BLACKWOOD, N.J., June 22, 2016 – The Christie Administration congratulated graduates of the Certified Production Technician (CPT) Training Program at a ceremony held today at Camden County College in Blackwood. The program provides long-term unemployed and underemployed individuals with manufacturing skills and hands-on experience. All of the program’s graduates were offered jobs prior to graduation. 

“Our training programs continue to produce great results because we are investing training dollars in industry sectors that are growing here in the Garden State and we are guided by the needs of employers,” said Commissioner Harold J. Wirths of the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. “This program’s ongoing success is proof that our employer partnerships are extremely effective for getting people employed.” 

The graduates underwent a demanding program involving approximately 150 hours of classroom and hands-on training. All of the graduates have earned industry-recognized, nationally-portable credentials from the Manufacturing Skills Standard Council in Safety, Quality & Continuous Improvement, Process & Production and Maintenance. Today’s graduation represents the eighth class of CPT graduates. To date, the program has trained nearly 100 individuals with an 85 percent job placement rate. 

“New Jersey’s community colleges have led the way to address the hiring challenges faced by the state's manufacturers for the past four years in collaboration with state Department of Labor,” said Sivaraman Anbarasan, Executive Director of the New Jersey Community College Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development.  “More than 100 manufacturers have hired our graduates and have benefited from the wage reimbursement program that has contributed nearly $3 million to their bottom line. We are developing more such job-oriented training programs to bridge the skills gap in New Jersey.”

 For more information about the on the Certified Production Technician and Metal Product/CNC Manufacturing programs please go to www.njworkforce.org.  

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