When the New Jersey Economic Development Authority opened up applications for a total of $5 million in small business grants to help businesses cope with the coronavirus fallout, more than 10,000 businesses had applied in a little over an hour.
As Samantha Marcus at Advanced Media reported, another 22,000 would apply over the remainder of the week, even though the grants are small (between $1,000 and $5,000), and probably no more than 2,000 of them would be awarded.
NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka said it shows how stressful the coronavirus pandemic has been for the state’s smallest businesses.
“Every dollar coming in and every dollar not having to be spent means something,” she said.