plan to develop or expand a program that will allow New Jerseyans to access workforce opportunities in the offshore wind industry by providing tangible skill development and/or job-readiness training. Components of programs must include direct workforce training/skill development, and, where relevant, support services such as: access to career services, mentorship, family services, counseling, transportation, etc. Proposed initiatives must focus on one or more of the following occupation areas as defined by the Standard Occupation Codes System (SOC):
- Operations Specialties Managers (SOC 11-3000)
- Construction Trade Workers (SOC 47-5000)
- Extraction Workers (SOC 47-5000)
- Other Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations (SOC 49-9000)
- Assemblers and Fabricators (SOC 51-2000)
- Metal Workers and Plastic Workers (SOC 51-4000)
- Plant and System Operators (SOC 51-8000)
- Other Production Occupations (SOC 51-9000)
- Water Transportation Workers (SOC 53-5000)
- Material Moving Workers (SOC 53-7000).

A compelling plan to engage with industry and other stakeholders to design and implement a program that prepares and/or connects participants with job opportunities in offshore wind.

A compelling plan to develop and/or utilize outreach; recruitment practices; program design approaches; and wraparound supports, as needed, such as mentorship, transportation, and childcare that target and support a diverse and inclusive pool of training participants to successfully complete the program.
A compelling plan to execute the project efficiently and on schedule, achieving well-defined milestones to complete the proposed initiative.
Program budget using NJEDA’s template (the template is available on the program website), that clearly lists the requested grant amount, other sources of funding if applicable, and itemized costs to develop and deliver the program.
A signed letter from the applicant’s CBO collaborator confirming their role in the proposed initiative, or if applicable, a signed letter from the primary applicant confirming their status as a Community-Based Organization.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted during a competitive application round, after which all complete applications will be reviewed by an evaluation committee. NJEDA staff will review all applications for completeness. The application portal will be open from December 8, 2022 at 10 a.m. to February 1, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. All interested applicants must complete and submit their applications online through the portal by the deadline to be considered for the Grant Challenge. The application can be found at: www.njeda.gov/offshore-wind-workforce-and-skills-development-grant-challenge/

Following the completeness review, applicants with missing documentation will receive an email notification from NJEDA and will have five business days to submit any missing or incomplete documentation. NJEDA staff may also request clarifying information from applicants and such information must also be received within five business days of the date of request or the response may be rejected. Applicants should submit missing documentation electronically to WindInstitute@njeda.com with the email subject line “Offshore Wind Workforce Challenge – Missing Documentation Submission [APPLICANT NAME]”.

After the five business days, any application that is not complete will not be evaluated. Only complete applications will be evaluated and scored. Applications will be evaluated by an evaluation committee comprised of staff from NJEDA. Staff from the DLWD and the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education will serve as subject matter experts (SMEs) and advise the evaluation committee.

The evaluation committee will evaluate, score and rank applications received based on five primary criteria:

Ability to meet the needs of the offshore wind industry (up to 35 points);
Ability to serve NJ’s Overburdened Communities (up to 10 points);
Ability to provide wraparound supports and affordable training (up to 15 points);
Prior experience and ability to implement the program (up to 30 points); and
Resources required (up to 10 points)

To be considered for an award, an application must receive a minimum score of 80 points.

Grant Amounts

Eligible applicants can propose an initiative with required funding of no less than $100,000 and no more than $1,000,000. NJEDA anticipates making multiple awards through this challenge. NJEDA may opt to request revisions to the proposed budgets or scopes accordingly. The protocol will be as follows: NJEDA will allocate funding to the top scoring proposals within the funding cap of $3,725,000. If the next highest scoring proposal over 80 points has a budget request that brings the total allocation higher than the funding cap, NJEDA may request that next highest scoring applicant to revise their budget and/or scope to fit within the funding cap.

Eligible Uses

Grant funds will be disbursed to the winning applicants to support planning and implementation. Eligible uses of grant funding include costs associated with planning (e.g., staff costs for program development), soft launch (e.g., outreach and recruitment materials and related costs), capital costs (e.g., procurement, construction or renovation of program space, equipment, and material purchases), and/or implementation costs (e.g., instructor time, facility fees, participant equipment or materials, delivery of support services). No more than ten percent of the grant amount may be used on indirect costs such as general administration and other general operating expenses. Applicants must provide a detailed budget that demonstrates how the grant will be used to cover all costs.

Disbursement

The grant will be disbursed according to the following milestones:

50 percent of the grant will be disbursed upon execution of a grant agreement between NJEDA and the selected applicant.
25 percent of the grant will be disbursed upon the applicant’s submission of the mid-program report, the exact timing to be determined based on the grantee’s implementation plan and reflected in the grant agreement.
25 percent of the grant amount will be disbursed upon the launch of the program (for applicants seeking funds for program design) or completion of the grant period, which is expected to be no later than two years following the date of the grant agreement execution (for applicants seeking funds for program implementation).

Additional Information

Entities interested in collaborating on an applicant team may submit an optional Potential Collaborator Form by December 14, 2022 at 5:00PM to windinstitute@njeda.com. All completed forms will be shared with all entities that submit such forms.

Questions regarding the Grant Challenge may be submitted via email to windinstitute@njeda.com by January 11, 2023 at 5:00 PM with the subject line “Questions – NJ Offshore Wind Workforce Grant Challenge”. Answers will be posted on the Offshore Wind Workforce and Skills Development Grant Challenge website on a rolling basis.

Comprehensive information about the Offshore Wind Workforce and Skills Development Grant Challenge is available at https://www.njeda.gov/offshore-wind-workforce-and-skills-development-grant-challenge/

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New Jersey Manufacturing Voucher Program

Notice of Funding Availability

REVISED AS OF MAY 8, 2023 EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Revision eliminates the June 30, 2023 deadline to order/purchase equipment. Approved applicants will now have thirty days after execution of closing agreement to order/purchase eligible equipment.

REVISED AS OF FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Board approval will be sought on March 8, 2023 to increase the available funding from $20,000,000 to $33,750,000. Under N.J.S.A. 34:1B-4i, no Board action has force or effect until 10 business days after the Authority delivers meeting minutes to the Governor’s Office. Accordingly, the increase in funding remains conditional until at least March 23, 2023. Assuming the Board approves and the Governor does not veto, this program will make a total of $33.75 million less $1 million for administrative expenses available to support New Jersey manufacturers’ access to manufacturing equipment needed to become more efficient, productive, and profitable. Eligibility requirements and all other terms and conditions will remain the same.

REVISED AS OF JANUARY 12, 2023 EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Revision clarifies the pre-qualification review is a courtesy review and extends the second stage of the application to a 14 day cure period for applicants with an incomplete application.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA or Authority) will begin accepting pre-qualification submissions from manufacturing companies that are: in an identified Targeted Industry and/or purchasing eligible equipment that meets the Advanced Manufacturing definition for the New Jersey Manufacturer’s Voucher Program (NJ MVP) pilot at 10:00 AM on December 15, 2022. The pre-qualification submission deadline is 11:59 PM on December 22, 2022. The pre-qualification application can be accessed at www.njeda.gov/njmvp. There is no fee for pre-qualification submission. If NJEDA determines a submission is pre-qualified and offers an application, a fee of $1,000 is due from the applicant at the time of application.

Purpose

The purpose of NJ MVP is to support New Jersey manufacturers’ access to manufacturing equipment needed to become more efficient, productive, and profitable.

Overview

On June 30, 2022, Governor Murphy signed the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations Act (Act) into law as P.L.2022, c.49. The Act includes $35 million for a Manufacturing Initiative to grow and strengthen the State’s manufacturing sector, including programs to spur capital investment, increase the adoption of new technology, attract new suppliers to the state, and expand workforce development and training opportunities. NJ MVP is utilizing $33.75 million to stimulate private sector investments to modernize New Jersey’s manufacturing industry, and to help keep pace with state-of-the art product development and manufacturing technology.

Program Details

NJ MVP will provide equipment grants sized at 30% to 50% of the cost of the eligible equipment (including installation), up to a maximum award amount of $250,000. The program will support the purchase of manufacturing equipment for New Jersey manufacturers in Targeted Industries for their manufacturing process or equipment that meets the definition of Advanced Manufacturing. (See Targeted Industry List and definitions: https://www.njeda.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Appendix-C-Targeted-Industries-Definitions-12.6.22_v2.pdf) Examples of advanced manufacturing technologies include additive manufacturing technologies, computer-aided manufacturing, utilization of advanced sensors and robotics to improve production, development of advanced materials to support production, and digital twin development and utilization. This industry also includes firms that manufacture either finished or interim advanced technologies or components. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and remain open until all funds are committed.

The program will offer bonuses for Certified Woman, Minority, and Veteran Owned Businesses (WMVB); businesses located within opportunity zones; manufacturing equipment purchased from a New Jersey manufacturer or assembler; as well as bonuses for companies that have a collective bargaining agreement in place. NJ MVP is also committed to supporting Small Businesses by awarding manufacturers with up to 100 employees or Full Time Equivalent employees with higher award percentages.

A “Small Business” means a business engaged primarily in one industry with 100 or fewer employees, as determined six months before application and at the time of application. An “Employee” of a small business shall include a person who is employed for consideration for at least 35 hours a week; who is employed pursuant to an employee leasing agreement for at least 35 hours a week; or who is a partner of a business who works for the partnership for at least 35 hours a week. An Employee of a small business shall also include any person who works as an independent contractor for the business or a contract worker who works at the business for at least 35 hours a week. For those persons who are employed by the business or who work for the business as independent contractors or contract workers for less than 35 hours, 35 hours of employment a week shall constitute one employee, regardless of whether the hours of work were performed by one or more persons. This is known as “Full Time Equivalents.” The Authority may determine a different number of hours a week or other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time employment. For purposes of the number of employees, a small business shall include all of its affiliates, regardless of whether the affiliate may contribute full-time jobs or capital investment to the project.

Program Eligibility:

NJ MVP will provide funding for New Jersey Manufacturers who meet of the following eligibility criteria:

Applicant company must be either a manufacturer in a Targeted Industry or the equipment to be purchased by the applicant company must meet the Advanced Manufacturingdefinition. (See Targeted Industry List and definitions: https://www.njeda.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Appendix-C-Targeted-Industries-Definitions-12.6.22_v2.pdf
Applicant company must obtain a Tax Clearance Certificate.
Applicant company must be in substantial good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Applicant company must intend the equipment for use at a location in New Jersey.
Applicant company must provide purchase quote, order proforma, and/or equipment listing.
- Projects with executed contracts, a purchase order placed, or a deposit dated prior to submitting a pre-qualification for an NJ MVP application WILL NOT be considered for funding.
Applicant company must have a business location. Home-based businesses are not eligible.
Applicant company must intend the equipment for use in the manufacturing process. (Please see www.njeda.gov/njmvp.)
Total aggregated project cost (equipment + installation) must be at least $25,000.00.
- New and/or used equipment is eligible.

In addition, all contracts (including manufactures/supplier agreements) are subject to New Jersey’s prevailing wage laws.

Bonus Eligibility:

NJ MVP will award bonuses to applicants as follows:

Stackable 5% Bonuses Available for:

Equipment located, installed, and used in an Opportunity Zone Eligible Census Tract
Certified Woman, Minority, and Veteran Owned Businesses (WMVB)
At least one Collective Bargaining Agreement in place.

Stackable 10% Bonuses Available for:

Purchase of equipment from a New Jersey Manufacturer. (Equipment must be manufactured and/or assembled in New Jersey.)

Eligible Uses:

Funding can only be used for the purchase and installation of new and/or used manufacturing equipment used in the manufacturing process. The equipment must be located and installed at a New Jersey location. Eligible manufacturing equipment includes technologically advanced equipment or production/operating systems, such as robotics, additive manufacturing equipment, hardware or software for digital twinning, advanced sensor or control systems, as well as interconnected sensors, instruments, and other devices networked together with industrial applications, and related security. The acquisition of eligible equipment as it relates to NJ MVP must executed at arm’s length.

Application Process

The process will include two-steps:

First, the interested applicant company must submit a pre-qualification application. The pre-qualification application will open on December 15, 2022 and will remain open on a rolling basis until December 22, 2022.
- applications will be reviewed by NJEDA for courtesy review of select key eligibility requirements. Applicants that submit incomplete pre-qualification applications will be provided the opportunity to submit missing information within seven (7) business days.
Second, a pre-qualified applicant company will then be offered an invitation by NJEDA to apply. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. The application will remain open until all funds are committed. Applicants that submit incomplete applications will be provided fourteen (14) days after their application is reviewed to provide missing or incomplete documents.
- Applicant companies may purchase equipment once an application is submitted at their own risk but are encouraged to wait for an NJEDA approval.

Fees:

There is no fee for the pre-qualification application. Once a pre-qualification applicant is deemed pre-qualified from the courtesy review by NJEDA, a link will be provided to the applicant to fill out the NJMVP application. A fee of $1,000 is due at time of application submission.

Funding Levels:

Grant awards will be 30% to 50% of eligible project cost (depending on stackable bonuses and number of employees), with a minimum award of $7,500 and maximum award amount of $250,000 per applicant.
Applicant companies may submit multiple project applications. However, the aggregate amount awarded to any one company may not exceed $250,000 and the total aggregated project cost must be is at least $25,000.
One single award disbursement will be issued when proof of equipment delivery and installation is provided.
- Approved applicants will have thirty (30) days after the execution of their closing agreement to order / purchase eligible equipment.
- Approved applicants will be allowed 12 months for the delivery and installation of the equipment with two six-month extensions.
All disbursements are subject to availability of funding

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New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology
Notice of Funding Availability
Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program

The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT) in collaboration with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will begin accepting applications to the Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program (Pilot Clean Program). Applications to the Pilot Clean Program shall be submitted using CSIT’s online application portal. The pre-application portal will be open from Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 10AM to Friday December 30, 2022, at 5PM EST. The full application portal will be open from Monday, December 12, 2022, at 10AM to Friday February 3, 2023, at 5PM EST. Access to the application portal can be found on the CSIT’s Program page https://www.njeda.gov/pilot-clean-tech-demonstration-grant-program/

Purpose

This grant opportunity is issued by CSIT in collaboration with NJEDA, seeking applications from qualified applicants for Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program (Pilot Clean Program) to support New Jersey based companies accelerate the commercialization and deployment of innovative clean energy technologies.

Overview

The Pilot Clean Program has a total budget of $2,500,000 for awards. Funding for the program is provided by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The Pilot Clean Program will be implemented by the CSIT and administrative and technical support will be provided by NJEDA staff. The goal of the Pilot Clean Program is to support New Jersey based companies to accelerate the commercialization and deployment of innovative clean energy technologies by demonstrating capabilities in a real-world setting. Companies must be developing or testing clean technologies intended to avoid emissions of, or recapture of, greenhouse gases and/or criteria pollutants, or to enable such avoidance or recapture.

The Pilot Clean Program is for companies developing or testing clean technologies intended to avoid emissions of, or recapture, greenhouse gases and/or criteria pollutants or to enable such avoidance or recapture in the following target areas:

Chemicals/Advance Materials
Energy Distribution/Storage
Energy Efficiency
Energy Generation
Green Buildings
Transportation
Waste Processing
Water and Agriculture

Eligibility

Each applicant to the Pilot Clean Program must meet the following eligibility criteria at the time of application and throughout the review process:

Authorized and in good standing to conduct business in New Jersey as evidenced by a current New Jersey tax clearance certificate.
Have no more than 50 full-time equivalent employees (FTE) as calculated on a 35-hour work week) at time of application.
Have a minimum of two FTE.
Fifty percent or more of the work of its employees, including founders and contractors, is conducted in New Jersey (calculated on an FTE basis of 35 hours per week).
The Pilot Clean Program project must be conducted in New Jersey and is defined as the core project posed by the applicant.
Applicant has less than five million dollars in previous calendar year sales revenue.
The proposed project must be between TRL 6 (Prototype System Verified) to TRL 8 (System Incorporated in Commercial Design).

Program Details

Eligible applicants can propose a project of up to 24 months in duration and with a maximum budget of $250,000. Applicants have an opportunity to request a three-month no cost extension, which CSIT may approve at its sole discretion. The Pilot Clean Program funds are intended for specific clean tech/clean energy-related demonstration project (Project). All expenses submitted as part of the budget proposal must be specifically related to the particular Project for which this grant is sought.

The following expense categories are ineligible for funding the Project:

Marketing and customer discovery specific to the innovation
Any expenditures incurred before the “Effective date” the date representing the last date of execution of the grant agreement
Fees related to conferences or events.

In addition, no more than 10 percent of the budget proposed for the Project, in the aggregate, may be spent on intellectual property patent prosecution and licensing-related expenses.

Please note: CSIT reserves the right to make changes to budget submissions if there are any proposed ineligible expenditures outside the scope of the Pilot Clean Program.

Disbursement of funds

Funds will be dispersed when pre-determined milestones are reached. Each milestone will have deliverables, which must be submitted and approved by CSIT before receiving the funding for that specific milestone. Upon execution of the grant agreement, sixty percent of the approved project budget request will be disbursed. Thirty percent will be disbursed at the completion of the proposed milestones and the remaining ten percent upon completion of the project and acceptance of the final report.

Application Process

Applications to the Pilot Clean Program must be submitted using CSIT’s online application portal. Access to the application Portal can be found on the CSIT’s Program page (https://www.njeda.gov/about/Public- Information/CSIT).

The pre-application portal will be open from Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at 10AM to Friday December 30, 2022, at 5PM EST. All applicants must begin their application by completing the pre-application portion of the application, including the letter of intent. CSIT will review the pre-application portion of the application and contact the applicant to review eligibility as required.

The full application portal will be open from Monday, December 12, 2022, at 10AM to Friday February 3, 2023, at 5PM EST. Once the pre-application has been reviewed with CSIT, applicants may move forward with the submission of a full application. A document completeness review will be done by CSIT on a rolling basis as applications are received.

All applications to the Pilot Clean Program must include the following documentation:

Completed online application, including Budget and Milestone Proposals (link to Excel templates provided in the application and CSIT website https://www.njeda.gov/pilot-clean-tech-demonstration-grant-program/) and uploaded results from Technology and Readiness Technology Calculator Excel file (link to calculator provided in the application and CSIT website https://www.njeda.gov/pilot-clean-tech-demonstration-grant-program/).
Letter of intent executed by and between the applicant and a Strategic Partner. A Strategic Partner is an entity that confirms willingness to support the pilot demonstration project and may receive of some of the funding as a demonstration site to support testing and validation of project.
Employee information, as appropriate, for applicable company structure and staffing (i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1 or offer letters). Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL). These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.
Summary of most recent internal payroll, indicating each employee name, including founders, and number of hours worked per week.
Most recent company tax filing, federal 941, and either an NJ-CBT-100 (Schedule A), Form- 1065 or Form -1040 (Schedule C), or whichever is applicable to the organizational form of the applicant’s business, showing the total gross receipts or sales for the year.
Current New Jersey tax clearance certificate addressed to New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. See https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp. Certificates addressed to another state agency will be rejected.
If applicable, copy of a New Jersey Women/Minority/Veteran-owned business certification https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/.
Signed application certification.
Completed CSIT Legal Debarment Questionnaire.

Applicants with missing documentation will be notified and given 10 business days to submit missing documents. Applicants should submit missing documentation electronically to csitcleandemo@njeda.com with the email subject line “Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program-Missing Documentation Submission – [Company Name].”

Applicants who have submitted complete applications will have an opportunity to hold a virtual presentation. Virtual presentations will not be scored and are optional.

Only complete applications will be evaluated and scored. After the Applicant’s Extension Time, any application that does not include ALL of the documents specified or contain documents that have not been completed will be considered incomplete and will not be evaluated. Full applications submitted with evidence of a pending request for documentation from a New Jersey agency will be considered complete for scoring purposes. However, missing documentation MUST be received prior to submission to the CSIT Board for approval of an award. An evaluation committee comprised of CSIT and NJEDA staff will review and assign a score to each application.

Evaluation Process

The evaluation committee, consisting of CSIT and NJEDA staff, will score each application against the basic and bonus point scoring criteria outlined below. As part of the process, all complete applicants will be invited to make a brief virtual presentation. The evaluation committee may contact applicants for clarification on their technical proposal or budget submissions. Please note these communications will be only for clarification purposes only. Applicants will not be allowed to submit any new information pertaining to their application. At the end of the review period, the CSIT Board will make final decision on grant winners.

Applicant grant winners will be required to execute a grant agreement outlining the funding amount, terms, and conditions of the grant. The initial grant funds disbursement will not be made until the execution of such grant agreement.

Scoring Criteria

All complete applications, will be evaluated and points will be awarded based on the following criteria:

Innovation (up to 15 points)
Market Opportunity (up to 15 points)
Feasibility (up to 10 points)
Economic & Environmental Impact (up to 10 points).

All complete applications will be evaluated and scored against the above criteria and assigned a score. To be considered for an award, the application must receive an aggregate minimum score of 30 points on the above criteria.

Bonus points may be awarded to applicants that meet the minimum score of 30 points as follows:

New Jersey Certified women-owned business (10 points)
New Jersey Certified minority-owned business (10 points)
New Jersey Certified veteran- owned business (10 points)
Application using technology initially developed at a New Jersey university, under an executed license agreement (5 points)
Primary place of business/research and development located within an opportunity zone eligible census tract or government restricted municipality (5 points).

Additional Terms and Conditions

As part of the review process, CSIT conducts sister-agency checks with the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on all completed applications. To be eligible for an award, applicants must be in good standing with both DOL and DEP.

Grant awardees must agree that its employees, including founders and consultants, will conduct at least 50 percent of the company’s work (calculated on an FTE basis) in New Jersey for a period of three years from the effective date of the grant agreement. Failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the applicant make full re-payment of the grant award within sixty days or as otherwise stated in the grant agreement.

Grant awardees must commit to reporting economic impact data to CSIT upon the completion of program for a period of five years pursuant to the grant agreement.

Grant awardees shall commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA/BPU alumni activities such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about Program experience.

Questions and Answers

Questions concerning this Notice of Funding Availability will be accepted through the application deadline and should be submitted via e-mail to csitcleandemo@njeda.com. The subject line of the e-mail should state: “Pilot Clean Tech Demonstration Grant Program.”

CSIT will host a Webinar on the Program. Applicants will also have an opportunity to ask questions at that time. (https://www.njeda.gov/pilot-clean-tech-demonstration-grant-program/)

All questions received and answers provided in response to this Notice of Funding Availability will be answered in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document, which will be posted and continuously updated on CSIT’s website. (https://www.njeda.gov/pilot-clean-tech-demonstration-grant-program/)

Confidentiality

Applications will be reviewed by staff of CSIT, NJEDA and NJBPU, together with the subject matter experts. All proposals will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to, a request pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If an applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted must be specifically identified and marked by the applicant.

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COVID-19 Outbreak
NEW JERSEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY
Commuter and Transit Bus Private Carrier Pandemic Relief and Jobs Program

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will begin accepting applications for the Commuter and Transit Bus Private Carrier Pandemic Relief and Jobs Program at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, March 8^th, 2022. The deadline to apply is 3:00 PM on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The application can be accessed at https://www.njeda.gov/bus-relief/. A fee of $1,000 is due at the time of application.

Language Assistance

Please see below for multilingual versions of this Notice of Funding Availability. If you need language assistance, please send NJEDA your name, spoken language and telephone number to languagehelp@njeda.com

español (Spanish)
ATENCIÓN: si habla español, los servicios de asistencia lingüística, gratuitos, están disponibles para usted enviando un correo electrónico a languagehelp@njeda.com.

