About Us
The New Jersey Regional Innovation Cluster (NJRIC) is a free program, funded by the SBA Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) initiative, offering expert training, mentorship, exclusive networking, and cybersecurity risk assessments to help tech businesses secure contracts, scale operations, and successfully expand. That’s why the partners and sponsors selected to implement this program are experts in their respective fields.
NTouch-BCT Strategies saw a need to secure and grow New Jersey small businesses. As program administrator, BCT received a grant from the SBA to develop an innovation cluster designed to assist small businesses in identifying and mitigating cybersecurity risks and growing small IT businesses. BCT Partners is a Black-owned, national, multidisciplinary consulting firm headquartered in New Jersey with 20+ years of experience in the public and private sectors. Their mission is to accelerate equity and create lasting change. They are leading the way in bringing sustainable and scalable social impact solutions that will empower future generations. BCT Partners has been recognized repeatedly for their outstanding work:
-
Inc. 5000 - America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies
-
ManageHR Magazine - Top10 Diversity and Inclusion Consulting Companies
-
Forbes - America’s Best Management Consulting Firms - five years in a row
-
Black Enterprise - BE100s Nation’s Largest Black-owned Businesses
Covenant Business Concepts will be offering its services as part of the NJ Regional Innovation Cluster by overseeing the business accelerator program for companies that are women, minority, or veteran-owned and have over $500k in revenue. This program will provide coaching, mentoring, training, and technical assistance to help take small businesses to the next level. Covenant is an award-winning consulting firm that creates innovative business development solutions that help its clients achieve their growth goals and sustainability in the marketplace. They specialize in designing and providing innovative business accelerators, centers of excellence, masterclass series, professional development, and leadership training services.
With cybersecurity threats growing daily, Kean University for Cybersecurity saw an opportunity to help small businesses that often don't have the resources to assess and mitigate threats. As part of the New Jersey Regional Innovation Cluster, Kean will be conducting assessments for businesses under $500k in revenue. The Kean University Center for Cybersecurity focuses on providing cyber defense and cybersecurity-related information, resources, and academic programs for students, staff, faculty, and the regional and extended global community. The National Security Agency has recognized Kean as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CD). This designation recognizes that Kean University is contributing to successfully training and educating the future workforce for positions in the high-demand cybersecurity field.
