SPRINGFIELD, NJ – As part of the Christie Administration’s annual commitment to New Jersey’s military families, Acting Commissioner Aaron R. Fichtner, Ph.D., of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (LWD) announced a continued partnership with the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council’s (NJBCTC) Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) program with a $250,000 continuation grant. The program has helped women and minority veterans secure solid, family-sustaining careers in one of the state’s 15 affiliated trades over the last decade. 

Acting Commissioner Fichtner and William Mullen, the President of NJBCTC, gathered at the Ironworkers Training Facility in Springfield today to celebrate this decade-long partnership that has placed approximately 800 veterans into registered Building Trades apprenticeship programs. 

“The $250,000 continuation grant for Helmets to Hardhats through NJBUILD funding ensures that New Jersey’s military personnel get the honor, respect and dignity they deserve after serving our country,” said Acting Commissioner Fichtner. 

LWD’s New Jersey Builders Utilization Initiative for Labor Diversity (NJBUILD) program provides funding, with a variety of partners, to train women and minorities in construction. 

The partnership with H2H is part of the ‘65 by 25: Many Paths, One Future’ initiative, working to help all New Jerseyans find pathways to employment through training aligned to the needs of employers. The goal is to have 65 percent of the workforce equipped with a college degree or industry-valued credential by 2025. Currently, 52 percent of the workforce meets those criteria. 

H2H is a conduit for transitioning military personnel to the following union construction apprenticeship programs: Boilermakers, Bricklayers, Carpenters, Electricians, Elevator Constructors, Heat and Frost Insulators, Allied Workers, Ironworkers, Laborers (including skilled craft, heavy and highway), Operating Engineers, Operative Plasterers, Cement Masons, Painters, Pipe Trades (includes Plumbers, Pipefitters, Steamfitters, Sprinkler Fitters, and HVAC), Roofers, Sheet Metal Workers, and Teamsters.