粵語 Traditional Chinese (Cantonese Chinese)
注意：如果您說粵語，可以透過傳送電子郵件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免費獲取語言協助服務。

普通语 Simplified Chinese (Mandarin Chinese)
注意：如果您说普通语，可以通过发送电子邮件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免费获取语言协助服务。

italiano (Italian)
ATTENZIONE: se parla italiano, può usufruire gratuitamente di servizi di assistenza linguistica scrivendo all’indirizzo languagehelp@njeda.com

한국어 (Korean)
알림: 한국어를 사용하시는 경우, 언어 지원 서비스가 무료로 이메일 languagehelp@njeda.com을 통해 제공됩니다.

po polsku (Polish)
UWAGA: Jeśli mówisz po polsku, możesz uzyskać pomoc tłumacza bezpłatnie wysyłając e-mail pod adres languagehelp@njeda.com.

português (Portuguese)
ATENÇÃO: se você falar português, oferecemos serviços de apoio de idioma gratuitos. Envie um e-mail para languagehelp@njeda.com.

Tagalog
ATTENTION: Kung nagsasalita ka ng Tagalog, magagamit mo ang libreng mga serbisyong tulong sa wika sa pamamagitan ng pag-email sa languagehelp@njeda.com.

Purpose

The Commuter and Transit Bus Private Carrier Pandemic Relief and Jobs Program is a non-recurring grant program to help commuter and transit bus transportation companies that operated as essential service providers in New Jersey during the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced significant revenue loss alleviate the revenue loss and retain or create jobs.

Overview

On March 9, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order (EO) 103, declaring a State of Emergency and a Public Health Emergency to contain the spread of COVID-19, including restrictions on public gatherings and closing non-essential businesses. The Public Health Emergency was repeatedly extended until on June 4, 2021, when the Governor signed P.L.2021, c.103 and issued EO 244, which terminated the Public Health Emergency declared in EO 103 (2020). On January 11, 2022, in response to the omicron variant, the Governor issued EO 280 (2022) declaring that a Public Health Emergency again exists in the State of New Jersey and that the State of Emergency originally declared in EO 103 (2020) remains in full force and effect. The Public Health Emergency was again extended on February 10, 2022 by EO 288 (2022).

New Jersey businesses and residents faced significant economic challenges due to these public health measures. Essential services that maintained operations faced financial strain due to increased sanitation protocols and reductions in customers. The transportation industry, defined as an essential service in P.L.2020, c.84, was among those hardest hit during the pandemic. EO 125, signed by Governor Murphy on April 11, 2021, mandated additional mitigation requirements on NJ Transit and all private carriers to limit the spread of COVID-19. The requirements both directly and indirectly decreased ridership, resulting in a significant loss of revenue to private transportation companies. Despite easing public health-related restrictions and the broader economy showing signs of recovery, ridership has not returned to its pre-pandemic levels. As such, on February 9, 2022, NJEDA’s Board approved the Commuter and Transit Bus Private Carrier Pandemic Relief and Jobs Program grant funding to help private carriers recover from the lost revenues and retain or create jobs.

Program Details

To provide financial relief to address the continued impact of COVID-19 on the economy, the Federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Within the ARPA, the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF) provided approximately $5.6 billion to the State of New Jersey for a variety of recovery-specific uses. New Jersey’s Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Act allocated $25 million of these monies to the Commuter and Transit Bus Private Carrier Pandemic Relief and Jobs Program (the Program). These funds, in alignment with EO 267 and the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq., must be used only to address an unmet need to avoid duplication of benefits.

Eligibility

To be eligible, an applicant must:

Certify that the business was in operation prior to February 15, 2020;
Be a for-profit business (non-profits, public agencies, authorities, and government entities are not eligible);
Be registered to do business in and operating in the state of New Jersey and provide a current New Jersey Tax Clearance Certificate;
Provide fixed route bus service (MB) or commuter bus (CB) service as defined in the Federal Transit Administration’s December 22, 2021, National Transit Database (NTD) Glossary. Other services (including but not limited to those provided by charter buses, school buses, municipal shuttles, vanpool, and on-demand bus services) are not eligible;
Have reported Vehicle Revenue Miles for fixed route bus service (MB) or commuter bus service (CB) greater than 0 in New Jersey directly to the NTD, as recorded in Annual Data Tables 2020 Service, or through NJ Transit as a private carrier in 2020;
Demonstrate revenue losses in the state of New Jersey in 2020 due to the pandemic (calculated as the difference between each applicant company’s 2020 revenues reported in New Jersey and 2019 revenues reported in New Jersey) that has not been fully addressed by other public or private relief funding sources;
Self-certify as to best efforts to not furlough or lay off any worker from the time of application through six months after the end of the declared state of emergency. Applicants that have already furloughed or laid off workers prior to the time of application must make a best-effort pledge to re-hire those workers as soon as possible. Any material breach of the best-effort certification and/or pledge may result in the NJEDA seeking repayment of the grant; and
Satisfy the Authority’s debarment/disqualification review, not have any defaults or outstanding obligations to the Authority and be in good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey Division of Taxation, and NJ Transit.

Additional eligibility criteria based on applicable federal requirements may apply and may include but are not limited to:

A restriction on duplication of benefits, which may exclude potential applicants that have already received emergency COVID-19 assistance; and
A requirement that the applicant demonstrate that it has experienced negative impacts from COVID-19.

Eligible Uses:

Under the Program, funding may be used for reimbursement of certain lost revenue as a result of the business interruption caused by COVID-19.

Grant Amounts

Each approved applicant will be eligible for a flat grant amount of $500,000, This flat grant amount is intended to equitably address base overhead costs that are independent of revenue miles operated; for example, the cost of vehicle maintenance, employee salaries, and garage depots for buses. The remainder of the funds will be allocated based on each eligible applicant’s proportional share of the total vehicle revenue miles in New Jersey for 2020 for all eligible applicants, as reported in the NTD directly or through NJ Transit as a private carrier. This methodology is being used to account for additional variable revenue losses and cost increases associated with volume of service maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In accordance with EO 267 and the Stafford Act, the maximum award, inclusive of the flat amount and pro-rata allocation, will not exceed the applicant’s unmet need. For the Program, unmet need is defined as 2020 New Jersey revenue losses (calculated as the difference between each applicant company’s 2020 revenues reported in New Jersey and 2019 revenues reported in New Jersey), less any other public or private COVID-19 relief funds that a company received for 2020. Public or private funds that companies may have received include, but are not limited to, federal or State loans and grants (such as Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) grants, forgivable portions of Payroll Protection loans, and Economic Injury Disaster grants) and insurance payouts. Any funding, flat amount or pro-rata share, that exceeds unmet need will be re-allocated to the pool to be disbursed to other eligible applicants.

Application Process:

The application will open at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, March 8^th, 2022. The deadline to apply is 3:00 PM on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. The application can be accessed at https://www.njeda.gov/bus-relief/.

Upon closure of the application period, the Authority will review applications for completeness; applicants that submitted incomplete applications will be provided the opportunity to submit missing information within 10 business days.

Fees: Applicants will be assessed an application fee of $1,000 per application.

Additional Information:

Additional information on the Commuter and Transit Bus Pandemic Relief and Jobs Program may be found at https://www.njeda.gov/bus-relief/

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Sustain and Serve NJ
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will begin accepting applications for Phase 3 of the Sustain & Serve New Jersey (SSNJ) program on Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 12:00 PM. The application can be accessed at https://www.njeda.gov/sustain-and-serve/. The deadline to apply for SSNJ Phase 3 is Friday, April 1 at 5:00 PM. NJEDA will collect no application fees for this program.

Language Assistance

español (Spanish)
ATENCIÓN: si habla español, los servicios de asistencia lingüística, gratuitos, están disponibles para usted enviando un correo electrónico a languagehelp@njeda.com.

粵語 Traditional Chinese (Cantonese Chinese)
注意：如果您說粵語，可以透過傳送電子郵件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免費獲取語言協助服務。

普通语 Simplified Chinese (Mandarin Chinese)
注意：如果您说普通语，可以通过发送电子邮件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免费获取语言协助服务。

italiano (Italian)
ATTENZIONE: se parla italiano, può usufruire gratuitamente di servizi di assistenza linguistica scrivendo all’indirizzo languagehelp@njeda.com

한국어 (Korean)
알림: 한국어를 사용하시는 경우, 언어 지원 서비스가 무료로 이메일 languagehelp@njeda.com을 통해 제공됩니다.

po polsku (Polish)
UWAGA: Jeśli mówisz po polsku, możesz uzyskać pomoc tłumacza bezpłatnie wysyłając e-mail pod adres languagehelp@njeda.com.

português (Portuguese)
ATENÇÃO: se você falar português, oferecemos serviços de apoio de idioma gratuitos. Envie um e-mail para languagehelp@njeda.com.

Tagalog
ATTENTION: Kung nagsasalita ka ng Tagalog, magagamit mo ang libreng mga serbisyong tulong sa wika sa pamamagitan ng pag-email sa languagehelp@njeda.com.

Purpose

The purpose of the Sustain & Serve New Jersey Program (SSNJ) is to provide support to New Jersey-based nonprofit organizations purchasing meals from COVID-19 pandemic-impacted restaurants and distributing them to New Jerseyans in need for free.

Overview

During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Jerseyans have struggled to put food on the table. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse survey, more than 440,000 New Jersey households reported not having enough food to eat in the last seven days.

Simultaneously, the nonprofit community that serves individuals impacted by the pandemic has faced vast increases in demand for services without commensurate funding. The Center for Nonprofits reported that in 2020 nearly 50 percent of nonprofit organizations in New Jersey experienced increased demand for services, but only one-third indicated that their funding had risen and of those many reported that their funding had not risen commensurate with the level of need. Thus, indicating a significant gap in compensated services as a direct result of the pandemic.

SSNJ has allowed nonprofit organizations to address the significant increase in demand for meals while simultaneously supporting restaurants impacted by COVID-19.

Program Details

Under the program, up to $10 million of funding through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will be utilized for grants of a minimum of $100,000 and maximum of $2 million to nonprofits for prospective expenses associated with restaurant meal purchase and distribution. Grantees may also use up to 10 percent of their award to support operating costs directly associated with implementation of the program.

Eligibility

SSNJ is open to 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(19) non-profit organizations, as defined by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, that can demonstrate the below criteria. Grantees of Phase 1 or Phase 2 of SSNJ are eligible to apply for additional funds and may not be required to resubmit all eligibility documentation.

Classification under one of the following North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes:
- NAICS code 611 (Educational services)
- NAICS code 62 (Social assistance and health care organizations, inclusive of NAICS code 624210)
- NAICS code 813 (Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations)
- NAICS code 92 (Public administration).
Check against the Federal System for Award Management (SAM) to ensure entity is not debarred.
Good standing with the Department of Labor.
A tax clearance certificate from the New Jersey Division of Taxation.
Invoices and receipts demonstrating purchases of 1,500 or more meals by the organization from any New Jersey-based restaurant(s) totaling at least $25,000, purchased between March 9, 2020 and March 1, 2022. Invoices must include, at minimum: restaurant name, date(s) of purchase, description of purchase(s), quantity purchased, and total cost.
- Meal donations from restaurants (i.e., entities classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722 or “Community meals, social services” under NAICS code 624210) may be counted toward up to 50 percent of the past purchase requirement (up to 750 meals and $12,500), so long as the applicant can produce invoices from restaurant donors verifying the number of meals and monetary value of the donated meals.
The organization has experienced increased costs as a result of the pandemic’s impacts, which may be demonstrated through means including, but not limited to increased levels of program service demand and delivery, uncompensated increases in service need, decreased revenue, or challenges covering payroll or other operating costs.

In addition, applicants must provide a list the restaurants that they anticipate purchasing from if they receive a SSNJ grant. In order to receive reimbursement, grantees may only purchase meals from restaurants that meet the following requirements:

Classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722 or “Community meals, social services” under NAICS code 624210;
50 or fewer full-time equivalent (FTE) employees at time of application, based on the company’s Q4 2021 WR-30 filing with NJDOL. If a restaurant has zero FTE employees and is not required to submit a WR-30 to NJDOL, they may submit an IRS form 1040;
Physical commercial location in the State of New Jersey;
Be in good standing with the New Jersey Division of Taxation;
Be in good standing with the NJDOL;
If regulated by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), in the Department of Law and Public Safety, be in good standing with ABC;
Check against SAM to ensure entity is not debarred; Current and valid certification from municipal and/or county government inspection that the restaurant has received a rating of Satisfactory as per New Jersey Retail Food Establishment Rating system; Attestation that the restaurant was in operation on June 4, 2021, and has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 declared State of Emergency on March 9, 2020 (e.g., was temporarily shut down, was forced to reduce hours, has had a drop in revenue, has been materially impacted by employees who cannot work due to the outbreak, or has a supply chain that has materially been disrupted and therefore slowed firm-level production); and
Any additional eligibility requirements that may apply.

To demonstrate eligibility, restaurants will be required to submit:

Form attesting that the restaurant was in operation prior to June 4, 2021 and has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 declared State of Emergency on March 9, 2020. After the applicant submits their Sustain & Serve NJ application, this form will be sent by NJEDA directly to restaurants listed in that application.
Current and valid certification from municipal and/or county government inspection that the restaurant has received a rating of Satisfactory as per New Jersey Retail Food Establishment Rating system.
If an entity does not file WR-30 forms with NJDOL, a copy of IRS form 1040 verifying the restaurant has no FTE employees.

Restaurants may not directly apply for this grant. Restaurants interested in the program can contact an entity with an established bulk meal purchasing and distribution program to discuss potential participation. A list of Phase 1 SSNJ grantees can be found here, Phase 2 grantees can be found here. Restaurants may also opt to have their business publicly listed. To list your restaurant, please fill out this form. Potential grant applicants may choose to refer to this registry and contact restaurants about participating in SSNJ. Inclusion on this list is not an endorsement from NJEDA. All parties are strongly advised to exercise due diligence. Current participating restaurants in Phase 2 of SSNJ may not be required to resubmit all eligibility documentation.

Community meal/social services entities classified under the NAICS code 624210 may apply directly for SSNJ and serve as grantee organizations. However, any grant applicant classified under NAICS code 624210 cannot also serve as a meal provider for their organization or for any other SSNJ applicant or grantee organization(s) (i.e., they cannot purchase meals from themselves and other grantees cannot purchase from them). Entities under NAICS code 624210 that choose to apply directly as a grantee organization must include in their application at least one other restaurant(s) from which they will purchase meals. Applicants classified under NAICS code 624210 may purchase meals from other entities under 624210, but they must not share an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Finally, entities under NAICS code 624210 that serve as meal providers (i.e., not a grantee) may work with one or more applicants.

Finally, businesses prohibited from eligibility include, but are not limited to: gambling or gaming activities; conduct or purveyance of “adult” (i.e., pornographic, lewd, prurient, obscene or otherwise similarly disreputable) activities, services, products or materials (including nude or semi-nude performances or the sale of sexual aids or devices); any auction or bankruptcy or fire or “lost-our-lease” or “going-out-of-business” or similar sale; sales by transient merchants, Christmas tree sales or other outdoor storage; any activity constituting a nuisance; or, any illegal purposes.

Eligible Uses

Under SSNJ, grant funding may be used for direct costs associated with bulk purchasing of meals that are projected to be incurred between date of grant execution and December 31, 2022 for: the restaurant’s food and ingredients costs; labor, packaging, and facilities; delivery fees charged by the restaurant; and any profit margin for the restaurant.

Up to 10% of a grant award may be used toward operational costs incurred by the grantee organization directly related to the implementation of SSNJ. Allowable operational costs include: staff salaries and fringe (proportionate to the amount of staff time dedicated to the program), mileage for meal deliveries completed by the grantee organization, payments to vendors that assist with monitoring and invoicing meal purchases (e.g., an accounting or professional services firm), and supplies needed to operate the program.

As part of the Serve and Sustain NJ Program requirements, the grantee is prohibited from reselling any meals purchased with grant funding and is prohibited from distributing meals to paid staff of the grantee organization.

Grant Amounts

Under SSNJ, the minimum available grant amount is $100,000 and the maximum available grant amount is $2 million. Grant awards are inclusive of both the cost of meal purchases (90 percent or more of an award) and operational costs (up to 10 percent of an award). Meal purchases will be reimbursed based on a flat rate per meal. Although there is no exclusion for entities purchasing meals from restaurants at more than $12 per meal, reimbursement by NJEDA will be capped at $12 per meal.

As part of the application for grant funding, entities will request a grant amount between $100,000 and $2 million. As part of that request, applicants may request up to 10 percent of that amount (up to $200,000) be used for eligible operational expenses. All other funds must support the direct cost of meal purchases. Applicants that spend less than 10 percent of their award on operating costs may dedicate remaining funds toward the purchase of more meals.

Once NJEDA receives all applications, if the total amount of grant funding requested among all eligible applications exceeds the $10 million available for SSNJ, NJEDA will prorate grant awards based upon the amount determined for each eligible applicant, reducing all grant awards to reflect an eligible applicant’s share of the available pool. If the pool of available funds cannot be prorated such that each eligible applicant would receive a minimum $100,000 award, NJEDA will split the funds equally across all eligible applicants.

Funding Disbursement

SSNJ is a reimbursement-based grant. For each grant award, the total amount will be disbursed incrementally as eligible expenses are incurred and disbursement is requested from NJEDA by the grantee. The disbursement requests must be evidenced by documentation showing that the expenses were actually incurred and consistent with eligible uses of grant funding (e.g., invoices from eligible restaurants demonstrating the quantity of meals purchased, the cost per meal, and the restaurant from which the meals were purchased; staff timesheets indicating time spent on SSNJ).

During the term of the grant, the grantee may seek to change or add participating restaurant(s) from which they may purchase meals and receive reimbursement through SSNJ. Requests for changes or additions to restaurants must be made in writing and will be reviewed by NJEDA.

Application Process

Online applications will be accepted from March 1, 2022 (12:00 PM) to April 1, 2022 (5:00 PM). All complete applications will be reviewed following the closure of the application period.

Applications for SSNJ are completed in three steps.

Interested nonprofits must submit an application, including a list of proposed restaurants.
Listed restaurants will then receive a short form directly from NJEDA, which each restaurant must complete and send to the interested nonprofit.
Interested nonprofits must review each restaurant’s submission, approve it, and sent to NJEDA. Approvals must be completed and submitted to NJEDA by the interested nonprofit before the application deadline.

Applicants should allow sufficient time for submission of both their own and their listed restaurants’ materials. Applicants that have not completed all three steps for at least one restaurant will be considered incomplete.

Fees

Due to financial hardship of the nonprofit organizations that are eligible applicants, NJEDA will collect no fees from the applicant for this program.

Additional Information

Additional information on the Sustain & Serve NJ Program may be found on the NJEDA’s website: https://www.njeda.gov/sustain-and-serve/.

If you need language assistance, please send NJEDA your name, spoken language and telephone number to languagehelp@njeda.com.

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NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGY
Notice of Funding Availability
Round 4, Direct Financial Assistance Grant for Businesses Engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Federal Programs

The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT) expects to launch an online application for the Direct Financial Assistance Grant for Businesses Engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Federal Programs at 9:00 am on October 3, 2022 at www.njeda.gov/csit. The application will be open through November 14, 2022 at 5pm. This is a competitive grant. No fees will be charged for this program. Decisions on this grant award are expected to be made by the CSIT Board by January 2023.
The Direct Financial Assistance Grant for Businesses Engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Federal Programs has a total budget of $1,000,000 and will offer two grant components:

$25,000 Direct Funding for 20 SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract winners (“Direct Funding”).
$50,000 Bridge Funding for 10 SBIR/STTR Phase II applicants (“Bridge Funding”).

Applicants to the Round 4, CSIT Direct Financial Assistance SBIR/STTR Program may only apply for one component (either a Direct Funding or Bridge Funding). CSIT reserves the right to reallocate funds between the two components of the Direct Financial Assistance programs.

Purpose
The purpose of the CSIT established SBIR/STTR support program in New Jersey, is to enhance the State’s innovative economy by providing technical and financial support to small businesses seeking to or participating in the Federal SBIR/STTR program. These are highly competitive three-phase award programs, which provide qualified small businesses opportunities to propose innovative ideas that meet the specific research and development needs of the Federal government. The goals of the programs are to:

Stimulate technological innovation
Meet Federal research and development needs
Foster and encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by women and socially or economically disadvantaged populations
Increase private-sector commercialization of innovations derived from Federal research and development funding.

Direct Funding for SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II Federal Applicants:
Phase I of the Federal SBIR/STTR program is intended to establish technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposed research and development efforts. Federal Phase I awards normally do not exceed $150,000 in total costs for six months. To help New Jersey Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract winners increase intensity of research, strengthen commercialization plans, cover operational expenses, and become more competitive for Phase II funding, CSIT will provide a grant of $25,000 to New Jersey small businesses that receive a Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract. The grant funding is intended to reduce the financial burden on these growing small businesses and improve their chances of applying and winning Phase II awards. The grant will be flexible to help cover general operational expenses.

Bridge Funding for Phase II Federal Applicants:
The gap between application and award notice for Phase II of the Federal SBIR/STTR program can be up to six months and it is during this period that small businesses often struggle to secure funding and maintain operations. CSIT will offer funding of $50,000 to New Jersey small businesses that have successfully completed Phase I of Federal SBIR/STTR program and have applied for Phase II funding. The funding is intended to enable these businesses to maintain operations while waiting on Phase II awards.

Overview
Overall, the SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance Grant Program has three objectives; all of which help grow the innovation economy in New Jersey:
i. Increase the success rate of New Jersey grant applicants seeking Federal funding for SBIR/STTR programs.
ii. Reduce the financial burden for small New Jersey companies that have won Phase 1, a SBIR/STTR Fast Track or a Direct to Phase II award of the Federal SBIR/STTR program.
iii. Increase success and maximize growth of small New Jersey companies in moving from Phase I to Phase II of the SBIR/STTR Federal program.

Program Details
Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with awards going to the highest scoring applicants. All materials must be submitted after October 3, 2022 at 9 am and before the grant application deadline on November 14, 2022 at 5:00pm.

Each approved grant will be valid for a period of 12 months starting from date of the execution of the grant agreement.

Eligibility
All applicants must meet eligibility criteria at time of application and must maintain eligibility during the period of application review in order to be considered for an award.
Applicants should send a notification to csitsbir@njeda.com if there are any changes to their eligibility status after submission of an application and prior to any award notification.
Eligibility requirements must also be maintained during the grant term for awarded applicants and will be specified in the grant agreement.

To Be Eligible Direct Funding for Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II Federal Awardees Must:

Provide a current New Jersey Tax Clearance Certificate listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
Have a minimum of one full-time employee (working a minimum of 35-hours per week). A founder can be counted as an employee; an employee may be paid or unpaid.
Fifty percent or more of the cumulative hours worked by all employees, founders, and contractors must be conducted in New Jersey (as calculated on an full-time employee basis of 35 hours per week).
The primary place of performance on the Federal SBIR/STTR grant or contract award is a New Jersey address.
Be a recipient of a Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II grant or contract award within the last two years prior to the issuance of this Notice of Funding Availability.
The applicant cannot have been awarded more than five Federal SBIR/STTR grants or contracts (Phase I, Fast-track, Direct to Phase II combined) throughout the lifetime of the company.
Certify compliance with the New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law, N.J.S.A. 52:13D-12, et. seq.
Applicants must be in good standing with both DOL and DEP.As part of the review process, CSIT conducts sister agency checks with the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on all completed applications.

To Be Eligible Bridge Funding for Phase II Federal Applicants Must:

Provide a current New Jersey Tax Clearance Certificate listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
Have a minimum of one full-time employee (working a minimum of 35-hours per week). A founder can be counted as an employee; an employee may be paid or unpaid.
Fifty percent or more of the cumulative hours worked by all employees, founders, and contractors must be conducted in New Jersey (as calculated on a full-time employee basis of 35 hours per week).
The primary place of performance on the Federal Phase II SBIR/STTR project submission is a New Jersey address.
Be a previous Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I grant or contract award recipient within the last two years prior to the issuance of this Notice of Funding Availability that has successfully completed a Phase I Federal SBIR/STTR program, submitted a Phase II SBIR/STTR application, and not yet received a Federal response on their Phase II application.
The applicant cannot have been awarded more than five Federal SBIR/STTR grants or contracts (Phase I, Fast-track or Direct to Phase II combined) and four Federal Phase II SBIR/STTR grants or contracts throughout the lifetime of the company.
Certify compliance with the New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law, N.J.S.A. 52:13D-12, et. seq.
Applicants must be in good standing with both DOL and DEP.As part of the review process, CSIT conducts sister agency checks with the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on all completed applications.

