Hoboken Earns $100K ‘Innovation Challenge’ Grant From NJ

HOBOKEN, NJ — New Jersey state officials have awarded $100,000 to five communities – including Hoboken – as part of a challenge to create local programs that will improve the lives of their residents.

On Tuesday, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) announced that it will award $100,000 to five communities as part of the second round of its “Innovation Challenge”: Cape May County, Hoboken, Newark, Paterson and Plainfield.

According to the NJEDA, the Innovation Challenge is “designed to encourage municipalities and counties to advance plans to strengthen their local innovation ecosystems in collaboration with local higher education institutions and other strategic partners.”

Governor Phil Murphy first announced the Innovation Challenge last summer, which resulted in nine communities being awarded NJEDA funding to help advance their local projects.

Here are the five proposals that earned awards in the latest round of funding.

City of Hoboken

Hoboken has proposed plans to team up with Stevens Institute of Technology, the Hoboken Public Library, and Propelify, LLC to launch a planning process for the creation of a co-working innovation center that will make the vital resources of space, mentorship, capital, and community available to innovative practitioners and entrepreneurs. The city anticipates that this innovation center will support the incubation of Smart City small businesses in northern New Jersey.

“I’d like to thank Governor Murphy and the NJEDA for recognizing Hoboken in this second round of funding,” Hoboken Mayor Ravinder S. Bhalla said. “We are thrilled to partner with local innovation leaders and this investment by the NJEDA will help solidify and nurture the emerging tech community in North Jersey.”

City of Newark

The City of Newark intends to create a plan for the expansion of its technology infrastructure and to extend existing fiber optic and wireless communication systems by providing street-level kiosks where residents can access the Internet. Newark officials believe that these projects will provide immediate quality of life benefits citywide while serving as beacons to guide local investments into the technology infrastructure. The city will partner on the plan with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, the New Jersey Innovation Institute, Public Service Electric & Gas, and iNeighborhoods.

“Our goal has been to extend the reach of our internet beyond our downtown and to all of our residents,” Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said. “This grant from the NJEDA will help us accomplish that. I thank Governor Murphy and the NJEDA for developing this program and helping to make Newark a stronger city.”

Cape May County

Cape May County officials and local partners have proposed a project that will create an Entrepreneurial Resource Center to support the economic development plans of the county and local municipalities inside and around designated opportunity zones. Cape May County expects that these plans will help to expand the breadth and depth of existing business support systems through the coordination of local assets to increase economic development within the county.

"This is a great partnership among key stakeholders and shows how the County tries to work with local municipalities to spur on economic growth,” Cape May County Freeholder Director Gerald M. Thornton said. “Creating jobs is important and we in County government will always look for ways to promote job growth for our entire County."

City of Paterson

The City of Paterson plans to work with Montclair State University, William Paterson University – Small Business Development Center, and two long-term lessees at the Paterson Food Incubator site to create a business strategy that involves consistent training resources and workforce development opportunities for tenants at the incubator. The City anticipates that the project will result in a strategically-developed business plan to ensure the long-term sustainability of the incubator.

“We are extremely excited about this news,” Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said. “This will allow us to develop a strategic business plan for the food incubator to maximize the investment already made. More importantly, we will work in partnership with nearby academic institutions to build new partnerships for the incubator’s long-term success. Our new slogan is: ‘Great Falls, Great Food, Great Future!’”

City of Plainfield

The City of Plainfield will conduct a technology-needs assessment of the community’s underutilized and vacant industrial and commercial properties. The goal of the assessment will be to determine the feasibility of creating a network of commercial, industrial, and mixed-use corridors within the city so that it can be an epicenter of New Jersey’s innovation economy.

"We are thrilled to receive this grant from the NJEDA,” Plainfield Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said. “This technology needs assessment study is another important piece in the continued redevelopment of Plainfield. Governor Murphy continues to demonstrate that he is plugged into the needs of our communities and is focused on bringing real change to New Jersey. This level of support lends impetus as we work to transform our city.”

“The robust and creative responses to both rounds of this challenge illustrate that communities throughout the Garden State are embracing Governor Phil Murphy’s vision for making New Jersey the State of Innovation,” NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan said.

“Strengthening local ecosystems where new ideas can thrive will have long-term positive effects that will impact the state’s entrepreneurs and small businesses for years to come,” Sullivan added.

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