On Wednesday April 9th, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) held its monthly Board meeting in Trenton, NJ. At this meeting, the NJEDA approved an incentive award under the New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program. This program offers transferable tax credits up to 40% of eligible costs for film and digital media productions conducted in New Jersey. The EDA has approved over $144M in tax credits to 36 projects in their FY2025.

The NJEDA Board also approved the creation of NJ Lend, a three-year fixed asset financing pilot program that expands NJEDA loan programs. Additionally, the Main Street Acquisition Support Grant pilot application window remains open for applications.

New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program

The New Jersey Film & Digital Media Tax Credit Program, administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), offers tax credits of up to 40% of eligible expenses incurred in New Jersey for qualifying production companies. Eligible productions include feature films, television series, digital media content, and documentary feature films and documentary television shows. Productions must meet minimum in-state spending requirements as defined by the program rules, among other requirements.

At the April 9 meeting, the NJEDA Board approved a Film Tax Credit award of $12,335,600 to Apple Studios for the production of "Echo Valley", a dramatic thriller starring Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney. Stockton, a borough in Hunterdon County, will be the principal location, with an estimated completion in September 2025.

In FY2025, the EDA has awarded over $144M in tax credits to 36 projects under the Film Tax Credit program, with a remaining allocation over $250M. During the same time, the Digital Media Tax Credit program has awarded over $27M in tax credits to 12 projects. It has a remaining allocation of over $32M.

NJ Lend

At the April 9th Board meeting, NJEDA approved the NJ LEND (New Jersey Loan Expansion and Network Development) program, a three-year $30M pilot initiative to assist New Jersey’s small and medium-sized businesses. The program enhances the EDA's existing Premier Lender and Direct Loan programs by increasing the maximum loan amounts available for fixed assets to up to $5M and for working capital up to $1M. The EDA will accept online applications on a rolling until all funds are committed or the three-year program period expires.

Key qualifying criteria:

• For-profit or non-profit with a New Jersey operating location
• No more than 750 New Jersey employees
• For-profits: at least 2 years in business, 50% of guarantors with 700+ FICO, all 10%+ owners provide unlimited guarantees, 1.10x debt service coverage
• Non-profits: at least 3 years in business, 1.0x debt service coverage, no personal guarantees
• Must create/retain 1 full-time job per $65,000 in loan exposure within 2 years
• Must secure financing with fixed assets
• Home-based businesses not buying commercial property are ineligible
• Additional qualifying criteria

Main Street Acquisition Support Grant

The Main Street Acquisition Support Grant is a pilot program under New Jersey’s Main Street Recovery Fund that provides grants of up to $50,000 to eligible small businesses to reimburse closing costs associated with purchasing commercial property in New Jersey for business operations.

Applicant must meet certain criteria in order to qualify, including:

• Meet the SBA definition of a small business
• Property purchase (closing) must occur after the program’s application is made available to the public (October 1, 2024)
• Application must be submitted no later than one year from the date of closing
• The purchased property must be located in New Jersey and used for business operations
• The applicant must occupy at least 1,000 square feet of the purchased property
• Only new purchases of commercial property are eligible; refinances and purchases of vacant land are not eligible
• The grant is only available after the real estate closing has occurred; pre-closing applications are not accepted
• Additional qualifying criteria

The grant is awarded post-closing, based on actual closing costs, and is subject to a five-year compliance period, with prorated repayment required if the property is sold or vacated early. The EDA will continue to accept applications until the total funding is exhausted, up to a maximum of three years.

For more information, please contact:

Brendan Pytka
Director of Tax Credits & Incentives
Phone: (862) 418-3702
Email: bpytka@murphyllp.com

Chris J. Murphy, Partner
Chair, Tax Credits & Incentives
Phone: (973) 705-7421
Email: cmurphy@murphyllp.com