Scoring Criteria

All complete applications will be scored against the scoring criteria listed below and a summary of scored applications will be forwarded to the CSIT Program Committee. The Program Committee will review scored applications and make funding recommendations to the CSIT Board. The CSIT Board will make the final decision on grant winners.

Percentage of employees in New Jersey (up to 20 points¹).
Primary place of business/research and development (R&D) located within an Opportunity Zone census tract or primary place of business/R&D located within Trenton, Paterson, or Atlantic City (15 points).
Company with technology that came out of any New Jersey university with an executed license agreement (15 points).
First time applying for a CSIT Direct Funding or Bridge Funding grant (10 points).
First time federal SBIR/STTR awardees (direct funding)/ first time federal Phase II submitters (bridge funding) (10 points)
New Jersey Certified Women-owned Business (10 points).
New Jersey Certified Minority-owned Business (10 points).
New Jersey Certified Veteran-owned Business (10 points).

¹ (100 percent of employees in New Jersey = 20 points; between 75 percent and 99 percent = 15 points; between 50 percent and 74 percent =10 points; and less than 49 percent = 0 points.)

Eligible Uses
SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance Grant Program funding can be used to maintain project activities and cover general operating costs.

Grant Amounts
Eligible applicants can receive grant awards of $25,000 for Direct Funding and $50,000 for Bridge Grants.

Application Process

The application will open at 9:00 am on October 3, 2022 at www.njeda.gov/csit and close on November 14, 2022 at 5:00 pm. In addition to the online application form, Direct Funding Grant applications for Phase I, Fast Track and Direct to Phase II winners must provide the following documentation:

Copy of Federal Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II Award Letter/Contract from a participating Federal agency dated within the past two years of the issuance of this Notice of Funding Availability.
Copy of the accepted Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II proposal submitted to participating Federal agency in response to a specific Federal solicitation.
Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing (i.e., most recent New Jersey WR-30 (for W2 employees) or 1099 (for contractors)); as well as a shareholder agreement, K-1, or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for one year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.
Summary of most recent internal payroll (Q2 2022 or Q3 2022) indicating each employee name and number of hours worked per week.
Current New Jersey Tax Clearance Certificate listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. See https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
If applicable, copy of Veteran-owned, Minority-owned, or Women-owned Business Certification. https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/.
Completed application certifications.
Completed CSIT legal debarment questionnaire.

In addition to the online application form, Bridge Funding for Phase II applicants shall provide the following documentation:

Copy of Federal Phase I SBIR/STTR Award/Contract from a participating Federal agency dated within the past two years of the issuance of this Notice of Funding Availability.
Copy of the Phase I final report and confirmation of agency acceptance.
Proof of Federal Phase II SBIR/STTR application submission: documentation showing that Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal has been submitted to and received by the participating Federal agency. Example:
- A copy of the Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal submitted to sponsoring agency and
- Written or electronic notification from the agency confirming date of proposal receipt.
Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing (i.e., most recent New Jersey WR-30 (for W2 employees) or 1099 (for contractors); as well as shareholder agreement, K-1, or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for one year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.
Summary of most recent internal payroll (Q2 2022 or Q3 2022) indicating each employee name and number of hours worked per week.
Current New Jersey Tax Clearance Certificate listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology. See https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.
If applicable, copy of Veteran-owned, Minority-owned, or Women-owned Business Certification. https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/.
Completed application certifications.
Completed CSIT legal debarment questionnaire.

The following steps detail the application submission process:

A document completeness review will be done on a rolling basis as applications are received.
Applicants with missing documentation will be notified and given 10 business days to submit missing documents.
After the missing documentation deadline, only complete applications will be evaluated and scored.
A score will be assigned to each application.
Grants will be awarded to the top 20 applications with the highest overall scores for Phase I Direct Funding awards.
Grants will be awarded to the top 10 applications with the highest overall scores for Phase II Bridge awards.

Board Approval
The CSIT Board will make the final decision on grant award winners.

Fees
No fees will be collected by CSIT for this program.

Additional Information
Grant award agreements will require that the awardee’s employees and consultants conduct at least 50 percent of the company’s work (calculated on a full-time basis, 35 hours) in New Jersey for a period of three years from the effective date of the Grant Agreement. Failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the awardee make full re-payment of the grant award.

All grant awardees must report economic impact data to CSIT for a period of two years from the anniversary of the grant agreement completion of the project by submitting an Economic Impact Questionnaire provided by CSIT.

All grant awardees are asked to commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA alumni activities, such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about program experience.

Confidentiality
Applications received will be reviewed only by staff of CSIT, NJEDA, participating universities/colleges, federal labs, and non-profit organizations. All applications submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to requests pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted must be specifically identified and marked by the applicant as such.

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New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology
Notice of Funding Availability
Clean Tech Seed Grant Program – Round 2

1. INTENT/SUMMARY

This grant opportunity is issued by the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT) in collaboration with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), seeking applications from qualified Applicants for Round 2 of the Pilot Clean Tech Seed Grant Program (Program) to support early stage entrepreneurs in the State.

2. PROGRAM SUMMARY

The Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program has a total budget of $1,500,000 for awards. Funding for the Program is provided by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU). The Program will be implemented by the CSIT, and administrative and technical support will be provided by NJEDA staff.

The goal of the Program is to help New Jersey-based early stage clean tech/clean energy companies accelerate development and innovation of clean technologies to transform new discoveries from research stage into commercially viable technologies, leading to industry and investor interest.

An initial round of the Program was launched in February 2021 and ten (10) grants totaling

$747,964 were awarded to New Jersey-based companies engaged in clean tech/clean energy research and development. The program had been oversubscribed by a factor of two indicating increased demand by relevant startup companies.

3. TARGET INDUSTRIES

The Program is for companies developing or testing clean technologies intended to avoid emissions of, or recapture, greenhouse gases and/or criteria pollutants, or to enable such avoidance or recapture in the following target areas:

Chemicals/Advance Materials
- Energy Distribution/Storage
- Energy Efficiency
- Energy Generation
- Green Buildings
- Transportation
- Waste Processing
- Water and Agriculture

The Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) are a method of estimating technology maturity. The TRL scale ranges from 1 (basic principle observed) through 9 (total system used successfully in project operations). Applicants are requested to use the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Technology and Commercialization Readiness Calculator tool included in the Technical Proposal to determine TRL score

All Applicants for the Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program should be between a minimum technology development level of TRL 2 (applied research) and maximum of TRL 7 (Full- scale, similar (prototypical) system demonstrated in relevant environment), based on the Department of Energy definitions (Attachment A).

4. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Each Applicant to the Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program must meet the following eligibility criteria at the time of application and throughout the review process.

Authorized and in good standing to conduct business in New Jersey as evidenced by a New Jersey current New Jersey tax clearance certificate
- Have a minimum of one (1) full-time equivalent employee (FTE) including founders; with at least one employee working 50% of their time on the project being proposed
- 50% or more of the work of its employees, including founders and contractors conducted in NJ (calculated on an FTE basis – 35 hrs. per week)
- 50% or more of employees, including founders/contractors live or pay withholding taxes in NJ
- Company has less than two million dollars ($2,000,000) in prior third-party funding over its lifetime (excluding government grants)

Company has less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in previous calendar year sales revenue

Please note, previous grant awardees from Round 1 of the Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program are not eligible to apply for Round 2 of the Program.

5. PROJECT SIZE, USE OF FUNDS AND DISBURSEMENTS

Eligible applicants can propose a project of up to one year in duration and with a maximum budget of $75,000. An extension for up to an additional 3 months may be permitted and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Please note that CSIT reserves the right to make changes to budget submissions if there are any proposed expenditures outside the scope of the Program.

The Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program funds are intended for specific, early-stage clean tech/clean energy-related development projects (Projects). All expenses submitted as part of the budget proposal should be specifically related to the particular Project for which this grant is sought.

The following expense categories are ineligible for funding the Program:

Travel, entertainment, and other similar expenses
- Allocations of general overhead expenses
- Any expenditures incurred before the “Effective date” the date representing the last date of execution of the Grant Agreement by the Parties.
- Any expenses for equipment and materials that Applicant does not expect to use predominantly for the Project during the Project period
- Fees related to Conferences not associated with the Project

In addition, no more than 30% of the budget proposed for the Project, in the aggregate, may be spent on:

Marketing and customer discovery specific to the innovation
IP patent prosecution and licensing-related expenses
Conference registration fees

Disbursement of funds

Eighty percent (80%) of the approved Project budget request will be disbursed upon execution of the Grant Agreement following the award, and the remaining twenty percent (20%) will be disbursed after the submission of an approved Project Completion report to CSIT.

6. REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

All applications to the Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program must include the following documentation:

Completed online application

Budget and Milestone Proposals (use attached Excel templates)

Uploaded results from Technology and Readiness Technology Calculator Excel file (link from Technical Proposal)

Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing -i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1 or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the Applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the NJ Department of Labor (DOL), These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.

Summary of most recent Internal Payroll indicating each employee name, including founders and number of hours worked per week.

Most recent Company tax filing; Federal 941 and either an NJ-CBT-100 (Schedule A), Form- 1065 or Form -1040 (Schedule C) or whichever is applicable to the organizational form of your business, showing the total Gross Receipts or Sales for the year.

Current NJ tax clearance certificate (listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology). See https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.

If applicable, copy of Women and/or Minority owned business NJ certification https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/

Signed Application Certification

Completed CSIT Legal Debarment Questionnaire

7. APPLICATION AND EVALUATION PROCESS

Applications to the Program shall be submitted using CSIT’s online application Portal. The application window will be open for a period of eight (8) weeks. Access to the application Portal can be found on the CSIT’s Program page (https://www.njeda.gov/about/Public- Information/CSIT )

The application Portal will be open from Monday, January 24th 2022, at 10AM to Monday March 21st 2022 at 5PM EST
All interested applicants must complete and submit their applications online through the Portal by the deadline in order to be considered for the Program
The online application will enable applicants to provide an electronic Application Certification by uploading a signed PDF. However, if an applicant prefers not to provide an electronic Application Certification, the applicant may:
1. Mail a hard copy of the signed Application Certification postmarked by the application deadline to CSIT at:
  Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology Attn: Judith Sheft (Executive Director)
  36 W State Street PO Box 990
  Trenton, NJ 08625

AND

Email CSIT with the subject line: “MAILED Application Certification Clean Tech Seed Grant Program” indicating that the certification document has been mailed. Only the signed CSIT Application Certification should be mailed; the rest of the application must be submitted through the online system.

Please note that if an applicant chooses to mail a hard copy of the application certification, the application will only be considered complete once the original signed CSIT application certification post marked by the application deadline is received by CSIT.

CSIT will host an informational webinar on the Clean Tech Seed Grant Program and a recording of the Webinar will be posted on the CSIT’s webpage. The webinar will be hosted on the week of January 24th, 2022. Information on registration for the Webinar can be found on CSIT’s webpage.

All submitted applications will be reviewed for document completeness and compliance on a rolling basis. Following the completeness review, applicants with missing documentation will receive an email notification from CSIT to submit or re-submit any missing or incomplete required documentation by 5PM. on the 10th business day following the day on which it receives such notification (Extension Time).

Applicant’s should submit missing documentation electronically to csit@njeda.com with the email subject line “Round 2, Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program-Missing Documentation Submission- [Company Name]”.

After the Applicant’s Extension Time, any application that does not include ALL of the documents specified or contain documents that have not been completed will be considered incomplete and will not be evaluated. Only complete applications will be evaluated and scored.

Due to COVID-19, it may take longer than usual for Applicants to obtain certain NJ state documents (NJ Business Registration Certificate, NJ Tax Clearance Certificate, and Minority/Woman Owned Business Certification)

If an Applicant has attempted to obtain the missing NJ state documents and has not received them by the extension time, the Applicant may provide correspondence or receipts that demonstrate the attempt to obtain the missing documents to enable the application to be deemed complete for scoring purposes only
The required missing documentation MUST be submitted before any recommendation of an award will be made with respect to that Applicant

Evaluation process

External reviewers from industry and academia shall serve as Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and provide input in the evaluation of the technical and business merit of the proposals. All SMEs will be pre-screened for potential conflicts of interest, will be required to sign confidentiality agreements, and will serve on an unpaid, volunteer basis. The SMEs will review the Technical proposals of each application and provide qualitative comments to the Evaluation Committee.

The Evaluation Committee, consisting of CSIT and NJEDA staff, will score each application against the basic and bonus point scoring criteria outlined below, taking into consideration the insights from the SMEs. As part of the process, all complete Applicants will be invited to make a brief presentation about their project and submission to the evaluation committee and SME’s. The Evaluation Committee may also contact and engage applicants for clarifying comments on their Technical proposal or Budget submissions. Please note these communications will be only for clarification purposes only; Applicants will not be allowed to submit any new information pertaining to their application.

At the end of the review period, the Evaluation Committee will provide to CSIT the results of each scored application with summary notes, which will be forwarded to the CSIT Program Committee.

The Program Committee will review all scored applications and make recommendations to the CSIT Board for grant awards. The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant winners.

Grant winners will be required to execute a Grant Agreement outlining the funding amount, terms, and conditions of the grant. Grant funds will not be disbursed until the execution of such Grant Agreement by the Applicant and the CSIT.

8. SCORING CRITERIA

The Technical Proposal, Budget and Milestone Proposal of all complete applications will be evaluated, and points will be awarded, based on the following criteria:

Innovation (up to 30 points)
Market Opportunity (up to 10 points)
Implementation Plan (Budget and Milestones) (up to 20 points)
Go-to-Market strategy (up to 10 points)
Economic and Environmental Impact (up to 10 points)
Team (up to 20 points)

All complete applications will be evaluated and scored against the above criteria and assigned a score; however, to be considered for an award, the application must receive an aggregate minimum score of 70 points on the above criteria.

Bonus Points (only awarded to applicants that meet the minimum score)

Technology from NJ university-as evidenced by an executed License agreement (15 points)
Minority-owned company (10 points)
Women- owned company (10 points)
Primary place of Business or R&D space located within an eligible opportunity zones census tract in New Jersey. (5 points)

At least one award will be reserved for an Applicant that is a women-owned company as certified by the State of NJ and one award will be reserved for an Applicant that is Minority-owned as certified by the state of NJ. If no women-owned or minority-owned businesses apply or receive the minimum score required for an award, then the set aside award will be included in the total budget available awards to all applicants.

9. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

As part of the review process, CSIT conducts sister agency checks with the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on all completed applications. To be recommended for an award, applicants must be in good standing with both DOL and DEP.

Grant awardees will agree that its employees; including founders and consultants will conduct at least 50% of the company’s work (calculated on an FTE basis) in New Jersey for a period of three (3) years from the effective date of the Grant Agreement; failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the applicant make full re-payment of the grant award within sixty (60) days following such failure of compliance, or as otherwise stated in the Grant Agreement.

All grant awardees must commit to report economic impact data to CSIT upon the completion of program for a period of five (5) years as will be outlined in the Grant Agreement and by periodically submitting an Economic Impact Questionnaire provided by CSIT.

All grant awardees must commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA/BPU alumni activities such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about Program experience.

10. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Questions and inquiries concerning this Notice of Funding will be accepted through the application deadline and should be submitted via e-mail to csit@njeda.com. The subject line of the e-mail should state: “Round 2 CSIT Clean Tech Seed Grant Program”.
As noted above, CSIT will host a Webinar on the Program, and Applicants will also have an opportunity to ask questions at that time. A recording of the Webinar and registration details will be available on CSIT’s website
All questions received and answers provided in response to this Notice of Funding will be answered in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, which will be posted and continuously updated on CSIT’s website

11. CONFIDENTIALITY

Applications received will be reviewed only by staff of CSIT, NJEDA and NJBPU, together with the SMEs. All proposals submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to, a request pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A.

47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted to the Authority shall be specifically identified and marked by the applicant.

Attachment A: Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)

TRL 1

Basic Research: Initial scientific research has been conducted. Principles are qualitatively postulated and observed. Focus is on new discovery rather than applications.

TRL 2

Applied Research: Initial practical applications are identified. Potential of material or process to solve a problem, satisfy a need, or find application is confirmed.

TRL 3

Critical Function or Proof of Concept Established: Applied research advances and early stage development begins. Studies and laboratory measurements validate analytical predictions of separate elements of the technology.

TRL 4

Lab Testing/Validation of Alpha Prototype Component/Process: Design, development and lab testing of components/processes. Results provide evidence that performance targets may be attainable based on projected or modeled systems.

TRL 5

Laboratory Testing of Integrated/Semi-Integrated System: System Component and/or process validation is achieved in a relevant environment.

TRL 6

Prototype System Verified: System/process prototype demonstration in an operational environment (beta prototype system level).

TRL 7

Integrated Pilot System Demonstrated: System/process prototype demonstration in an operational environment (integrated pilot system level).

TRL 8

System Incorporated in Commercial Design: Actual system/process completed and qualified through test and demonstration (pre-commercial demonstration).

TRL 9

System Proven and Ready for Full Commercial Deployment: Actual system proven through successful operations in operating environment, and ready for full commercial deployment.

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New Jersey Arts and Innovation Festival Challenge Grant
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) hereby announces the availability of grant funding under the New Jersey Arts and Innovation Festival Grant Program, with the purpose to serve as seed funding to explore the possibility of bringing an innovative music and technology festival to New Jersey. The funding is comprised of one (1) grant with (1) award of up to $2 million.

Applications will open on Thursday December 23, 2021 at 5:00 pm and will close on Thursday January 21, 2022 at 5:00pm. Applications will be accepted for thirty (30) calendar days after the opening of the application. Applications for this program will be accepted up to the closing date. Applications will be evaluated for completeness by Authority staff and scored by a committee. The highest scoring application will be recommended to the NJEDA Board for award.

Applications will be available and submitted online to the NJEDA at: www.njeda.gov/arts-and-innovation-festival-challenge

Overview

This funding opportunity is issued as part of Governor Phil Murphy’s campaign to build a stronger and fairer New Jersey and to facilitate growth of New Jersey as the State of Innovation with significant Investment in Communities. The NJEDA will create and administer the New Jersey Arts and Innovation Festival Challenge Grant to support a festival in New Jersey highlighting creative arts and innovative technologies.

This funding will support an event planning entity’s work to produce an arts and technology festival that will showcase the cutting edge of arts, technology, education, policy, research, and social impact that will be located in New Jersey. The festival will be a regional draw that will position New Jersey as a premier location for diverse creatives, entrepreneurs, and researchers to live, work, and play.

The New Jersey Arts and Innovation Festival Challenge Grant funding allocated in the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Act was assigned to the Economic Recovery Fund in order to create the Challenge Grant program.

Purpose

The New Jersey Arts and Innovation Festival Challenge Grant will provide grant funding with one (1) award of up to $2,000,000 to a business or nonprofit with experience organizing large-scale events. The selected entity will use this funding, plus additional funds they raise independently of the NJEDA, to produce a festival to be held over two or more days with a proposed goal of holding the festival held in the Summer or Fall of 2022.

Eligible Uses

The sole use of this grant funding is to cover operational costs related to the management, production, and promotion of a New Jersey centered arts and innovation festival.

Grant Amounts

One grant award of up to $2,000,000 will be awarded based on approval by the NJEDA Board.

Notification of Award

The awardee will be notified following approval of the award by the NJEDA Board. The funds disbursement will be made after the execution of the grant documentation by both parties.

Funding Disbursement

Funding will be disbursed as follows:

First Tranche – $500,000 disbursed, post execution, within seven days of the receipt and approval of a spending plan for the initial disbursement of $500,000. The spending plan must identify major cost centers and spending targets related to booking costs, operational costs, and any normal and customary costs associated with the planning, production, and management of the festival.

Booking costs are described as:
- Funds required to secure contracts for the time and performance of individuals or groups who are identified by the grantee as major performers, presenters, or speakers at the proposed event.
- Funds required to secure contracts for use of a specific venue or venues, in a New Jersey municipality, where speaking events, arts, and/ innovation presentations, or artistic performance or support services will be held as part of the NJ Arts and Innovation Festival
Operating costs may include but are not limited to:
- Contract fees, contract payments, venue and/or equipment deposits, inventory, supplies, salaries, costs related to professional services, costs related to governmental fees, utilities payments, and other customary costs related to operations.
Normal and Customary costs are costs associated with the production and management of the festival that may not be traditionally associated with operating costs.

Second Tranche – Remaining funds up to a total of $1,500,000 to be disbursed in increments of no less than $100,000 and no greater than $500,000 for reimbursement of booking costs, operating costs, and normal and customary costs incurred in the production of the festival not covered by the initial disbursement.

Automated processes, where applicable, are being implemented to ensure the rapid issue of the disbursements.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant eligibility is open to qualified applicants defined as:

For profit and nonprofit entities,
Registered to do business in New Jersey or holding a valid NJ Charitable Registration, and
With demonstrated experience organizing and executing at least one (1) event with an attendance of 5,000 or more in the last 7 years.

Applicants may submit only one application. The applicant will be the sole entity responsible for meeting the requirements of the grant agreement.

Applicants may add a strategic partner or partners whose experience, knowledge, skills and ability may provide an advantage in the production, management, and/or marketing of the festival. Strategic partners are distinct from contractors in that they may not be contracted for specific services, but instead will enter into agreements with the grant recipient to plan the festival and oversee spending of grant funds received. The strategic partnership must be recognized by a memorandum of understanding or a written agreement between the partner and the applicant and be included in the application. The strategic partner or partners’ prior experience will be considered for the purposes of awarding the grant.

The applicant will have the sole responsibility in the grant agreement for assuring the compliance of partners with all terms and conditions of the program. The applicant will be the sole recipient of the grant. Entities may only submit one proposal as primary applicant but may be included as strategic partners on other applications or as contractor for grantees. Once included in the proposal, any named strategic partner or partners cannot be changed without the prior written consent of the Authority.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted for 30 days after the opening of the application. All applications should propose an arts and innovation festival to be held in Summer or Fall 2022. The Applicant shall provide:

Proof of successful management, by applicant and/or strategic partner, of at least one (1) event that took place over two (2) or more days and included at least three (3) of the elements listed below.
- In order to achieve the highest possible score, applicants will need to provide proof of multiple events that they have managed with additional points being given to event hosted in New Jersey.
  - Live music performances or other live performances (i.e. poetry readings, speeches, plays)
  - Panel discussions
  - Keynote speakers of national significance (i.e. CEOs, political figures, award winning writers/performers/ researchers, advocacy champions, entrepreneurs)
  - Live tech demonstrations
  - Trade shows

Vision statement for NJ Arts and Innovation Festival that includes:
- Proposed dates and locations
- Proposed performers/speakers
- Proposed plan for advertising/promotion
- Proposed plan for partnering with host municipality/municipalities to provide free or subsidized tickets to residents of the host municipality/municipalities
- COVID-19 safety plan
- Diversity and inclusion statement
- Security plan
- Transportation/parking plan
Proposed budget
Key staff bios and resumes
Strategic Partner or Partners, as needed
Proposed key contractors, as needed
Proposed plan (fundraising plan) to fund any budgeted amount in excess of the $2,000,000 available through the NJEDA grant.

