Newark Alliance, city and Onyx Equities introduce job-seekers to businesses of Gateway’s new restaurant row

Onyx Equities, the city of Newark and Newark Alliance recently hosted over 60 candidates for a hospitality job fair, positioning local job-seekers front-and-center to new career opportunities at the many retailers opening soon inside the Junction at Gateway Center.

A marketplace concept being called Newark’s “new restaurant row,” the Junction will soon premier an unprecedented 100,000 square feet of retail and dining options, with restaurants that range from Newark’s hometown classics to internationally famous eateries.

Early 2023 openings include Café Serafina, Mokbar, Farinella, 375˚ Chicken & Fries, Fresh & Co., Chip City Cookies, Uncle Willie’s Wings and One Step Ahead Learning Center; many of them offered exciting new career opportunities at the recent job fair.

“Newark is a destination city for world-class dining, which has made us a major tourist destination, strengthened our economy and provided opportunities for our residents to find jobs and career opportunities in the hospitality industry,” Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka said. “The Job Fair at the Junction enabled many Newark residents to learn about openings and opportunities in this field. I thank our partners for joining with us to host this important fair.”

“We’re thrilled to welcome these new restaurants and businesses to downtown Newark, while also creating so many job opportunities for the community,” Jonathan Schultz, co-founder and managing principal for Onyx Equities, said. “Our vision is for the Junction to become a hub for culture, commerce and cuisine — a place where locals and visitors can come together for an amazing culinary experience near all that’s happening in our corner of this amazing city.”

Newark residents learned about the event through a collaborative effort utilizing all entities’ social media platforms, an EventBrite page with a QR code, print and electronic flyer distribution, and mention of the career fair during Baraka’s tri-weekly Facebook Live feeds.

The Junction’s dining concourse sits at the base of the multibuilding office complex, Gateway Center, which recently underwent a massive $50 million renovation led by world-renowned architect Gensler Design. The result of the transformation is an eat-work-play environment that invites not only Gateway employees, but the general public to stay and enjoy all that downtown Newark has to offer. The overall complex expects over 75,000 daily visitors once complete thanks to direct skybridge connectivity to Newark Penn Station.