The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will begin accepting prequalification applications for the $20 million New Jersey Manufacturing Voucher Program, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The New Jersey MVP was created to provide grants to support the purchase of equipment to help manufacturers improve their operations. The MVP will offer grants valued at 30-50% of the cost of eligible equipment, including installation, up to a maximum award amount of $250,000.
A link to the prequalification application will be posted on the EDA website Thursday morning. It will remain open until 11:59 p.m. Dec. 22.
Prequalification applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis — not first-come, first-served. Interested manufacturers must prequalify to access the full application that will be made available at a later date. Applicants must complete the full application to be considered for grant funding.
The New Jersey MVP focuses on New Jersey manufacturers within targeted industries that will purchase equipment to integrate advanced or innovative technologies, processes and materials to improve the manufacturing of their products.
The program will offer stackable bonuses for certified woman-, minority- or veteran-owned businesses, businesses in Opportunity Zones and businesses purchasing manufacturing equipment in New Jersey, as well as bonuses for companies that have a collective bargaining agreement in place. It will also provide higher award percentages for small businesses with fewer than 100 full-time equivalent employees.
The NJEDA held an information session about the New Jersey MVP, which included details of the application process and a pre-qualification checklist. A link to that recording can be found here.
Both for-profit and not-for-profit companies are eligible, not including home-based businesses. Only applications for future purchases will be considered. Therefore, interested applicants should not purchase equipment prior to submitting the full application at a future date. Projects where a contract has been signed, a purchase order has been placed or a deposit has been made in advance of submitting an MVP application will not be considered for funding.
Complete eligibility criteria can be found here.