Submissions must contain, at a minimum, the required information identified below:

Completed Application Information Form and any additional information related to the Grant Fund Uses.
Completed Budget Estimate that demonstrates how the full project budget is being utilized. The budget must detail costs, which include, but are not limited to, labor costs, contract/technical services and support costs, and material costs. The budget must project out that the festival shall be executed within Summer or Fall 2022. The budget will be outlined in a budget schedule.
Signed agreement that the entity assumes all liability for the event and will indemnify, defend and hold harmless NJEDA for any action during the Arts and Innovation Festival.
Proof of ability to obtain appropriate insurance coverage as recommended by the Authority’s insurance broker in the form of a substantially similar insurance policy for an event the applicant has previously organized.
Strategic Partnership Memoranda of Understanding or Agreement (if relevant).
Current New Jersey Business Registration or New Jersey Charitable Registration

Fees

A non-refundable fee of $1,000 shall accompany every application.

Click here for full PDF

New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will begin accepting applications for the New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant at 10:00 a.m. EST July 26, 2022.The application can be accessed at https://www.njeda.gov/asset-activation-planning-grant. Applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis during a 90-day period starting on July 26, 2022 or until grant funding is exhausted. Asset Activation program has been allocated a funding pool of $400,000. Grant awards of up to $50,000 are made to plan for activation of underutilized or unutilized public properties.

Purpose

The New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant Program will provide grants for pre-development planning work to demonstrate viability and prepare implementation of projects that will activate public assets and contribute to the local community and regional economy.

Overview

A history of shifting economic and development paradigms in New Jersey has left an array of underutilized properties and infrastructure throughout state in urban, suburban, and rural communities alike. Former assets are now liabilities that no longer meet the needs of modern New Jerseyans and will require innovative development to activate their potential and contribute to the State’s economy in an equitable way.

On March 9, 2022, the NJEDA Board approved the creation of the New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant Program, which established the New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant to fund projects up to $50,000 to plan for activation of underutilized or unutilized public properties. Using up to $400,000 of Economic Recovery Fund resources, this grant will invest in communities and make government work better – two major economic development priorities adopted by the NJEDA Board and laid out in Governor Murphy’s Economic Plan. The NJEDA will begin accepting applications for the Asset Activation Grant in July 26, 2022.

Eligibility

Qualified applicants for the New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant include municipalities,

counties, redevelopment agencies, independent authorities, non-profit entities, and private for-profit entities that meet additional criteria and hold a valid New Jersey tax clearance certificate.

Applicants may add strategic partners whose experience, knowledge, skills, and ability may provide an advantage in the production of analyses and reports.

An applicant in a lead role for a proposal is the entity that is the sole recipient of grant funds and responsible for all terms of the grant agreement. The lead role applicant will serve as the primary point of contact with the Authority, submit any requests for fund disbursement, and provide reports to the Authority.

The strategic partnership must be recognized by a signed memorandum of understanding or a written agreement between the partner and the applicant. The MOU or written agreement must be included in the completed application.

An applicant may only submit one application in a lead role, but may be included as a partner in additional applications where they play a non-lead role. Any named strategic partner or partners included in the proposal cannot be changed without the prior written consent of the Authority.

Private and nonprofit entities proposing projects in relation to public properties must provide a letter of approval from the chief executive of the public entities that hold ownership of the subject property. Assets owned by The State of New Jersey are not eligible . Assets owned by independent authorities, commissions, boards, or other entities of the State of New Jersey are eligible when accompanied by a letter of approval from the body’s CEO.

A proposal on behalf of a county or independent authority does not preclude a municipality within that county; or municipality or county within the boundary of an independent authority; or independent authority whose boundaries overlap a municipality or county from submitting their own proposal.

An award of grant funding does not imply approval of planning, analysis, use, sale, or divestment of any assets or property.

Applicants who are successfully awarded a grant will follow a uniform disbursement schedule. The lead entity will receive 50 percent of the grant amount upon execution of grant agreement, 25 percent upon submission of a mid-way progress report, and 25 percent upon completion and submission of a final plan and final progress report. At a minimum, the progress reports must include a summary of funds expended to date as well as a narrative detailing milestone achieved and overall progress toward completion of final plan.

Eligible Uses

Planning projects may include, but are not limited to:

Conceptual Design
Feasibility Study
Land-use Planning
Economic Analysis
Market Analysis
Legal Analysis

Projects should target deficient, under-utilized, or vacant land, buildings, or infrastructure owned by a county, municipality, district, public authority, public commission, public agency, or other political subdivision or public body.

Grant Amounts

The maximum grant amount is $50,000.

Application Process

Online applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis based upon the date and time the NJEDA receives a completed application submission.

Applications for the New Jersey Asset Activation Planning Grant will be accepted on a rolling basis, reviewed, and scored on a first-in / first-out basis.

Applications will be accepted during a 90-day window or until grant funding is exhausted. To apply, an applicant must register, or log into the online application portal, complete all required application questions fully, and upload all required PDF document attachments. EDA staff will review applications in the order they are received for completeness and respond with any necessary rectifications to the application. The applicant will have 5 business days to cure any deficiencies, or the application will be withdrawn.

Each application must contain the following documents.

Required Application Information

A fully completed online application
New Jersey Tax Clearance Certificate
Religious Activities questionnaire (if applicable)
Signed Letter of Approval from the chief executive of the entity holding ownership of the subject property or asset must be digitally attached with the application
Completed Legal Questionnaire
Application Fee or fee waiver request? (unless waived).

Required Proposal Components of Application

Public Asset Description
Planning Project Details, including:
- Planning Activities
- Project Milestones
- Roles
- Public Engagement
- Grant need and budget
Asset Activation Merits, including:
- Asset challenges and considerations
- Regional market constrains and considerations
- Future uses, development, or activities at the site
- Connection to the State’s economic and development objectives
Background & Experience
Strategic Partners Memorandum of Understanding or written agreement (if applicable).

Applications deemed complete will be scored by a committee of EDA staff. Applications that meet a minimum score of 65 will be recommended to the EDA Board for grant funding.

Applications will be evaluated and scored based on:

Their “Asset Impact,” which demonstrates the magnitude of improved utilization a project will have on a public asset, the local community, and regional economy. (40 points)
The project’s purpose and merits, which address locality-specific needs and challenges that have precluded prior development of the asset, and a plan for long term viability of a project. (20 points)
The demonstration of the applicant’s previous experience with similar planning projects. (20 points)
Community Engagement aspects of the proposed planning work. (10 points)
Municipal Revitalization Index Score, which ranks New Jersey’s municipalities according to eight separate indicators that measure diverse aspects of social, economic, physical, and fiscal conditions in each locality. (10 points)

Fees

A $1000 application fee is required prior to review of the application.

An application fee waiver may be requested at the time of application for proposals led by municipalities or municipal authorities, boards, commissions or other municipal entities ranked in the top 10 percent of the Municipal Revitalization Index (MRI). Applicants will self-identify in the application as a municipality or municipal government entity requesting a waiver. Staff will determine if the entity meets the criteria for a waiver. Eligible entities will be granted a waiver for the program. Ineligible entities will be notified and a cure in the form of fees payment will be requested to complete the application.

Additional Information

Comprehensive information about the Asset Activation Grant Program is available at https://www.njeda.gov/asset-activation-planning-grant

Click here for full PDF

New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology

Notice of Funding for Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program – Round 1

INTENT/SUMMARY

This grant opportunity is issued by the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT) with support from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), seeking applications from qualified Applicants for a pilot Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program (Program) to support early stage innovation-based entrepreneurs in the State.

PROGRAM SUMMARY

The Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program has a total budget of $1,500,000 for awards. Applicants developing life sciences therapeutics can apply for grants of up to $150,000, all other Applicants are eligible to apply for grants of up to $75,000.

The goal of the Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program is to help New Jersey-based early stage innovation-based companies accelerate development of technologies to transform new discoveries from research stage into commercially viable products and services. The grant funds should enable Applicants to make significant progress and have a meaningful impact on their commercialization outcomes. The Catalyst Seed R&D Grant program is a complement to the Clean Tech Seed R&D Grant Program and is targeted toward Applicants that are developing technologies that are not eligible for the Clean Tech Seed Grant Program.

TARGET INDUSTRIES

The Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program is for companies conducting research and development or testing technologies in the following target areas:

Advanced Manufacturing
Advanced Transportation and Logistics
Film and Digital Media
Life Sciences – Therapeutic Drug Development
Life Sciences – Other
Non-Retail Food and Beverage
Professional and Financial Services
Technology

All Applicants for the Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program should have achieved a demonstration of concept for their project proposed for funding.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Each Applicant to the Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program must meet the following eligibility criteria at the time of application and must maintain eligibility during the entire review period in order to be eligible for an award:

Authorized and in good standing to conduct business in New Jersey as evidenced by a current New Jersey tax clearance certificate
Have a minimum of one (1) full-time equivalent employee with at least one employee working 50% of their time on the project being proposed
50% or more of the work of its employees and contractors conducted in NJ (calculated on an FTE basis – 35 hrs. per week)
50% or more of employees/contractors live or pay withholding taxes in NJ
Company has less than two million dollars ($2,000,000) in prior third-party funding over its lifetime (excluding government grants)
Company has less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in previous calendar year sales revenue

PROJECT SIZE, USE OF FUNDS AND DISBURSEMENTS

Eligible Applicants proposing research and development projects in the Life Sciences area of drug development / therapeutics can propose a project of up to one year in duration and with a maximum budget of $150,000. An extension for up to an additional 3 months may be permitted and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Other Applicants can propose projects of up to $75,000. An extension for up to an additional 3 months may be permitted and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Applicants that are eligible to apply for the Clean Tech Seed Grant program because they are conducting research and development or testing technologies intended to avoid emissions of, or recapture greenhouse gases and/ or criteria pollutants, or to enable such avoidance or recapture are not eligible to apply for the Catalyst Seed R&D Grant.

Please note that CSIT reserves the right to make changes to budget submissions if there are any proposed expenditures outside the scope of the Program.

The Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program funds are intended for specific, early-stage research and development projects (Projects). All expenses submitted as part of the budget proposal should be specifically related to the Project for which this grant is sought. The following expense categories are ineligible for funding from the Program:

Travel, entertainment, and other similar expenses
Allocations of general overhead expenses
Any expenditures incurred before the “Effective date”, the date representing the last date of execution of the Grant Agreement by the respective Parties
Any expenses for equipment and materials that Applicant does not use for the Project during the Project period
Fees related to Conferences not associated with the Project

In addition, no more than 30% of the budget proposed for the Project, in the aggregate, may be spent on:

Marketing and customer discovery specific to the innovation
IP patent prosecution and licensing-related expenses
Conference registration fees

Disbursement of funds

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

All applications to the Catalyst Seed Grant Program must include the following documentation:

Completed online application

Demonstration evidence that proof of concept has been achieved for the project. Submit one of the following:
- Description of the proof of concept results
- Published paper outlining results achieved
- Successful completion of a federal SBIR/STTR grant or contract related to the project
- Confirmation documentation from a university tech transfer office if the project relates to technology that has been developed at a university

Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure and staffing -i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1, or offer letters. Please note that if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized, the Applicant must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by the NJ Department of Labor (DOL), These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. See https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/ for additional information on PEOs.

Summary of most recent Internal Payroll (Q4 2020 or Q1 2021) indicating each employee name and number of hours worked per week.

Most recent Company tax filing; Federal 941 and either an NJ-CBT-100 (Schedule A), Form-1065 or Form -1040 (Schedule C) or whichever is applicable to the organizational form of your business, showing the total Gross Receipts or Sales for the year.

Current NJ tax clearance certificate (listing New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology). See https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp. All certificates listing another state agency will be rejected.

If applicable, copy of Women and/or Minority owned business NJ certification https://www.njportal.com/DOR/SBERegistry/Default/

Signed Application Certification

Completed CSIT Legal Debarment Questionnaire

APPLICATION AND EVALUATION PROCESS

Applications to the Program shall be submitted using CSIT’s online application Portal. The application window will be open for a period of nine (9) weeks. Access to the application Portal can be found on the CSIT’s Program page (https://www.njeda.gov/about/Public-Information/CSIT)

i. The application Portal will be open from Monday, December 6, 2021 at 10a.m. to Monday January 31, 2022 at 5 p.m.,
ii. All interested applicants must complete and submit their applications online through the Portal by the deadline in order to be considered for the Program
iii. The online application will enable applicants to provide an electronic Application Certification by uploading a signed PDF. However, if an Applicant prefers not to provide an electronic Application Certification, the Applicant may:

Mail a hard copy of the signed Application Certification postmarked by the application deadline to CSIT at:

Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology

Attn: Judith Sheft (Executive Director)

36 W State Street

PO Box 990

Trenton, NJ 08625

AND

Email CSIT with the subject line: “MAILED Application Certification Catalyst Seed Grant Program” indicating that the certification document has been mailed. Only the signed CSIT Application Certification should be mailed; the rest of the application must be submitted through the online system.

Please note that if an Applicant chooses to mail a hard copy of the application certification, the application will only be considered complete once the original signed CSIT application certification post marked by the application deadline is received by CSIT.

CSIT will host an informational webinar on the Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program and a recording of the Webinar will be posted on the CSIT’s webpage. The Webinar will be hosted during the week of December 6^th 2021. Information on registration for the Webinar can be found on CSIT’s webpage.

All submitted applications will be reviewed for document completeness and compliance on a rolling basis. Following the completeness review, applicants with missing documentation will receive an email notification from CSIT to submit or re-submit any missing or incomplete required documentation by 5 p.m. on the 10th business day following the day on which it receives such email notification (Extension Time).

Applicants should submit missing documentation electronically to csit@njeda.com with the email subject line “Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program-Missing Documentation Submission-[Company Name]”.

Due to COVID-19, it may take longer than usual for Applicants to obtain certain NJ state documents (NJ Tax Clearance Certificate, and Minority/Woman Owned Business Certification)

If an Applicant has attempted to obtain the missing NJ state documents and has not received them by the extension time, the Applicant may provide correspondence or receipts that demonstrate the attempt to obtain the missing documents to enable the application to be deemed complete for scoring purposes only
The required missing documentation MUST be submitted before any recommendation of an award will be made with respect to that Applicant

Evaluation Process

The Evaluation Committee, consisting of CSIT and NJEDA staff, will score each application against the basic and bonus point scoring criteria outlined below, taking into consideration the insights from the SMEs. As part of the process, the Evaluation Committee may contact and engage applicants for clarifying comments on their Technical proposal or Budget submissions. Please note these communications will be only for clarification purposes only; Applicants will not be allowed to submit any new information pertaining to their application.

At the end of the review period, the Evaluation Committee will provide to CSIT the results of each scored application with summary notes, which will be forwarded to the CSIT Program Committee.

The Program Committee will review all scored applications and make recommendations to the CSIT Board for grant awards. The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant winners.

SCORING CRITERIA

The Technical Proposal, Budget and Milestone Proposal of all complete applications will be evaluated, and points will be awarded, based on the following criteria:

Innovation (up to 30 points)
Market Opportunity (up to 10 points)
Implementation Plan (Budget and Milestones) (up to 20 points)
Go-to-Market strategy (up to 10 points)
Economic Impact (up to 10 points)
Team (up to 20 points)

Bonus Points (only awarded to applicants that meet the minimum score)

Technology from NJ university-as evidenced by an executed License agreement (15 points)
Minority-owned company (10 points)
Women-owned company (10 points)
Primary place of Business or R&D space located within an eligible opportunity zones census tract in New Jersey. See https://nj.gov/governor/njopportunityzones/ (5 points)

At least one award will be reserved for an Applicant that is a women-owned company as certified by the State of NJ and one award will be reserved for an Applicant that is Minority-owned as certified by the state of NJ.

OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Grant awardees will agree that its employees and consultants will conduct at least 50% of the company’s work (calculated on an FTE basis) in New Jersey for a period of three (3) years from the effective date of the Grant Agreement; failure to comply will trigger a requirement that the applicant make full re-payment of the grant award within sixty (60) days following such failure of compliance, or as otherwise stated in the Grant Agreement.

All grant awardees must commit to participate in future CSIT/NJEDA alumni activities such as serving as a panel member or participating in interviews about Program experience.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Questions and inquiries concerning this Notice of Funding will be accepted through the application deadline and should be submitted via e-mail to csit@njeda.com. The subject line of the e-mail should state: “CSIT Catalyst Seed R&D Grant Program”.
As noted above, CSIT will host a Webinar during the week of December 6^th, 2021 on the Program, and Applicant Companies will also have an opportunity to ask questions at that time. A recording of the Webinar will be available on CSIT’s website
All questions received and answers provided in response to this Notice of Funding will be answered in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, which will be posted and continuously updated on CSIT’s website

CONFIDENTIALITY

Applications received will be reviewed only by staff of CSIT and NJEDA, together with the SMEs. All proposals submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to, a request pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted to CSIT shall be specifically identified and marked by the Applicant.

Click here for a full PDF version

NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGY

Notice of Funding for

Round 3, Direct Financial Assistance Grant for businesses engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Federal Programs

1. INTENT / SUMMARY:

This grant opportunity is issued by the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology (CSIT) with support provided by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) seeking applications from qualified Federal SBIR/STTR awardees/applicants for a direct financial assistance program providing (i) Direct Funding to Phase I, Fast Track, and Direct to Phase II awardees and (ii) Bridge Funding to Phase II applicants.

Program Summary

The purpose of the CSIT established SBIR/STTR Support Program in New Jersey, is to enhance the State’s innovative economy by providing technical and financial support to small businesses seeking to or participating in the Federal SBIR/STTR program. The program has operated on a pilot basis for two years and has two core components:

Technical Assistance and
Direct Financial Assistance

This Notice of Funding is for the Direct Financial Assistance component only. This component seeks to:

Provide Direct Funding to NJ small businesses that received a Federal Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II SBIR/STTR award or contract
Provide Bridge Funding to NJ small businesses that have successfully completed Phase I and have applied for Phase II of the Federal SBIR/STTR program

The grant funding can be utilized to maintain project activities and cover general operating costs.

2. FEDERAL PROGRAM BACKGROUND:

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) are highly competitive three-phase award programs, which provide qualified small businesses opportunities to propose innovative ideas that meet the specific research and development needs of the Federal government. The goals of the programs are to:

Stimulate technological innovation
- Meet Federal research and development needs
- Foster and encourage participation in innovation and entrepreneurship by women and

socially or economically disadvantaged populations

Increase private-sector commercialization of innovations derived from Federal research and development funding

NJ SBIR/STTR Support Program

In 2018, Governor Murphy, signed legislation that re-established the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology, formerly known as the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, to spur long-term planning, research and entrepreneurship in the Garden State. This program aligns with Governor Murphy’s vision of re- establishing NJ as an innovation leader and recognizing the role and importance of the State’s small businesses and higher education institutions in the innovation ecosystem and the economy.

The NJ SBIR/STTR Support Program builds on CSIT’s mandate of creating a vibrant innovation economy and supporting the growth of early-stage companies in NJ. An initial round of the Direct Financial Assistance component was launched in December 2019 and a second round in 2020. This 2021 Notice of Funding builds on the two previous rounds of the program by providing targeted resources for SBIR/STTR support in NJ to help small businesses attract more funding through Federal research grants and contracts.

Applicants should refer to this Notice of Funding (August 2021) for application and documentation requirements for the Round 3 of the Direct Financial Assistance Program.

Overall, the NJ SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance Program has three objectives; all of which help grow the innovation economy in NJ:

Increase the success rate of NJ grant applications seeking Federal funding for SBIR/STTR programs
Reduce the financial burden for small NJ companies that have won Phase 1, a SBIR/STTR Fast Track or a Direct to Phase II award of the Federal SBIR/STTR program
Increase success and maximize growth of small NJ companies in moving from Phase I to Phase II of the SBIR/STTR Federal program

This Notice of Funding Direct Financial Assistance will offer two grant components with a total budget of $1,250,000:

$25,000 Direct Funding for thirty (30) SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract winners (“Direct Funding”)
$50,000 Bridge Funding for ten (10) SBIR/STTR Phase II applicants (“Bridge Funding”)

Please note that CSIT reserves the right to reallocate funds between the two components of the Direct Financial Assistance program.

Direct Funding for SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II Awardees: Phase I of the Federal SBIR/STTR program is intended to establish technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposed R&D efforts. Federal Phase I awards normally do not exceed $150,000 total costs for six (6) months. To help NJ Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract winners increase intensity of research, strengthen commercialization plans, cover operational expenses and become more competitive for Phase II funding, CSIT will provide a grant of $25,000 to NJ small businesses that receive a Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract. The grant funding is intended to reduce the financial burden on these growing small businesses and improve their chances of applying and winning Phase II awards. The grant will be flexible to help cover general operational expenses.

Bridge Funding for Phase II Applicants:

The gap between application and award notice for Phase II of the Federal SBIR/STTR program can be up to six (6) months and it is during this period that small businesses often struggle to secure funding and maintain operations. CSIT will offer funding of $50,000 to NJ small businesses that have successfully completed Phase I of Federal SBIR/STTR program and have applied for Phase II funding. The funding is intended to enable NJ small businesses to maintain operations while waiting on Phase II awards.

Applicants to the Round 3, NJ CSIT Direct Financial Assistance SBIR/STTR Program can only apply for one component (either a Direct Funding or Bridge Funding).

3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

All applicants must meet eligibility criteria at time of application and must maintain eligibility during the period of application review in order to be considered for an award.

Applicants should send a notification to csit@njeda.com if there are any changes to their eligibility status after submission of an application and prior to any award notification.

Eligibility requirements must also be maintained during the grant term for awarded applicants and will be specified in the grant agreement.

Direct Funding for Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II winners: All applicants must

meet the following eligibility criteria:

Be a NJ based small business (have a valid tax clearance certificate)
Be a recipient of a Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II grant or contract award within the last two (2) years prior to the issuance of this Notice of Funding (August 9, 2021)
The applicant company cannot have been awarded more than 5 Federal SBIR/STTR grants or contracts (Phase I, Fast-track, Direct to Phase II combined) throughout the lifetime of the company
Have a NJ resident or employee designated as Principal Investigator/Project Manager for the duration of the CSIT grant
Have 50% or more full time equivalent employees working in NJ at the time of application as evidenced by employee documentation (fulltime/part-time employees and contractors)
The primary place of performance on the SBIR/STTR project award is a NJ address
The applicant company has not previously been awarded a CSIT SBIR/STTR Direct funding or Bridge funding grant within one year from this Notice of Funding issuance date (August 9, 2021)

Bridge Funding for Phase II Applicants: All applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

Be a NJ based small business (have a valid tax clearance certificate)
Be a previous Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I grant or contract award recipient within the last two (2) years prior to the issuance of this Notice of funding (August 9, 2021) that has successfully completed a Phase I Federal SBIR/STTR program, and submitted a Phase II SBIR/STTR application and has not received a Federal response yet on their Phase II application
The applicant company cannot have been awarded more than five (5) Federal SBIR/STTR grants or contracts (Phase I, Fast-track or Direct to Phase II combined) and four (4) Federal Phase II SBIR/STTR grants or contracts throughout the lifetime of the company
Have a NJ resident or employee designated as Principal Investigator/Project Manager for the duration of the CSIT grant
Have 75% or more full time equivalent employees working in NJ at the time of application as evidenced by employee documentation (fulltime and part-time employees and contractors)
The primary place of performance on the Phase II SBIR/STTR project submission is a NJ address
The applicant company has not previously been awarded a CSIT SBIR/STTR Direct funding or Bridge funding grant within one year from this Notice of Funding issuance date (August 9, 2021)

3. APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Round 3 applications will be accepted from August 16, 2021 through October 8, 2021. All interested applicants must complete the online application by 4pm EST on October 8, 2021, in order to be considered.

Applicants must submit the application via the online application portal on the CSIT webpage – https://www.njeda.gov/csit/. Only completed electronic submissions will be accepted.

The online application enables an applicant to provide an electronic Application Certification by uploading a signed PDF (Please note that for an application to be considered complete, this document must be signed by the application deadline or applicable extension date following a completeness review.).

If an applicant prefers not to provide an electronic Application Certification, the applicant may:

Mail a hard copy of the signed Application Certification post marked by the application deadline to CSIT at:

Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology Attn: Judith Sheft (Executive Director)

P.O. Box 990

36 W State Street Trenton, NJ 08625

AND

Email CSIT with the subject line: “MAILED Application Certification SBIR/STTR Round 3” indicating that the certification document has been mailed. Only the signed CSIT Application Certification should be mailed; the rest of the application must be submitted through the online system.

