New Jersey Emerge Program
About the Program
The Emerge Program, created under the Economic Recovery Act (ERA) of 2020, encourages economic development in priority sectors and in targeted communities across New Jersey. The program provides per-job tax credits to projects that invest private capital into the state and create new good-paying jobs (or retain a large number of good-paying jobs).
Eligibility
To be eligible for Emerge support, a project must:
- Create at least 35 new, full-time jobs. In some circumstances, this job creation requirement may be lower if a business is primarily engaged in a targeted industry, or if a business meets the definition of a “small business” as defined in the Emerge Program rules.
- Be located in an Eligible Incentive location.
- Meet minimum capital investment requirements.
- Emerge tax credits must yield a minimum net positive economic benefit to the state of 200 percent to 400 percent depending on project location.
- Ensure that at least 80 percent of incented employees’ work time is spent in New Jersey and 80 percent of the withholdings of new or retained full-time jobs are subject to the ‘New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act’.
- Ensure the Qualified Business Facility can accommodate at least 50 percent of incented jobs.
- Commit to stay at the Qualified Business Facility for 1.5 times the eligibility period.
- Demonstrate that the award of the tax credit is a “material factor” in the decision to create or retain at least the minimum number of full-time jobs.
Please be advised: New Jersey State law prohibits most cannabis license and certification holders from receiving or continuing to receive an economic incentive from the NJEDA. If the applicant, or any person who controls the applicant or owns or controls more than one percent of the stock of the applicant, has applied for or received a license or a certification from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC), the applicant is ineligible for this program and should not proceed with an application. If an application is received from an applicant that meets this criteria, the application will be declined and the application fee will not be refunded.
Targeted Industries include:
(Download the target industry interpretations for full details)
- Advanced transportation and logistics,
- Advanced manufacturing,
- Aviation,
- Autonomous vehicle and zero-emission vehicle research or development,
- Clean energy,
- Life sciences,
- Hemp processing,
- Information and high technology,
- Finance and insurance,
- Professional services,
- Film and digital media,
- Non-retail food and beverage businesses, and
- Other innovative industries that disrupt current technologies or business models.
Award Size
Projects under the Emerge and Aspire Programs are subject to a program cap of $1.1 billion per year for six years. The Emerge Program awards are calculated on an annual per-job basis, with base credits for new jobs ranging between $500-$4,000 per job depending on project location and other aspects of the project. Bonuses are also available based on project location, industry, and alignment with other policy objectives. These bonuses can increase annual per-job credits to a maximum of $8,000 per job.
Jobs that are covered by a labor harmony agreement are eligible for an additional $1,000 bonus over the capped amounts. Tax credits awarded through Emerge can be used to offset Corporate Business Tax or Insurance Premiums Tax, or can be transferred for no less than 85 percent of their value, or surrendered to the NJ Division of Taxation for 90 percent of the value of the credits.
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