With the help of Investors Bank and the Tory Burch Foundation Capital Program, powered by Bank of America, we continue to offer three extremely low-interest loan programs to existing and start-up businesses throughout  New Jersey.Take advantage of these offers now  - funds are limited.

3% Working Capital Loans:  up to $25,000 fixed for five years, no collateral. For NJ businesses in operation for at least three years, profitable on latest tax return, owner with credit score of at least 680.

0% Working Capital Loans exclusively for women-business owners in Union County:  same criteria as above, five-year term at 0% interest.

Maureen sat down with WMBC-TV anchor Mark Fontes to talk about the state of small business start-ups in New Jersey and UCEDC's role in supporting economic development. Watch it here.

Whether you have a dedicated sales team or not, when you own a small business, it's all about selling (and closing).  There are natural born sales people out there, but most of us would rather avoid the whole process if we could.  Of course, that's not an option - we have to find prospects, figure out how to get and hold their attention, make the value proposition, respond to objections, ask for the sale, and get them to closing.  It can be overwhelming...

The good news is that there's a wealth of great sales advice and training, much of it free, on the Internet, covering every conceivable topic.  The bad news is that there's a wealth of not-so-great sales advice and training on the web.  

But a recent blog post from Hub Spot, a software provider offering a suite of tools to support content marketing, SEO optimization, etc, offers a well-curated compilation of 33 sales training video channels on YouTube.  Here you'll find quick takes of less than a minute to hour-long dives into a sales-related subject. 

There's a lot to choose from, but we enjoyed Secrets from the Science of Persuasion (and so did its over 7 million other viewers), Three Fatal Mistakes When You Give Your Price, and Five Easy Sales Phone Tips.

When our former PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center) Counselor Alicia Falletti joined the team at Valcor Engineering Corp ( a long-time PTAC client), she had a feeling that someday she would need the services of another PTAC client - the ARC of Union County. That day came recently and the results are a bigger win-win than Alicia could have imagined!

Valcor, a manufacturer of fluid control valves and related components, wanted to reduce the waste associated with small parts that were damaged during the handling and transportation stages and came up with a protective packaging system. But they didn't want their skilled workers to spend  time on the many simple steps that were involved in the packaging.

So Alicia called on the ARC of Union County, a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The ARC's Vocational Training Center offers contract services to businesses throughout New Jersey and beyond for simple, repetitive, non-skilled tasks, like Valcor's small part packaging. Twenty-eight ARC clients are working on Valcor's project, providing top-quality service at a fraction of the cost, all while enjoying productive, meaningful employment.

Learn more about how the ARC can help your small business by calling Linda DiMarco, program administrator for business operations, at 973-315-0000.