NJEDA Announces NOL Participants, Priestley Promoted, Women Of Color Connecting, PitchNJ

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Thirty-two tech and life-science companies will receive a total of $58 Million as part of the New Jersey Net Operating Loss (NOL) Program.
The state had allocated $75 million, so not all the money was used this year.
The program allows qualified companies to sell up to $20 million in benefits generated from their unused New Jersey net operating losses and research and development (R&D) tax credits for cash to unaffiliated, profit-generating corporate taxpayers in the state.
The cash can then be used for working capital or to fund research.
This year, most participants in the program were from the pharma and life sciences sectors, according to a release from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).
A couple of the tech recipients were: Gadget Software in Hackensack and IoTecha in Cranbury.

Rodney Priestley, who propelled Princeton University into an innovation and entrepreneurship mindset, has been named dean of Princeton’s Graduate School.
Priestley was Princeton’s vice dean for innovation
In that role, he expanded Princeton’s ties with industry, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, alumni and other partners in an effort to integrate Princeton’s innovation ecosystem with others in New Jersey.
He was instrumental in starting the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Northeast Hub, and will continue as codirector.
The school said that it is hunting for a new dean of innovation from amongst its faculty.

The Newark-based Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, whose cofounder and CEO is Jill Johnson, held a conference called “Women of Color Connecting” last week.
The conference was not supposed to be just talk.
It was to help people lead and push forward the change that needs to happen for women-of-color entrepreneurs.
The non-profit’s vision is to have an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem in which people from historically excluded populations have equal opportunity for success, Johnson said, especially for wealth creation.
NjTechWeekly.com attended a number of panel discussions during the conference.
The big takeaway: It’s time to stop talking. It’s time to invest in women of color, mentor women of color and hire women of color in VC leadership positions where they can invest in other women of color.

The Morris Tech Meetup and its partners, including the Morris Country Economic Development Corporation, last week hosted PitchNJ, a pitch competition for high school students.
This year two teams tied for first place in the contest and were awarded $1,500 each.

The winners were DisolvEnergy from Livingston High School, a company working on a sustainable consumer battery, and Omega Speech and Debate, a debate coaching company, also from Livingston High School.
The third place winner was CarCam from Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, a company that wants to add another sensor to your car to protect it from being tampered with or stolen.

Esther is the Founder and Editor in Chief of NJ Tech Weekly