Newark AirTrain revamp receives support from Rutgers Business School

Last week, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ) rolled out instructional courses for Minority, Women-owned, Small and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (MWSDBE) to promote contract opportunities, according to a press release by the Port Authority. 

Participating Newark- and Elizabeth-based entrepreneurs attend courses at Rutgers Business School, courtesy of the Center for Urban Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CUEED) and Integrity Compliance Consulting (ICC), according to the press release.

The release listed topics covered in the coursework, including marketing, branding, forecasting, construction management, contract law and bookkeeping.

The eight-week program comes six months after the Port Authority finalized plans to move forward with the AirTrain Newark replacement project that was announced in 2019.

Lyneir Richardson, a professor in the Department of Management and Global Business and the executive director of CUEED, said the AirTrain, which is located on the border of Newark and Elizabeth, will begin contracting at the end of this year and the new courses would prepare local businesses for these ventures.

In addition to fostering the collaboration between the Port Authority, the AACCNJ and ICC, Rutgers Business School provided access to the campus and its research facilities, Richardson said. The program aligns with Rutgers Business School's strategic precedents of publicly engaged scholarship and social impact, he said.

"Our role is creating opportunities, facilitating relationships, providing coaches and most of it would be working shoulder-to-shoulder with entrepreneurs to help them overcome barriers," Richardson said.

He said the courses are taught by Rutgers professors and industry experts who also mentor the entrepreneurs. The program offers designated coaching hours and networking opportunities with contractors and procurement officials and, due to funding from the Port Authority, is free for participants, according to Richardson.

Though the program is the first of its kind, the Port Authority signed a five-year contract, with the option to renew it depending on this season's results, he said. More specifically, Richardson said that the program's impacts will be measured based on business growth indicators like revenue and hiring statistics.

Richardson said he hopes that the program inspires corporations and government entities to reach out to Rutgers Business School as a guide on interacting with local and minority-owned businesses in the future.

He also said that the participating entrepreneurs would learn skills that they could later apply to pursuits with government and private-sector groups.

"Ultimately, you'll have the ripple effects of economic impact in communities in Newark, New Jersey, with people who have been systemically denied opportunities, and actually, that will help make our region — and even our world — economy stronger," Richardson said.