The economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses across the nation were devastating. The New Jersey Small Business Development Centers received a federal grant to provide disaster recovery services to small businesses in New Jersey affected by the pandemic. The Heldrich Center assisted with two efforts:

• Conducted research and prepared guidance to help small businesses make decisions about how to weather changed realities following the pandemic, and
• Offered guidance on how to mitigate the effects of reduced travel or outside activities on small businesses.

As part of this study, the Heldrich Center released results from a survey of 3,500 New Jersey businesses and nonprofit leaders that found 68% of respondents said they expected to lose significant revenue or nonprofit funding over the late spring and summer of 2020. The Center also conducted surveys to review how New Jersey small businesses adapted to the realities of the pandemic as they rebounded and adjusted to the new normal.