NJ Community College Consortium

Bridging the Skills Gap

On Oct 30, 2017

The New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development provides employers with skills training for incumbent or prospective employees. At the same time, the Consortium helps veterans, the unemployed and the underemployed get the training they need to find good jobs and careers with companies that need their skills.

One of our most successful training initiatives, the NJBIA Basic Skills Workforce Training Program, is grant-funded and available to employees at no tuition cost to companies. Community college instructors customize their course offerings to address the specific needs of companies. Classes can be held at a nearby county college or at the workplace. Through this program, tens of thousands of employees with thousands of companies have received instruction. Tuition-free training for employees in Communication, ESL, PC skills like Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint are available for any participating New Jersey employer.

Many employers find it difficult to find the right job candidates for their jobs, especially if specialized, technical skills are required. Our largest initiative yet, Ready to Work New Jersey, is designed specifically to help companies identify and train the best possible candidates for available positions. On-the-job training of selected candidates is at the heart of this program. The program will reimburse a hiring company up to 90 percent of wages or salaries paid to a job candidate while in training.

Through our Advanced Manufacturing Training Initiative, we have established a process that recruits, trains and certifies individuals to fill job openings at manufacturing companies. Important tools in this program are our two Mobile Manufacturing Labs – among the first in the country to be used for this purpose – which can bring on-demand training in CNC metal fabrication and mechatronics anywhere in the state. Through this on-demand-training program, more than 400 previously unemployed individuals have been trained – and most of them certified in national credentials – in metal fabrication, CNC machining, and production technology. Training and instruction have been held across the state and nearly 150 local manufacturers have hired 90 percent of program graduates at competitive wages. Many other on-demand manufacturing training classes are currently being held or have recently been completed through this initiative.

Contact Info

330 West State St, Trenton, NJ 08618

Phone: 609-393-9000
Fax: 609-392-8158
[email protected]

Sivaraman Anbarasan, Executive Director/CEO Robert Rosa, COO

 

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