Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Have A Business Need? NJBAC Can Help.

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

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

Best Practices

Walkability and Rural Revitalization: On April 17^th at 2PM, America Walks and Main Street America are offering a free online workshop on the connection of walkability, economic development, and community quality of life in rural towns. They will share case studies from local community champions on how walkability played a role in helping to revitalize their own small towns, as well as look at national perspectives and initiatives. Register for this webinar here.

Transforming Nightlife - Designing Secure and Welcoming Public Spaces for Young Girls and Women: A short article by 8-80 Cities on how urban design can create safer, more inclusive nightlife environments for young girls and women. Discover innovative strategies to make our cities more welcoming after dark, from better lighting to community engagement: Read more here: Transforming Nightlife: Designing Secure and Welcoming Public Spaces for Young Girls and Women

Turning Transit Stops Into Community Spaces: Bus stops and other transit stations can be made more hospitable and functional, adding place value to their communities and districts where they are located. Funding may be tight, but there are incremental steps that can enhance these important assets. In this article about transit stop placemaking, AARP gives some great examples of how such transformations were fostered in bus and transit stops in and around St. Louis, MO.

Featured Grants & Support

The Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion Program (CAFÉ) Launches: The first-ever application for the competitive CAFE program just opened on Monday, April 7th, and will remain open for 60 days, closing on Friday, June 6th at 5 pm.  The CAFE Program is a tax credit initiative offered by NJEDA that is designed to elevate arts and culture across New Jersey, offering first-rate cultural experiences for residents and visitors. Projects must have a minimum value of $5 million to qualify. To be eligible for this program, the applicant must be a cultural arts institution which will have ownership or lease space in the cultural arts facility, and will operate the facility. In addition, the project must also be open to the public. The application link is available on the CAFE Program website: Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion Program – CAFE - NJEDA. To assist you in preparing your application, NJEDA offers several resources on their website, with more content and updates to be added in the coming weeks. For questions or additional information, please contact us at cafe@njeda.gov. Please note that NJEDA will address program questions via a public forum to ensure fairness to all participants.

$50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grants:  For communities with populations of 50,000 or less, the T-Mobile Hometown Grant program provides flexible grants of up to $50,000 to help build stronger, more prosperous towns and communities. From placemaking to enhancing public tech infrastructure to creating new recreational trails and restoring historic landmarks, these grants are transforming communities like yours.  Register and apply here. The deadline for this quarterly grant round is June 30^th so don’t wait to start!

NJBAC Can Work With All the Businesses in Your Community

We are here to support your communities’ and districts’ businesses. NJBAC offers free online chat and telephone (800-537-7397) assistance in English and Spanish to any business in NJ – any size, any location, and any type. Businesses can always download the NJBAC Small Business Manual – a one-stop tool for many business concerns – online here for english. A Spanish version of the manual is also available here for spanish. Individual businesses or organizations can order a printed English copy as well by clicking this link for english or the Spanish version by clicking this link for spanish. For bulk orders of up to 25 printed copies in any language, please contact NJBAC’s Tracy Thomas directly.

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

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