New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 19 - OTHER AGENCIES › NEW JERSEY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY › Chapter 31E - MAIN STREET RECOVERY FINANCE PROGRAM › Subchapter 1 - MAIN STREET RECOVERY FINANCE PROGRAM › Section 19:31E-1.3 - Product description and eligibility criteria

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The Board may establish grant products
				  that shall make available grants to eligible small businesses, subject to
				  availability of funds in the Fund. Eligibility criteria shall be the following:
1. Eligible grant uses shall be capital
				  improvements or operating expenses. The eligible capital improvement may be
				  made by an entity that is wholly owned by the applicant;
2. Eligible capital improvements by a
				  home-based business shall be the purchase and installation of new furniture and
				  equipment but shall not include building renovations and improvements. For
				  purposes of home-based businesses, allowable furniture and equipment must be
				  used exclusively for the business and must not be attached to the
				  building;
3. A small business shall
				  be eligible to receive a grant if the small business demonstrates to the
				  Authority at the time of application that:
i.
				  The small business has complied with all requirements for filing tax and
				  information returns and for paying or remitting required State taxes and fees
				  by submitting a tax clearance certificate, as described at section 1 at
				  P.L.
				  2007, c. 101
				  (N.J.S.A.
				  54:50-39); and
ii. After execution of the grant agreement,
				  the small business shall pay each full-time and part-time employee during the
				  term of the grant not less than $ 15.00 per hour or 120 percent of the minimum
				  wage fixed pursuant to subsection (a) of section 5 at P.L. 1966, c. 113
				  (N.J.S.A.
				  34:11-56a 4), whichever is higher, except
				  that the small business shall pay not less than 120 percent of the minimum wage
				  to an employee who customarily and regularly receives gratuities or tips;
				  and
4. In addition to the
				  requirements at (a)2 above, a small business shall be eligible to receive a
				  grant for capital improvements only if the small business demonstrates to the
				  Authority, at the time of application, that:
i. Any capital improvement in excess of $
				  50,000 and undertaken with grant funds shall comply with standards established
				  by the Authority, and published on the Authority's website, in accordance with
				  the green building manual prepared by the Commissioner of the Department of
				  Community Affairs pursuant to section 1 at
				  P.L.
				  2007, c. 132
				  (N.J.S.A.
				  52:27D-130.6), regarding the use of renewable
				  energy, energy-efficient technology, and non-renewable resources to reduce
				  environmental degradation and encourage long-term cost reduction;
ii. Each worker employed to perform
				  construction work in connection with a capital improvement undertaken with
				  grant funds in excess of $ 50,000 shall be paid not less than the prevailing
				  wage rate for the worker's craft or trade, as determined by the Commissioner of
				  the Department of Labor and Workforce Development pursuant to P.L. 1963, c. 150
				  (N.J.S.A.
				  34:11-56.25 et seq.). This requirement shall
				  extend through the term of the grant. For purposes of this provision, "worker"
				  shall mean any person working on a capital improvement, whether employed by the
				  small business or the small business's contractor or subcontractor;
				  and
iii. The applicant leases or
				  owns the facility at which capital improvement is made. If the applicant leases
				  the facility, the applicant must have the right to make the capital
				  improvements.