Passaic County. County announces small business lease emergency grant program

Passaic County has announced that the grant application for small business lease emergency grant will go live on Monday, Nov. 16.

The link to register: bit.ly/PassaicCounty_Grants

Eligible expenses

Under the Passaic County Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program, funding can only be used to cover the following business costs/expenses and all grants will be ACH wired directly to landlords or real estate holding companies:

· Lease payments (September, October, November, December)

Grant amount

The Passaic County Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program will provide grants up to, and not to exceed $20,000 per company for rent expenses.

Eligible businesses

Companies located in the 16 municipalities of Passaic County are eligible to apply to the NJRA/Passaic County Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program. However, businesses must meet the following criteria:

· Businesses must have a physical location in Passaic County;

· Businesses must be a: Sole-proprietorship, LLC, LLP, Corporation, or S-Corporation;

· (There are no minimum or maximum number of employees by company).

Ineligible businesses

The following types of businesses are not eligible for the grant:

· Home-based businesses

· Franchises with more than one location

· Companies with sub-leases

· Companies with shared spaces

· Businesses with gambling or gaming activities;

· Businesses that conduct or purveyance of “adult” activities, services, and/or products;

· Tattoo parlors;

· Businesses under any auction or bankruptcy;

· Businesses that have loss due to fire, “lost-of-lease,” or are “going-out-of-business;”

· Sales by transient merchants;

· Liquor stores, bars;

· Vape/tobacco shops;

· Outdoor storage;

· Any illegal activity; and

· County employees and elected officials, as well as their immediate families, are not eligible to apply.

Requirements

The following general requirements must be met to be considered for funding:

· Businesses must be current with local and NJ Taxes;

· Businesses cannot have received a New Jersey Economic Development Authority;

NJRA or US Small Business Administration grant for Covid-19 relief for the same use provided under this Passaic County Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program to avoid a duplication of benefits

· Businesses must have been open and operating on or before March 9, 2020 and cannot have been delinquent in rent payments prior to March 9, 2020.

· If the applicant is also the property owner, property taxes, water, and sewer taxes, must be current at the time of the application.