Commissioner Wirths Touts New Jersey’s Employer-Focused Workforce Programs as U.S. Labor Deputy Secretary Visits NJIT

NEWARK, N.J., June 21, 2012  _ Commissioner Harold J. Wirths of the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development touted employer-driven workforce development programs as he visited NJIT with U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris and Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker today.

“Since Governor Chris Christie came to office, my department has worked with the Lt. Governor, the state Business Action Center and others in the administration to aggressively align our Workforce Development efforts with the needs of our major industry sectors. The best way to put people to work is to boost New Jersey’s economy,” Wirths said.

Deputy Secretary Harris met with the Commissioner, Mayor Booker, New Jersey Institute of Technology Senior Vice President Dr. Donald Sebastian and Crestron Senior Director of Human Resources Martin Devaney at NJIT to highlight two federal grants totaling $8 million that will be given to local institutions to develop innovative strategies to train workers for a 21^st Century economy.

In May, NJIT was awarded a $5 million “H-1B Technical Skills Training Grant.” Partnering with the North Jersey Partners Workforce Investment Board Consortium, industry partners, local community colleges and other business alliances, NJIT will provide training in high-wage, high-demand information technology occupations

to help local residents fill job vacancies that otherwise would go to foreign workers using H-1B visas.

Additionally, earlier this month, the Newark Workforce Investment Board received approximately $3 million through the U.S. Labor Department’s Workforce Innovation Fund grant program. This funding will be used to improve data assessment, collection and analysis, and to build a workforce system using techniques pioneered in law enforcement and city government to better deliver services to Newark’s job seekers, including underserved communities. This represents the first time these techniques will be applied to the workforce system.

New Jersey Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths (center) shares a light moment with U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Seth D. Harris (left) and New Jersey Deputy Labor Commissioner Aaron Fichtner (right) before a news conference on the campus of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark to announce two federal workforce grants.