A Tale of Two Alums: NJCC Assisting Small Businesses in the Time of COVID

This week on EJBTalks Stuart Shapiro talks to two amazing Bloustein alums, Leah Apgar and Joe Palazzolo, who work at New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC), a community development financial institution. Leah and Joe share the history and typical work of the organization, which was established in 1987 as an affordable housing lender and has grown into a financing institution involved in all types of community development and commercial lending projects. They talk about how the pandemic and economic shutdown required their institution to pivot its work to assist suffering small businesses. They began considering all small businesses and nonprofits in the state as underserved and started the Garden State Relief Fund (GSRF) as a remedy. They conclude with a discussion about where NJCCs work goes from here, and how the GSRF will remain in place to adapt to assist NJ small businesses as the economy continues to recover.