Grants for Businesses Affected by Sandy Now Available

A Point Beach small business owner is among those applying for a Stronger New Jersey Business grant through the Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).

Marc Palazzolo, owner of Alex's Inlet Bait and Tackle, which struggled to re-open after Sandy shoved the Manasquan Inlet and ocean through the store, sucked out all the bait (really, it was all gone) and left heaps of rubble in its wake, appears poised to get one of the EDA grants.

"I'm filling it out, it's a long application," said Palazzolo on Thursday night. "But it looks good. We qualified, but we don't know for how much yet."

It's the first time in a long time Palazzolo is feeling optimistic about getting any government aid. Shortly after Sandy struck, he was rejected for a Small Business Administration loan (he's appealing).

When Patch called the governor's office about Palazzolo and other businesses having trouble getting help, the governor's office had an official email with information about how there would be opportunities to apply for other aid and, on May 1, the EDA grant program was announced.

This program provides up to $50,000 per impacted location and up to $250,000 per entity to eligible small businesses and non-profit organizations that sustained a minimum of $5,000 in physical damage (per location) from Superstorm Sandy. 

Gov. Christie has tasked the NJEDA to administer $460 million of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to support the recovery of storm-impacted businesses. Of this total, $260 million will fund the Stronger NJ Business Grant program.

For more information regarding the Stronger NJ Business Grant program and to apply, please visit: http://application.njeda.com/strongernjbusinessgrant.

The NJEDA Office of Recovery Superstorm Sandy hotline is also open at 1-855-SANDY-BZ to answer any questions you may have regarding the program and application process.

The state is asking that in order to "spread the word about this critically important assistance, we ask that you forward this information to any business owner you know that may have been impacted by Superstorm Sandy."

Para español marque 1-855-SANDY-BZ. Para ver esta información en español, haga clic aquí.