New Jersey lease aid program receives additional $5 million to aid ailing businesses

(The Center Square) – The Small Business Lease-Emergency Assistance Grant Program (SBL-EAGP) has received an additional $5 million to help businesses struggling to pay the rent.

The program allows businesses in 64 legislatively designated municipalities to apply for up to $10,000 to offset lease costs. It has already allocated $10 million to roughly 1,000 companies in the Garden State.

“This program has helped nearly 1,000 small businesses owners pay their leases during the unprecedented economic fallout from COVID-19,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a news release. “The Small Business Lease – Emergency Assistance Grant program is one of many we have stood up over the past year in an effort to help small businesses weather this storm.”

The New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA) manages the program, which is part of the Main Street Commercial Corridors Relief Package and funded by money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The program targets businesses with 5,000 square feet of leased space or less.

“While I am optimistic about 2021 and our state’s recovery, the small business community in New Jersey is still reeling from the impact of the ongoing public health emergency,” Leslie Anderson, president and CEO of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, said in a news release. “It is crucial that we remain aggressive and continue to prioritize small businesses in our recovery efforts, particularly those in communities most severely affected by the crisis.”

Separately, Sen. Bob Singer, state Assemblyman Sean Kean and state Assemblyman Ned Thomson, all R-Monmouth, want Murphy to implement an 11-week extension of unemployment benefits under an extension Congress passed in December. Currently, claimants who exhausted their benefits before Dec. 26 have not received payments since then.

“It is completely unacceptable that the Labor Department has not been able to put a program into place to pay these claimants or tell them when to expect payments,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement. “… If the department needs outside help to manage these programs efficiently and get people their benefits, then let’s make changes.”

“This delay comes on top of the myriad of other issues plaguing unemployment which has left scores of our constituents unable to access their benefits,” they added. “We urge the governor to take action and improve the department so that more claimants are paid on time, issues can be easily resolved, and people can actually speak to agents who can fix issues.”

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