PLEASE NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED COMPLETE ONCE THE ORIGINAL SIGNED CSIT APPLICATION CERTIFCATION POST MARKED BY THE APPLICATION DEADLINE OR APPLICABLE EXTENSION DATE FOLLOWING A COMPLETENESS REVIEW IS RECEIVED BY CSIT.

Required Documentation

This Notice of Funding will be posted on CSIT’s webpage (https://www.njeda.gov/about/Public- Information/CSIT). Eligible applicants should submit a completed online application with all supporting documentation to CSIT by the application deadline date.

As applications are received up to the application deadline date, they will be reviewed for completeness by CSIT staff. Applicants with missing documentation will receive an email notification from CSIT, following the completeness review, to re-submit any missing or incomplete required documentation within ten (10) business days of notice (extension date).

Applicants should submit missing documentation to csit@njeda.com within the resubmission timeframe with the email subject line “Round 3 SBIR/STTR Program_Missing Documentation Submission_Company Name”.

Due to the COVID pandemic, it may take longer than usual for applicants to obtain certain NJ state documents (NJ Tax Clearance Certificate, and Minority/Woman Owned Business Certification). If an applicant has attempted to obtain the missing NJ state documents and has not received them by the extension date the applicant may provide correspondence or receipts that demonstrate the attempt to obtain the missing documents to enable the application to be deemed complete for scoring purposes only. The missing documentation MUST be submitted before any recommendation of an award will be made to that applicant.

If after an email notification for missing documents from csit@njeda.com is sent to applicants and the requested documents are NOT submitted by the extension date, CSIT will consider the application as incomplete; the application will not be scored and will be rejected. Only complete applications after the document extension deadline will be evaluated and scored.

In addition to the online application form, Direct Funding Grant applications for Phase I, Fast Track and Direct to Phase II winners must include the following documentation:

Copy of Federal Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II Award Letter/Contract from a participating Federal Agency dated within the past two (2) years of the issuance of this Notice of Funding
Copy of the accepted Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II proposal submitted to participating Federal Agency in response to a specific Federal solicitation

NJ Tax Clearance Certificate (listing Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology) https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp (Please note that the tax clearance certificate will need to be renewed every 6 months) Any certificates listing an agency other than NJ CSIT will be rejected

Completed employee log (template provided on online portal) and associated employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure – i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1. Please note, if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized the PEO must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by NJ Department of Labor (DOL). These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/

State or federal issued identification or proof of NJ residency or employment for Principal Investigator/Project Manager
Copy of Page on SBIR/STTR proposal, award or contract showing Primary Place of Performance for the project as a NJ address

Signed CSIT Application Certification

If applicable, copy of NJ minority and/ or women owned certification (if applicable): https://www.nj.gov/njbusiness/documents/contracting/NEW%20MBE- WBE%20%20Web%20Application%20JAN_2012.pdf

BECAUSE SOME STATE SYSTEMS HAVE EXPERIENCED LONGER THAN USUAL PROCESSING TIMES DUE TO COVID-19, APPLICANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO OBTAIN COPIES OF NJ DOUMENTATION EARLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING THEIR APPLICATIONS TO AVOID ANY DELAYS IN SUBMISSION OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION.

In addition to online application form, Bridge Funding for Phase II applications shall include the following documentation:

Copy of Federal Phase I SBIR/STTR Award/Contract from a participating Federal Agency dated within the past two (2) years of the issuance of this Notice of Funding

Copy of the Phase I final report and confirmation of Agency acceptance

Proof of Federal Phase II SBIR/STTR application submission: documentation showing that Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal has been submitted to and received by the participating Federal agency. Example:

o A copy of the Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal submitted to sponsoring Agency and,

Written or electronic notification from the Agency confirming date of proposal receipt

NJ Tax Clearance Certificate (listing Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology) https://www16.state.nj.us/NJ_PREMIER_EBIZ/jsp/home.jsp (Please note that the tax clearance certificate will need to be renewed every 6 months) Any certificates listing an agency other than NJ CSIT will be rejected

Completed employee log (template provide on online portal) and associated employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure -i.e. most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1). Please note, if a Professional Employment Organization (PEO) is utilized the PEO must submit confirmation of PEO-A form issued by Department of Labor (DOL). These confirmations are issued on an annual basis and are valid for a year. https://www.nj.gov/labor/ea/employer-services/leasing-companies/

State or federal issued identification or proof of NJ residency or employment for Principal Investigator/Project Manager

Copy of Page on SBIR/STTR proposal, award or contract showing Primary Place of Performance for the project as a NJ address

Signed CSIT Application Certification

If applicable, copy of NJ minority and/or women owned certification (if applicable): https://www.nj.gov/njbusiness/documents/contracting/NEW%20MBE- WBE%20%20Web%20Application%20JAN_2012.pdf

BECAUSE SOME STATE SYSTEMS HAVE EXPERIENCED LONGER THAN USUAL PROCESSING TIMES DUE TO COVID-19, APPLICANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO OBTAIN COPIES OF NJ DOUMENTATION EARLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING THEIR APPLICATIONS TO AVOID ANY DELAYS IN SUBMISSION OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION.

5. EVALUATION PROCESS AND SCORING CRITERIA

Preferred communication with applicants will be via email from csit@njeda.com. Applicants are encouraged to include this email in their safe email addresses to avoid the email going to a Junk box.

All complete applications will be scored against the scoring criteria and a summary of scored applications will be forwarded to the CSIT Program Committee. The Program Committee will review scored applications and make funding recommendations to the CSIT board. The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant winners.

Grant winners will be required to execute a Grant Agreement outlining the funding amount, terms, and conditions of the grant. Grant Funds will not be disbursed until the execution of such Grant Agreement by the applicant and CSIT.

Scoring criteria (preferences and priorities in evaluation)

All complete accepted applications received during the application window will be considered.

If available funds are insufficient to award all qualified applicants, preference shall be given to small businesses with:

Percentage of employees working in New Jersey (up to 20 points)
Qualified small business engaged in one of the State of New Jersey’s nine (9) strategic focus sectors: (15 points)
- Advance Manufacturing
- Advanced Transportation and Logistics
- Clean Energy
- Film and Digital Media
- Finance and Professional Services
- Food & Beverage (Non-Retail)
- Life Sciences
- Offshore Wind
- Technology
Company with technology that came out of any NJ university (Executed License agreement (15 points)
Qualified first time SBIR/STTR awardees (direct funding grant) that have received their first Federal SBIR/STTR award or first time Phase II SBIR/STTR submitters (bridge funding grant) (15 points)
Sub-award/contract a portion of the SBIR/STTR work to a NJ university (stated in the proposal/budget submission) (10 points)
Minority owned business (Please provide MBE certification): (10 points)https://www.nj.gov/njbusiness/documents/contracting/NEW%20MBE-

WBE%20%20Web%20Application%20JAN_2012.pdf

Women owned businesses (Please provide WBE certification): (10 points) https://www.nj.gov/njbusiness/documents/contracting/NEW%20MBE-

WBE%20%20Web%20Application%20JAN_2012.pdf

Primary place of business or R&D space located within NJ eligible opportunity zones census tracts: https://nj.gov/governor/njopportunityzones/ (5 points)

6. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Funding may be shifted across the two components of the Direct Financial Assistance Program as needed at the discretion of the CSIT Board and if additional funds are available after the review process, CSIT may accept additional applications until program funds are exhausted.

Grant awardees will agree to maintain 50% of work (as evidenced by employee log and documentation) in NJ for a period of two (2) years from the effective date of the Grant Agreement or two (2) years from the completion of the SBIR/STTR project, whichever is later. (Failure to comply will result in full re-payment of grant within sixty (60) days of relocation or as conditions state in the Grant Agreement).

All grant awardees must commit to report economic impact data to CSIT upon the completion of program for a period of two (2) years as will be outlined in the Grant Agreement and by submitting an Economic Impact Questionnaire provided by CSIT.

All grant awardees must commit to participate in future CSIT alumni activities such as, serving as a panel member or conducting brief interviews about Program experience.

7. NOTICE OF FUNDING PROJECTED MILESTONE DATES:

Notice of Funding release date: August 9, 2021
Webinar: August 19, 2021 (Instructions to Register will be posted on the CSIT Webpage)
Application Period: August 16, 2021 – October 8, 2021 (8 Working Weeks)
Application Deadline: October 8, 2021 4:00 pm EST

8. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Questions and inquiries concerning this Notice of Funding will be accepted through the application deadline. The preferred communication is to submit questions via e-mail to csit@njeda.com
CSIT will host a Webinar after the release of the Notice of Funding to provide information and respond to any questions. A recording of the Webinar will be available on the CSIT website
The subject line of the e-mail should state: “CSIT SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance – Round 3”
All questions received and answers given in response to this Notice of Funding will be answered in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to be posted and continuously updated on CSIT’s webpage. https://www.njeda.gov/about/Public-Information/CSIT

9. CONFIDENTIALITY

Applications received will be reviewed only by CSIT and NJEDA. All proposals submitted will be subject to requests for disclosure, including but not limited to, a request pursuant to the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. If the applicant believes that information contained in its proposal merits confidential treatment pursuant to OPRA, any such purportedly confidential information submitted to the Commission shall be specifically identified and marked by the applicant

Exhibit A: Document checklist for Direct Financial Assistance

Direct Funding for Phase I, Fast Track and Direct to Phase II Awardees	Bridge Funding for Phase II Applicants
Completed Application form	Completed Application form
Proof of Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award or contract (Award notice/contract)	Proof of Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I grant or contract award (Award notice/contract)
Copy of the accepted Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II proposal	Copy of the Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I final report
NJ Tax Clearance Certificate (certified to NJ CSIT)	NJ Tax Clearance Certificate (certified to NJ CSIT)
Completed employee log (template provided)	Completed employee log (template provided)
Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure - most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1	Employee information as appropriate for applicable company structure - most recent NJ WR-30 (W2 employees) or 1099 (contractors), Shareholder Agreement or K-1
Copy of State or Federal issued identification or proof of NJ residency or employment for Principle Investigator/Project Manager	Copy of State or Federal issued identification or proof of NJ residency or employment for Principle Investigator/Project Manager
Copy of Page of SBIR/STTR proposal, award or contract showing Primary Place of Performance for project as a NJ address	Copy of Page of SBIR/STTR proposal, award or contract showing Primary Place of Performance for Phase II project as a NJ address
Signed Application Certification	Signed Application Certification
If applicable, Minority and/ or Women -owned NJ certification	If applicable, Minority and/ or Women -owned NJ certification
	Copy of the Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal submitted to sponsoring Agency and Agency acceptance (written or electronic notification from the Agency confirming date of proposal receipt)

Exhibit B: Program specifications sheet

Round 3, Direct Financial Assistance grant for businesses engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Federal Programs
Funding Source	Total funding for Round 3 SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance program will be $1,250,000 using eligible funds from CSIT's FY2022 budget appropriation
Program Purpose	The purpose of the Program is to enhance the State's innovative economy by providing technical and financial support to small businesses seeking to or participating in the Federal SBIR/STTR program
Eligible Applicants (Direct funding grant and Bridge funding grant)	Direct Funding for Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II winners: All applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria: a. Be a NJ based small business (have a valid tax clearance certificate) b. Be a recipient of a Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II grant or contract award within the last two (2) years prior to the issuance of this Notice of Funding (August 9, 2021) c. The applicant company cannot have been awarded more than 5 Federal SBIR/STTR grants or contracts (Phase I, Fast-track, Direct to Phase II combined) throughout the lifetime of the company d. Have a NJ resident or employee designated as Principal Investigator/Project Manager for the duration of the CSIT grant e. Have 50% or more full time equivalent employees working in NJ at the time of application as evidenced by employee documentation (fulltime/part-time employees and contractors) f. The primary place of performance on the SBIR/STTR project award is a NJ address g. The applicant company has not had the closing date for an award of a CSIT SBIR/STTR Direct funding or Bridge funding grant within the past one year from this Notice of Funding issuance date (August 9, 2021) Bridge Funding for Phase II Applicants: All applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria: a. Be a NJ based small business (have a valid tax clearance certificate) b. Be a previous Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I grant or contract award recipient within the last two (2) years prior to the issuance of this Notice of funding (August 9, 2021) that has successfully completed a Phase I Federal SBIR/STTR program, and submitted a Phase II SBIR/STTR application and has not received a Federal response yet on their Phase II application c. The applicant company cannot have been awarded more than five (5) Federal SBIR/STTR grants or contracts (Phase I, Fast-track or Direct to Phase II combined) and four (4) Federal Phase II SBIR/STTR grants or contracts throughout the lifetime of the company d. Have a NJ resident or employee designated as Principal Investigator/Project Manager for the duration of the CSIT grant e. Have 75% or more full time equivalent employees working in NJ at the time of application as evidenced by employee documentation (fulltime and part-time employees and contractors) f. The primary place of performance on the Phase II SBIR/STTR project submission is a NJ address g. The applicant company has not had the closing date for an award of a CSIT SBIR/STTR Direct funding or Bridge funding grant within the past one year from this Notice of Funding issuance date (August 9, 2021)
Eligible Uses	The grant funding can be utilized to maintain project activities and cover general operating costs
Application Process and Board Approval/ Delegated Authority	Application process: 1. Applications will be open for a limited timeframe 2. A document completeness review will be done on a rolling basis as applications are received up to the application deadline 3. Applicants with missing documentation will be notified and given 10 business days to submit missing documents 4. Only complete applications after the missing documentation deadline will be evaluated and scored (Applicants that have been attempted to obtain missing state documentation but have not received it will be scored if they demonstrate they have attempted to obtain the documents since some NJ state agencies are taking longer than usual to process requests due to COVID. Missing documentation MUST be received prior to any recommendations of any award to any applicant.) 5. If more applications are received than available funding, priority will be given to applications that score the highest against the scoring criteria Board Approval: The CSIT Program Committee will review scored applications and make funding recommendations to the CSIT board. The CSIT Board will make final decision on grant winners Delegated Authority: Delegated Authority to the Executive Director to: 1. Make recommendations to move funds between Direct Funding and Bridge Funding components based on the applications received; and 2. Issue denial letters to applications with incomplete documentation following the extension period
Grant Amounts	Direct funding component $25,000 grants for thirty (30) SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract winners Bridge funding component $50,000 grants for ten (10) SBIR/STTR Phase II applicants
Funding Disbursement	Full amount of the grant will be disbursed to the applicant upon the successful execution of a grant agreement between CSIT and the applicant outlining the funding amount, terms, and conditions of the grant

New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)
Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

The Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program application portal will close at 5pm on Friday, September 24, 2021.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) expects to launch an online application for the Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 17^th at https://www.njeda.gov/henri-ida-relief/. Applications will be reviewed on a first come, first served basis.

Language Assistance

español (Spanish)
El portal de solicitud del Programa de subvenciones de asistencia empresarial Henri / Ida se cerrará a las 5 p.m. el viernes 24 de septiembre de 2021.
ATENCIÓN: si habla español, los servicios de asistencia lingüística, gratuitos, están disponibles para usted enviando un correo electrónico a languagehelp@njeda.com.

한국어 (Korean)
Henri/Ida 비즈니스 지원 보조금 프로그램 신청 포털은 2021년 9월 24일 금요일 오후 5시에 마감됩니다
알림: 한국어를 사용하시는 경우, 언어 지원 서비스가 무료로 이메일 languagehelp@njeda.com을 통해 제공됩니다.

po polsku (Polish)
Portal aplikacyjny Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program zostanie zamknięty o godzinie 17:00 w piątek 24 września 2021 r.
UWAGA: Jeśli mówisz po polsku, możesz uzyskać pomoc tłumacza bezpłatnie wysyłając e-mail pod adres languagehelp@njeda.com.

português (Portuguese)
O portal de inscrição do Programa de Subsídio de Assistência Empresarial Henri / Ida fechará às 17h na sexta-feira, 24 de setembro de 2021.
ATENÇÃO: se você falar português, oferecemos serviços de apoio de idioma gratuitos. Envie um e-mail para languagehelp@njeda.com.

Tagalog
Ang portal ng aplikasyon ng Henri / Ida Business Assistance Grant Program ay magsasara ng 5pm sa Biyernes, Setyembre 24, 2021.
ATTENTION: Kung nagsasalita ka ng Tagalog, magagamit mo ang libreng mga serbisyong tulong sa wika sa pamamagitan ng pag-email sa languagehelp@njeda.com.

اللغة (Arabic)
يتم إغلاق بوابة التقديم لبرنامج منحة Henri / Ida Business Assistance Program في الساعة 5 مساءً يوم الجمعة 24 سبتمبر 2021.
تنبيه: إذا كنت تتحدث اللغة العربية، فإن خدمات المساعدة اللغوية مجانية متاحة لك عبر إرسال بريد إلكتروني إلى
languagehelp@njeda.com.

粵語 Traditional Chinese (Cantonese Chinese)
Henri/Ida 商業援助補助計劃申請門戶將於 2021 年 9 月 24 日星期五下午 5 點關閉。
注意：如果您說粵語，可以透過傳送電子郵件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免費獲取語言協助服務。

普通语 Simplified Chinese (Mandarin Chinese)
Henri/Ida 商业援助补助计划申请门户将于 2021 年 9 月 24 日星期五下午 5 点关闭。
注意：如果您说普通语，可以通过发送电子邮件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免费获取语言协助服务。

ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)
હેનરી/ઇડા બિઝનેસ આસિસ્ટન્સ ગ્રાન્ટ પ્રોગ્રામ એપ્લિકેશન પોર્ટલ 24 સપ્ટેમ્બર, 2021, શુક્રવારે સાંજે 5 વાગ્યે બંધ થશે.
ધ્યાન આપો: જો તમે ગુજરાતી બોલતા હોય તો, તમારા માટે languagehelp@njeda.com પર ઈ-મેઈલ કરવાથી ભાષા સહાય સેવાઓ મફતામાં ઉપલબ્ધ છે.

हिंदी (Hindi)
हेनरी/इडा बिजनेस असिस्टेंस ग्रांट प्रोग्राम एप्लीकेशन पोर्टल शुक्रवार, 24 सितंबर, 2021 को शाम 5 बजे बंद हो जाएगा।
ध्यान दें: यदि आप हिंदी बोलते हैं, तो languagehelp@njpa.com पर ईमेल द्वारा, आप के लिए नि:शुल्क भाषा सहायता सेवाएं उपलब्ध हैं।

italiano (Italian)
Il portale di domanda del programma di sovvenzione Henri/Ida Business Assistance si chiuderà alle 17:00 di venerdì 24 settembre 2021.
ATTENZIONE: se parla italiano, può usufruire gratuitamente di servizi di assistenza linguistica scrivendo all’indirizzo languagehelp@njeda.com

Purpose

The Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program provides short-term, immediate August rent or mortgage reimbursement support to New Jersey small and medium-sized businesses and non-profits that have suffered physical damage as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Henri on August 22^nd or 23^rd, 2021 and/or Tropical Storm/Hurricane Ida on September 1st, 2nd, and 3^rd, 2021.

Overview

On August 22, 2021 and lasting into the early mornings of August 23, 2021, remnants of Hurricane Henri impacted the State of New Jersey with heavy rainfall totaling nearly 10 inches. The storm prompted evacuations, road closures and water rescues throughout the State. The damage was severe in many counties across New Jersey impacting homeowners and businesses alike.

Then, on September 1, 2021, in response to Tropical Storm Ida, Governor Murphy declared a statewide State of Emergency that was effective immediately and issued Executive Order No. 259. The Executive Order recognizes that Tropical Storm Ida “constitutes an imminent hazard that threatens and presently endangers the health, safety, and resources of the residents of the State” and that “this situation may become too large in scope to be handled in its entirety by the normal county and municipal operating services in some parts of the State, and this situation may spread to other parts of the State.” Executive Order No. 259 remains in effect as long as the Governor declares the State of Emergency continues to exist.

Over a very short time period on September 1^st and 2^nd, the storm impacted the State with severe tornadic conditions and sustained rainfall of approximately 10 inches in some towns that led to life-threatening flooding conditions, the tragic loss of at least 27 New Jersey residents, and the loss of power. The historic flooding caused severe damage and devastation to private property, automobiles, structures, public facilities and transportation networks in parts of Bergen, Essex, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Union. The New Jersey Business Action Center received numerous calls from businesses impacted by the storm. The NJEDA issued alerts for businesses and residents to take photos and document any property damages and to retain receipts for services for insurance purposes and for any federal or state relief programs that may become available. As of September 6^th, President Biden approved a declaration of major disaster for Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic, and Somerset counties for areas affected by the remnants of Hurricane Ida during September 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, 2021.

Tropical Storm Ida caused devastation to New Jersey’s downtowns and business districts throughout the State, just as many were just beginning to rebound from the severe economic hardship of COVID-19. In response to this barrage of challenges, the Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program is intended to provide short-term, immediate rent/mortgage reimbursement to certain New Jersey businesses that suffered physical damage as a result of Tropical Storm Ida on September 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd, 2021.

Program Details

The Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program will provide grants from $1,000 up to $5,000 to New Jersey-based businesses and nonprofits that have up to 50 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) as reported on their last WR-30 form (Q2 2021) with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD) and have a physical commercial location in New Jersey that suffered physical damage as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Henri and/or Hurricane Ida. Currently, the program is currently funded with $10.5 million and may increase to $15.5 million. One-third of the first request and one-third of the subsequent request (if necessary) will be reserved for entities in a census tract that was eligible to be selected as a New Jersey Opportunity Zone, but can be released back into the general program if demand from businesses and nonprofits in these areas has been met. Furthermore, $500,000 will be set aside for businesses and nonprofits impacted by Hurricane Henri, but can be released back into the general program pool if demand from these entities has been met. The program may be expanded if additional funds become available.

Eligibility

To be eligible under the program, applicants must:

Provide certification of an unmet need due to damage and/or business interruption, which includes, but is not limited to, flooding, interior or exterior damage to the building structure, roof damage, and siding damage, all of which are directly related to tropical storms Henri and Ida (loss of power alone will not be considered physical damage);
Provide documentation of physical damage to the applicant’s physical commercial location;
Have been in operation on August 1, 2021;
Present a valid Employer Identification Number (EIN);
Submit recent wage reporting form (WR30), if applicable;
Submit evidence of an August rent/mortgage payment of at least $1,000 as well as have a need that is greater than $1,000;
Be registered to do business in the State of New Jersey which can be evidenced by a valid Business Registration Certificate;
Be in good standing with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD), the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) (if the applicant is regulated by DHS), the Department of Children and Families (DCF) (if the applicant is regulated by DCF), and the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) (if the applicant is regulated by the ABC) at the time of application, as determined in the sole discretion of DLWD, DHS, DCF and ABC; and
Complete an affidavit identifying all funding sources related to tropical storms Henri and Ida, including prior grants, insurance, and Small Business Administration loans and grants.

Additional requirements may apply, including: eligible applicants shall employ no more than 50 FTEs; have an August rent/mortgage payment of at least $1,000 and an unmet need (damages or revenue loss) that is greater than $1,000; must have sustained physical damage to their commercial location as a result of the remnants of tropical storms Henri and Ida; must have a physical commercial location in the State of New Jersey (e.g., an office, a physical point of sales, a warehouse, manufacturing facility, etc.).

To determine the number of FTEs for the purpose of calculating eligibility, the NJEDA will utilize the New Jersey WR-30 filings with the DLWD. The most recently filed WR-30 filing will be reviewed (Q2 2021). Implied FTE calculations will be rounded to the nearest FTE (e.g., 2.49 FTEs would be counted as 2 FTEs for the program, whereas 2.50 FTEs would be counted as 3 FTEs). While the calculation of FTEs is based on weeks worked and wages as reported on the WR-30 filing.

