Grants – Project Development/Infrastructure/P3

May 8, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: NJEDA available sources of Funds and Loans for Businesses in NJ

Good morning and I hope you and yours are doing well and staying safe.

I came across a piece from the Southern NJ Chamber of Commerce that outlined the programs below and reminded me of the various non-COVID related programs that still exist and are open for assistance from the NJEDA.

Worth taking a look if you have a need:

* Micro Business Loan Program: Through this program, the NJEDA makes financing of up to $50,000 available to for-profit New Jersey businesses, which can use the financing for working capital or to purchase equipment. To ensure that the financing is accessible to the early-stage and micro businesses that need it most, to qualify, a business must have annual revenues of less than $1,500,000 in the most current fiscal year and cannot have more than 10 full-time employees at time of application.

* Small Business Fund: The Small Business Fund offers loans of up to $500,000 for qualifying creditworthy small, minority- or women-owned businesses in New Jersey with up to $3 million in revenue that have been in operation for at least one full year and may not have the ability to get bank financing. Not-for-profit corporations that have been operating for at least three full years may also be eligible for assistance under the Small Business Fund.

* Direct Loans: Direct loans are available up to $2 million for fixed assets, and $750,000 for working capital. New Jersey businesses in need of financing and committed to job creation/retention may be eligible for direct loans through the NJEDA when conventional financing is not available. NJEDA’s direct loan financing offers competitive interest rates and terms.

* Premier Lender Program: In partnership with two dozen banks throughout New Jersey, The Premier Lender Program offers up to a $2 million loan participation or $1.5 million loan guarantee for fixed assets, and up to a $750,000 loan participation or $1.5 million guarantee for term working capital. Line of credit guarantees of up to $750,000 are also available.

More details about each of these programs can be found on the NJEDA’s website at http://www.njeda.com/small_midsize_business.

NJEDA also launched a suite of programs specifically designed to address the COVID era challenges the outbreak has caused. These initiatives include grants, loans, guarantees, and support for entrepreneurs and community development financial institutions. The grant and loan programs are currently oversubscribed, but the NJEDA is actively seeking funding from federal, corporate, and philanthropic sources to expand them.

Small business owners seeking more information about any of these programs should visit New Jersey’s COVID-19 Business Information Hub at https://cv.business.nj.gov.

Duane Morris has created a COVID-19 Strategy Team to help organizations plan, respond to and address this fast-moving situation. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Paul Josephson, Jimmy Greenberg or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe!

April 20, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

COVID-19: Florida COVID based Loans and Grant Programs

In response to the current COVID-19 pandemic, Federal, State and Local governments are ushering in an array programs and tax relief measures to help mitigate the adverse economic impact of COVID-19 on business and nonprofit entities.

In addition to the economic incentive provisions and programs that are available through the federal CARES Act, including the $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and under U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, a number economic programs tax relief measures, and deadline extensions for applicable in Florida related to or effected by the COVID-19 pandemic and closures.

1. Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program. The Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program is currently available to small business owners located in all 67 Florida counties statewide that experienced economic damage as a result of COVID-19. The program is being administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity in partnership with the Florida SBDC Network and Florida First Capital Finance Corporation. This program is intended to offer short-term, interest-free working capital loans to help “bridge the gap” between the time a major catastrophe hits (COVID-19) and when a business has secured longer term recovery resources, as follows:

General Terms and Conditions:

o Loans of up to $50,000 to $100,000 in certain special cases are available to coronavirus-affected small businesses.
o Loans are interest-free for 1 year; after that, the interest rate rises to 12%.
o The loans are meant to serve as short-term funding that can be repaid once businesses can access alternative funding such as: SBA disaster loans, other Federal Aid-Insurance Proceeds, bank or other loan.
o Loans will be made to individuals who, individually or collectively, own at least 51% of the equity of the business and who certify that: loan proceeds will be used only for purposes of maintaining or restarting business operations in the designated disaster area; the loan will be repaid by applying for other financial assistance; and the borrower will be required to certify that the proceeds of insurance claims, other loans applied for or to be applied for, or other financial assistance will be used to repay the loan.

Eligibility:

o Business must be physically located in the area of a designated disaster in Florida.
o Business must be a for-profit, privately held small business that has or had a minimum of 2, but no more than 100 employees within the previous year of the date of the declared disaster.
o Business must have been established and actively operating prior to the date of the Designated Disaster Date: March 9, 2020.
o Business must have repaid, in full, any previous Florida Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan.
o Business must demonstrate that the business has suffered a significant economic injury and unable to meet its obligations to pay ordinary and necessary operating expenses as a result of the declared disaster event.

