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COVID-19 Update - as of May 29

Dear Friends, I can’t believe it is the last weekend of May. I hope everyone is well and safe as we inch closer to more and more businesses reopening. This week’s newsletter will have the following topics: 1)       Governor Murphy’s three stages road back to reopen our businesses - STATUS 2)       New available NJ Economic Development Agency (EDA) Funding 3)       PPP Loan Forgiveness 4)       Street Closures – Next Expand Sidewalk Café, Parklets, No Parking for 6’ distance 5)       Zoom Meeting – Thursday 10 am – Guest Speaker Joe from Box Car

1)       Three Stages Road Back   Governor Murphy has released the three stages The Road Back: Restoring Economic Health through Public Health. We are currently in Stage 1 and are inching towards stage 2. As a refresher, here are the stages and what can open. No guidelines still have been provided on what safeguard measurements are required for each business. 1)       Stage 1 – Work activities at physical locations if they meet safeguarding and modifications.  Who can open: Essential businesses (medical, food stores, restaurants-curbside, delivery, retail for curbside pickup and delivery. IMO this is not clearly defined but as per regulations it does not permit in-store activities with customers in beauty, retail or dining businesses. 2)     Stage 2 – Who can open: More work activities are allowed at physical locations only if they adhere to safeguarding and modification guidelines . What does this mean? Outdoor dining, limited personal care (beauty, nail, spas). 3)      Stage 3 - More work activities, including in-person meetings, are allowed at physical locations only if they can adhere to safeguarding guidelines and modifications. Work activities to be phased-in over the course of Stage 3 may include expanded dining, critical in-office work, limited entertainment, expanded personal care, and bars with limited capacity.

2) New $50 million available NJ Economic Development Agency (EDA) Funding – APPLICATION DEADLINE TBD There is new available $50 million of EDA funding. There has been no release date on when grants will be available. Here is a link to info on available funding. If you have already applied you are in the queue. If not please apply. ·          Small business grants up to $5k ·          Small business emergency assistance loans – up to $100k

3) PPP Loan Forgiveness I am happy to hear that several businesses have received PPP funds. Now, the question is how can the PPP be forgivable? Thanks for the discussion from yesterday’s Zoom call as the requirements for forgiveness change every day. Melanie from Little Fox Kitchen provided us the PPP Loan Forgiveness application that can help. Please click here to view it.

4) Street Closures / Expanded Outdoor Space With the reopening of our businesses we are going to need more space for our businesses and visitors. The Township approved Tuesday night to close Alden Street from N. Union to Verizon Driveway from Thursday 3pm to Monday at 8am for one month. Street closures will start once the restaurants are able to reopen. We are working out all the details with this space. Also, a request will be made to the Township about taking a parking space in front of your business and turning into a parklet, where customers can dine and to remove street parking in some areas so people are able to walk by with the minimum 6 ft distance. We will keep everyone updated.

5) Zoom Meeting – Guest Speaker – Joe Colangelo from Boxcar Next Thursday, Joe Colangelo, a Cranford resident and board member on the Downtown Management Corporation, will be the guest speaker. Joe will speak about how businesses can use new technology to help with their business. Joe is CEO of Boxcar and was pivotal behind the success of Cranford FLAG. Please join as Joe is a wealth of knowledge.

Please reach out to us at any time if there is any way we can assist you during this time. Enjoy your weekend! Best, Downtown Cranford Office