As the head of the Newark Alliance, Evan Weiss was part of an organization that helped many cultural events and festivities survive and thrive in the state’s largest city.
But his group didn’t always run them.
The Newark Alliance supported local organizers in a variety of ways — including, but not limited to, dollars and cents, Weiss said.
That’s why, on a day when Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced a $5 million local initiative through the N.J. Economic Development Authority, in partnership with the Host Committee, to help local events (and local businesses) tap into the massive economic opportunity coming with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Weiss (now the CEO of the EDA) said he is confident he has a blueprint for success building upon the work of the Host Committee to date.
“At Newark Alliance, we were always working with local folks who knew how to work with their community and subcontract with them,” he said. “A good example is Savor Newark. It’s put together by a local Newark‑based production company called Plusable.
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“I think governor’s goal for this initiative is: How do we give some extra firepower to these types of local producers? New Jersey is blessed to have so many of them.”
Keeping it local matters, Weiss said.
“At the end of the day, they are going to be better at this than some giant committee, whether it’s the EDA or the Host Committee,” he said. “It’s really making sure those resources are available to folks who know what matters to their communities.”
Put another way: Ensuring that local communities and local businesses get a boost from the multi‑billion‑dollar economic impact expected with the World Cup — something many remember did not happen when the Super Bowl came to MetLife Stadium in 2014.
And that’s communities and businesses of all sizes.
To be sure, large events will get a large portion of the grant money available. Weiss said he is charged with making sure smaller events get a share, too.
“There’s a spectrum,” he said. “There will be a few big events, a few medium events, and hopefully a lot of support for block parties in small towns.”
The grant money, Weiss said, is essentially eligible to be used however organizers see fit.
“We will be pretty open‑ended,” he said. “We don’t want to say, ‘You can only use this for licensing fees,’ or, ‘You can only use this for recruiting a local soccer player to come talk to the kids.’
“If you need this for cops, you need this for cops. If you need this for street closures, you need this for street closures. The local folks will have a better sense of how to handle this.
“(Elizabeth Mayor) Chris Bollwage understands how to do Elizabeth parking better than I do. Mayors of small towns know how to do a street closure; they know how to do a parade. I feel pretty confident that, with some added resources, they can handle the higher volume.”
And that higher volume will be seen across the state.
Weiss said he wants to help support events down the Shore, in Atlantic City, in Camden — and do it throughout the World Cup, which runs June 11-July 19, when the final is played at MetLife Stadium.
Weiss said he has not yet spoken to the host committee for the matches in Philadelphia, but he intends to. He said he has a strong desire to ensure South Jersey is heavily involved in the initiative, too.
“The governor has made clear that the point of this is to make sure this feels like it’s mattering to all of New Jersey,” he said. “It’s a global event, but does it feel like a New Jersey event? Hopefully this helps us get closer to that.”
