U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., center, addresses the media inside the Super Fresh supermarket on Chancellor Avenue on Monday, April 30, during his tour of the township’s small businesses with New Jersey District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration Alfred Titone, right, and Mayor Tony Vauss, while at large Councilwoman October Hudley, left, and Super Fresh Vice President James Lee, second from left, listen.
IRVINGTON, NJ — U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr. came to Irvington on Monday, April 30, to tour the township’s small business community alongside Mayor Tony Vauss, N.J. District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration Alfred Titone and others, including at large Councilwoman October Hudley and Public Safety Director Tracey Bowers. Payne represents the state’s 10th District, which includes towns in Essex, Hudson and Union counties.
After a press conference at the Municipal Building in Civic Square, the group stopped in at three local businesses the mayor said qualify as small businesses eligible to enroll in certain SBA programs. Their first stop was the Super Fresh supermarket on Lyons Avenue in the old Pathmark Plaza; then, they moved on to Frontline Industries, near the top of Chancellor Avenue before ending their tour at Chef Roscoe on Springfield Avenue.
“Small businesses are really the backbone of this country. They do most of the hiring. If you look around, you have local people working here, earning a living to raise their families,” said Payne on Monday, April 30. “I’ve been in this area all my life. I shopped at the previous store that was here, so I know the difference in what Mr. Lee has done in upgrading the look and feeling of the environment here. It’s very inviting. The food, if you look, is very fresh and appealing, so I think they’ve done an incredible job and really catered specifically to different cultures.”
Vauss agreed with Payne that the Super Fresh has revitalized a part of town that was practically fallow, after the former Pathmark supermarket that previously anchored the Lyons Avenue location declared bankruptcy a few years ago. He said small businesses are the engines powering the township’s economic revitalization and redevelopment efforts that are an integral part of his administration.
“We’re here and we’re supporting our local businesses and we’re talking about some of the loans that have been given out to small businesses in our township and we look at Super Fresh, which is a staple of this community, which took over when we had Pathmark here,” said Vauss on Monday, April 30. “Congressman Payne has been a staunch supporter of the township of Irvington. I’m just indebted to the congressman for being her each and every day. Like he tells you all the time: He comes here, his cleaners is here and, of course, he loves Taco Bell, so he does his Taco Bell quite a lot.”
Vauss said it’s not overstating things to say that Super Fresh has been an unqualified success since they first came to town almost two years ago and he hopes it will stay in business in town for a very, very long time.
“We’re actually in the South Ward and Super Fresh has come in, they’ve served the community, they’ve bonded with us and I think it’s a tremendous, tremendous environment, tremendous atmosphere and tremendous supermarket for our Irvington residents to shop in,” the mayor said. “We like to say anything within the township of Irvington qualifies as a small business, because we want everybody to strive to be better and become big businesses. That’s what we do here in the township of Irvington.”
Vauss said the success of Super Fresh and other township businesses is a planned byproduct of his administration’s mission to make Irvington clean and safe. Bowers agreed, saying public safety goes hand in hand with economic prosperity.
“Ultimately, I feel that we are doing a great job and we are seeing the fruits of our labors,” Bowers said Monday, April 30. “All the cops here work very hard. Most of the cops, they live in town, so they have a vested interest in seeing us do good and seeing us do well and keeping us safe. So I’m tremendously happy and think it’s important that we can provide this valuable service to our citizens and those who visit us.”
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