CAREERWORKS: The Greater Newark Workforce Funders Collaborative develops
employer-led or employer-centric workforce partnerships in growth industries
to advance economic development. It follows the award-winning National Fund
for Workforce Solutions (NFWS) workforce partnership model, in which educators
train to the specific needs of employers. Employers commit to hiring job seekers
and advancing incumbent workers who go through career training.
CAREER WORKS is New Jersey's only National Fund for Workforce Solutions collaborative
and is managed by the Newark Alliance. It brings private foundation funding and aligned
public dollars — $2,250,000 over three years — to bear on workforce issues.
The Collaborative supports workforce partnerships focused on a dual bottom line: meeting
needs of employers in high growth/high wage industries and meeting the needs of low-income
workers.
CareerWorks: The Greater Newark Workforce Funders Collaborative (GNWFC) seeks to create innovative,
sustainable workforce development solutions in northern
New Jersey that enable low-skilled
workers to advance in careers and businesses to compete.
CAREERWORKS: The Greater Newark Workforce Funders Collaborative invests in the talent
development of your incumbent frontline workers and job seekers. Employers receive
the following benefits:
CareerWorks’ employer-centric workforce partnerships support growth industries to advance economic development within northern New Jersey. As New Jersey’s only National Fund for Workforce Solutions collaborative, it brings private funding to bear on workforce development.
The National Fund for Workforce Solutions serves thirty communities that help low-wage workers succeed in good careers.
www.nfwsolutions.org/
According to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, healthcare added 154,800 new jobs between 1990 and 2010 and contributed $34 billion to New Jersey's Gross Domestic Product.
TLD offers tremendous job opportunities in the region. Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal is the largest port on the East Coast - the 3rd largest in the nation. In 2009, TLD employed 364,429 workers in New Jersey and contributed $48.9 billion to the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Investing in CAREERWORKS enables funders to leverage their grantmaking to have greater impact
and to help shape long-term workforce development in Northern New Jersey.
The Collaborative members pool funding, develop strategies, support sector-based programs and
develop workforce partnerships that meet the career-advancement needs of workers and the bottom-line
requirements of businesses.
CAREERWORKS links and leverages public and private dollars to develop a sustainable workforce
pipeline that advances low-skilled workers in northern New Jersey and enables the businesses
that hire them and key economic engines to grow.
"As New Jersey's largest integrated health care delivery system, Barnabas Health's primary
focus is providing exemplary patient care. Our workforce partnership through the Greater
Newark Workforce Funders Collaborative develops the talent of our frontline workers and
creates a pipeline to higher-skilled positions. All of this promotes and sustains the
health of the communities we serve through excellence in health care."
— Beatrice S. Anzur
Vice president
Human Resources Development
Workforce partnerships address the skills-development challenges of low-skilled
unemployed and under-employed adults but equally as important, they are employer-led
or employer centric to ensure employment or advancement at the end of a training
cycle. Currently CareerWorks supports workforce partnerships in two of New
Jersey’s growth industry sectors – healthcare and transportation, logistics and
distribution (TLD). CareerWorks continues to vet economic and labor market data
against employers’ true workforce needs and develops innovative solutions that map
to New Jersey’s unique value proposition and circumstance. For instance CareerWorks
– especially as it builds its TLD portfolio – seeks to create a sustainable
workforce pipeline to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, the largest port
on the East Coast. Other opportunities relate to the state’s post-Hurricane
Sandy needs. The need for remediation, rebuilding and mitigation may indicate,
for instance, that CareerWorks should support sectors such as construction,
which will play a key role in the rebuilding of New Jersey.
Additionally, we’re currently watching the Financial Services sector, which employed
197,000 workers in New Jersey in 2011 and contributed $41.8 billion to the state’s
2010 Gross Domestic Product, approximately 11 percent of GDP.
Whereas northern New Jersey – or the Gateway Region – was a leading player in the
Industrial Revolution, its largest cities – Newark, Paterson, Elizabeth and Jersey
City – now are urban centers in which many citizens require second-chance education
opportunities to gain entre to careers. CareerWorks continues to expand its
portfolio of workforce partnerships and is well on target to train 600 unemployed,
low- and moderate-income (LMI) participants within northern New Jersey through 2014
and beyond.
Jewish Vocational Services/Barnabas Health — In January 2012, CareerWorks awarded Jewish Vocational Service (JVS)/Barnabas Health (BH), the state’s largest healthcare provider, a one-year $100,000 grant to upgrade the skills of hundreds of BH’s lowest-skilled, incumbent workers. JVS trained 315 workers in basic Computer 101 training enabling them to log onto the "Bridge" intranet career-development platform. The more impactful initial program was that JVS (in conjunction with NJ Health Care Employers District 1199J) prepared 40 workers such as Dietary and Housekeeping Aides workers for the higher-paying position of Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), which tracks to defined career paths. The JVS “Transition to Nursing” pre-CNA program offered basic computer, medical terminology, communications and the job-related technical training. All 40 recently completed a CNA class at Essex County College (ECC) and will sit for their state certifications. In March, CareerWorks awarded a second-year $100,000 grant to JVS/Barnabas Health in which:
CareerWorks Pilot Emergency Medical Technician Program — CareerWorks created a pilot healthcare program strictly for Newarkers using an $80,000 Victoria Foundation grant. The 190-hour, three-month training by Less Stress Instructional Services began April 8, 2013, and was offered at Newark Beth Israel three days per week. Partners such as the NewarkWorks One-Stop Career Center and community based organizations helped to recruit 20 Newark candidates who were given a prerequisite CPR class and were trained in Emergency Medical Services. All of the partners are committed to connecting those who passed certification to private ambulance companies and hospitals that hire newly certified EMTs.
Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) — CareerWorks awarded a one-year, $100,000 grant in September 2012 to Jersey City Medical Center (JCMC) to fund training for 20 incumbent workers such as patient escorts, ward data entry clerks, security officers, and building service workers for positions that offer $13 to $18 per hour – a $2-to-$4-per-hour increase in wages. This partnership between JCMC – an award-winning Hudson County healthcare provider, William Paterson University and McNamara and Associates bundled multi-skills healthcare tech/patient care tech (PCT) and electronic medical records (EMR) training with life-skills coaching to enable participants to become patient access reps, EMR clerks, unit clerks, and multi-skills healthcare techs – family sustaining careers within JCMC.
Career works has been actively engaging Transportation, Logistics and Distribution employers and recently awarded a $100,000 CareerWorks grant to a workforce partnership between New Community Corporation and Sansone Auto Mall that is training 24 jobseekers for the Ford Motor Company Maintenance & Light Repair Certification. Successful graduates will be placed at Sansone Auto Mall and other area dealerships. Automotive technicians can earn $25K to $125K per annum.
"JVS is thrilled to partner with Barnabas Health and CareerWorks for a second year
to position entry-level workers for career advancement pathways"
– Nancy T. Fisher,
Assistant Executive Director,
Education & Training
JVS MetroWest.
Congratulations to Barnabas Health Graduates!
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Regina Barboza
Program Officer
(973) 596-6400
ext. 203