The CEO/equivalent officer must self-certify that the business/non-profit was in operation on August 1, 2021; and sustained physical damage as a result of the remnants of tropical storms Henri and Ida.

The eligible applicant must satisfy the Division of Taxation/Department of Treasury’s requirement to ensure that there are no tax debts due to the State. This may be accomplished through a certification from the applicant that it does not owe any taxes and will be subject to repayment if the certification is not correct.

An applicant shall submit only one application per EIN; accordingly, businesses with multiple locations but only one EIN will be limited to one application.

Additional eligibility requirements will apply to ensure that federal funds, if available, can be used for this program or to reimburse the Authority for use of its funds for this program. This may include, but is not limited to:

An acknowledgement and agreement that grant proceeds be can only be used for eligible uses;
A restriction on duplication of benefits that could exclude potential applicants that have already received emergency Ida assistance, and
A requirement that the applicant demonstrate that it has had physical damage as a result of remnants of Hurricane Henri and/or Hurricane Ida.

Landlords and home-based businesses are not eligible for grant funding through this program.

Finally, prohibited businesses include, but are not limited to: gambling or gaming activities; the conduct or purveyance of “adult” (i.e., pornographic, lewd, prurient, obscene or otherwise similarly disreputable) activities, services, products or materials (including nude or semi-nude performances or the sale of sexual aids or devices); any auction or bankruptcy or fire or “lost-our-lease” or “going-out-of-business” or similar sales; sales by transient merchants, Christmas tree sales or other outdoor storage; any activity constituting a nuisance; or any illegal purposes.

Eligible Uses

Under the Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program, funding shall be used to pay for August rent/mortgage only, cannot exceed $5,000, and will be disbursed solely as reimbursement. If the grant amount is greater than the need, the amount of the award will be capped at the amount of need. Need will be determined based on estimated damages, as certified by the applicant, and loss based on shuttered business operations, also certified by the applicant. As this grant is solely for August rent/mortgage, funding cannot be used for any other purpose, including, but not limited to, capital expenses, such as remediation or construction.

Grant Amounts

The minimum grant amount is $1,000 with a maximum award of $5,000, capped at the lesser of applicant’s unmet need or rent/mortgage payment.

Application Process

Online applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, based upon the date in which the Authority receives a completed application submission. The NJEDA may create a pre-registration process to expedite the approval process.

Fees

Due to financial hardship, no fees will be collected by the Authority for this program.

Additional Information

Comprehensive information about the Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program is available at https://www.njeda.gov/henri-ida-relief/.

Deadline for Application Submission

The Henri/Ida Business Assistance Grant Program application portal will close at 5pm on Friday, September 24, 2021.

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New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)
New Jersey Community Stages Relief Grant Program
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) hereby announces the availability of grant funding under the New Jersey Community Stages Relief Grant Program, which is designed to assist for-profit establishments that organize, promote, produce, manage, or host live events or performances by performing artists, and have experienced a revenue loss from Q2 2019 to Q2 2020.

Applications will open on Tuesday August 17, 2021 at 9:00 am and will close on Tuesday September 7, 2021 at 5:00pm. Applications will be accepted for twenty one (21) days after the opening of the application. Applications for this program will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date and time in which the Authority receives the application.

Background

This funding opportunity is available as part of Governor Murphy’s campaign to build a stronger and fairer New Jersey and to facilitate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with substantive investments in New Jersey’s people, communities, Main Streets, and businesses.

On April 8, 2021, Governor Murphy signed into law P.L. 2021, c. 43, which allocates $15 million of CRF funding to support arts and culture organizations impacted by COVID-19. Of that $15 million, $7.5 million was allocated to the Authority to make grant funding available to for-profit arts and culture organizations. The remaining funding was allocated to the New Jersey Council on the Arts to provide funding to not-for-profit arts and culture organizations. On July 21, 2021, Governor Murphy signed into law, P.L. 2021, c. 173, $10 million of American Rescue Plan funding was allocated as additional funding to the Authority to supplement the original $7.5 million funding to for-profit arts and culture grants.

Purpose

The New Jersey Community Stages Relief Grant Program will provide grant funding based on 30 percent of operating revenue loss between 2019 and 2020, capped at $300,000, to for-profit businesses that involve the organization, hosting, promotion, production, or management of live music or performances.

Eligible Uses

The sole use is grant funding to for-profit businesses that involve the organization, hosting, promotion, production, or management of live music or performances for business interruption revenue replacement.

Grant Amounts

Under the program, grants will be made on a first come first served basis. Awards will be calculated based on 30% of revenue loss up to a maximum grant award of $300,000, net of any duplication of benefits or Federal award requirement reduction.

Grant calculation:

Grants amounts will be calculated as 30 percent of the decline in operating revenue in 2020 versus 2019.
The total grant amount cannot exceed the establishment’s unmet need based on duplication of benefits analysis. The maximum grant request amount is $300,000 and the minimum amount is $10,000 contingent on the total unmet need being at least $10,000. Any total unmet need below $10,000 will be funded up to the level of that unmet need.

Funding Disbursement

Disbursements to grantees will be made pursuant to the following disbursement schedule: 100 percent of the award will be made following the execution of the grant agreement. Automated processes, where applicable, are being implemented to ensure the rapid issue of the disbursements.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant eligibility will be determined through one of two specific criteria:

An eligible North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code, based on its most recent business tax filing, to ensure the establishment could realistically host, organize, promote, produce, or manage live events with performing artists.
The ability to certify that fifty percent or more of the primary business activity-operating revenue is from organizing, promoting, producing, managing, or hosting at least two regularly occurring live performances per week.

All applicants must meet Eligibility Criteria 1 or Eligibility Criteria 2 in order to be eligible for the grant.

All applicants must meet the Applicant Eligibility Criteria-Establishment Venue Capacity in addition to meeting either Eligibility Criteria 1 or Eligibility Criteria 2.

Applicant Eligibility Criteria 1 – NAICS Eligible Establishments

An eligible applicant shall operate under a NAICS code that demonstrates that their primary business involves live events or performing arts, as follows:

NAICS Code	Business Type
711410	Agents and Managers for Artists, Athletes, Entertainers, and Other Public Figures
711310	Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events with Facilities
711320	Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events without Facilities
711110	Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
711130	Musical Groups and Artists

Establishments that have one of these NAICS codes would still need to meet the establishment venue capacity criteria as well as the other statutory requirements for eligibility (explained further below).

Applicant Eligibility Criteria 2 – Eligibility for Other Establishments Outside of Allowable NAICS Codes

If the applicant does not fall into one of the eligible NAICS codes as listed above, they may still be eligible for the program. The establishment must certify that their principal business operating revenue (50 percent or more) involves the organization, hosting, promotion, production, or management of live music or performances, with a brief narrative description making the case as to why the establishment’s primary business meets that definition. The applicant will then be asked to provide yearly income and expense statements for 2019 or 2020 providing a breakdown substantiating the operating revenues, identified by source, specific to the arts and culture establishment.

The Authority will accept management prepared financial reports, financial reports generated by an accounting system or software package or financial reports prepared by a third-party (CPA, accountant, or bookkeeper). The self-reported revenue statements must be certified by an owner, officer or an authorized representative of the organization. These statements can also be known as income statement, profit and loss (P&L) statement, or statements of revenue and expense

Applicants must show that at least 50 percent of their operating revenue is derived from ticket sales and/or admissions fees of live performances. Establishments that have verified that their primary business involves the organization, hosting, promotion, production, or management of live music or performances would still need to meet the establishment venue capacity criteria as well as other statutory requirements for eligibility

Program Eligibility Requirement-Establishment Venue Capacity

All applicants must certify venue capacity with the presentation of a Certificate of Occupancy issued by a New Jersey municipality, county or state agency. Establishments with a leased or owned venue capacity of greater than 2,500 are not eligible for the program. Applicants that do not own or have a lease on a performance space must certify that as of the date of application they do not own or lease a performance space. Applicants who utilize a leased performance venue must provide a Certificate of Occupancy the primary performance space.

Applicants must also meet the statutory criteria as listed below:

Two Live Performances per week

Pursuant to P.L. 2021, c. 43, the Authority shall verify the establishment hosts two live performances per week. The Authority will collect documentation demonstrating the establishment has organized, promoted, produced, managed, or hosted at least two live performances or events per week across any three-month (quarterly) period beginning no later than January 1, 2019, through the date of application. Given that this program is intended to support establishments negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this timeframe will ensure that funding is reserved and available to establishments that were operational and regularly hosting, producing, promoting, organizing or managing events immediately preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The types of documentation the Authority would expect to collect to evidence the live performances include: live event calendars, public advertisements of live events, evidence of ticket sales for live events, ledgers, income statements, box office reports and other documents showing show dates, artists or events, ticket prices, and number of tickets sold, marketing or promotional materials, or any other documentation sufficiently demonstrating bi-weekly live events were supported over a three-month period.

Statutory Eligibility Requirements-Event Admissions Fees

The applicant must show that admission fees were charged for any events organized, promoted, produced, managed, or hosted by the applicant. The determination measure will spread over any three-month (quarterly) period beginning no later than January 1, 2019, through the date of application. Documentation will be collected as part of the application which must demonstrate the collection of admission fees for each event that is part of the three-month reporting period. This may include reports provided by a third-party ticket seller or payment processor, copies of receipts or tickets/ticket stubs sold at an event, in house administrative documentation, marketing materials or third-party media demonstrating a fee for admission was collected for live events reported during the three-month sample period.

Statutory Eligibility Requirements-Artist Payment for Events

The applicant must also show that the performing artists performing at live events over any three-month (quarterly) period beginning no later than January 1, 2019, through the date of application are paid through one of the following wage structures: payment based on a percentage of sales, a guaranteed payment, a contract or other mutually beneficial formal arrangement, or the sale of tickets for which performers are paid based on a percentage of ticket sales.

To evidence this, the Authority will require documentation proofs provided by the applicant for four different artists or their representatives evidencing a mutual agreement between the performing artist or the artists’ agent, representative or other person or establishment responsible for arranging an artists’ performance and the applying establishment or host venue that clearly demonstrates the performing artist was paid based on one of the wage structures identified above.

It is expected that a contract be executed by both the performing artist and the applicant establishment/hosting venue that clearly stipulates the basis by which the performing artist is paid. However, recognizing the nature of how the industry works which is sometimes outside of formal contractual agreements, staff will accept other forms of documentation such as written or electronic copies of agreements such as copies of emails, electronic messages, and dated text messages if it is clear to the Authority that the compensation was mutually agreed upon, and the compensation is consistent with the statutory requirements.

Statutory Eligibility Requirements-25 percent or Greater Operating Loss When Comparing Q2 2019 and Q2 2020

The applicant must verify that the establishment has a 25 percent or greater operating revenue loss in Q2 2020 compared to the Q2 2019. The Authority is currently exploring if there are ways to automate this review using information from the Division of Taxation; however, this is complicated by the fact that not every applicant may be a Corporate Business Tax filer. At a minimum, the Authority may first ask the applicant to self-report its operating revenue specific to the arts and culture establishment on a quarterly basis over calendar years 2019 and 2020. Any application whose self-reported revenue numbers do not meet the 25 percent requirement over the Q2 2020 to Q2 2019 comparison will not advance to the documentation review process on the basis that the statutory requirement for operating revenue loss was not met.

For establishments with self-reported operating revenue numbers that demonstrate a 25 percent or greater loss, the applicant will then be asked to provide 2019 and 2020 business income tax filings specific to the arts and culture establishment, so the Authority may compare the operating revenue reporting annually on the business filings to ensure consistency with the revenue reported on the management or third-party prepared financial statements.

For applicants whose self-reported operating revenue numbers demonstrate a 25 percent or greater loss but do not have 2019 and 2020 business income tax filings specific to the establishment for which the applicant is seeking grant funds, the applicant shall provide quarterly income and expense statements for all quarters of 2019 and 2020 providing a breakdown substantiating the operating revenue numbers specific to the arts and culture establishment. These statements must identify revenue by source. The Authority will accept management prepared financial reports, financial reports generated by an accounting system or software package or financial reports prepared by a third-party (CPA, accountant, or bookkeeper). The self-reported revenue statements must be certified by an owner, officer or an authorized representative of the organization. These statements can also be known as income statement, profit and loss (P&L) statement, or statements of revenue and expense.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted for 21 days after the opening of the application. Applications for this program will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date and time in which the Authority receives the application. Only applications that are fully complete will be considered for funding. Applicants will be given five business days for an opportunity to correct or preserve their application by providing missing documentation. Applicants who fail to provide the requested application information will be rejected on the basis of insufficient or incomplete documentation.

Given the volume of applications the Authority expects to receive, only applicants that provide a NAICS code as listed in Eligibility Criteria 1 and self-report revenue figures showing at least a 25 percent operating revenue loss over the Q2 2020 to Q2 2019 comparison or can demonstrate that fifty percent or more of the primary business activity-operating income is from organizing, promoting, producing, managing, or hosting at least two regularly occurring live performances per week and self-report revenue figures showing at least a 25 percent operating revenue loss over the Q2 2020 to Q2 2019 comparison will advance to a manual review of documentation by Authority staff. Applicants with greater than 2,500 capacity will not proceed.

The Authority will implement additional automation and interactivity such that businesses are immediately alerted if they enter information that may indicate ineligibility or trigger a manual review, giving them the opportunity to confirm that their responses are correct or choose not to proceed if they are ineligible.

Fees

Due to financial hardship, no fees will be collected by the Authority for this program.

Questions

Please direct all program related questions to NJCommunityArts@njeda.com

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New Jersey Economic Development Authority
COVID-19 Outbreak
Government Restricted Municipality Planning Grants Phase I
Notice of Funding Availability

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA” or “Authority”) will begin accepting applications for the Government Restricted Municipalities-Phase I grant beginning Wednesday July 14, 2021, at 9:00 AM. Applications will be accepted no later than Monday, September 13, 2021, at 5:00 PM. Applicants should read the application instructions posted to the Authority’s webpage at https://www.njeda.gov for more information.

Overview

This funding opportunity is issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) as part of Governor Murphy’s campaign to build a stronger and fairer New Jersey and to facilitate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic with substantive investments in New Jersey’s people, communities, Main Streets, and businesses. The Government Restricted Municipality Planning Grants Program-Phase I will provide grants to qualified applicants to create long-term strategic action plans to assist New Jersey’s Government Restricted Municipalities (GRM), identified by statute as Atlantic City, Paterson and Trenton, to maximize their growth potential and implement new or stalled community-focused economic growth projects

Purpose

In Phase I of the Government Restricted Municipality Planning Grants Program, applicants will be tasked with the design and submission of a detailed, long-term, and action-oriented strategic plan that incorporates existing plans of the GRM and stakeholders and identifies technical capacity needs that have held these projects back from completion. The strategic action plans developed through this grant program will better position GRMs to implement and execute on these stalled projects.

Eligible Uses

The Government Restricted Municipality Planning Grants Program’s sole use is funding for the design and submission of an action-oriented strategic plan that uses existing plans of the GRM and stakeholders in multiple disciplines to identify both projects in existing planning documents and the technical capacity needs that have held those projects back from completion. The plan(s) need be focused on economic revitalization and development of long-term strategic action plans comprising an in-depth analysis of community planning activities that will lead to actionable project plans focused on community goals for economic development. The use of grant funds must be focused on long-term economic development planning efforts in the government restricted municipalities identified in the Economic Recovery Act with the ultimate goal of actualizing community-focused economic growth projects.

Applicants must apply to work with one of the designated government restricted municipalities, defined by statue as Atlantic City, Paterson and Trenton.

Grant Amounts

Three (3) grants of $250,000 will be made totaling $750,000. Each GRM will be the focus of at least one grant.

Funding Disbursement

Disbursements to grantees will be made pursuant to the following disbursement schedule: 50 percent of the grant amount ($125,000) upon execution of the grant agreement; 25 percent of the grant amount ($62,500) on or around the halfway point of the grant term (3 months), upon EDA’s receipt and approval of a progress report; and 25 percent of the grant amount ($62,500) upon completion and submission of the final plan.

Eligible Applicants

Qualified applicants are defined as New Jersey municipalities, New Jersey counties, New Jersey authorities, accredited higher education institutions, public interest research groups and/or professional services providers who have completed at least one municipal, county or New Jersey state government plan focused on economic revitalization. Vested interest in close co-operation must be shown by a letter of support from the chief executive of the eligible government restricted municipality.

Each applicant must provide a letter of support from the Chief Executive of the GRM which will be the subject of the applicant’s proposed plan. A GRM municipality may propose to author a plan. This will not preclude the Chief Executive of the GRM from issuing additional letters of support to other applicants.

Applicants will be required to submit additional documentation pending the award of the grant.

This will include Tax Clearance Certificates and Business Registration Certificates for non-governmental entities. All entities will be required pass additional compliance reviews with related New Jersey state government agencies. Examples include reviews by Department of Labor and Department of Environmental Protection.

Application Process

Applications will be accepted up and until sixty days after the opening of applications. Applications will then be reviewed for completeness and scored by an evaluation committee based on the criteria set forth in below. Proposals with scores equal to or greater than 50 will be presented to the Board for review and award. The Committee will make award recommendations to the Board of the highest ranked application for each GRM

Fees

Due to financial hardship, no fees will be collected by the Authority for this program.

Additional Information

Additional information on the Government Restricted Municipality Planning Grants Phase I may be found on the NJEDA website at https://www.njeda.gov/grmpgp/

Questions & Answers

The Authority will electronically accept written questions and inquiries from all potential Applicant(s) via the web at NJEDAGRM@njeda.com. Phone calls/faxes shall not be accepted.

The subject line of the e-mail should state:

“Questions – GRM Phase 1” All Questions received, and Answers given in response to this Application will be answered in the form of a Frequently Asked Questions document to be posted and continually updated on the Authority’s website, https://www.njeda.gov/grmpgp/, up until the total program allotment has been exhausted, or 90 days after publication of notice and release of application (whichever is sooner). The Authority will also post any addenda on the same website. It is the responsibility of any potential applicant to review the website on a frequent basis to become aware of any answers and addenda.

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COVID-19 Outbreak
New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)
Notice of Funding Availability
Sustain and Serve NJ
Applications accepted from June 28, 2021 through July 18, 2021

Overview

Subsequent containment measures were implemented, including restrictions on public gatherings and mandated closure of non-essential businesses. While these measures were consistent with similar measures being taken nationally to limit the public’s exposure to COVID-19, there has been a significant adverse impact on the state’s economy.

Businesses classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722 (described in this document as “Restaurants”), have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, because of caps on location dining and unusual costs incurred to adapt business models for safe operations.

With the Public Health Emergency in place and millions of New Jerseyans abruptly staying home, restaurant revenue plummeted or disappeared, and many restaurants had little choice but to change – or abandon – their operating model, with some having to close their doors completely and lay off or furlough all staff. Many restaurants that changed their operating model shifted to a takeout-only model, which resulted in a significant reduction in staff.

In 2019, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL), 270,000 restaurant workers were employed in New Jersey. From March 2020 to April 2021, NJDOL reports that nearly 107,000 restaurant workers have filed Unemployment Insurance claims. In 2018, the National Restaurant Association reported there were over 19,000 restaurants in New Jersey.

Prior to the pandemic, the sector was growing, with NJDOL projecting the sector would expand by more than 12 percent by 2026. During the pandemic, the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association estimated that as many as 30 percent of New Jersey restaurants remained at risk of permanent closure.

While these figures are staggering, they were likely mitigated, in part, due to several New Jersey-based initiatives that emerged in direct response to COVID-19, that share the same core function, i.e., the bulk purchase of pre-made meals from New Jersey restaurants, which were then distributed for free to target populations.

Specifically, these initiatives aimed to achieve two central goals: to provide urgently needed revenue to restaurants to offset direct losses due to COVID-19, particularly, restaurants that had temporarily closed, were preparing to close, and/or reduced their staff through layoffs or furloughs; and to distribute free meals purchased from local restaurants to target populations, including low-income individuals, senior citizens, health care workers, and first responders.

To build on these initiatives and other restaurant support programs implemented by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA or Authority), the Authority announced the launch of the Sustain and Serve NJ program in November 2020. In the first phase of grants announced in February 2021, NJEDA awarded more than $14 million to 28 organizations across the state, supporting the purchase of more than 1.5 million meals from over 340 restaurants.

Purpose

The purpose of the Sustain and Serve NJ Program is to provide urgently needed revenue to New Jersey-based restaurants to offset direct losses due to COVID-19, including restaurants that had temporarily closed, were preparing to close, and/or reduced their staff through layoffs or furloughs.

Under the program, up to $10 million will be utilized to make grants of a minimum of $100,000 and maximum of $2 million to entities to support prospective expenses for making bulk meal purchases from New Jersey-based restaurants negatively impacted by COVID-19.

As part of the Serve and Sustain NJ Program requirements, the grantee is prohibited from reselling any meals purchased with grant funding.

Eligible Uses

Under the Sustain and Serve NJ Program, grant funding may only be used for direct costs associated with bulk purchasing of meals that are projected to be incurred between date of grant execution and January 31, 2022, for: the restaurant’s costs of food and ingredients; labor, packaging, and facilities; and, any profit margin for the restaurant.

No other expense(s) incurred by the applicant, whether in support of the meal purchase from the restaurant or otherwise, is eligible, including, but not limited to: indirect/overhead costs incurred by the applicant (e.g., rent, insurance), transportation, distribution, marketing, communications, sales tax and gratuity.

Grant Amounts

The Sustain and Serve NJ Program offers a minimum grant amount of $100,000 and maximum of $2 million, with grant awards calculated based on the projected number of meals to be purchased and estimated cost (per meal), excluding sales tax, gratuity, and delivery fees.

Under the Sustain and Serve NJ Program, meal purchases will be reimbursed based on a flat rate per meal. Although there is no exclusion for entities purchasing meals from restaurants at more than $10 per meal, grant funding will be capped at $10 per meal.

As part of the application for grant funding, entities will request a grant amount based on the projected number of meals to be purchased and estimated cost (per meal), excluding sales tax gratuity, and delivery fees. All grant estimates must be based on a flat rate per meal, subject to the cap of $10 per meal. For any grant that is awarded, disbursement of the total grant amount will be made incrementally from NJEDA to the grantee as eligible expenses are incurred and disbursement is requested by the grantee. These disbursement requests must document that the expenses actually incurred are consistent with eligible uses of grant funding (i.e., the quantity of meals purchased, the cost per meal, and the restaurant from which the meals were purchased).

Once the NJEDA receives all applications, if the total amount of grant funding requested among all eligible applications exceeds the $10 million available for the Program, NJEDA will prorate grant awards based upon the amount determined for each eligible applicant, reducing all grant awards to reflect an eligible applicant’s share of the eligible pool.

Eligible Applicants

The Sustain and Serve NJ Program is open to public or private entities, including 501(c) non-profit organizations. To be eligible, applicants shall provide the following documentation:

NJ Business Registration Certificate, which may be obtained at https://www1.state.nj.us/TYTR_BRC/servlet/common/BRCLogin
Tax Clearance Certification from the Division of Taxation, in the Department of the Treasury which may be obtained at https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/busasst.shtml
Invoices and receipts demonstrating purchases of 3,000 or more meals made by the entity from any New Jersey-based restaurant(s) totaling at least $50,000, purchased between March 9, 2020 and June 28, 2021. Invoices must include, at minimum: restaurant name, date(s) of purchase, description of purchase(s), quantity purchased, and total cost.

In addition, eligible applicants shall be in good standing with NJDOL, with all decisions of good standing at the discretion of the Commissioner of NJDOL. Additional eligibility requirements may apply, which will be based on any applicable Federal requirements.

Current grantees of the Sustain and Serve NJ program are eligible to apply for additional funds and may not be required to resubmit eligibility documentation.

