As one of the many reemployment services that comprise New Jersey's One-Stop Career system, the Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) and Entrepreneurial Training Program assists qualified unemployed individuals who are seriously interested in starting a business in New Jersey and becoming self-employed.
SEA benefits include:
- weekly SEA compensation in place of unemployment benefits;
- a waiver of the unemployment compensation (UI) work search requirement while actively engaged in self-employment activities;
- counseling and technical assistance on developing a business plan; and
- financial assistance for entrepreneurial training courses
To qualify for SEA, you must:
- be eligible for unemployment benefits;
- be a dislocated worker (involuntarily separated from employment) and unlikely to return to your previous employment;
- have been identified by the state as likely to exhaust unemployment benefits;
- be willing to work full-time in developing your business; and
- have or be able to obtain financial backing needed to start and sustain the business until it becomes self-supporting.
SEA participants are not eligible for New Jersey's
Additional Benefits during Training (ABT) or for any state or federally funded extended unemployment benefits program. You might be interested in regular occupational training that may entitle you to an occupational training grant and the ABT benefits.
Please contact the local One Stop Career Center, Employment and Training Unit, and ask to be scheduled for reemployment opportunities if you are interested in the SEA program or in regular occupational training. The telephone number and address of a center nearest your home can be found at
www.wnjpin.net or in the blue pages of your telephone directory.
