The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce is gratified to see that the state Senate has introduced bipartisan legislation that would provide the state’s Economic Development Authority with $300 million for loans and grants to small businesses and nonprofits.
For months, the N.J. Chamber, along with other chambers of commerce and other business organizations, has been discussing with state leaders in Trenton the need to provide working capital to small businesses in order to help them survive the COVID-19 economic downturn and be in a good position to thrive when the economy begins to rebound.
While we will await the final details in this legislation, it is rewarding to see our discussions translated into action and we are encouraged that this significant step was taken in a bipartisan manner.
We know from talking with our members and from the demand placed on existing loan and grant programs that there is still a lot of pain out there and, even as this new legislation is weighed, more capital will be needed to sufficiently address this continuing crisis.
This is an imminent and ongoing issue for the business community and it needs to be addressed urgently.
