NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — Pizza shops, laundromats, salons, and many other small businesses rely on foot traffic to stay afloat. If road paving or another infrastructure job is happening outside the door, the flow of customers can dry up quickly.
A new bill moving through Trenton would create a Small Business Interruption Grant to provide some financial relief to mom and pop shops in underserved communities impacted by those projects.
Assemblywoman Heather Simmons says the inspiration for this bill came from work being done on an overpass along 295 in Carney’s Point, Salem County.
“And that directly impacted 17 businesses on both sides of the overpass. The closure was protracted, it took place over a year.”
She says this is for businesses with fewer than 100 employees in disadvantaged communities throughout the state.
The bill has already received committee approval. Simmons hopes it will soon be up for a full vote.