Community Renewal Good Stories - Cumberland County

Convenience Store Chain Hires Empowerment Zone Youth and Cashes in on Tax Savings
Cumberland County, New Jersey, Empowerment Zone

The Cumberland County, New Jersey, Empowerment Zone (EZ) has maintained a strong partnership with the Cumberland County Office of Employment and Training (COET), which helps promote the availability of EZ tax credits to area businesses. In 2008, the EZ reported that COET staff assisted 27 EZ residents find jobs by using the EZ wage credit as an incentive to the businesses that hired those workers. In addition, for the ninth consecutive year, locally-based convenience store chain, WaWa Food Marts, has participated in a Summer Youth hiring program that provided 22 EZ youth, 16-17 years old, with summer employment. The County and the Zone share the costs of transporting youth to work, and WaWa provides the teens with jobs in stores throughout the Jersey Shore area.  As a result of its participation, WaWa was able to claim up to $1200 in Work Opportunity Tax Credits per year for each EZ summer hire.  To date, WaWa has provided summer employment for 290 young residents of the Zone since the program began in 1999.   

For more information on the Cumberland County EZ, contact Executive Director Sandra Forosisky at (856) 459-1700.