How to apply:

o Eligible applicants must submit an application by May 8, 2020, along with supporting documents including business tax returns, individual tax returns and employer tax documentation.
o Information from Florida. Applications and more detailed information is available from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity at http://floridajobs.org/rebuildflorida/businessrecovery

2. Florida Tax Extensions.

o On March 26, 2020, the Florida Department of Revenue issued Order of Emergency Waiver/Deviation # 20-52-DOR-002 to extend certain filing deadlines for Florida businesses. This order addresses February and March reporting periods for the following taxes and fees:

o Sales and use tax, including discretionary sales surtax
o Tourist development tax
o Solid waste fees, including new tire fee, lead-acid battery fee, dry-cleaning gross receipts, and rental car surcharge
o Prepaid wireless E911 fees

o The order waives the imposition of penalty and interest for those taxpayers who collected these taxes in February 2020 but were unable to meet the March 20 due date if the taxes are reported and remitted by March 31, 2020. Note: To meet the March 31 deadline, electronic payments must have been initiated by 5:00 p.m. ET on March 30, 2020.
o The order states taxpayers not adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak are required to continue to file and pay taxes collected during March 2020 on or before April 20, 2020.
o For taxpayers who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, the order extends the due date for March 2020 returns and payments to April 30, 2020. Note: to meet the April 30 deadline, electronic payments must be initiated by 5:00 p.m. ET on April 29, 2020.
o Information from Florida. More detailed information is available from the Florida Department of Revenue at https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/Pages/taxpayerInfoCovid19.aspx

About Duane Morris:

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Brad Molotsky, Crist Sanchez, Jay Steinman or any member of the COVID-19 Strategy Team or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

April 18, 2020April 20, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

Overview of Federal and State COVID-19 Relief Programs for New York

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, federal, state and local governments, through both legislative and executive action, have enacted or ordered a broad array of financial measures to mitigate the adverse economic effects experienced by businesses and nonprofit entities.

To read the full text of this Alert, which will identify and explain the economic programs established by the federal government, New York state and New York City to help businesses in New York that are experiencing financial loss due to COVID-19, please visit the firm website.

April 2, 2020June 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

NJ – NJEDA – Small Business Emergency Assistance GRANT Program – opens Friday, 4-3-20 at 9 am

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) will launch the application for its Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program tomorrow, Friday, April 3, 2020 at 9:00 am. If you are thinking of applying, a link to the grant program application will be posted on the State’s COVID-19 Business Information Hub. The grant program is part of a package of initiatives announced last week to support businesses and workers facing economic hardship due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.

This Grant program is a $5M program that will provide grants up to $5,000 to small businesses in retail, arts entertainment, recreation, accommodation, food service, repair, maintenance, personal and laundry services.

Eligibility Guidelines for Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program:

Businesses applying for the Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program must provide:

· A contact who is authorized to speak on behalf of the company.

· Basic information about the company:

· Registered legal name and “Doing Business As” name (available here: https://www.njportal.com/DOR/BusinessNameSearch/Search/BusinessName;

· Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN);

· Year your company was established;

· Full-time employees as of December 31, 2019 and Part-Time Employees as of December 31, 2019.

· Industry as defined by your NAICS code (available here: https://www.naics.com/search/).

· Answers to the State’s basic debarment questions (See .pdf of application here: https://cv.business.nj.gov).

· Certification that the business:

· Is not a home-based business;

· Is not a prohibited business;

· Has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak;

· Has a material financial need that cannot be overcome without the grant funds;

· Will make a best effort not to lay off any additional employees and re-hire any whom have already been laid off;

· The NJEDA may check your entries against other State sources of data.

NJEDA has developed an online Grant Award Size Estimate Calculator to help eligible businesses understand what their potential grant size might be.

About Duane Morris:

For Further Information:

If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact Brad A. Molotsky or James Greenberg or any member of the COVID-19 Strategy Team or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact and we can direct your inquiry to the appropriate place.

Be Well. Stay Safe. Stay Vigilant.

July 17, 2019 by Brad A. Molotsky

NJEDA launches Opportunity Zone Challenge Program – Brad A. Molotsky, Esq.

On July 16th, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) launched its previously announced Opportunity Zone Challenge Program. The Challenge Program is a competitive $500,000 grant program aimed at supporting community efforts to attract investments in NJ Opportunity Zones. Grants awarded through the program will fund municipal and county-level financial and technical planning around Opportunity Zone (OZ) economic development.

The OZ program is a federal incentive program which was part of the 2018 Tax Act that enables investors to re-deploy capital gains into low-income areas (which are the areas targeted by the designated Opportunity Zones) via the use of a Qualified Opportunity Zone fund (QOF). These Qualified Opportunity Zone funds or QOFs may be self-directed and self-certified. Capital gains placed into these QOFs must then be invested into real estate or a qualified business within applicable opportunity zones that exist within all 50 states in the US.

New Jersey has 169 separate Opportunity Zones which span 75 municipalities across all 21 NJ counties.

According to NJEDA, the Challenge Program is intended to encourage and assist communities in developing specific action plans to guide their pursuit of Opportunity Zone–based investments. The Challenge Program will award 5 grants of up to $100,000 each to select municipal or county governments or municipal partnerships of 2 to 5 municipalities whose applications demonstrate a clear strategic plan to build investment capacity in their applicable Opportunity Zones. The Challenge Program grants are open to all 75 NJ municipalities and 21 counties.

As part of the application process, the applicants are required to designate at least one strategic partner whose external expertise will be used to achieve the Challenge Program’s goals.

Our team is available to answer applicable questions about the Opportunity Zone program and the Challenge Program. Brad A. Molotsky, Esq. (bamolotsky@duanemorris.com)