Restaurants may not directly apply for this grant. Restaurants interested in the program can contact an entity with an established bulk meal purchasing and distribution program to discuss potential participation. A list of current Sustain and Serve NJ grantees can be found here. Restaurants may also opt to have their business publicly listed on the Sustain and Serve NJ page of the New Jersey COVID-19 Business Hub. To list your restaurant, please fill out this form. Potential grant applicants may choose to refer to this registry and contact restaurants about participating in the Sustain and Serve NJ program. Inclusion on this list is not an endorsement from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority as to eligibility for Sustain and Serve NJ. All parties are strongly advised to exercise due diligence when selecting participating restaurants.

As noted above, eligible applicants must have a demonstrated history of making bulk meal purchases from New Jersey-based restaurants totaling at least 3,000 meals valued at least $50,000 between March 9, 2020 and June 28, 2021.

As part of the grant application, applicants must list the restaurants that they will be making bulk meal purchases from if they receive a Sustain and Serve NJ grant. In order to receive reimbursement for meal purchases through Sustain and Serve NJ, grantees may only purchase meals from restaurants that meet the following requirements:

Classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722;
50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees at time of application, based on the company’s most recently filed WR-30 with the NJDOL;
Physical commercial location in the State of New Jersey;
NJ Business Registration Certificate which may be obtained at https://www1.state.nj.us/TYTR_BRC/servlet/common/BRCLogin;
Be in good standing with the New Jersey Division of Taxation, with all decisions of good standing at the discretion of the Division of Taxation;
Be in good standing with the NJDOL, with all decisions of good standing at the discretion of the Commissioner of the NJDOL;
If regulated by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), in the Department of Law and Public Safety, be in good standing with ABC, with all decisions of good standing at the discretion of the ABC;
Current and valid certification from municipal and/or county government inspection that the restaurant has received a rating of Satisfactory as per New Jersey Retail Food Establishment Rating system;
Attestation that the restaurant was in operation on February 15, 2020, and has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 declared State of Emergency on March 9, 2020 (e.g., was temporarily shut down, was forced to reduce hours, has had a drop in revenue, has been materially impacted by employees who cannot work due to the outbreak, or has a supply chain that has materially been disrupted and therefore slowed firm-level production); and
Additional eligibility requirements may apply, which will be based on any applicable Federal requirements.

To demonstrate eligibility, restaurants will be required to submit to NJEDA:

Form attesting that the restaurant was in operation on February 15, 2020, and has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 declared State of Emergency on March 9, 2020. After the applicant submits their Sustain and Serve NJ application, this form will be sent by NJEDA directly to restaurants listed in that application.
NJ Business Registration Certificate which may be obtained at https://www1.state.nj.us/TYTR_BRC/servlet/common/BRCLogin; and
Current and valid certification from municipal and/or county government inspection that the restaurant has received a rating of Satisfactory as per New Jersey Retail Food Establishment Rating system.

Funding Disbursement

Sustain and Serve NJ is a reimbursement-based grant. For each grant award, the total amount will be disbursed incrementally as eligible projected expenses are incurred and disbursement is requested from the NJEDA by the grantee. The disbursement requests must be evidenced by documentation supporting that the expenses were actually incurred and consistent with eligible uses of grant funding (i.e., quantity of meals purchased, cost per meal, total cost, description of purchased item(s), and restaurant from which the meals were purchased).

During the term of the grant, the grantee may request a change or addition to participating restaurant(s), which must be submitted in writing, from which they may purchase meals and receive reimbursement through Sustain and Serve NJ. Requests for changes or additions to restaurants will be reviewed by NJEDA.

Application Process

Online applications will be accepted from June 28, 2021 through July 18, 2021, and all applications will be reviewed following the closure of the application period.

Applications for Sustain and Serve NJ are completed in three parts:

Applicants are first required to submit an application that includes listing proposed restaurants for meal purchases;
Listed restaurants will then receive a short form directly from NJEDA they must complete if they wish to be eligible for meal purchases through Sustain and Serve NJ; and
Applicants are sent the restaurant submission to review and approve before it is sent to NJEDA. Approvals must be completed by the application deadline for consideration for meal purchase reimbursement through Sustain and Serve NJ.

Applicants are responsible for ensuring restaurants have submitted materials by the application deadline. Applicants should allow sufficient time for submission of both their own and their listed restaurants’ materials.

Fees

Due to financial hardship of the ultimate beneficiaries, NJEDA will collect no fees from the applicant for this program.

Additional Information

Additional information on the Sustain and Serve NJ Program may be found at the COVID-19 Business Information Hub: https://business.nj.gov/covid/eligibility-for-sustain-and-serve

If you need language assistance, please send NJEDA your name, spoken language and telephone number to languagehelp@njeda.com.

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COVID-19 Outbreak

New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)

Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program-Phase 4

Notice of Funding Availability

Pre-registration will open at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, May 26th and remain open until Wednesday, June 30th at 5:00 p.m. Following pre-registration, applications will become available on a rolling basis. Pre-registered applicants will need to return to https://programs.njeda.com/en-US/ to complete an application based on the following schedule:

Restaurants, Child Care Providers and Small Businesses (6-50 FTEs) – 9:00 a.m. on July 7, 2021
Micro Businesses (five or fewer FTEs) – 9:00 a.m. on July 8, 2021

Language Assistance

español (Spanish)
ATENCIÓN: si habla español, los servicios de asistencia lingüística, gratuitos, están disponibles para usted enviando un correo electrónico a languagehelp@njeda.com.

粵語 Traditional Chinese (Cantonese Chinese)
注意：如果您說粵語，可以透過傳送電子郵件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免費獲取語言協助服務。

普通语 Simplified Chinese (Mandarin Chinese)
注意：如果您说普通语，可以通过发送电子邮件至 languagehelp@njeda.com 免费获取语言协助服务。

हिंदी (Hindi)
ध्यान दें: यदि आप हिंदी बोलते हैं, तो languagehelp@njpa.com पर ईमेल द्वारा, आप के लिए नि:शुल्क भाषा सहायता सेवाएं उपलब्ध हैं।

italiano (Italian)
ATTENZIONE: se parla italiano, può usufruire gratuitamente di servizi di assistenza linguistica scrivendo all’indirizzo languagehelp@njeda.com

한국어 (Korean)
알림: 한국어를 사용하시는 경우, 언어 지원 서비스가 무료로 이메일 languagehelp@njeda.com을 통해 제공됩니다.

po polsku (Polish)
UWAGA: Jeśli mówisz po polsku, możesz uzyskać pomoc tłumacza bezpłatnie wysyłając e-mail pod adres languagehelp@njeda.com.

português (Portuguese)
ATENÇÃO: se você falar português, oferecemos serviços de apoio de idioma gratuitos. Envie um e-mail para languagehelp@njeda.com.

Tagalog
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Overview

On March 9, 2020, Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 103, declaring a State of Emergency and a Public Health Emergency to ramp up New Jersey’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. Governor Murphy has continued to extend the Public Health Emergency since that date. Subsequent containment measures were implemented, including restrictions on public gatherings and mandated closure of non-essential businesses. While these measures are consistent with similar measures being taken nationally that are expected to limit the public’s exposure to COVID-19, there has been and will continue to be a significant adverse impact on our state’s economy.

In response, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) established various financial assistance initiatives, including the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program – an emergency grant funding program to provide funding as efficiently and quickly as possible to small and medium sized enterprises (businesses and non-profits) (“SMEs”) that needed payroll and working capital support as a result of adverse economic impacts following the March 9, 2020 declaration of a State of Emergency and a Public Health Emergency. The initial phase of the grant program focused on the smallest enterprises in targeted industries that were among the most adversely impacted by the containment measures.

Thereafter, the NJEDA established the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program-Phase 2, accepting $51 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (the “Fund”), as established under the Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, to both provide additional funding to Phase 1 and to capitalize Phase 2. The second phase of the grant program expanded its focus to include businesses of up to 25 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs), and removed industry-related restrictions to eligibility, in acknowledgement of the reality that nearly all SMEs in a wide range of industries have been adversely affected by the economic consequences of the public health emergency and were in urgent need of assistance.

On October 14, 2020, the NJEDA launched the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program-Phase 3, accepting an additional $70 million from the Fund for grant with expanded eligibility for small and medium sized businesses and non-profits with up to 50 FTEs and increased amounts of funding per business, and reserved funding for the most adversely affected businesses, i.e., restaurants, micro-businesses, and businesses based in Opportunity Zone-eligible census tracts.

In line with his commitment to a stronger and fairer economic recovery, Governor Phil Murphy recently announced the allocation of $200 million in additional funds to help fulfill Phase 4 grant applications. Small business owners and non-profits that have not previously applied for Phase 4 grants may pre-register as a preliminary step toward applying for grants of up to $20,000.

The $200 million in additional funds will continue to support the most adversely affected businesses in New Jersey, including $20 million for bars and restaurants, $120 million for micro-businesses, $10 million for child care providers, as well as $50 million for other small businesses and non-profits with up to 50 full-time equivalent employees. Since the initial launch of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program back in April of 2020, the NJEDA has distributed more than $259 million in aid to some 55,000 businesses across the state.

Purpose

The purpose of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program-Phase 4 is to provide short-term, immediate payroll and working capital support to SMEs that that have been negatively impacted during the declared state of emergency, thereby helping to stabilize their operations and minimizing any potential furloughs and/or layoffs.

Eligible Uses

Under the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program-Phase 4, funding may be used for reimbursement of certain lost revenue as result of the business interruption caused by COVID-19. Funding cannot be used for capital expenses, including construction.

Funding Disbursement

The $85 million available from the Fund, as established under the CARES Act, will be allocated as follows:

Restaurants: $35 million reserved to support businesses classified as “Food Services and Drinking Places” under NAICS code 722 (described as “Restaurants”), given the disproportionate impact these businesses have experienced due to COVID-19, including caps on on-location dining and unusual costs they incurred to adapt their business models for safe operations; 33 percent of the funding within this category will be directed to support entities that have a commercial business address located (fully or partially) in a census tract that was eligible to selected as New Jersey Opportunity Zone (i.e., a New Market Tax Credit census tract). Because this is a reserve to be used for the applications received, any amount of the 33 percent Opportunity Zone eligible reserve that remains after processing all applications from entities in Opportunity Zone eligible census tracts will be used for any other applicant to the $35 million restaurant funding pool. Similarly, any amount of this $35 million pool that remains after processing all applications from restaurants will be used for any other eligible Phase 4 applicant.

Child Care Providers: $10 million reserved to support businesses classified as “Child Day Care Services” under NAICS code 624410 (described as “Child Care”), given the disproportionate impact these businesses have experienced due to COVID-19, including caps on capacity numbers and unusual costs they incurred to adapt their business models for safe operations; 33 percent of the funding within this category will be directed to support entities that have a commercial business address located (fully or partially) in a census tract that was eligible to selected as New Jersey Opportunity Zone (i.e., a New Market Tax Credit census tract). Because this is a reserve to be used for the applications received, any amount of the 33 percent Opportunity Zone eligible reserve that remains after processing all applications from entities in Opportunity Zone eligible census tracts will be used for any other applicant to the $10 million childcare funding pool. Similarly, any amount of this $10 million pool that remains after processing all applications from child care providers will be used for any other eligible Phase 4 applicant.

Micro-Businesses: $25 million reserved 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 COVID-19 by micro-businesses, which typically have lower financial reserves; 33 percent of the funding within this category will be directed to support entities that have a commercial business address (or home address for home-based businesses) located (fully or partially) in a census tract that was eligible to selected as New Jersey Opportunity Zone (i.e., a New Market Tax Credit census tract). Because this is a reserve to be used for the applications received, any amount of the 33 percent Opportunity Zone eligible reserve that remains after processing all applications from entities in Opportunity Zone eligible census tracts will be used for any other applicant to the $25 million micro-business funding pool. Similarly, any amount of this $25 million pool that remains after processing all applications from micro-businesses will be used for any other eligible Phase 4 applicant.

Other Small Businesses: $15 million reserved to support businesses that are not eligible under the micro-business category; 33 percent of the funding within this category will be directed to support entities that have a commercial business address (or home address for home-based businesses) located (fully or partially) in a census tract that was eligible to selected as New Jersey Opportunity Zone (i.e., a New Market Tax Credit census tract). Because this is a reserve to be used for the applications received, any amount of the 33 percent Opportunity Zone eligible reserve that remains after processing all applications from entities in Opportunity Zone eligible census tracts will be used for any other applicant to this $15 million funding pool. Similarly, any amount of this $15 million pool that remains after processing all applications will be used for any other eligible Phase 4 applicant.

An applicant is only eligible for one allocation of funding. For example: if a business is eligible for the Restaurant or Child Care Providers allocation, as determined by its NAICS code, it can only apply for that specific allocation and not the Micro-business or other small business allocation.

If any additional funding becomes available beyond the initial $85 million, that funding will be available to any eligible Phase 4 applicant, regardless of whether they fall into the Restaurants, Child Care Providers, Micro-Businesses, or Other Small Businesses category.

Grant Amounts

Award sizes for all categories, including “Food Services and Drinking Places” businesses with NAICS beginning with 722 and “Child Care Providers” businesses with NAICS code 624410, Micro-Businesses and Small Businesses, are based on FTEs, as follows:

FTEs Award

5 or fewer FTEs, including businesses with no FTEs $10,000

6 to 25 FTEs $15,000

26 to 50 FTEs $20,000

FTEs will be determined for award size in the same manner as for eligibility. If the grant amount for the applicant is greater than the unmet need, the amount will be determined in $500 increments, not to exceed the amount of need. For applicants with an unmet need between $500 and $1,000, the minimum grant award shall be $1,000; no grant amount will be approved if the applicant’s unmet need is less than $500.

Eligible Applicants

To be eligible, applicants must be SMEs with no more than 50 FTEs.

The Authority will utilize the applicant’s New Jersey WR-30 filings with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DLWD). Initially, the highest FTE count of the past eight quarters – 1st Quarter 2019 to 4th Quarter 2020 – will be used, enabling businesses to receive the award corresponding to their peak headcount in 2019 or 2020 rather than their current headcount, which may reflect substantial headcount declines due to significant losses in revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To determine eligibility, the 4th Quarter 2020 WR-30 or 3rd Quarter 2020 WR-30, whichever is the most recently filed, will be reviewed. If the most recent WR-30 FTE count is less than the eligibility threshold, the business will be eligible and receive a grant award based on the largest FTE category. Implied FTE calculations will be rounded to the nearest FTE (e.g., 2.49 FTE would be counted as 2 FTE for the program, whereas 2.50 FTE would be counted as 3 FTE). While the calculation of FTEs is based on weeks worked and wages as reported on the WR-30 filing, in no event will a company receive grant funding based on a number of FTEs that exceeds the number of employees employed by the company, EXCEPT that if a sole proprietor or other applying entity has no FTEs, it may be eligible for the minimum grant award based on business type. For entities like sole proprietors the NJEDA will work with the Division of Taxation in the Department of Treasury, to identify tax filing status.

The SME must have a physical commercial location in the State of New Jersey (e.g., an office, a physical point of sales, a warehouse, manufacturing facility, etc.). With regard to home-based businesses, the home must be located in New Jersey.

Non-profit entities organized under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c) will be eligible, with the exception of organizations whose primary activity is political lobbying.

Prohibited businesses include, but are not limited to: gambling or gaming activities; the conduct or purveyance of “adult” (i.e., pornographic, lewd, prurient, obscene or otherwise similarly disreputable) activities, services, products or materials (including nude or semi-nude performances or the sale of sexual aids or devices); any auction or bankruptcy or fire or “lost-our-lease” or “going-out-of-business” or similar sales; sales by transient merchants, Christmas tree sales or other outdoor storage; any activity constituting a nuisance; or any illegal purposes.

Businesses that were approved for grant funding under Phase 1 to 3 of the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program will be eligible for Phase 4 funding. Funding received in Phases 1 to 3 will not affect the award sizes these businesses are eligible to receive in Phase 4 (except to the extent those prior awards reduce the business’s unmet need to below the grant amount the business would otherwise be eligible for). However, businesses that applied in Phase 1 to 3 will need to re-apply and submit all required documentation regardless of their prior application.

The CEO/equivalent officer of the SME must self-certify that the firm:

Was in operation on February 15, 2020 consistent with the federal Paycheck Protection Program implemented by the Small Business Administration;

Will make a best effort not to furlough or lay off any individuals from the time of application through six months after the end of the declared State of Emergency on March 9, 2020. SMEs that have already furloughed or laid off workers from the time of application must make a best-effort pledge to re-hire those workers as soon as possible. Any material breach of its best efforts certification may result in the NJEDA seeking repayment of the grant;

Has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 declared state of emergency on March 9, 2020 (e.g., has been temporarily shut down, has been required to reduce hours, has had at least a 20% drop in revenue, has been materially impacted by employees who cannot work due to the outbreak, or has a supply chain that has materially been disrupted and therefore slowed firm-level production); and

Has a material financial need that cannot be overcome without the grant of emergency relief funds at this time (e.g., does not have significant cash reserves that can support the SME during this period of economic disruption).

The SME must be registered to do business in the State of New Jersey, as evidenced by a current registration status from the Division of Taxation. If the SME is not recognized by the Division of Taxation, the SME must provide proof of registration prior to February 15, 2019 and a valid Business Registration Certificate (BRC). The SME will have 4 weeks from initial notification from the NJEDA to satisfy that requirement. No grant agreement will be executed without a current registration status from the Division of Taxation or a valid BRC.

In addition, the SME must satisfy the Division of Taxation’s requirement to ensure that the SME does not have tax debts due to the State. As with Phase 1 to 3, the applicant shall certify that it does not owe any taxes and will be subject to repayment if the certification is not correct.

The SME must be in good standing with DLWD, with all decisions of good standing at the discretion of DLWD’s Commissioner. If the SME is regulated by the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), then it must also be in good standing with ABC, with all decisions of good standing at the discretion of the ABC. If the SME is regulated by the Department of Human Services (DHS), then it must also be in good standing with DHS, with all decisions being at the discretion of the DHS. If the SME is regulated by the Department of Children and Families (DCF), then it must also be in good standing with DCF, with all decisions being at the discretion of the DCF.

Entities with multiple Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) can submit one application per EIN. Businesses with multiple locations but only one EIN will be limited to one application (under the sole EIN).

Additional eligibility requirements may apply, which will be based on any applicable Federal requirements tied to the CARES Act funding, including, but not limited to, the following:

Applicants must acknowledge and agree to the requirement that grant proceeds only be used for eligible uses as defined below;
A restriction on duplication of benefits that could exclude potential applicants that have already received emergency COVID-19 assistance; and
A requirement that the applicant demonstrate that it has had negative impacts from COVID-19.

Application Process

Interested SMEs will need to pre-register at https://programs.njeda.com between Wednesday, May 26th at 9:00 a.m. and Wednesday, June 30th at 5:00 p.m. Pre-registration is NOT first-come, first-served, but SMEs are encouraged to begin the process as early as possible.

SMEs THAT DO NOT PRE-REGISTER WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE FOR PHASE 4 GRANTS.

The pre-application period for Phase 4 funds is being re-opened to enable eligible SMEs to receive available additional funding. The application period will begin at the same time on July 7 or July 8, 2021, according to your business category, without an earlier window for SMEs that were not approved for Phase 3 funding. Online applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, based upon the date in which the Authority receives a completed application submission.

Fees

Due to financial hardship, no fees will be collected by the Authority for this program.

Additional Information

Additional information on the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program may be found at business.nj.gov/COVID.

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NJ Wind Turbine Technician Training Grant Challenge

Notice of Funding Availability

Take notice that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) is seeking applications for the NJ Wind Turbine Tech Training Challenge for solutions to establish an industry-recognized certificate training program to prepare New Jerseyans for careers as offshore wind turbine technicians, a high-growth, high-wage profession that is integral to the growth of the State’s offshore wind sector.

Name of Program: NJ Wind Turbine Technician Training Grant Challenge.

Purpose: Governor Murphy’s economic development plan, “The State of Innovation: Building a Stronger and Fairer New Jersey Economy,” identifies offshore wind as one of the State’s strategic sectors for accelerating growth in New Jersey’s economy. In addition, the plan asserts a commitment to investing in people in order to empower New Jersey students and workers to take advantage of high-growth, high-wage jobs. Governor Murphy’s talent development plan, “JobsNJ: Developing Talent to Grow Business in the Garden State” emphasizes the need to bolster industry recognized post-secondary credential programs that support career pathways. The growth of the offshore wind turbine technician occupation in New Jersey represents an opportunity to realize each of these priorities.

Offshore wind turbine technicians maintain and repair wind turbines. They apply mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, and information technology skills to ensure the turbines operate effectively. Industry places significant value on having a local workforce that is equipped to carry out these critical functions for the operation of wind farms. The workforce need for offshore wind turbine technicians was underscored by industry in discussions organized by the Governor’s WIND Council, per Executive Order No. 79, as well as defined in the New Jersey Offshore Wind Strategic Plan released by NJBPU in September 2020 as offshore wind turbine technician training does not currently exist in New Jersey.

The offshore wind turbine technician occupation has not yet been established in New Jersey, and there is no dedicated training program in the State. The profession is growing rapidly – as more turbines are installed, more wind turbine technicians are needed. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of wind turbine service technicians (including onshore and offshore) is projected to grow 61 percent from 2019 to 2029, significantly outpacing most professions. Establishing a New Jersey based training program will support the development of a locally based, skilled workforce that can meet this demand.

The NJ Wind Turbine Tech Training Challenge aims to establish a training program that enables New Jerseyans to achieve industry-recognized offshore wind turbine technician training and credentials so they can participate in the growing offshore wind industry and help accelerate the State’s growth of the industry.

The NJ Wind Turbine Tech Training Challenge is seeking solutions to establish an industry-recognized certificate training program to prepare New Jerseyans for careers as offshore wind turbine technicians, a high-growth, high-wage profession that is integral to the growth of the State’s offshore wind sector. Through this Challenge, the NJEDA is seeking applications from New Jersey’s community colleges and their collaborators to develop and deliver a training program that will prepare New Jerseyans for offshore wind turbine technician roles. The Authority will select a winning application to be an up to $1 million grant to support implementation.

Applicants must submit proposals that outline compelling plans to:

The community college that is awarded this grant shall use the grant funding to work with industry and other stakeholders to design a curriculum that meets the program’s goals and industry standards and to launch and deliver the program. Potential components of the curriculum may include:

Wind power operations and maintenance;
Wind power technology;
Electrical machinery;
Fluid systems;
Mechanical systems;
Information technology/software programs;
Renewable energy;
Algebra;
OSHA 10; and
Resume writing and interview skills.

Note: Proposals should not include Global Wind Organization Basic Safety & Sea Survival Training. The State is looking to support the development of this program through a separate initiative and it can be assumed students will be able to access this training beginning in 2023.

Eligible Applicants: New Jersey community colleges are the only entities eligible to apply for this grant as a primary applicant. New Jersey’ community colleges have the ability to provide a holistic program with a stackable credential (e.g., a pathway to an Associate degree), have demonstrated experience serving a diverse population, can offer a wide range of support services (e.g., career services, family services, counseling, mentoring, etc.) and are well positioned to convene and work with various parties to support multiple career pathways.

Recognizing that collaborations with labor unions and industry are necessary for the successful development and delivery of the program, any New Jersey community college applying for this grant must submit applications that include plans to collaborate with regional councils or other umbrella labor union groups to meet the program’s goals. Applicants must also include plans to collaborate with representatives of potential employers to ensure curriculum is aligned with industry needs and that the program prepares students for employment in New Jersey’s initial offshore wind projects.

Additionally, community colleges are encouraged to submit applications that include collaborations with other entities as needed to meet program goals such as other community colleges, higher education institutions, training providers, non-profit organizations and/or other private entities. Such collaborations can bolster outreach, recruitment, curriculum development and delivery, support services, hands-on/on-the-job training opportunities (including but not limited to access to internships, apprenticeships, and training facilities), job placement services and other program needs.

Regardless of the number of collaborators, the NJEDA will only enter into an agreement with and award the grant to the single primary applicant (the community college).

