April 1, 2020

NJGCA April 1st
Coronavirus Shutdown Update

ASSISTANCE AND REQUIREMENTS
NEW INFO AND REMINDER INFO RE:
MORE ACTION NEEDED PLEASE READ BELOW

Before we get in to more new info and reminder info regarding the many programs that have been passed in Washington and Trenton, we need you to do two things. Both are very important in our effort to persuade Governor Murphy to suspend the self-serve law in NJ.

First: If you know of any gasoline retail locations that have ALREADY CLOSED due to the current Coronavirus crisis, please identify those locations to us here at NJGCA. If you are aware of any through conversation, or you have been on the road and suddenly noticed a competitor (nearby or further away), please note the address and send the location to us. A picture of the closed location is worth a thousand extra words if you can manage a photo.

If you are closing or about to close for lack of employees please notify us even if you have already sent an email. We want to demonstrate to Governor Murphy that this crisis is growing for NJGCA members and that you are staring down a situation where you might not have any employees to work at all. Send your emails to michelle@njgca.org

Second: Many of you have received and forwarded emails from your customers explaining that they would prefer to pump their own gas. THANK YOU. Several members have been absolute champs working their customers to send these emails to them. We have used them as the backup evidence in communicating with the governor’s office that motorists actually feel safer at this time pumping their own gas. Now we need you to ask those same customers (AND OTHER CUSTOMERS TOO) if they will send their message directly to Governor Murphy. You can email your customers and give them this link to tell Governor Murphy that they prefer to pump their own gas. If you have not already done so, please see the Action Alert that we sent yesterday so that you can send your own email to Governor Murphy.

Paid Leave Requirement in Effect NOW
As of today, all businesses with fewer than 500 employees are required to provide two new types of paid leave for all employees, under the provisions of the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). If you haven’t already, you can read the full breakdown of what is required of you that NJGCA has prepared HERE.

Also, the IRS has now posted information about getting the refundable tax credits which will reimburse you for the costs of providing this paid leave. Please review that info here: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/covid-19-related-tax-credits-for-required-paid-leave-provided-by-small-and-midsize-businesses-faqs

Pay particular attention to the Q&A and questions 44, 45, and 46 which detail the type of info you will need to obtain.

More Info on Federal Forgivable Loans
Second, a quick update on the new type of federal forgivable loans available to small businesses under the recently passed federal CARES Act. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has released the standard application form and a brief fact sheet for potential borrowers. You can download the Application and the Fact Sheet. If you haven’t already done so, you can click HERE to read the NJGCA breakdown of these new types of loans, as well as the payroll tax credit program created by the CARES Act.

Perhaps the most important thing for you to know about these loans is that they are being administered through local banks across the nation, not directly through the SBA (which would surely be overwhelmed). Contact your local lenders and ask about the “Paycheck Protection Program” (PPP). Currently, the only lenders who can provide these loans are those already certified to provide SBA loans, although soon any FDIC bank will be able to offer these types of loans specifically. The entire loan process will be between the employer and a private lender, the lender is the one providing the money and the lender is the one who will approve the loan forgiveness application when the time comes. Businesses will be able to start applying for these loans on Friday, April 3.

Limited Grant Opportunity This Friday
Yesterday the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) gave some details on the first of the state level programs they are rolling out to help businesses. The first program to roll out will be a grant program, providing up to $5,000 to businesses with ten or fewer full time equivalent (FTE) employees. This offering is extremely limited, less than 5,000 businesses will be able to get this grant in the initial offering.

In theory, applications for this grant will be open for one week, but honestly we expect these grants to be sold out within the first ten minutes or so. Therefore, we want to give you as much info as we have so you can be ready to fill out your application as quickly as possible in order to maximize your chances of getting one.

The program is called the “Small Business Emergency Assistance Grant Program” and applications will launch on https://cv.business.nj.gov/ this Friday, April 3rd, at 9am.You can use this webpage https://forms.business.nj.gov/grant-size/ to determine if you are eligible for the grant and how much you are eligible for based on the number of of “full time equivalent” (FTE) employees. FTE is determined by a formula, but that link will do the calculation for you. Note that they are asking for the amount of compensation provided across the fourth quarter of 2019, not per week or per year, just in Q4 2019. You can also determine this by looking up the Q4 NJ WR-30 form filed with the NJ Department of Labor.

Other information you should have at the ready:
            -Your Employer Identification Number (EIN), the 9-digit federal tax ID number of your business
            -What year the business was established
            -The number of full time and part time employees
            -The NAICS code for your business
                        -NAICS stands for North American Industry Classification System
                        -Only businesses in certain industries can apply for this specific grant, thankfully the three industries NJGCA represents were all included.
                        -We have looked up your code for you. Pick the one which describes your business.
                                    -Gasoline Station with Convenience Store: 447110
                                    -Gasoline Station with Auto Repair: 447190
                                    -Auto Repair and Maintenance (no gas): 811111
                                    -Convenience Store (no gas): 445120

I advise that you be sitting at your computer Friday morning at 8:55am with all this info in front of you, hitting refresh until 9am so you can put this info in as quickly as possible for up to $5,000 in free money.

The EDA says they are planning to have another wave of grants, and also that there will soon be a larger program of low- or zero-interest loans for small businesses, likely later next week. We will provide more details about those loans in the future. Receiving an EDA loan or grant will not preclude you from receiving a different EDA program or receiving aid from the federal government.

Tax Filing Deadline Moved for New Jersey
Today the Murphy Administration formally announced that the deadline for filing New Jersey state taxes has in fact been pushed from April 15 until July 15, bringing it in sync with the new deadline for federal taxes.

New Jersey Budget Deadline To Be Moved
Governor Murphy, Senate President Sweeney, and Speaker Coughlin announced an agreement to move the deadline for the New Jersey budget from June 30 until September 30. Normally we would be in the heat of budget season right now, but the current crisis has meant committees cannot meet.

This move will allow more time to understand the size of the hit to state revenues and more time to come up with acceptable options to balance our state budget, both the current FY20 budget and the future FY21 budget.