01 What we do
Seven services. Each one ends in writing.
Nothing here is advice given at a counter and forgotten. Every service produces a document you take with you, in Korean and English.
02
Before you sign
- Pre-lease zoning and permitted-use review
- Whether the space you are looking at is allowed for the business you intend to run, checked before you pay a deposit. You leave with: a written permit roadmap for your business type.
- Permit and licensing navigation
- What you need, in what order, and who signs it. We review your documents before they are filed and prepare the handoff to the City department responsible. You leave with: reviewed applications, filed, and a named contact at the department.
03
Money your business may already qualify for
- Eligibility screening and application assistance
- Urban Enterprise Zone certification, JCEDC financing, MWBE and SBE certification, and State and federal small business programs (listed below). We check what your business qualifies for and help you complete the applications. You leave with: a written bilingual eligibility report stating each program, what it is worth, what it requires, and the date we verified it open.
- Capital readiness
- For owners seeking financing: what a lender is actually reading, what is missing, and how to separate business and personal finances. Lenders and CDFIs are presented as options. We do not recommend an institution and receive nothing for a referral. You leave with: a readiness checklist and a prepared document package.
04
Programs we help you apply for
These programs are run by the State of New Jersey, the City, and the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation (JCEDC). The Desk does not decide who qualifies. We help you find out whether your business may qualify, and complete the application correctly the first time.
- Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) certification
- Certified businesses inside the Jersey City zone may charge half the standard New Jersey sales tax rate (3.3125%) and may buy capital equipment and facility improvements free of sales tax. Certification comes with a monthly filing; tax matters are referred to a licensed professional. Run by JCEDC · Official information
- JCEDC Revolving Loan Fund
- Low-interest financing to help Jersey City businesses expand, buy equipment, and create jobs. Run by JCEDC · Official information
- MWBE and SBE certification
- State certification for minority- and women-owned businesses and small businesses. Without it, government purchasers cannot find or count your business. Run by the State of New Jersey
Last reviewed September 2026. Terms change — always confirm with the agency that runs the program.
Other free help in Jersey City
We will connect you when it helps.
- JCEDC — Jersey City's first stop for business support
- New Jersey Small Business Development Centers — free business consulting
- NJEDA — State business support
- U.S. Small Business Administration
05
When something has already gone wrong
- Interpretation of notices, permit conditions, and violations
- Bring the letter. We read it with you and explain it in Korean. You leave with: a written summary in Korean stating what it says, the deadline, the correction required, and any right of appeal.
- Correction of stop-work orders and permit defects
- What has to happen, in what order, and by when. You leave with: a written correction sequence with dates.
06
Learning together
- Small-group sessions in Korean
- On the subjects that come up again and again, scheduled around business hours rather than City office hours. Where an agency already runs an equivalent workshop, we fill seats rather than duplicate it. You leave with: session materials in Korean.
07
On the Korean side of every document
Bilingual here does not mean translated. A document can exist in Korean and still leave an owner unsure what to do next. The Desk takes the second step: what this means for your business, and what has to happen by when.
Every Korean document the Desk produces is written in plain Korean, in the words a business owner actually uses, under the direction of a publisher who has worked in this language in this region for twenty-six years. That is the difference between a document existing in Korean and a document working in Korean.
08
What we do not do
Stated to every owner at intake, and observed without exception.
- No legal advice, tax preparation, or immigration matters. Each is referred to a qualified provider.
- No handling of money on your behalf.
- No fee to any business owner, for any service, ever.
- No steering. Where a bank, contractor, attorney, accountant, or designer is required, you are given at least three options and you choose.
- We accept nothing of value in return for a referral.