Ocean County College will lead the Recovery New Jersey Talent Network, while the leadership of the Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Talent Network will be shared between Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) in North Jersey and the Richard Stockton College in South Jersey, Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths announced at a Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey luncheon today.

“These two new Talent Networks were created in direct response to Superstorm Sandy and the economic challenges posed by the storm. The Recovery Talent Network is designed to assess the overall needs of impacted employers, while the Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Talent Network will assist employers in a major New Jersey industry cluster that suffered set-backs due to Sandy,” Commissioner Wirths explained.

The concept of Talent Networks was developed by the LWD under the Christie Administration in 2010, starting with six networks built around six Garden State industry clusters that employ more than half of the workers in New Jersey and pay more than two-thirds of the wages earned.

Talent Networks enlist employers to identify the skills they need in new employees to further the growth and operations of their businesses. In turn, the Talent Networks work closely with state workforce development agencies, educational institutions and training schools to develop those skills in the workforce, improving employment possibilities and fueling the state’s economic growth.

“Most of the Superstorm Sandy news is still about the destruction of businesses and jobs.  I envision the Talent Network grant as an opportunity for employers and job-seekers to rebuild their lives and begin again, focusing on the positive and embracing new opportunities,” said Michael Angelo Forcella, Ocean County College’s Project Manager for the Recovery Talent Network.

The Retail, Hospitality and Tourism industry cluster, which was one of the hardest hit by Sandy, employs one in four workers in New Jersey. It pays about 12 percent of annual wages in the state, and contributed to about 28 percent of New Jersey’s employment gain between 1990 and 2010. Because the industry cluster is so expansive, the LWD opted to enlist both FDU and Stockton College to operate and coordinate the Talent Network created to represent that group of employers.

“Stockton’s distinctive resources will enable the Talent Network for Retail, Hospitality and Tourism to connect prospective employees with employers in this vital sector of the New Jersey economy,” said President Herman Saatkamp of Stockton College.

Both Stockton and FDU were selected to run the Talent Network because of the extensive programs they offer students in hospitality and tourism management.

“We are grateful for this amazing opportunity to leverage our University’s connections and talent in the Retail, Hospitality and Tourism sectors to match employers with job-seekers and to provide a mechanism for training and development for displaced workers in New Jersey,” said Donald Hoover, of FDU’s International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. “Quite simply, we want to create an efficient and effective Talent Network that matches highly qualified employees in this sector with businesses seeking them.”