Rutgers Urban Retail Acceleration Program (URAP) Helps NJ Retailers/Restaurants to Grow and Thrive
Industry: Business
The Rutgers Center for Urban Entrepreneurship has launched the 2019 Urban Retail Acceleration Program to support business owners in Hudson and Essex counties.
Newark, NJ (PRUnderground) March 6th, 2019
The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Rutgers University has launched the 2019 Urban Retail Acceleration Program (URAP). The goals of the program are to help retail stores and restaurant owners to thrive, purchase property, and open additional locations in the growing downtown areas of Hudson and Essex County.
“The participating URAP entrepreneurs will gain critical skills to help them manage and grow their business ventures,” says Lyneir Richardson, Executive Director of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED), which in its 10 year history has assisted 400 New Jersey business owners who have contributed over $134MM to their local economies.
“They’ll receive intensive executive training, business and financial counseling, and ongoing mentoring over a six-month period. They’ll also be introduced to thought leaders in finance, marketing, accounting, and site selection who will share valuable ideas to help them improve profits, become loan ready, expand to new locations, survive unexpected market turbulence, and continue to be a part of the revitalization in their communities.”
Additional benefits for participating URAP entrepreneurs will include opportunities to:
- Learn from the experience of their fellow entrepreneurs.
- Present their growth plans to a panel of local corporate partners, micro lenders, and venture capitalists for feedback.
- Work with Rutgers MBA students on market research, financial analysis, and other projects.
“I’d recommend URAP to all entrepreneurs,” says Joshua Suggs, owner of Delta’s Restaurant in New Brunswick and a 2018 graduate of URAP. “Through the program, I met financial and business coaches who evaluated Delta’s and helped us find unnecessary costs that were impacting our profits. As a result of the URAP experience, we’ve expanded our sales and we’ve put a formal strategy into place that will allow us to take the next step into the future.”
URAP is a six-month program (April through October) that’s funded by Santander Bank, Bayonne UEZ/SID, and the Hudson County Economic Development Corporation. The program, which is the first and only one of its kind in the state, is a partnership between CUEED and Save Latin America, a New Jersey based non-profit organization.
The URAP sessions will take place at the Bayonne Museum in Bayonne, NJ. Space is available for a limited number of entrepreneurs to participate.
For more information about URAP, contact cueed@business.rutgers.edu or 973-353-5987. To become a URAP participant, visit the officlal URAP website. The application deadline for URAP is March 15.
About The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (CUEED)
The Rutgers University Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development (CUEED) is the first center of its kind in the nation to integrate scholarly works with private capital, government, and non-profit sectors to develop citywide resources and bring renewed economic growth and vitality through urban entrepreneurship. We promote and foster a new generation of urban entrepreneurs who actively seek socially conscious urban renaissance.
