Beth Fitzgerald joined NJBIZ in October 2008 after 34 years a beat reporter, business writer and business editor at the Star-Ledger in Newark. An NJBIZ deputy editor and reporter, Beth covers a wide range of issues facing New Jersey businesses, including the rising cost of health coverage and the availability of finance and credit. 
New-business creation declined in the first quarter, as would-be entrepreneurs either found jobs, couldn’t get financing to start their new ventures or were put off by the uncertain economy, according to a survey of job seekers by the job placement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The survey found 3.7 percent decided to start a business in the first half of 2010, compared with 7.6 percent in the first half of 2009 and 9.6 percent in the last two quarters of 2009.
Rutgers economist Jim Hughes said the historical pattern is for startups to slow down in the early stages of a recovery, as the unemployed move into a growing job market instead of launching a business.
But Hughes said that while private-sector jobs are growing, “opportunities to get back into mid-level corporate America have been minimal.”
One factor making startups more difficult “is the credit conditions today, which are unique in terms of difficulty; banks are not lending to the extent they should,” Hughes said. Most new businesses either sell to consumers or businesses, “and demand from the consumer side and the business side is extraordinarily weak.”
Penni Nafus, director of the Women’s Business Center, in Chatham, said she is getting more calls than ever from women who want to launch a new business, but “the problem is with the ability to obtain financing.”
A vibrant entrepreneurial climate is also being seen by Larry Chaityn, president of the New York Tri-State Chapters of The Keiretsu Forum, which brings angel investors and venture capitalists together with entrepreneurs in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. “We are seeing an increase in new ventures,” he said. “The deal flow has never been better, and the quality, if anything, is getting better.”
The Keiretsu Forum will meet Tuesday in New York to hear pitches from entrepreneurs seeking financing for new ventures ranging from Web-based advertising and job search, to tools for individuals with mobility issues, to clean-technology ventures. “We are looking for ventures that address a large market with unmet needs,” he said. In the past eight months, he said, investors in the forum have made eight investments.
E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com
