Small Business Support Pilot Program (July 1, 2026 - July 31, 2026)

Who We Are:

Newark Alliances advances lasting prosperity for Newarkers by activating the full potential of Newark itself—its people, places, systems, and partnerships. ​Through bold, thoughtful, cross-sector collaboration, we deliver stronger communities, cleaner streets, smarter investments, and more opportunity. ​As Newark’s prosperity engine, we braid together tools—from policy and capital to branding, marketing and service delivery—to unlock long-term value for the people who live, work, visit, and study here.​

Newark Alliance's Small Business Support Pilot Program for summer 2026 is a limited size and scope pilot providing assistance to businesses that are 20 employees or smaller, located in the Newark Downtown District footprint, with Interstate 280 as its northern boundary; the Passaic River, McCarter Highway (Route 21), and the NJ Transit/AMTRAK rail lines as its eastern boundary; Pennsylvania Avenue to the junction of Poinier Street, stopping at the Route 21 viaduct as its southern boundary; University Avenue as its western boundary. Businesses on north Halsey Street and on Market Street between Mulberry and Washington Streets will be given priority through weighted scoring.  

With grants, recoverable loans, guaranties and technical assistance this program will support new and existing businesses through the following:

Facility Fit-Out Subsidy - A grant to subsidize fit out of retail space for a new business or a business relocating to a new space, up to 50% up to $50K.

Product Purchase - A commitment to purchase a decreasing amount of product or services each month for a defined period from a business not yet opened, or open for no more than one year, up to $25K.

Eligible businesses meet the following criteria:

  • Have or look to open a ground floor or second floor presence.
  • Be considered retail in that the general public can walk into the place of business to purchase goods or services.
  • Be located in the Newark Downtown District catchment area with priority given to Halsey Street Corridor  businesses.
  • Be a commercial business that is a tenant or owner, landlords are not eligible.
  • Not be a national or regional chain or franchise unless locally owned.
  • Meet NJ Small Business Administration definition of a Small Business, have no more than 20 employees or generate no more than $1,000,000 in annual revenue.
  • Be in substantial good standing with the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
  • Have no judgments, actions, claims, legal proceedings or investigations pending or threatened involving your entity.
  • Have filed all tax and information returns required to be filed in any jurisdiction and has paid all taxes, assessments, fees of other governmental charges. Have no tax audits currently being conducted.
  • Demonstrate a strong need for this support and your prospects for sustainability if awarded. That is, you can demonstrate that but- for this gap support, you could not open or sustain your operations in the immediate future. 

We strongly encourage businesses to only apply if this is true. 

Requirements

At time of application:

- Business Registration Certificate

- Financial statements P/L statements covering most recent 12 months (if applicable) and 12- month projection

- Comprehensive marketing plan with strategic marketing research

At time of grant award:

- Participate in technical assistance as prescribed in a Grant Agreement to be furnished in the event of an award.

This application will be open between July 1, 2026 and July 31, 2026. During that time applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received. Determinations will be made through August 2026. Payments and technical assistance will begin in September 2026.

Should additional funding be secured for an extension of this program in the future based on lessons learned from this pilot, Newark Alliance will announce a relaunch with details of the size and scope afforded by the additional support.

We use Submittable to accept and review our submissions.
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