Sponsored by:
Senator ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Diegnan, Gill, Greenstein, Pou and Ruiz
SYNOPSIS
Requires NJ Business Action Center to collect and produce certain information to assist small businesses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the New Jersey Business Action Center and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The executive director of the New Jersey Business Action Center in the Department of State shall establish and maintain, in collaboration with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and regional chambers of commerce across the State, a publicly available small business manual that provides information and guidance on establishing, maintaining, and expanding a small business.
b. The manual shall be succinct, with a focus on brevity, and shall contain, after discussion with all collaborators in subsection a. of this section, the most important priorities when establishing, maintaining, and expanding a small business. The contents of the manual shall also include, but not be limited to, information concerning:
(1) State and local permits and inspections;
(2) financial assistance programs;
(3) lease contracts;
(4) commercial real estate transactions, including methods on how to acquire commercial real estate; and
(5) any other information that the executive director deems necessary.
c. The executive director shall additionally solicit information from the Department of Community Affairs, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Economic Development Authority, and other relevant departments and agencies on frequently asked questions that a small business owner may have when establishing, maintaining, or expanding a small business. Responses collected by the executive director shall be included in the manual.
d. The manual shall be made available to the public one year next following the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The executive director shall update the information contained in the manual periodically.
e. As used in this section, “publicly available” means to post in a conspicuous manner on the Internet website of the New Jersey Business Action Center and in a hard copy made available for a nominal fee.
2. This act shall take
effect on the 90th day next following enactment, except that the executive
director of the New Jersey Business Action Center may take any anticipatory
administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation
of the act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the New Jersey Business Action Center (BAC) to establish and maintain a publicly available small business manual.
Under the bill, the BAC will be required to establish and maintain, in collaboration with the EDA, New Jersey Business and Industry Association, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and regional chambers of commerce across the State, a publicly available small business manual that provides information and guidance on establishing, maintaining, and expanding a small business.
The bill also provides that the contents of the manual will include, but not be limited to, information concerning:
(1) State and local permits and inspections;
(2) financial assistance programs;
(3) lease contracts;
(4) commercial real estate transactions, including methods on how to acquire commercial real estate; and
(5) any other information that the executive director deems necessary.
The bill provides that the manual will be made available to the public one year following the bill’s effective date, and that the executive director will be required to update the information contained in the manual periodically.