The NJBAC is Assisting Business with All Kinds of Unique Needs

The New Jersey Business Action Center (NJBAC), a division of the NJ Secretary of State’s Office, assists entrepreneurs who want to plan, start, operate or grow a business in New Jersey. The NJBAC assists businesses of all sizes and in all stages of their life cycles.

Under the leadership of New Jersey Secretary of State Tahesha Way and Executive Director Melanie Willoughby, NJBAC is committed to helping businesses access programs and resources that can assist them in achieving their goals and overcoming government or business challenges.

Through our multiple partnerships across federal, state and local government and nongovernmental services, the NJBAC team can help an early-stage business access technical assistance, assist in writing a business plan, find financial resources or navigate the regulatory requirements to maximize their chances of success.

The NJBAC’s Business Advocates can assist with site selection services, navigating complicated regulatory obligations when building or expanding a location. When issues of permitting or other compliance challenges arise, NJBAC advocates are here to shepherd their application through the process to make it more seamless and painless as possible.

The NJBAC’s Export Promotion team can help businesses access global markets, obtain technical assistance and overcome international regulatory challenges. The export team also administers a financial reward program, funded in part by a grant from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA), called the New Jersey State Trade Expansion Program (NJSTEP). With a focus this year on food and beverage manufacturers that are new to exporting, a STEP grant can help a business participate in a trade show or pay for other activities that increase export sales. From 2018-2022, the NJBAC has received $5 million of export promotion funding from SBA. Eligible small New Jersey exporters that received NJSTEP financial awards during this period have reported to date, $138.3 million of actual export sales and created or retained 300 New Jersey jobs.

The Small Business Team at NJBAC assists small businesses with their unique needs. The US Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy Survey reports that 99.6% of all businesses in New Jersey qualify as “small businesses,” and 49.5 % of all employees work for a small business. The economic vitality of New Jersey is dependent on small businesses. The NJBAC assists small businesses to write a business plan, properly form/register their business, or obtain certification as a small, woman or minority owned, veteran owned and service-disabled veteran owned business. A Small Business Advocate helped a business owned by a minority woman obtain a certificate so she could become a vendor at a NJ Port Authority facility. Several qualified businesses also were assisted by obtaining certification so they could apply for a Recreational Cannabis License as a diversely owned business. The Small Business Advocacy team assisted a Bergen County based Micro Brewery to resolve an issue with their Liquor License and assisted an 87-year-old nonprofit corporation obtain copies of their original corporate documents and a tax clearance certificate so they could complete the paperwork necessary to apply for an assistance program.

If you have a business question, a challenge you need to overcome or a vision you want to achieve, contact the NJ Business Action Center and let us help you. You can call 1-800-Jersey-7 or visit Business.nj.gov and use the live chat feature to speak to one of our business experts.

Written by: Donald Newman Small Business Advocacy, Manager Donald.Newman@sos.nj.gov