Camden County Will Be Giving Additional Funds To Small Businesses

In March the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was passed in Congress and signed into law by the president, which gave money to states to be able to offer various forms of relief. New Jersey recieved federal funding through this program to mitigate some of the most damaging impacts both of the pandemic, and safety measures that were put into places like lockdowns and stay-at-home orders. Camden County received some of these federal funds and opened a grant program for small businesses to be able to receive relief from the economic impact of the pandemic. And now, right before the holidays, that program will be doing a bit more for those businesses.

Here’s a troubling statistic, as of December 1st, a 1/3rd of New Jersey’s small businesses had closed their doors forever. That means for so many residents of New Jersey, economic uncertainty is a worry, and there are fears that this will continue as restaurants are forced to only offer outdoor dining, in the middle of winter. Many businesses have struggled to be able to make payroll, especially because rising covid rates have led to increased restrictions.

Here’s what Camden County is doing to try and help businesses who are struggling: In the summer, Camden County’s Freeholder board announced a small business grant program which provided severely needed relief at a time when so many needed it. And as Congress struggles to pass a new round of COVID relief, The Freeholder board has announced another 5 million that will be distributed to the businesses approved for these grants.

Here’s what Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr had to say about this second round of funding to be distributed at such a crucial time:

This program was a lifeline in the summer months and has benefited thousands of businesses and nonprofits countywide. As the second surge has continued into the holidays we knew there needed to be supported to the small business owners getting crushed under the strain of the pandemic, said Cappelli Jr.

Unfortunately, the need in our community is still significant. This second disbursement of funding will allow us to provide assistance to the many businesses that we know are still struggling.”

Here’s how this will work for the approved Camden small businesses: If a small business has received $10,000 under the original grant program’s requirements, they will be given an additional $2000, if they initially received $7500, then they will be given an additional $1500, and businesses that received other amounts would receive that 20% increase with the number depending on the scale. This will hopefully help these businesses to weather the increased issues caused by the change in weather, restrictions, and safety issues.

At GrantWatch, we care about small businesses who are struggling all over the country, including in New Jersey, so we have a category open just for small businesses, and one just for COVID-grants. In fact, we have listed a grant specifically for small businesses with projects that will help improve New Jersey’s overall economy, that can be applied for until January of 2021.