At the onset of the pandemic, Vinnie Brand, the owner of Stress Factory comedy clubs in New Jersey and Connecticut, had just opened a restaurant adjacent to his Bridgeport club and employed more than 50 full-time employees to whom he proudly provided health insurance. He was also “essentially” debt free, save for a $25,000 line of credit.
Former Gov. Chris Christie has raised close to $800,000 in committed funding for a nonprofit he started with his wife that gives $3,000 forgivable loans to small businesses struggling to remain open amid the coronavirus outbreak, the couple said Tuesday.
Christie and former First Lady Mary Pat Christie say they’ve received more than 3,000 applications from small businesses since they launched the nonprofit last month. The group, the New Jersey 30-Day Fund, has approved funding for 120 businesses from the more than 3,000 they’ve received, they said.
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone, left, welcomes the managment and staff of Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea to Asbury Park.
By Monmouth County Freeholder Director Tom Arnone
I hope everyone took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend and visited our beaches and restaurants in Monmouth County!
With the holiday weekend approaching, I would like
to remind everyone to remain diligent in adhering to the social distancing and
safety guidelines implemented by the State.
Our restaurants and retailers – especially seasonal
– depend on strong summer weekends to keep their staff employed and businesses
open. It’s more important now than ever to support them while remaining safe.
Middletown Township Committee members practicing social distancing on TakeoutThursday
As they look to do better from latest federal aid package, the big question for small business owners concerns access to working capital
By John Reitmeyer, NJSpotlight
The adoption of a new federal aid package with billions of dollars in new funding for small businesses comes just as officials in New Jersey are beginning to give more attention to what the state’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic will look like.
The new aid package signed into law by President Donald Trump includes at least $250 billion for small businesses, as well as significant funding for hospitals and testing initiatives that are considered crucial for addressing both public health and economic recovery goals.
This November, we’ll find the usual cast characters on the ballot: wall street millionaires, politically-connected lawyers and career politicians, all of whom will try to convince us that they know what is best for us. As a small business owner, I work 16 hours a day, battling to make payroll for my employees while fighting to keep prices low for my customers and clients. One member of Congress understands what small business owners go through every day. His name is Rush Holt and he is not a career politician, he is a rocket scientist turned college professor turned public servant. During his tenure in Congress, Representative Holt has had a far greater outreach into the small business community than any other member of Congress in the New Jersey delegation.
He feels our frustration and pain when we are working twice as many hours making half of what we used to two years ago. That is why he recently introduced the “Creating Jobs From Innovative Small Businesses Act of 2010” – legislation which would encourage small business investment by establishing a temporary 20 percent tax credit for investments in research-intensive small businesses. Last year, Representative Holt helped pass legislation in the House that would eliminate fees on SBA loans and increase loan guarantees to increase lending to small businesses. Month after month, Representative Holt is fighting for us in Congress.
As Labor Day passes and as the campaign season heats up, the last thing small business owners need is another wall street genius who claims he can fix all of our problems. We need someone who has walked the walk and that is Representative Rush Holt. As a private citizen and a proud small business owner, I urge Central Jersey residents to vote for Rush Holt, someone small business owners can count on and someone Wall Street can count against.
Vin Gopal serves on the Board of Directors for the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce and is President of the Hazlet Business Owners Associations. He is the co-owner of Monitor Publications, which currently markets over 200 small businesses throughout Monmouth and Middlesex Counties. These views in this letter do not represent the position(s) of any of these organizations.
