A note from our Chairman

Due to the continuing challenges presented by the COVID19 pandemic over the past year, I have seen many Americans, especially small business owners and their families, endure personal and professional trauma and tragedies the likes of which are difficult to comprehend ever being possible in our great country. From the death of loved ones, to the cancellation of school and family events, to the negative physical and psychiatric effects of being isolated from each other as human beings, the toll on our citizens throughout this ordeal has been incalculable.

As a small NJ business owner confronted with a myriad of complex business challenges, I have experienced all the similar feelings of grief and stress as my peers. What happens to my family and my livelihood if my customers stop sending work? How do I make payroll, pay rent, or care for my family? I know from first-hand experience that the business and personal worries affecting small business owners are real, and that my fellow citizens are suffering.

Through many hard decisions I had to make, my business fortunately survived. We received PPP which certainly helped but wasn’t enough. Shortly thereafter, I sold my business and then prayed for many others in a similar position that they too could find the support they needed to keep their businesses afloat during this horrific period. I’ve been genuinely devastated by the lack of further support from our government officials, as more financial help was needed yesterday. I’m still having trouble processing how a country with so much wealth as ours could let their taxpaying citizens suffer like this.

But what could I do to help? I reached out to many of my trusted friends recently to strategize and we came up with many good ideas that were ultimately difficult to execute. During the holidays, we decided to make a difference in people’s lives by dropping off food and money locally to families who were going through short term hardships. We quickly realized that while it made us feel good to give and help locally, it simply wasn’t enough in terms of scope to support the significant challenges that our small business owners face across the state. In short, we need to do more.

In the meantime, I’ve been touched by the ideas and progress recently made by Dave Portnoy from Barstool Sports, who started the Barstool Fund for small businesses. I thought his was an amazing idea (you should look it up), and while Dave can be a controversial guy at times, his heart is clearly in the right place. Just like Dave, I’m done with waiting for the government to come around and I think the time has come for people and businesses to step up and support each other. I may not have the same connections as Dave Portnoy, but thankfully, I have the means, the energy and the desire to create a similar idea to continue his good work to further support New Jersey small businesses and their families.

As a result, I am proud to announce that we will be starting a fund to help small businesses in New Jersey, and we will call it NJ4NJ. I will put up $250,000 dollars of my own money to match 10% of every dollar we can raise (up to $2,500,000 dollars) in 2021. However, our goal is to raise 10 times that amount if we can! The goal is simple: help NJ small businesses that are in need, their employees and their respective families. All funds raised will be directly available to NJ businesses that qualify. We have compiled requirements and instructions that will be shared shortly in order to qualify for the assistance. 

Please note I have zero interest in playing politics here – that time has passed, and I simply wish to help people and their families survive the COVID19 pandemic.

Thank you in advance for your encouragement and support for what we hope will be an impactful initiative built out of love and respect for our fellow citizens.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Vinnie Brunetti

Board of Directors

Click on each image for Director information

New Jersey For New Jersey (henceforth known as NJ4NJ) is a charitable organization recently established in early 2021 by concerned citizens of NJ to directly help NJ small businesses with the financial support they may need to survive the COVID19 pandemic. It is as simple as that. It is not meant in the least bit to be a political organization or an indictment of current state, local and federal government support efforts. Rather it is just a few guys from New Jersey who have empathy for our fellow citizens and who want to provide help during a critical time of need.