Small Business Support Pilot Program
(July 13, 2026 - August 12, 2026)
Who We Are:
Newark Alliances advances lasting prosperity for Newarkers by activating the full potential of Newark itself—its people, places, systems, and partnerships. Through bold, thoughtful, cross-sector collaboration, we deliver stronger communities, cleaner streets, smarter investments, and more opportunity. As Newark’s prosperity engine, we braid together tools—from policy and capital to branding, marketing and service delivery—to unlock long-term value for the people who live, work, visit, and study here.
For information on Newark Alliance visit www.newark-alliance.org
For information on Newark Happening visit www.newarkhappening.com
For information on Newark Downtown District : www.downtownnewark.com
Newark Alliance's Small Business Support Pilot Program for summer 2026 is a limited size and scope pilot providing assistance to businesses that are 20 employees or smaller, located in the Newark Downtown District footprint, with Interstate 280 as its northern boundary; the Passaic River, McCarter Highway (Route 21), and the NJ Transit/AMTRAK rail lines as its eastern boundary; Pennsylvania Avenue to the junction of Poinier Street, stopping at the Route 21 viaduct as its southern boundary; University Avenue as its western boundary.
Priority through weighted scoring will be given to businesses within the boundaries of Halsey Street from Central Avenue to Hill Street; Franklin Street to Mulberry Street; Mulberry Street to Center Street; Center Street, Park Place, and Central Avenue.
With grants, recoverable loans, guaranties and technical assistance this program will support new and existing businesses through the following:
Facility Fit-Out Subsidy - A grant to subsidize fit out of retail space for a new business or a business relocating to a new space. The grant would cover either up to 50% of the total cost, or up to $50K, whichever is lesser.
Product Purchase - A commitment to purchase a decreasing amount of products or services each month for a defined period from a business not yet opened, or open for no more than one year, up to $25K.
Eligible businesses meet the following criteria:
At time of application:
Business Registration Certificate
Financial statements Profit/Loss statements covering most recent 12 months (if applicable) and 12- month projection
Comprehensive marketing plan with strategic marketing research
At time of application:
Participate in technical assistance as prescribed in a Grant Agreement to be furnished in the event of an award.
This application will be open between July 13, 2026 at 9AM and August 12, 2026 at 5pm. Determinations will be made between August 13, 2026 and September 4, 2026. Payments and technical assistance will begin in September 18, 2026.
Please be advised that this application period is subject to either close before or extend beyond August 12th based on application volume.
Should additional funding be secured for an additional phase of this program in the future based on the results of this pilot, Newark Alliance will announce a relaunch with details of the size and scope made available by the additional support.
Requirements
Be considered retail in that the general public can walk into the place of business to purchase goods or services.
Have or look to open a ground floor space, or space above presence that accommodates heavy foot traffic.
Be located in the Newark Downtown District catchment area with priority given to Halsey Street Corridor businesses.
Be a commercial business that is a tenant or owner, landlords are not eligible.
Not be a national or regional chain or franchise unless locally owned.
Meet NJ Small Business Administration definition of a Small Business, have no more than 20 employees or generate no more than $1,000,000 in annual revenue.
Be in substantial good standing with the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
Have no judgments, actions, claims, legal proceedings or investigations pending or threatened involving your entity.
Have filed all tax and information returns required to be filed in any jurisdiction and has paid all taxes, assessments, fees of other governmental charges. Have no tax audits currently being conducted.
Demonstrate a strong need for this support and your prospects for sustainability if awarded. That is, you can demonstrate that but- for this gap support, you could not open or sustain your operations in the immediate future.
We strongly encourage businesses to only apply if this is true.
YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SIGN-UP FOR AN ACCOUNT OR
SIGN-IN VIA GOOGLE OR FACEBOOK TO ACCESS THE APPLICATION.
THIS WILL ALLOW YOU TO START, SAVE AND RETURN TO AN APPLICATION IN-PROGRESS, AS WELL AS RECEIVE NOTICES REGARDING YOUR APPLICATION