In 2019, the State of New Jersey’s Office of Innovation (OOI) launched Business.NJ.gov as a “one-stop” website equipped with self-serve resources to help business owners start, operate, and grow their businesses in New Jersey (NJ). But even after the site’s launch, owners often still needed to reach out to multiple state agencies for support, which many described as “difficult and frustrating.”

To tackle this issue, OOI implemented a live chat feature for Business.NJ.gov. Since its launch, the live chat feature has enabled more than 125,000 virtual conversations between business owners and state government experts, and OOI now uses data from the feature’s usage to inform how the state delivers business support services and prioritizes content on Business.NJ.gov.

The Beeck Center’s Digital Services Network (DSN) spoke with the director of OOI’s Business Experience Initiative, E.J. Kalafarski, the director of Business Experience for the State, Jessica Lax, and product manager, Joe DeLaTorre, to learn about Business.NJ.gov’s live chat feature.