[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with Ferlanda Nixon, who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Newark Regional Business Partnership.

The website will come up right now.

Ferlanda, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you, Steve, for having me.

- Tell everyone what the partnership is, the business partnership is, and why it's so significant in the city of Newark, Brick City.

- Sure.

So the Newark Regional Business Partnership, affectionately known as NRBP, is a chamber of commerce.

So we are the premier chamber of commerce serving the greater Newark region, and we do what every chamber of commerce does.

We provide connections, resources, advocacy, on behalf of our members.

So we are a member based organization, and our members are primarily businesses of varying sizes, small, medium sized, major corporations, and solo entrepreneurs.

We also have members who are institutions of higher learning, hospitals, and our major arts institutions here in Newark.

- Let me ask you this, in terms of commercial real estate post COVID, what is the commercial real estate situation in Newark as we speak today?

- Well, I don't think it's any different from any other city.

Our downtown area, we do have a lot of vacant buildings here in the city, but we don't believe it's a reflection of the economy.

We believe it's a reflection of the property owners trying to cash in on the value of their property, just holding onto it.

So, and paying taxes, but not really doing anything, waiting for the right offer to come along.

But the downtown area is thriving, and Newark is, you know, it's on the cusp of a renaissance.

The waterfront is being built up, and new residential housing you'll find being developed throughout the city, in the downtown area.

So it's very promising.

- For an entrepreneur looking to establish a business in Newark, what are some of the most pressing challenges they face and are they any different in Newark, than any other entrepreneur starting a business anywhere in the state of the country?

- So your second question is the easier one to answer.

The challenges are endemic to just business ownership in general.

Nowhere, no matter where you go.

So access to capital will always be at the top of the list.

And particularly it's challenging for small businesses, for new businesses, trying to tap into sources of capital to either start your business but more likely to scale up your business.

And so what we try to do here at Newark Regional Business Partnership is to connect our members to varying funding resources.

So obviously banks, but also, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority has grant opportunities and in the city itself, has its own grant opportunities that you can get through Invest Newark.

And so just making sure that our members are kept abreast of those opportunities and that they have the contact information for people who can really help them and advance their mission and their purpose.

- Ferlanda, talk about transportation in the city, Newark as a transportation hub, please.

And it's connection to business.

- Oh, oh, yeah.

So, that's probably the largest industry sector for Newark.

You have the airport, you have Amtrak, you have the Port Authority.

It's the gateway, really for the Northeast.

And so it's actually our biggest council within NRBP.

We have a transportation council because of the significance of transportation for the city of Newark.

And so, it's a hub.

And so with that being a hub, industry and enterprise flourishes around that particular sector.

So you have your restaurants, you have your catering, you have your tourism that really is flourishing because of the, I think the effectiveness of, and the easy access to various modes of transportation in and outside the city.

- Last question, arts and culture.

We've been long time collaborators with NJPAC, New Jersey performing Arts Center and other arts institutions.

Talk about, Ferlanda, the connection between arts and culture, arts and cultural institutions in Newark, and the economic vitality of the city please.

- Yeah, I think that's a great question and I think it's a great question to ask immediately after talking about transportation because it's all tied in together.

- That's right.

- So the arts culture, Newark takes a tremendous pride in the artistic environment that exists here.

So you mentioned NJPAC, but we also have the museum, we have Symphony Hall, we actually consider our institutions of higher learning as part of the arts culture as well.

And if it works for tourism, right?

So people need a reason to come to the city.

And when you have a thriving arts culture that satisfies that need, so you wanna make sure that there's a vibe about the city that attracts people in, but you also wanna make it easy for them to get in the city and out of the city.

And you want people to come from all points around New Jersey, obviously, but we also attract a lot of visitors from Manhattan as well.

And so when you have the ease and facility of that, it actually helps to thrive, build your economy and make it more profitable.

- Ferlanda Nixon, President and CEO of the Newark Regional Business Partnership.

Ferlanda, thank you so much for joining us.

I wish you all the best.

- Thank you so much.

And again, thanks for having me.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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