Grant Disbursement: Applicants may apply for up to $1 million in grant funding. Only one grant will be awarded under this program. The up to $1 million grant will be disbursed to the winning applicant to support implementation. Eligible uses of grant funding include planning (e.g. staff costs for curriculum development), soft launch (e.g. outreach and recruitment materials, instructor costs), or capital costs (e.g. facility build out, equipment). Applicants must provide a detailed budget that demonstrates how the grant will be used to cover these costs. Applicants that require funding in excess of the grant amount must demonstrate ability to secure these funds.

The winning applicant will enter into a grant agreement with NJEDA. Prior to executing the grant agreement, the grantee will coordinate with NJEDA to ensure labor compliance, including compliance with prevailing wage and Affirmative Action requirements, where applicable.

The grant will be disbursed according to the following milestones:

Twenty Five percent of the grant to be disbursed upon execution of a grant agreement between NJEDA and the highest scoring community college (contingent upon Board approval of the grant award). Applications that require funds in excess of the grant amount must demonstrate proof or commitment for any funding needed in excess of the grant amount prior to the execution of grant agreement. If the selected applicant is not able to demonstrate proof of commitment for any funding needed in excess of the grant such that NJEDA and the selected applicant cannot execute a grant agreement in a timely manner, the Authority reserves the right to terminate the initial selection and award the grant to the next highest scorer.
Fifty percent of the grant to be disbursed upon the college’s presentation of a detailed implementation plan to NJEDA.
Twenty Five percent of the grant will be disbursed upon the launch of the certificate program, expected to be Q1 2023. To receive this final disbursement, the community college must provide sufficient evidence that at least 75 percent of the funding previously received from the first two disbursements was used to pay for eligible planning, soft launch, or capital costs incurred to date.

Evaluation Criteria/Scoring: Applications will be evaluated by an Evaluation Committee comprised of staff from NJEDA, Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE), and the Department of Labor & Workforce Development. Other Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from NJ EDA may serve in an advisory role. The Evaluation Committee will evaluate, score and rank applications received based on four primary criteria: 1. Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver industry-recognized training, 2. Demonstrated ability to create career pathways for New Jerseyans, 3. Demonstrated ability to implement, and 4. Resources required, based on the information submitted in applications as set forth in application instructions, which will be posted on NJEDA’s website at https://www.njeda.gov/wind-turbine-training/.

Note: The highest score possibility is 100 points. A minimum score of 80 points must be earned by responses to be considered as a Challenge winner.

Scoring criteria for each component of the evaluation is as follows:

1. No credit: No compelling plan and/or no evidence of ability to execute;

2. Partial credit: Moderately compelling plan and/or minimal evidence of ability to execute; and

3. Full credit: Compelling plan and ample evidence of ability to execute.

Applicants will have the opportunity to receive the points outlined below based on the following criteria:

Criteria 1 – Demonstrated ability to develop and deliver industry-recognized training (Up to 35 points)

Provides a detailed and realistic plan for building and delivering an offshore wind turbine technician training program that will be recognized by industry (Up to 15 points);
Has significant experience delivering best-in-class programs that equip students with the necessary skills needed to be successful in the industry (Up to 10 points);
Outlines a plan that demonstrates a strong understanding of what is required from the training to meet the needs of industry and strategies to engage with industry in the program development (Up to 5 points); and
Details a clear plan for securing qualified instructors that includes evidence of relevant experience securing instructors with specific skill sets for new programs (Up to 5 points).

Criteria 2 – Demonstrated ability to create career pathways for New Jerseyans (Up to 35 points)

Details a compelling approach for delivering a stackable credential, including a credit-bearing certificate and pathway to higher degree(s), with opportunities for hands-on learning (Up to 10 points);
Demonstrates an ability and plan for creating synergies between offshore wind programming and that of other clean energy sectors to broaden opportunities for students (Up to 3 points);
Details a convincing plan for driving equity, diversity and inclusion, including a diversity reporting strategy (Up to 10 points);
Details an effective plan to collaborate with labor union(s) to meet program goals (Up to 5 points); and
Details a realistic and sustainable plan for ensuring affordability for students (Up to 7 points).

Criteria 3 – Demonstrated ability to implement (Up to 15 points)

Details a realistic timetable with clear milestones and a convincing path to target launch of the certificate program by first quarter of 2023 (Up to 5 points);
Has requisite internal expertise assigned specifically to this project (Up to 5 points); and
Demonstrates capacity to provide requisite facilities to successfully meet program goals (Up to 5 points).

Criteria 4 – Resources required (Up to 15 points)

Grant funds requested (Up to 3 points – Application with the lowest amount of requested funds will be awarded 3 points; all other applications will be awarded a pro-rated number of points based on the percent difference from the lowest requested grant amount).
Defines a clear project budget and financing strategy for development and long-term sustainable operation of the program, including outlining costs to be covered by grant and defining funding sources for project costs that exceed the grant amount. Applications that require funding in excess of the grant must clearly demonstrate the applicant’s ability, including timing, to secure all necessary funding required to deliver the program and meet program goals. (Up to 12 points).

Application Process: Entities interested in applying for the program should visit the Authority’s website at https://www.njeda.gov/wind-turbine-training/ to access the application instructions, application, information on submitting questions and any other application or reference materials.

The NJEDA will post the application on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The deadline for applicants to submit questions is June 30, 2021. Applications will be accepted no later than Friday, July 23, 2021, at 5:00 PM.

Applicants should read the application instructions posted to the Authority’s webpage at https://www.njeda.gov/wind-turbine-training/ for more information for further guidance on the process by which applications must be submitted for this program.

Because this is a competitive program, no applications will be reviewed until the deadline has passed and the Authority has collected all applications that have been submitted by the application deadline (Friday, July 23, 2021, 5:00 PM).

Fees: No application fee will be collected by the Authority for this program.

Additional Information: More information on the Wind Turbine Technician Training Grant Challenge may be found at https://www.njeda.gov/wind-turbine-training/.

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21^st Century Redevelopment Program

Notice of Funding Availability

The NJEDA will begin accepting applications beginning Monday, May 24, 2021, 9:00 AM. Applications will be accepted no later than Thursday, July 8, 2021, 5:00 PM.

Applicants should read the application instructions posted to the Authority’s webpage at https://www.njeda.gov/21stcentury/ for more information.

Background

A number of demographic and economic trends are re-shaping where people in New Jersey live and work, with many suburbs experiencing an outmigration of jobs and population similar to those that cities have experienced previously. New Jersey now has a surplus of suburban retail and office parks.

Suburban offices and shopping malls boomed during the 1980s and 1990s, when the supply of cheap land and easy access to highways were a strong attraction. These properties are now over a quarter-century old and are outmoded and less desirable, and many are sitting empty or are underutilized. Most importantly, real estate markets have shifted, with corporations trying to attract a younger talent pool seeking locations either close to transit or with neighborhood amenities within walking distance. This urban centric trend is happening nationally, with GE moving from Fairfield, CT to Boston; McDonald’s moving from Oak Brook, IL to Chicago; and Weyerhaeuser moving to Pioneer Square in Seattle from a 430-acre campus outside the city. Many suburban municipalities that are car-based, have multiple or no town centers and are facing stagnation or even a population exodus.

Many of New Jersey’s suburban municipalities with no town centers (or multiple small “centers,”) that are car-dependent and largely made up of single-family detached homes, are at risk. These municipalities must strategically plan their land use to attract or keep young residents and employers.

A glut of corporate campuses, underutilized malls and shopping centers, and vacant office buildings left behind by the 1980-1990s building boom have become a drain on many New Jersey communities. As a result, these communities are dealing with the loss of tax revenues, the costs of maintaining infrastructure and roads around these properties, and a lack of resources to solve the issues. These challenges are compounded by the preferences of millennials and young people to live in walkable communities with vibrant mixed-use corridors.

Local government entities face hurdles planning the retrofitting, redevelopment, and repurposing of large stranded assets.

The growing need for newer, suburban municipalities to address challenges related to significant office and retail vacancy adds to the needs that have existed and, in some cases, continues to exist in older cities and suburbs. To allow New Jersey to better attract economic activity and jobs, the Authority intends to support municipalities, counties, or redevelopment agencies to produce plans that will explore strategies and next steps to repurpose these properties.

Overview

The 21st Century Redevelopment Program will provide grants of up to $50,000 each to eligible redevelopment agencies, municipalities, or counties to undertake planning efforts aimed at addressing the challenges of significant vacancies (for at least two consecutive years) of a building or buildings previously used for commercial or retail purposes, such as shopping malls or plazas, or office parks.

In addition to the $50,000 in grant funding, recipients will be offered technical support provided by the Division of Policy, Planning, and Research at NJEDA and the Office of Local Planning Services at New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. These services will be limited in scope depending upon Authority/Department resources and can be defined in coordination with a consultant or professional services firm following grant approval.

Applications must clearly identify how the municipality, county, or redevelopment authority intends to approach the planning project. The Authority is not limiting the grant funding to specific uses, but expects the grant would most likely be used to support any approach or combination of approaches as described below:

Legal analysis to explore the appropriateness of designating one or more relevant properties in the community as an area in need of redevelopment.
Determining cost-benefits of retrofitting, redeveloping or regreening the property or properties
Driving economic growth for the locality and region
Creating greater social, economic, and environmental sustainability
Expanding affordable and multi-family housing
Attracting employers and a diverse, talented workforce
Expanding entrepreneurial opportunities and support local businesses
Promoting walkable neighborhoods and improve accessibility and mobility
Connecting to public transportation
Improving livability and healthy outcomes for the local population
Stakeholder engagement and facilitation to identify community desires and needs.
The identification of appropriate funding sources to support community led re-use of one or more properties.
Cataloging relevant retail and office properties in a community and identifying priority sites when considering community needs.
Economic analysis relating to the feasibility of various redevelopment and/or reuse scenarios.
Land-use planning identifying the most suitable re-use scenarios.

Applications must also submit a timeline that demonstrates that the planning project can be completed within 6 months of execution of a grant agreement with the Authority. Once grant funding is awarded, the Authority may authorize a three-month extension to a grant recipient’s deadline for plan completion, upon written request, if the Authority deems the extension necessary.

Eligible Applicants

Only a New Jersey local or county government or redevelopment agency is eligible to submit an application for the 21st Century Redevelopment Challenge.

Eligible municipalities, counties, or redevelopment agencies are permitted to enter into a partnership for the purposes of submitting an application for a single planning project. In the case of such a partnership, the partnership must designate ONE lead municipality or county government who will have the following responsibilities:

Serve as the sole entity under whose name the application will be submitted.
Serve as the sole entity with whom the Authority would execute a grant agreement (in the event of an application approval).
Provide (directly or in coordination with other governmental partners) the twenty percent (20%) match (funding or in-kind resources).
Serve as the sole entity receiving disbursements from the Authority per the terms of the grant agreement and distributing the disbursements among partners, as necessary, to execute the planning project.
Serve as the sole entity responsible for meeting the deliverables of the contract.
While partnerships as described above are permitted, the Authority will NOT consider applications submitted by joint ventures or conditioned on the creation of a joint venture to perform the Work for this Application.

Applicants shall note that any and all reference to “joint venture(s)”, “joint venture partner(s) / “joint venture partnership(s)” in any documents included as a part of the Application specifications, exhibits or attachments shall be read as though the words are stricken and removed.

A municipality, county, or redevelopment agency may only submit one application each in a lead role but can be included as a partner in additional applications where they play a non-lead role. A proposal on behalf of a county or county redevelopment agency does not preclude a municipality within that county from submitting their own proposal.

Applicants that are approved for grant funding must agree to share ownership of deliverables with the Authority for the purpose of making results publicly available to foster a dynamic discussion about repurposing stranded assets and to assist other similarly situated municipalities. Approved applicants must also agree to participate in at least 2 events hosted by EDA to share lessons learned with other New Jersey municipalities and counties facing stranded assets challenges.

Eligible Properties

As part of the application, the municipality, county, or redevelopment agency must present a site or facility or collection of properties suffering from significant vacancies that will be the focus of the planning project. This may be a building, corporate campuses that were used by a single entity, buildings that are adjacent to each other, or buildings across a parking surface or structure that is dedicated for use by the buildings.

Property eligibility will be limited to sites that were previously used primarily for office or retail purposes.

Match Requirement

To be considered eligible for a contract award, applications must demonstrate ability to provide a twenty percent (20%) matching contribution of the total grant amount to be reinvested back into the planning project.

The twenty percent (20%) match can be in the form of a financial contribution, or a contribution of in-kind resources, or a combination, thereof. In-kind resources are defined as non-monetary resources that will add value and help advance the planning project.

As part of the required documentation to accompany an application, applicants must demonstrate the ability to provide either a twenty percent (20%) financial match or demonstrate that the in-kind resources that are being dedicated to the project have a value equivalent to twenty percent (20%) of the funding request. This could be in the form of hours dedicated to the planning project across proposed hourly rates, or the value of goods or services being provided to support the planning project.

Grant Disbursement

Grant disbursements will only be made to the Lead Municipality/County/Redevelopment Agency. The Lead Municipality/County/Redevelopment Agency shall be responsible for assuring the compliance of any municipal, county, or strategic partners with all terms and conditions of this application and assumes the sole and absolute responsibility for any payments due to any municipal, county, or strategic partners.

All Applicants who are successfully awarded 21st Century Redevelopment grants will follow a uniform disbursement schedule. The Lead Municipality/County/Redevelopment Agency will receive 50% of the grant amount, upon execution of grant agreement, 25% of the grant amount will be disbursed on or around the halfway point of the grant term upon EDA’s receipt and approval of a progress report, and 25 % to be disbursed upon completion and submission of final plan.

At a minimum, the progress report referenced above should include:

Summary of funds expended to date, and;
Narrative detailing milestones achieved and overall progress toward completion of final plan.

Evaluation Criteria / Scoring:

Applications will be evaluated by a cross-organizational Evaluation Committee composed of the Authority’s staff, management, and possibly other state agencies and/or industry Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) to evaluate, score and rank applications received in response to the Application, and the criteria established in this notice.

Applications will be evaluated & scored on the criteria listed below (# 1 – 7), based on the information submitted in applications as set forth in Application Instructions (Section VI – Technical Proposal)

It is the policy of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that to be considered for award, a Proposer must achieve or exceed an overall score of sixty five (“65”) indicating a rating of “Good”, on a scale of 10-100 with 100 being the highest rating. The Authority shall be under no obligation to make an award to an applicant which does not achieve this minimum scoring threshold.

The point scale below will be assigned as follows for evaluation criteria 1:

0 points – Feature is absent.

1 – 7 points – Feature is present but shows deficiencies.

8-11 points – Meets requirements.

12-17 – points – Marginally exceeds requirements.

18-20 points – Significantly exceeds requirements.

Applications will be assigned points against the following criteria:

1. Identification of Project Purpose and Merits (Up to 20 points) – Proposals Identify opportunities for creating vibrancy in the community, including but not limited to:

Presence of an articulated public use component (such as public space, parks, etc).
Ability to address locality-specific needs and challenges.
Emphasis on long term viability and adaptability of a given concept.
Dedication to principles of environmental sustainability, such as stormwater management and reduced carbon emissions.
Ability to consider and mitigate any past difficulties that created challenges for a given asset/grouping of assets.
Ability to identify and balance local needs with those of the region and state as a whole.

The point scale below will be assigned as follows for evaluation criteria 2:

0 points – No effect on municipal area.

1 – 7 points – Minimal effect on municipal area.

8-12 points – Moderate effect on municipal area.

13-20 points – Significant effect on municipal area.

Applications will be assigned points against the following criteria:

2. Scope and Scale (Up to 20 points)- Preference will go to identified project areas that can display scope and scale, which will be evaluated based on the following:

Total available square footage on the site, including parking.
Size of the site relative to the greater municipal area (i.e. as a percentage).
Vacancy rate and/or length of time the site has been vacant.
Vacant commercial/office space of or within the site relative to all vacant space in the greater municipal area (i.e. as a percentage)
Historically site(s) responsible for providing an outsized portion of local employment opportunities in the community (i.e. as a percentage)
Historically significant portion of municipal tax levy (i.e. as percentage)

The point scale below will be assigned as follows for evaluation criteria 3:

1-5 points – Demonstrates minor structural challenge

6-12 points – Demonstrates 2 -3 structural challenges

13-20 points – Demonstrates more than 3 structural challenges

Applications will be assigned points against the following criteria:

3. Commitment to Social Impacts (Up to 20 points) – Preference will go to sites located in municipalities facing inherent structural challenges (i.e. lacking public transit, planning resources, challenging geography etc.).

The point scale below will be assigned as follows for evaluation criteria 4-6:

1-5 points- Feature is present but shows deficiencies

5-7 points – Meets requirements

7-10 points – Significantly exceeds requirements

Applications will be assigned points against the following criteria:

4. Previous Record (Up to 10 points) – Preference will go to municipalities who can demonstrate a track record of:

Partnership and engagement with private industry for purposes of re-development.
Adherence to the municipality’s affordable housing obligations
Dedication to principles of environmental sustainability.
Efforts to advance walkability and bike facilities in the municipality.

5. Presence and Strength of Regional Partnership (Up to 10 points)- Preference will go to entities who are able to display strong local leadership as well as regional collaboration towards re-development efforts. Applications should demonstrate a commitment by local leadership to engage in re-development projects with neighboring municipalities, the county, and/or higher-education institutions whether by a record of past project involvement or a commitment to future efforts, or both. Preference will be given to applications that include a local match from the property owner or an anchor institution (higher education, medical center, foundation, etc.).

6. Community Engagement (Up to 10 points) – Preference will go to communities that are able to display efforts to engage local residents and businesses in planning efforts. Local interest may be shown in the form of both past and present support, whether formal (municipal resolutions) or informal (community discussion and engagement).

The point scale below will be assigned as follows for evaluation criteria 7:

5 points – MRI Distress Score 30-39

7 Points – MRI Distress Score 40-49

10 Points – MRI Distress Score 50 or higher

Applications will be assigned points against the following criteria:

7. Municipal Revitalization Index Score (0 to 10 points) – The Municipal Revitalization Index (MRI) serves as the State’s official measure and ranking of municipal distress. The MRI ranks New Jersey’s municipalities according to eight separate indicators that measure diverse aspects of social, economic, physical, and fiscal conditions in each locality.

In the case of multiple municipalities on a single application, an application will receive the requisite number of points based on the ranking of the municipalities within the application, on a cumulative basis, but not to exceed a total of 10 for the category. For example, if an application includes three municipalities ranked between 25-50 on the MRI Index, the application will receive a score of “6” for the criterion. If the application includes two municipalities ranked in the top 1-5 on the MRI Index, the application will receive a score of “10” for the criterion. If a county or redevelopment agency is involved in an application in a lead role or as a partner, the application receives points based on all municipalities within that county that are part of the scope of the planning project.

Application Process:

Entities interested in applying for the program should visit the Authority’s website at https://www.njeda.gov/21stcentury/ to access the application instructions, application, and any other application or reference materials.

The NJEDA will begin accepting applications beginning Monday, May 24, 2021, 9:00 AM. Applications will be accepted no later than Thursday, July 8, 2021, 5:00 PM.

Applicants should read the application instructions posted to the Authority’s webpage for further guidance on the process by which applications must be submitted for this program.

Fees

No application fee will be collected by the Authority for this program.

Additional Information

Additional information on the 21^st Century Redevelopment Program may be found at www.njeda.gov/21stcentury

Click here for a PDF

Innovation Challenge Program
Notice of Funding Availability
The Innovation Challenge Program provides grants of up to $ 100,000 each to communities for economic development plans to catalyze planning and key investments to position their city and region to augment their innovation ecosystem.

Notice of Funding Availability
The 21^st Century Redevelopment Program provides grants of up to $ 50,000 each to eligible redevelopment agencies, municipalities, or counties to develop, or accelerate the implementation of, plans for repurposing or removing “stranded assets” in their communities.

Notice of Funding Availability
The NJEDA hereby announces the anticipated availability of Retail Fuel Station – Energy Resiliency Program monies funded under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Under this program, the NJEDA will offer grants for the purpose of enhancing the operational resiliency of retail fuel stations Statewide from future electric power outages by incentivizing the permanent installation of back-up electric generator “quick-connects” and/or fixed back-up electric generators to the fuel pumps at eligible retail fuel stations.

Notice of Funding Availability
The NJEDA announces the availability of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds appropriated pursuant to the Federal Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013 (Public Law 113-2) for the purpose of assisting economic recovery from damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. The NJEDA, jointly with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU), will administer $ 200 million of the CDBG-DR funds allocated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to New Jersey to continue to support the State’s recovery. These funds will be used to implement the Energy Resilience Bank Program. Under this program developed jointly with the BPU, the NJEDA will offer grants, forgivable loans, and amortized loans for the purpose of facilitating recovery and funding the unmet capital needs of eligible, impacted wastewater treatment plants and water treatment plants.

Archived Notice of Funding Availabilities

Funding:

Eligibility

Application Process:

Fees:

Additional information on ART may be found at Activation, Revitalization, and Transformation (ART) Program – NJEDA.

Purpose

Overview

Eligibility

Project Scope

Application Process

Grant Amounts

Eligible Uses

Disbursement

Additional Information

NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGYNotice of Funding AvailabilityRound 4, Direct Financial Assistance Grant for Businesses Engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Federal Programs

1. INTENT/SUMMARY

2. PROGRAM SUMMARY

3. TARGET INDUSTRIES

4. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Please note, previous grant awardees from Round 1 of the Clean Tech Seed Grant Pilot Program are not eligible to apply for Round 2 of the Program.

5. PROJECT SIZE, USE OF FUNDS AND DISBURSEMENTS

6. REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

7. APPLICATION AND EVALUATION PROCESS

AND

8. SCORING CRITERIA

9. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

10. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

11. CONFIDENTIALITY

TRL 1

TRL 2

TRL 3

TRL 4

TRL 5

TRL 6

TRL 7

TRL 8

TRL 9

NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGY

1. INTENT / SUMMARY:

Program Summary

2. FEDERAL PROGRAM BACKGROUND:

NJ SBIR/STTR Support Program

Applicants should refer to this Notice of Funding (August 2021) for application and documentation requirements for the Round 3 of the Direct Financial Assistance Program.

Bridge Funding for Phase II Applicants:

3. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

3. APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

AND

PLEASE NOTE THAT APPLICATIONS WILL ONLY BE CONSIDERED COMPLETE ONCE THE ORIGINAL SIGNED CSIT APPLICATION CERTIFCATION POST MARKED BY THE APPLICATION DEADLINE OR APPLICABLE EXTENSION DATE FOLLOWING A COMPLETENESS REVIEW IS RECEIVED BY CSIT.

BECAUSE SOME STATE SYSTEMS HAVE EXPERIENCED LONGER THAN USUAL PROCESSING TIMES DUE TO COVID-19, APPLICANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO OBTAIN COPIES OF NJ DOUMENTATION EARLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING THEIR APPLICATIONS TO AVOID ANY DELAYS IN SUBMISSION OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION.

o A copy of the Phase II SBIR/STTR proposal submitted to sponsoring Agency and,

BECAUSE SOME STATE SYSTEMS HAVE EXPERIENCED LONGER THAN USUAL PROCESSING TIMES DUE TO COVID-19, APPLICANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO OBTAIN COPIES OF NJ DOUMENTATION EARLY IN THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING THEIR APPLICATIONS TO AVOID ANY DELAYS IN SUBMISSION OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION.

Scoring criteria (preferences and priorities in evaluation)

6. OTHER TERMS AND CONDITIONS

7. NOTICE OF FUNDING PROJECTED MILESTONE DATES:

8. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

9. CONFIDENTIALITY

Exhibit A: Document checklist for Direct Financial Assistance

NEW JERSEY COMMISSION ON SCIENCE, INNOVATION, AND TECHNOLOGY
Notice of Funding Availability
Round 4, Direct Financial Assistance Grant for Businesses Engaged in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Federal Programs